Latest news with #SulemanLalani
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
With police trailing him, Texas lawmaker spends a long day into night
AUSTIN — No matter where state Rep. Suleman Lalani went, the black-suited man followed him. When he headed to lunch at the eatery inside the Capitol — downing a chili dog and bowl of tortilla soup — the man sat a couple tables away. When he went to fetch dirty laundry from his nearby hotel room, the man followed in a gray pickup. And when the lawmaker-physician headed back toward Houston on Tuesday afternoon, to see elderly patients in his suburban district, the plainclothes officer was close behind. The constant surveillance came after Lalani and two dozen fellow House Democrats returned to the state following nearly two weeks evading Texas authorities in Illinois, where they had traveled to break quorum and block Republican redistricting legislation that could tip the balance of power in Congress. 'It's a pure form of bullying' by the GOP, Lalani said as his chief of staff drove and he rode shotgun in a blue plaid blazer and jeans, gazing back at the Department of Public Safety officer tailing them. 'They want to say 'We have the might.'' All but one of those House Democrats —Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth lawyer — had signed 'permission slips' agreeing to remain in the custody of a DPS officer until they returned for the chamber's next session on Wednesday. A half-dozen later tore up the slips and returned Tuesday to the Capitol in solidarity with Collier, who was spending a second night, with a sleep mask and blanket, at her desk on the House floor. Lalani was not among them. He regretted consenting to the police detail, he said as he left town. The 58-year-old legislator, who in his other life is a doctor of internal medicine and geriatrics, hadn't realized it would become a shadow hanging over him. 'It was just thrown in our face,' he recalled. What he now thought: He'd fallen into the trap. He worried that if fellow lawmakers could impose a police escort on him, they could do it to anybody. 'This is not freedom,' Lalani said as he rode east past fields full of cotton and grazing cattle. But he felt a duty to check on his patients, some in their 80s and infirm. He kept an eye on the truck behind them. The rules of engagement were unclear. 'Should I speed?' joked chief of staff Tony Flores. Lalani scanned his colleagues' social media. Officers had followed some to the bathroom, others to pick up their children. Lalani worried his guy might scare the patients he planned to visit at a nursing home. What if the officer ventured inside? Stopping for gas en route to Houston at 4 p.m., Lalani stared at the DPS officer's tinted car windows across the parking lot. 'They have real jobs, and yet they are babysitting all of us,' he said. By 5 p.m., Lalani had arrived at his district office in an oak-shaded brick complex in the suburb of Sugar Land. His wife, three sons — ages 15, 26 and 27 — and a dozen supporters waited with flowers and handmade signs, including 'Police escort of Texas Reps = police state.' 'They will not stop my life,' Lalani told the group. He is in his second term, one of the state's first Muslim and Southeast Asian representatives, a native of Pakistan. His wife, who is a registered nurse, said the police escort reminded her of their homeland. She has been feeling so stressed, she's had dizzy spells. 'Even in that country you have freedom of speech,' Zakia Lalani said. 'I don't feel comfortable. I mean, you're living in America.' About 6:30 p.m., the officer ducked inside. He was trying to stay out of the way, he said, but needed to 'coordinate logistics.' When would the lawmaker be leaving to drive back to Austin? About 9 p.m., Lalani replied. He was terse but polite. 'The poor guy is doing his job,' he'd say later. At the nursing home, the officer remained in the parking lot. Inside, nurses loaned Lalani a stethoscope because he'd forgotten to bring his. So went the next few hours. After making his rounds at the nursing home — reassured that several patients were doing well — he and his family managed dinner at a local restaurant serving Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Zakia Lalani invited the officer to join them. He declined, waiting in the parking lot until a new shift arrived. The meal was interrupted repeatedly by constituents, supporters who thanked Lalani in both English and Urdu. 'We admire what you are doing,' local businessman Qaisar Imam said. 'We are afraid to say a lot of things. So when you do, it gives us a voice.' Even as he fumed at the expense of so many officers trailing him — three in one day so far, all at taxpayers' expense — Lalani wondered whether the police escort was a blessing in disguise. The redistricting battle in Austin, in large part at President Donald Trump's urging; the issues that could hang in the balance in both Texas and the country; and, of course, the way the drama had played out at the Capitol between the Republicans and Democrats. 'People are being motivated. They see [GOP leaders] doing this to their representatives,' he said. It was much later than Lalani had expected when everything finally wrapped up. Dinner had taken longer, and then he'd paused to pray. He had been following reports through the evening that a threat had been posted online against officers at the Capitol and the building shut down, but information still was sketchy. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., as Lalani prepared to depart, a new officer in a gray SUV explained that he would follow them halfway, then trade off with yet another officer. Lalani nodded. About an hour later, the gray SUV peeled off, replaced by yet another SUV waiting on the highway shoulder on the way back to Austin. 'You think that's the guy?' Lalani's chief of staff asked. He shrugged. The escorts' novelty had worn off. Along with the other House Democrats who fled out of state, Lalani faces fines of up to $500 a day for those days away. He and a dozen others also face legal action brought by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued to vacate their seats because of their moves to prevent a House quorum. Lalani returned to his hotel after midnight. By Wednesday morning, he had yet another officer to accompany him back to the Capitol. The man trailed him down the hall, upstairs to the House chamber door. And there, just before 10 a.m., Lalani's shadow finally vanished.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Database for disasters? Texas bill aims to up emergency preparedness in senior living
