Good morning!

Here is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Senate Passes More Measures to Improve Elections

• With just six weeks left in the Texas Legislature’s regular session, Erin Anderson reports the Senate continues passing measures to fix weaknesses in the election process. Meanwhile, the House has yet to advance any election integrity proposals.
      
• The latest measures to pass the Senate include several filed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) in direct response to a string of botched elections in Democrat-controlled Harris County. The county is refusing to release public records from the November 2022 election, which was bungled so badly that it sparked multiple lawsuits and a criminal investigation.
        
• Among the proposals passed by the Senate is a new law increasing penalties for intentionally failing to deliver election supplies to a polling place, obstructing the distribution of election supplies, and revealing election results before polls close. Senators also passed what Bettencourt bragged is "the best voter audit bill in the country."
        
• Only one elections-related measure has made it to the House floor—legislation further regulating political parties. The House Elections Committee has yet to schedule hearings on any Senate bills.

Geren And Phelan Block Effort To Protect Children

• An effort to stop children's hospitals from performing gender mutilation procedures was blocked in the Texas House yesterday by Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) at the request of State Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth). Soli Rice has the full report.
   
• During the debate on legislation creating a new taxpayer-funded grant program for children's hospitals, State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) offered an amendment. He wanted to prohibit the grants from going to institutions performing gender mutilation and sterilization procedures on children.
   
• Geren objected, claiming it was not "germane" to set boundaries around the grant program. Phelan agreed, effectively killing Tinderholt's amendment without lawmakers getting to vote on it.

University Sued for First Amendment Violations

• A lawsuit has been filed against Texas State University, claiming the institution has adopted policies designed to stifle free speech. Emily Wilkerson has the details.
      
• You can imagine who the targets are...
         

• The lawsuit brought by Speech First claims the San Marcos-based university's discrimination policy is so vague it could bar students from using their university email account to send messages about political issues.

       
• “Texas State administrators have created a campus controlled by fear where students are afraid to share their opinions, engage their classmates, or even posit new ideas,” said Cherise Trump, executive director of Speech First. “By violating their students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Texas State claims they’re protecting students. How can Texas State claim to protect students while violating their rights?”

POLL: Republican Voters Oppose Crony-Gambling Push

• As support for casino gambling grows inside the Republican-controlled Texas House, a new poll from Texas Family Project reveals the state’s Republican voters don’t support the movement. Soli Rice has the details.

       
• The Texas Family Project poll of Republican primary voters finds 84 percent believe gambling can be just as addictive as drugs or alcohol. It found only 4 percent of GOP voters have made a bet online and 16 percent have placed a bet at a casino or horse track in the past year. On the other hand, 47 percent of Republican voters told pollsters they did purchase at least one lottery ticket.
       
• Legislation being pushed by the Texas House GOP leadership would create a new state agency that would select eight geographic locations for casinos. At each location, an exclusive "casino" license – free from competition – would be awarded. The licenses would go to multinational corporations like Sands, which has flooded the campaign coffers of establishment lawmakers with cash.
      
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said casino legislation will not be considered unless a majority of Republican senators come out publicly in favor of it.

Substitute Teacher Encouraged Students to Fight in Class

• Mesquite ISD fired a Kimbrough Middle School substitute teacher after a leaked video showed her encouraging students to fight each other during class. Katy Marshall has the story.

       
• A student in the class filmed Natally Garcia, 24, facilitating one-on-one fights between at least four 12- to 13-year-olds last week. Allegedly, Garcia outlined rules for the fights, posted one student at the door as a lookout, and told students to put away their cell phones.
         
• Mesquite ISD called Garcia’s actions “appalling and intolerable.” The student who leaked the video, meanwhile, has been getting death threats from other students.

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Y'All Answered

In yesterday's One Click Survey, we asked readers who seemed to be working harder to advance the priorities of Texas' grassroots Republican activists: Dade Phelan and the House, or Dan Patrick and the Senate. 

Among readers, 97.89 percent believe Patrick and the Senate are working hard, compared to 2.11 percent who believe it is Phelan and the House.

Here is a sampling of the responses from my inbox...

