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On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott signaled support for a yearslong call by women's health care advocates to remove taxes on menstrual products like tampons, sanitary pads and pantyliners. His statement comes after Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, voiced their support from eliminating the "tampon tax" on Thursday.

Hegar and Huffman said theyd support efforts in next years legislative session to make such products nontaxable.

Other health care necessities, such as medicine and bandages, are exempt from sales tax in Texas. Advocates have called for the repeal of the tax, arguing that menstrual products should be classified as wound care dressings, which prevent bacterial infections and maintain a moist or dry wound environment. Given that wound dressings like Band-Aids are exempt from sales tax, supporters of repealing the sales tax on menstrual products argue that taxing them discriminates on the basis of sex.

Menstrual products are already tax-free in 24 states. Texas is among those states where consumers still pay tax on those products.

Previous attempts to repeal the sales tax in Texas have failed and will likely face more hurdles during next years legislative session. Proposals to eliminate the sales tax on menstrual products, spearheaded by state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, have come before the legislature every session since 2017. None of those bills have made it to the governor's desk.

If next session's legislation reaches Abbott's desk, he would support eliminating the tax.

Governor Abbott fully supports exempting feminine hygiene products from state and local sales tax, Renae Eze, a spokesperson for the governor, told The Texas Tribune in a statement on Friday. These are essential products for womens health and quality of life, and the Governor looks forward to working with the legislature in the next session to remove this tax burden on Texas women.

But Huffmans support of the measure as the chair of the Senate Finance Committee that branchs budget chief is notable. The 2017 bill to remove the feminine hygiene tax died in that committee.

Every woman knows that these products are not optional. They are essential to our health and well-being and should be tax-exempt, she said in a press release Thursday announcing her support.

Hegar pointed to Texas strong economy and state revenues in explaining his support for the tax repeal. Given increasing prices and inflation, Hegar said the opportunity to exempt these products from taxation is a critical need for Texans.

Texas can absorb this lost revenue easily, but for countless Texas women, this will mean significant savings in their personal budgets over time, Hegar said in a press release. This is a small amount of money relative to the overall revenue outlook for Texas.

Hegars latest revenue estimate for the next two years, beginning mid-July, projects Texas will generate $27 billion. The sales tax revenue on menstrual supplies over the next two years would represent about 0.1% of that amount.

In Texas and across the country, institutions are working to improve greater access to menstrual products. Over the summer, the Austin Independent School District spent over $150,000 to provide free menstrual products to students in bathrooms.

Correction: A version of the bill to end taxes on some menstrual products cleared a committee in 2021 but never made it to the governor's desk.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, including the inside track on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and higher ed at this stage in the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband access matters, the legacy of slavery, what really happened in Uvalde and so much more. See the program.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/18/glenn-hegar-joan-huffman-tampon-tax/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joins other key Republicans in supporting repealing the tampon tax - KBTX

This weekend, Florida governor Ron DeSantis delighted the crowd at a conference for the far-right group Turning Point Action by proclaiming that the FBIs warrant to seize national-security documents stolen by Donald Trump was yet another double standard against law-abiding conservatives. You look at the raid at Mar-a-Lago, and Im just trying to remember maybe somebody here can remind me about when they did a search warrant at Hillarys house when she had a rogue server at Chappaqua and she was laundering classified information, he announced. I dont remember them doing that.

The Republican rationale for defending Trump despite clear-cut violations of the law is that the FBI has supposedly forfeited all credibility. Trump supporters are mad because the Mar-a-Lago raid fits into a pattern of behavior targeting Trump and his associates by the FBI, the Justice Department, and the intelligence community, argues Byron York. When it comes to the FBIs latest move, he garners near-universal assent and for good reason, writes National Review editor-in-chief Rich Lowry of Trump. It is impossible to over-estimate the effect of the Russia investigation on the Republican psyche. Margot Cleveland argues that its because of the bureaus widespread misconduct that Americans doubt the legitimacy of the FBIs decision to search the former presidents home.

Obviously, the weirdest thing about this trust heuristic is that it assumes the more credible party to this dispute is serial lawbreaker and pathological liar Donald Trump rather than the lifelong Republican he appointed to lead the agency. But the deeper and more twisted belief system being expressed by Trumps allies is the premise that the FBI has engaged in a pattern of political bias against their party since the Clinton saga.

The truth is just the opposite: The FBI has often bent over backward to placate Republicans only to be met with distrust when its results fail to conform to their most paranoid fantasies.

Begin with DeSantiss claim that the FBI never seized Hillary Clintons server: In fact, the FBI took it in August 2015. The seizure of the server, along with electronic copies of its contents maintained by her private lawyer, is in connection with a criminal investigation into the mishandling of classified information, gloated a National Review editorial at the time. It is being dressed up by a reeling Clinton campaign as Hillarys voluntary surrender of the server in connection with a security inquiry.

