Good morning,

Today's Texas Minute has the results of yesterday's question to readers about using eminent domain for building a border wall.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 

SPECIAL SERIES: Corrupting Texas Education

• A special investigative series will launch at noon today at Texas Scorecard titled "Corrupting Texas Education." The series examines how public officials in education have given influence and decision-making power to radical-left nonprofits – and the impact it has had on students.
     
• The first article will explore the impact of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Texas schools.

Majority of Texas House Support Corporate Welfare

• The GOP-dominated Texas House cannot seem to get behind conservatives' priorities, but they are all-in for corporate welfare.
       

• With the Texas Legislature heading into the final month of the legislative session, a majority of lawmakers in the Texas House have indicated their support for reviving a controversial corporate welfare program. Brandon Waltens has the details.

        
• For many years, Chapter 313 of the state's tax code allowed school districts to offer large tax breaks to unreliable energy and other businesses—including the wind farms that famously failed Texans during the winter storm of 2021. The tax breaks came at no loss to the school districts' revenues. Instead, the state supplemented the lost revenue to the districts from sales taxes and other state-collected taxes.
        
• Although the Chapter 313 program expired at the end of 2022, Texas lawmakers are looking to replace it, despite criticism from the right and left. Both the Republican Party of Texas and the Democrat Party of Texas called for the abolition of Chapter 313 abatements in their party platforms.
       
• House Bill 5 by State Rep. Todd Hunter (R–Corpus Christi) seeks to bring the program back under the name “The Texas Jobs and Security Act.”
      
• The corporate welfare program was named a legislative priority of House Speaker Dade Phelan. Now, a majority of members of the chamber—76 Republicans and Democrats—have signaled their support for the bill by signing on as co-authors.
       
• The program's future in the Senate, however, is much less certain. No identical bill has been filed in the upper chamber, and senators have generally expressed concern with the structure of "313" style programs.

Texas Senate Votes To Restore Prayer In Government Schools

• Under legislation passed by the Texas Senate, voluntary prayer and scripture reading would be legalized in public schools. Emily Wilkerson has the story.
       
• A proposal by State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) would require the trustees of school districts and charter schools to have a record vote on adopting “a policy requiring every campus of the district or school to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day.”
      

• Middleton said his legislation would not force students to participate in prayer or Bible reading and would require parents or guardians to sign a consent form to allow their student to participate. The time allotted for Bible reading and prayer cannot be substituted for instructional class time.

        
• “Our schools are not God-free zones.” – State Sen. Mayes Middleton

Lawmakers Would Block Universities From Energy Boycotts 

• Texas lawmakers are considering a measure that would prohibit Texas’ university funds from investing with companies that boycott Texas energy.
      

• As Sydnie Henry reports, two years ago the Legislature prohibited other state agencies from investing with financial companies that boycott companies that work in oil and natural gas.

        
• Legislation in the House and Senate would extend that prohibition to higher education.
       
• “Texas is the top crude oil and natural gas producing state in the nation, accounting for 43 percent of the nation’s crude oil production and 25 percent of its market in natural gas production,” said State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock). “Oil and natural gas represents nearly a third of Texas’ GDP and funds more than 10 percent of the state’s budget.”
      
• Under the banner of leftwing "Environmental, Social, and Governance" standards, some financial firms have been boycotting investments in oil and natural gas. 
       
• Chase Martin of the Opportunity Solutions Project told lawmakers that “ESG is a practice that lines the pockets of political operatives at the expense of Texas’ prosperity.”

Family Group Targets Crony Gambling Push

• The Texas Family Project has released an ad condemning efforts to legalize gambling now that the issue has gained traction in the state House. As Katy Marshall explains, the ad is being run in the home district of House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
      
• The ad features Bill Zelder, a former state representative from Tarrant County, who connects casino gambling with higher crime rates, increased welfare spending, and “more cash for Democrats to turn Texas blue.”

Classroom Employee Charged With ‘Improper Relationship’ With A Student

• Ennis Hernandez, 66, a Life Skills in-class support paraprofessional at Cypress Falls High School, is accused of inappropriately touching one of his 17-year-old female students several times over the span of five months. Soli Rice has the story. 

       
• According to court documents, the student informed school officials she was touched by Hernandez on her breast and genital areas, as well as her legs, back, and face, from September 2022 through February 2023. The victim alleged that, on occasion, Hernandez would ask her to touch him “down there.” Hernandez has denied the claim.
      

• The student claims Hernandez showed her several obscene pictures of himself, including one completely nude photo and another where he was almost entirely nude. Hernandez allegedly asked the teen to take a picture of herself with no clothes on after getting out of a shower.
      

• During a consensual forensic search of Hernandez's cellphone, investigators discovered several completely nude images of him, as well as images of him showing his bare genitals. Investigators said they found images matching the descriptions given by the victim.