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Through summer heat and winter storms in recent years, state lawmakers have often weighed how to best keep older Texans safe during power outages. Devastation during Hurricane Beryl in 2024 revived the push for more backup power generation and other emergency preparedness efforts. Dr. Suleman Lalani, D-Sugar Land, said his constituents reported 'heartbreaking' stories about older people 'left completely alone' in independent senior living facilities and complexes during the summer storm. BACKGROUND: Push to require backup generators at senior living facilities after Texas winter storm 'Abandoned by property managers, and the families feeling misled or betrayed,' he told lawmakers on the House Human Services Committee this week. 'Imagine an elderly grandmother on a fixed income, trapped alone on the fourth floor of a building because the elevators no longer worked.' The committee heard testimony on Tuesday about Lalani's proposal to create a statewide database of emergency preparedness plans for senior living complexes. He said he is particularly concerned with independent senior living facilities, which are not regulated by the state in the same way as nursing homes or assisted living but often market to people ages 55 or 65 and older. Protecting seniors in storms: Texas lawmakers eye emergency preparedness after Beryl In an interview last fall about the proposed legislation, now known as HB 863, Lalani told KXAN he believes a database of these health and safety plans could help state and local first responders or emergency management agencies better coordinate their response to these facilities during disasters. 'We are talking about seniors that have disabilities. They have challenges; they have chronic illnesses. We had people with amputations stuck on the third floor. We had people with memory impairment,' he told KXAN at the time. MORE: How many Texas senior living facilities have backup power? HHSC reveals survey results Carmen Tilton, the Vice President of Public Policy at the Texas Assisted Living Association, testified against the bill this week. She said the bill, as written, directs landlords to do more than they legally can or should. She pointed to parts of the Texas Property Code, that regulates landlord-tenant relationships, and said if landlords are providing a certain level of care to older tenants, they would essentially need to be licensed as a long-term care facility and regulated further by the state. 'This is a significant shift in how the Texas legislature has traditionally viewed the relationship between a landlord and a tenant. The expectation in an independent living facility is that the resident is 'independent.' In that independence, it is expected that a resident would manage their own personal needs, even during an emergency event,' she said. PREVIOUS: Some Austin nursing homes, assisted living facilities still without power She also noted concerns about a provision in the bill that would also require these independent facilities to have an emergency generator or another source of backup power. For years, KXAN investigators have followed efforts to require more backup power at places where older people live. Some types of facilities are already required to have a certain amount of backup generation in at least parts of the building, but many previous efforts to increase or expand these requirements have failed. Opponents of these efforts, including Tilton and the association, argue the move is cost-prohibitive and not practical for many smaller homes. In 2022, Tilton told KXAN investigators, 'You can't just put forth this mandate and expect everybody to make it, particularly when some of our providers in rural and underserved communities are just barely hanging on.' RELATED: After Hurricane Beryl, Texas lawmakers push for generators at senior living facilities She reiterated those concerns in Tuesday's hearing about the impact of increased regulation on an already strained supply of facilities to care for Texas' growing older population. Tilton and a representative from LeadingAge both applauded parts of the bill that aimed to improve communication and assistance to these types of locations during disasters. They said their organizations would be open to working with Lalani. The bill's author insisted the state could not 'do nothing.' 'HB 863 is not just a wish or a want. It is a desperate need,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Express Tribune
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Texas passes resolution declaring March 23 as ‘Pakistan Day'
(Left to right) State Representative Dr. Suleman Lalani, Pakistan's Consul General in Texas Muhammad Aftab Chaudhry, and House Speaker Dustin Burrows. Photo Courtesy: Listen to article The Texas House of Representatives has passed a resolution officially recognizing March 23 as "Pakistan Day," marking a historic milestone for the Pakistani-American community in Texas. The resolution, introduced by State Representative Dr. Suleman Lalani, acknowledges the significant contributions of Pakistani Texans in the state's social, religious, linguistic, and economic spheres. Pakistan's Consul General in Texas, Muhammad Aftab Chaudhry, was present to witness the occasion. During the event, he met with House Speaker Dustin Burrows, expressing gratitude for his support in passing the resolution. The Consul General also extended an invitation to Burrows and a delegation of Texas state representatives and business leaders to visit Pakistan, with the aim of strengthening economic and cultural ties between the two regions. Later, Consul General Chaudhry attended an iftar dinner hosted by Representative Lalani at the Texas Capitol. The event, which brought together key legislative members and local dignitaries, celebrated the occasion and promoted further engagement between Texas and Pakistan.