The fact that DeSantis has a false memory that the FBI somehow never bothered to take her server is itself revealing. Republicans spent a year baying at the FBI and demanding prosecution while agents on the inside of the organization leaked continuously to conservative media sources. Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, reported The Guardian in 2016. Its clear to me that there is a cadre of senior people in New York who have a deep and visceral hatred of Secretary Clinton, said thenFBI Director James Comey privately. The New York Times James Stewart reported that the pressure and threats of additional leaks from right-wing bureau staff drove Comey to violate DOJ protocol by publicizing the Clinton investigation.

In 2016, the FBI made its investigation into Clinton public while keeping its investigation of Trump secret, a choice that very likely swung the razor-tight outcome. The mistreatment of Clinton was so blatant that Trump even used it as a pretext to fire Comey the next year. Yet Republicans have created an upside-down history in which Clinton was coddled and Trump smeared.

The Russia investigation, of course, has loomed large among Republican grievances. Trump claimed, and Republicans came to believe, that the FBIs investigation into Trumps ties to Russia was directed by Democrats to harm Trumps campaign. Of course, such a scheme could work only if the FBI had leaked the investigation instead, it leaked to the New York Times that Trump had no clear ties to Russia.

The Justice Departments inspector general found the Russia investigation was properly predicated. Rejecting this finding, thenAttorney General William Barr appointed his own ally to produce evidence supporting Trumps suspicion that a Democratic cabal originated the Russia probe, but that effort failed miserably.

Indeed, the Russia investigation itself was hamstrung by its conservative decisions. Robert Mueller confined the investigation to direct criminal charges rather than making it a broader investigation of the counterintelligence threat posed by Trumps connections with Russia. He allowed Trump to submit evasive answers to questions in writing rather than testify and decided it would be unfair to Trump to state clearly that he had engaged in obstruction.

One lesson here is that Muellers understandable belief that he needed to maintain legitimacy with Republicans by bending over backward to demonstrate his fairness ultimately backfired. It allowed Trump and his allies to frame Muellers findings as proving no collusion which Mueller did not say and from there to paint the entire probe as a witch hunt.

You can see the same dynamic at work in the current investigation into Trumps refusal to give back documents he illegally took. Trumps supporters have held up the bureaus patient accommodation in the face of Trumps defiance as evidence it cant be trusted. Just to get this straight, were now supposed to believe that the material Trump had stored in his house was nuclear content so sensitive the FBI waited a year and a half to go get it and used the National Archives as a prop to do so? sneers Ben Shapiro.

Should the Justice Department ultimately decline to charge Trump which, barring anything deeply sensitive or incriminating in the documents, would seem to be the most likely outcome conservatives will almost certainly register the FBIs intervention as yet another case of persecution. The reality of the situation will be just the opposite: Trump openly flouting the law and getting away with it. But the alchemy of conservative paranoia will transmute it into more evidence of his innocence and yet another reason for them to rally to his side when he inevitably proceeds to his next crime.

The underlying cause of this pathological dynamic is a right-wing propaganda bubble that pumps conservatives full of rage, cordens them off from any information that would mitigate their sense of persecution, and primes them to be led by demagogues who feel free to act with impunity, knowing their base will stay loyal regardless. This dysfunction produced Trumps rise in the first place. And now every new instance of Trumps misconduct simply confirms to the Republican Party that he was right all along.

Irregular musings from the center left.

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Every New Trump Crime Makes Republicans Angrier at the FBI - New York Magazine

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Ukraine has been sending a message to Russia that the country has plans to retake territory that Moscow annexed in 2014.

"These fireworks mean that Crimea is coming back to Ukraine," Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesman for Odesa regions military administration, told Britain's The Times newspaper this week.

The comments come as multiple explosions have rocked Russian bases in occupied Crimea over the last week, destroying ammunition and damaging logistics and communications lines.

Kyiv has not officially taken credit for the attacks, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and military leaders have hinted in recent days that the explosions could be part of their planned offensive.

UKRAINE SAYS 'DEMILITARIZATION IN ACTION' AS EXPLOSIONS ROCK AMMO DEPOT IN RUSSIA-OCCUPIED CRIMEA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a meeting with military officials during his visit to the war-hit Dnipropetrovsk region on July 8, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)

"Although Ukraine hasnt officially claimed responsibility, Ukraines President Zelenskyy previously has warned about the counteroffensive being planned for August-September, and he and his top adviser,Mykhailo Podolyak, hinted about Ukrainesinvolvement in therecent explosions," Rebekah Koffler,a former DIA intelligence officer and the author of"Putins Playbook: Russias Secret Plan toDefeat America," told Fox News Digital.