• “People need to stop calling Dale Phelan a Republican.  It’s obvious he’s a RINO.  He needs to NOT be speaker anymore.  I don’t understand the members of the Texas House still voting for him; they should probably be voted out, too.” – Debra Davis
      

• “I live in Dade Phelan's district, and I believe he is an embarrassment.  He needs to push the priorities of the Texas GOP.” – David Barton
      

• “With the accomplishments in the current session of the Texas House of (Mis)Representatives, we might as well send them home and dock 100% of their pay. At least that would save a little bit of taxpayers' money! And, the House's lack of accomplishments is directly related to the poor direction given by Speaker Phelan.” – Harry Hingst 
      

• “The Senate is getting it done. The House is seriously behind. We're going to hear the same old ‘we ran out of time’ excuse again.” – Fran Rhodes
      

• “The House is ignoring the priorities of the Texas voters. They evidently prefer Democrat and Phelan priorities, not those of the people that sent them. But no doubt they will try to gaslight us again at the end of the session and tell us this was the ‘most conservative legislature’ in the history of mankind.” – Scott Jones
      

• “Lately, this seems to happen during every legislative session. The Senate passes a bill that Texans actually WANT, and the House dithers over minutiae. The House needs to get to work and pass SOME meaningful legislation before the special session, which at this point seems inevitable.” – Charlene Roberson
      

• “Speaker Phelan is the poster boy for RINOs. He and the Republicans that voted to make him speaker should be removed from the Legislature. May as well have voted Democrat.” – Truman Reid
      

• “Phelan has done more to promote the liberal agenda and stifle good conservative legislation than any Democrat in the House. The people that elected him as a Republican should be ashamed to have him represent them.” – Glenna Speed
      

• “Don’t be blinded by the light. Most, if not all, of these bills in the Senate have no chance of passing in the House and our Republican senators know it, but that doesn’t stop them from thumping their chests and saying, ‘Look what we did.’  We need ‘REAL’ Republicans in Austin, not RINOs!” – Bill Parks
      

• “Phelan is a Democrat. Enough said.” – Ashton Oravetz III
     

• “If the House Republicans are not going to take the concerns of Republican voters seriously, I for one will not be supporting my representative for re-election, neither in the primary nor general. At this point, I have to ask what would be the difference if my representative is a Democrat. I pray they smarten up – and quickly at that.” – Mike Masterson
      

• “To even suggest that Dan Patrick is helping the grassroots citizens of Texas is malarkey. Patrick and Phelan are one and the same. It’s sickening that of all the states in the Union, Texas can’t get true conservative leaders voted in…” – Dara Richardson
      

• “It has been obvious from the first day of the session that Phelan is a RINO.” – Kerry Caudle
      

• “Our speaker of the House is worthless. Texas can do better than this fool.  He should change his party affiliation to Democrat.” – Corrine Jung
      

• “As long as they keep putting Phelan and the Democrats in charge, the gutless Republicans will not get any priorities accomplished.” – Doreen Cardenas
      

• “It doesn't appear ‘Republican’ Dade Phelan is doing much of anything to advance the Republican Party of Texas agenda. In fact, on day one by appointing DEMs to chair committees, it was a strong signal that he isn’t to be bothered with any Republican ideas whatsoever. He is most definitely a RINO at best, and more than likely a Democrat.” – Eric Knutson
      

• “Dade Phelan is working harder to advance the Democrat legislative priorities while blocking the efforts of the Republican Party.” – Michael Kinzie
      

• “I don’t understand why Dade Phelan has not been censured by the Republican Party. I also am puzzled why he was elected by Republicans to be speaker. Sounds to me like we need to seek out new conservative Republicans to represent us. Everyone who voted for Phelan to be the speaker needs to be voted out of the House.  Why is Dade Phelan allowed to run as a Republican, as it is obvious he is a Democrat?” – Meg Comstock
      

• “Why would the House pass any conservative legislation? Thanks to Phelan and his ‘Republican’ sycophants, the Texas House has never been more blue...” – Jason Kerr

Count Luke Macias Among The Concerned...

• In the latest edition of his show, Luke Macias explains why Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is right to be concerned about the Texas House.

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