School District Wants To Double Its Debt With Billion-dollar Bond

• With early voting underway in local elections across Texas, school districts are asking voters to approve a total of $25 billion in debt-financed spending that would be repaid by taxpayers through higher property tax burdens. In Fort Bend Independent School District alone, voters are being asked to approve $1.26 billion in new bond debt – all of which would have to be repaid with local property taxes.

       

• As Erin Anderson reports, the Fort Bend ISD's $1.26 billion bond package would actually cost local property taxpayers $2.6 billion when interest is included.

      
• Fort Bend ISD (and therefore its taxpayers) already owe $2.3 billion in outstanding debt principal and interest.
      
• Early voting in all the state's bond elections is underway now and continues through Tuesday, May 2. Election Day is Saturday, May 6.

Y'All Answered

State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) has proposed legislation allowing Texas to exercise its powers of "eminent domain" to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

In yesterday's One Click Survey, we asked readers if they agreed with the senator's proposal; 78.3 percent agreed with using eminent domain to build the wall, while 21.7 percent did not.

Here is a sampling of the responses I received.

• “I do not like the use of eminent domain when taking control and ownership of another person’s property. However, with the invasion of illegal aliens entering through Texas and the lack of the federal government doing its job of finishing a border wall, I support the use of eminent domain as long as the wall is obtained and built as close to the border without destroying landowners livelihood and that they are paid well for their property.” – Lane Burgess
      

• “Eminent domain is overused and abused.  Securing the border is not worth taking away people's property.  If they can't see the value of the security of the border, they can live with the consequences.” – Laura Morton
     

• "The use of 'eminent domain' should be very limited, but I feel that this would be one of the few legitimate reasons to enable land purchase.  Our borders are being overwhelmed by illegal immigrants and drugs due to current federal government policies. Land along the southern border is being trashed, fences are being damaged, and residents are threatened and intimidated by the 'coyotes.' Ranchers there should be grateful for any efforts to curb this." – Arthur McLean
      

• “The government's job is to protect the border, not confiscate private land that butts up against it.” – Michael Bow
     

• “If cities can use eminent domain to take away private property to allow private developers to build shopping/apartment complexes (yes, this did happen to my husband and me in Cedar Park, Texas!), then the state should be allowed to use eminent domain to build a border wall to try to keep the United States and American citizens safe!!  It truly frightens me what is happening to our country.” – Liz Bell
      

• “Eminent domain should only be used as a last resort when there are absolutely no other alternatives.” – Oliver Coker
      

• “While I think a border wall is necessary, I feel eminent domain can be a slippery slope. I have never thought the government should have the authority to take something just because it can, even though the acquisition is 'for the greater good'… greater good for whom?” – Camila Hobson
      

• “I do think it is okay to use eminent domain for the border wall provided that the land used has already been spoiled by the immigrants trooping through it and making it unusable by the landowner.” – Virginia Platt
      

• “Protection of the border is the most important reason the Founders provided for eminent domain.  It is intended to provide the necessary resources – specifically land – to protect against foreign invaders.  To authorize and execute eminent domain in this case and at this time is precisely what is needed.” – Roger Taylor
      

• “Eminent domain is the worst use of government powers and should be abolished immediately!” – Dara Richardson
     

• “I am a major proponent of a border wall; 100% support it. But, eminent domain is not the tool to get it done. I am against eminent domain because it is too often abused, and to support it in some cases and not others is inconsistent.” – Jason Ogrin 
      

• “Yes to eminent domain; there is a crisis on the border.” – Lisa Buck
     

• “If we give Texas eminent domain on the border, they won't stop there.” – Ken and Lisa Kalies
     

• “Securing the border is an appropriate use of eminent domain. It is not possible to complete without the option of eminent domain.” – Tom Bartel
     

• “Eminent domain is evil and should be banned entirely. We should not use it just because it gets us what we want.” – Jim Baxa
     

• “I can hardly think of a better use of eminent domain than our national security.” – Tim Rhodes
     

• “Eminent domain is only to be used when it is in the best interest of the public, and certainly, this is in the best interest of our law-abiding citizens.” – Sam Bridges
      

• “An invasion is going on, and it must be stopped!” – Ann Pavalock
      

• “Not NO, but HELL NO!  Eminent domain is forever - a fence is not.  The state should lease the property from the owners at fair market value for a fixed time period, after which the lease must be renewed.  The owner should retain full use of the property during the lease while the state is provided limited access.” – Bill Parks
     

• “I'm not usually a proponent for the use of eminent domain. It can easily be abused, and property rights are a very important part of our state values. But the border issue has become an emergency situation that has become a war against our state and country and is an extreme case.” – Patricia Stone
     

• “Without eminent domain to build the border wall, you could have cartels buy land on the border and refuse to permit the wall, and the open border goes on forever!” – Dallas Bingley
      

• “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Clearly, a border invasion meets this criterion. Additionally, it is highly unlikely that the Chinese owners of Texas border property will willingly give up their strategic advantage.” – David Clark
       

• “If 'eminent domain' can be used to build a road across your property, why not use it, to build a barrier, to prevent the invasion of our country!” – John R. Makow

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