Ukraine's ability to strike deep behind Russian lines would be a blow to Moscow, where leaders have so far denied that the attacks were the result of a coordinated Ukrainian effort. The Russian military has said the explosions were an act of "sabotage" and has also pinned blame on Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, an Islamic terrorist cell.

The Russian FSB spy agency claimed on Wednesday that forces "neutralized" the six-member cell behind the attack, but Ukraine has hinted that more attacks are coming.

Speaking to the Washington Post on Wednesday, Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine intends to keep hitting key targets deep inside Russian-held territory in the coming weeks.

UKRAINE ACCUSES RUSSIA OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY FOR BLOCKING THE TRANSPORT OF MEDICATION

Smoke can be seen from the beach at Saki after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea, on Aug. 9, 2022. (UGC via AP/File)

"Were using a strategy to ruin their stocks, to ruin their depots, to ruin their headquarters, commander quarters," he said. "Its our answer to their meat-grinder tactics."

Reznikov said that elements of Ukraine's special forces have been enlisting a "resistance force" that will be capable of hitting deep behind Russian lines, a strategy Ukrainian leaders hope will soften Russian defenses and deal a blow to morale ahead of a larger offensive.

Ukraine still lacks enough weapons and ammunition to launch a full-scale offensive into Russian-held territory, something Reznikov hopes will be coming from western countries that have poured billions into the Ukrainian war effort.

But there are some indications Moscow is growing more concerned about the security situation in Crimea, with Russian media outlets reporting that Black Sea Fleet commander Adm. Igor Osipov has been replaced by the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the attacks on the occupied peninsula. Osipov, who has been in charge of the fleet since May 2019, will be replaced by Vice Adm. Viktor Sokolov.

A view shows smoke rising above the area following a reported explosion in the village of Mayskoye in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea on Aug. 16, 2022. (Reuters)

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Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and both sides claim the peninsula is rightfully part of their territory. Ukraine has vowed in recent weeks not to give up the fight to reclaim the territory, a promise bolstered by the latest attacks in the region.

"Regardless of how exactly the attack was mountedspecial forces, pro-Ukraineguerrilla forces, strikes from within the Russian positions or stand-off distances the outcome issignificant and positive for Ukraine," Koffler said.

"The result is that Russias ammunition depots, logistics, supply and communications lines were degraded, or in some cases destroyed," she continued. "This is a major boost for Ukrainian morale and apsychologicalblow to the Russianforces."

Michael Lee is a writer at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @UAMichaelLee

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Ukraine warns Russia it intends to take back Crimea | Fox News

ModelImageCountry of originTypeVariantNumberDetailsVarta (armoured personnel carrier)[uk]UkraineProtected carMAZ-5434[de][261]Triton (armored car)[uk]~4 (?)In service since 2015.[citation needed]Kozak-2ItalyUkraineKozak-2M1240+[262]The Kozak-2 is a 44 armoured vehicle made by the Ukrainian defence company NPO Practika. The vehicle has firing ports in the back, 4 doors, and two rear doors that personnel can exit through. The vehicle can carry 5 crew members and 11 personnel in the back, and has the ability to mount a 40mm grenade launcher or machine gun on the top.[citation needed]KrAZ Cobra[uk]JapanUkraineToyota Land Cruiser 20010Transferred to the UGF from National Guard.[citation needed]KrAZ Cougar[uk]JapanUkraineToyota Land Cruiser 7919Transferred to the UGF from National Guard.[citation needed]KrAZ ShrekUnited Arab EmiratesUkraineProtected mobility vehicleShrek One22 transferred to the 79th airborne brigade on 10 September 2014, other vehicles begun to be received by the National Guard of Ukraine but some have mistakenly reported them being transferred to the army.[citation needed]KrAZ SpartanUnited StatesUkraine Protected mobility vehicleFord F-55034Used by airborne brigades, borrowed from the National Guard.[263]Bogdan Bars-6[uk]South KoreaUkraineProtected carKia KM450?Transferred to the UGF from National Guard.[citation needed]Bogdan Bars-8[uk]United StatesUkraineProtected carDodge Ram90Transferred to the UGF from National Guard.[citation needed]NovatorUnited StatesUkraineProtected carFord F-55040Delivered in 2019.[264]Dozor-BPoland UkraineProtected mobility vehicle21On 24 June 2013, the Odessa military academy received the first "Dozor-B".[265] Extra 200 "Dozor-B" were ordered for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in June 2014.[266] Two "Dozor-B" were built until June 2015.[267] Third "Dozor-B" was built in September 2015.[268] Seven "Dozor-B" were built until December 2015.[269] 20 July 2016 Ukrainian Armed Forces received first ten "Dozor-B" vehicles (which were conveyed to 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade).[270][271]BushmasterAustraliaProtected mobility vehicle

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Tigr-M

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List of equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Wikipedia

Ukrainians visit an avenue where destroyed Russian military hardware is displayed in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Andrew Kravchenko/AP hide caption

Ukrainians visit an avenue where destroyed Russian military hardware is displayed in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday.

