Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, April 6, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

📺 Budget Day In The Texas House

• Members of the Texas House will have an opportunity today to take their shot at shaping the state's biennial budget. You can watch the House floor budget debate in real time by downloading the free Texas Scorecard app on Roku or Apple TV devices.
      
• As an aside, the team at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is also going to be providing live coverage on their website of the House budget debate – offering insight into the jargon-laced and procedure-heavy process. Things get underway there at 10:30 a.m.

Senate Passes Ban On Drag Shows Targeting Children

• On Wednesday, lawmakers in the Texas Senate approved a ban on drag shows targeting children. As Syndie Henry reports, the Texas attorney general is authorized by the proposal to sue any business or entity that violates the law.
      
• Authored by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), Senate Bill 12 is a legislative priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Republican Party of Texas. It was adopted by a vote of 20-11.
      
• “I will not allow Texas children to be sexualized and scarred for life by harmful drag performances.” – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
      
• Senators also approved legislation prohibiting "drag queen story hour" programs from taking place at public libraries receiving state funds.
     
• Both these measures face an uncertain future in the Texas House, where the Republican leadership has seemed reluctant to advance GOP-driven initiatives.
       

• For all the left-wingers defending these grotesque drag performances, no one has explained WHY they feel the compulsion to dance provocatively in front of children.

Nikki Haley Aligns With Disgraced Texas Congressman

• Polling in the single digits, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley revealed her complete ignorance of – or, perhaps, contempt for – Texas GOP voters by aligning herself with disgraced U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who has been censured by the Republican Party of Texas for regularly aligning with Democrats. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      

• On a trip to South Texas this week, Haley called Gonzales the “Border King,” saying no one understands the border more than him. Ironically, Gonzales was formally censured by the Texas GOP last month in part for his opposition to border security efforts.
       

• If Mr. Gonzales is the "border king," then Mrs. Haley must be angling to be the Queen of Bidentopia...

Medical License Restored For Doctor Who Defied Mask Mandate

• After he refused to abide by Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID-era mask mandate in 2020, the Texas Medical Board recently indefinitely suspended the license of Dr. Eric Hensen. Now, following public outrage at the decision, TMB has reinstated his license.

      
• Note: Every member of the Texas Medical Board is appointed to the position by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.
     
• Dr. Eric Hensen, an ear, nose, and throat doctor in Palestine, has been fighting the TMB for years over the mask mandate policy. When the TMB suspended his license last month, Hensen said he would sue.
      

• Hensen's lawyer said plans for the lawsuit against TMB are still going forward, targeting “the board members responsible for this outrageous tyranny.”

Houston Teacher Caught Smuggling Illegal Aliens

• An eighth-grade science teacher faces felony charges of human smuggling after he was caught driving illegal aliens from the Texas-Mexico border toward Houston. Erin Anderson has the story.

     
• Law enforcement authorities in Kinney County stopped a car driven by Brandan Alexis Gracia in a “very hot spot for human smuggling.” Inside the car, deputies allege they found four illegal aliens, including two young women.
       
• Deputies said Gracia is employed as a teacher by Houston ISD, but his LinkedIn page shows he claims to work for KIPP Texas Public Schools in Houston.

Dallas Teacher Charged With 'Improper Relationship' With Student

• A teacher at Dallas' Bryan Adams High School has been arrested for allegedly carrying on an “improper relationship” with a student. As Katy Marshall reports, that charge is a second-degree felony.
       

• Qasim Frazier, 38, is a teacher at Bryan Adams High School. Parents say they have not heard anything about the situation from the school district.

Judge Admonishes Defense Lawyers Working 'Operation Lone Star'

• A Texas judge hearing cases from Operation Lone Star is frustrated with the “willy-nilly” handling of legal paperwork. Operation Lone Star is Texas’ ongoing multibillion-dollar border security effort to intercept illegal aliens and charge them with criminal trespassing. As Sydnie Henry reports, there have been significant challenges in its court cases. 
       
• The state is obligated to provide lawyers for illegal aliens charged with criminal matters when they are found to be indigent (unable to afford legal representation).
     
• However, some of the lawyers assigned by the Lubbock Private Defenders Office—the organization tasked with assigning attorneys to defend illegal aliens in criminal cases—have failed to appear in court. Afterwards, LPDO appointed new lawyers... without the consent of the court.
      
• Judge Penny Roberts said that although LPDO has the authority to appoint counsel under a Supreme Court order, they do not have the authority to reassign counsel without also providing the necessary paperwork to the court. "That’s how it works under the rules."

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