As the week begins, here's a roundup of key developments from the past week and a look ahead.

Wednesday is Ukraine's Independence Day, marking 31 years since its declaration of independence from Soviet rule. Authorities have banned public celebrations in Kyiv and warned against gatherings around the country because of the risk of Russian attacks.

Wednesday also marks six months since the start of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

A trial for captured Ukrainian fighters is expected to begin in Russian-occupied Mariupol, possibly as soon as Wednesday.

And on Thursday, the Cluster Munition Monitor 2022 report will be released, which will include research about cluster munition and land mine usage in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Aug. 15: United Nations human rights workers documented 5,514 civilians killed and 7,698 injured in Ukraine since the war began in February, but said the actual figure is considerably higher as intense fighting delays reporting and corroboration. On the day of the U.N. update, several more civilians were reported killed and wounded in Ukraine.

A Russian-backed separatist court in Donetsk charged men from the United Kingdom, Sweden and Croatia with working as mercenaries for Ukraine. All five men pleaded not guilty, Russia's Tass news agency reported, and three of them could face the death penalty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready to offer advanced weapons to Russia's partners in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Aug. 16: Explosions rocked Crimea, hitting an ammunition depot, an airfield, a power station and also causing damage to the railway on the Russian-annexed peninsula. Russia's Defense Ministry called the blasts acts of sabotage. Ukraine didn't take credit, but military analysts said the incidents are likely part of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Later in the week, Russian officials reported attempted drone attacks in Crimea.

Ukraine's Parliament extended martial law for three more months.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, were in Ukraine. They met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visited the town of Bucha, outside Kyiv, the site of mass civilian killings during the Russian invasion.

Aug. 17: China announced it will send troops to Russia to participate in joint military exercises alongside the armed forces of India, Belarus and other countries. Russia plans to hold the Vostok-2022 drills from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.

Burial ceremonies continued for victims of Bucha. Local authorities said 21 unidentified victims were buried on this day, with numbers instead of names used to label their tombs.

Aug. 18: President Zelenskyy hosted the head of the U.N. and president of Turkey, discussing issues including the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the deaths of war prisoners. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres heralded a deal struck in July to resume Ukraine's grain exports as a "victory for diplomacy" and said 560,000 metric tons of grain and other food have so far departed the country.

Russia launched a barrage of rockets into the city of Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least 17 civilians and destroying homes and a dormitory for deaf people.

Starbucks' former flagship coffee shop in Moscow reopened under new ownership and a new but similar brand: Stars Coffee. The Russian co-owners are restaurateur Anton Pinskiy and rapper Timati. The Seattle-based company announced its exit from Russia in May, citing the country's "horrific attacks on Ukraine."

Aug. 19: French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron's office said Putin agreed to allow an international mission of experts to assess reported damage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine.

The U.S. is sending weapons, valued at $775 million, to help Ukraine fight Russian forces in the southern part of the country that's become the main battleground, the Defense Department said. The latest package includes drones, anti-mine vehicles and anti-tank missiles.

Aug. 20: Daria Dugina, daughter of influential Russian nationalist theorist Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow. Dugin's allies and Russian media suggested he was the intended target. Russian authorities blamed Ukrainian agents for the killing; Ukraine's government denied any role in the incident.

Ukraine installed a mock-parade of bombed-out Russian tanks and other military hardware on the street in Kyiv.

Aug. 21: Russian forces pounded Nikopol, a southern Ukrainian town near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and hit sites near Ukraine's port of Odesa. Yet according to the U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War, Russian has continually failed to turn small tactical gains into operational successes.

President Biden spoke to the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom about supporting Ukraine and the concerning situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear station, in a Russian-controlled area of southern Ukraine.

Over the river from a Russian-occupied nuclear plant, a Ukrainian town fears a spill.

Ukraine's first lady posed for Vogue and sparked discussion on how to #SitLikeAGirl.

The head of the WNBA players union talks about Brittney Griner's ongoing detention.

Humanitarian groups prepare to send winter help to Ukrainians.

Examining the security of the Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Demand for coal in Europe is rising amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's ambulance crews, many of them volunteers, put their lives on the line.

Ukraine's rail system is working overtime to keep people and goods moving.

Unable to leave the country, Ukrainian men worry about military drafts.

Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the world: See its ripple effects in all corners of the globe.

You can read past recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR's coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

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Russia-Ukraine war: A weekly recap and look ahead (Aug. 22) - NPR