Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Modify your email preferences.

• “Socialism destroys nations, but always remember freedom unifies the soul.” – President Donald Trump, during his State of the Union address last night
   
• Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has endorsed Ryan Sitton for reelection to the Texas Railroad Commission. A Texas A&M-educated engineer and small business owner, Sitton was elected to the Railroad Commission in 2014.
     
• “Ryan Sitton knows that the state’s economy grows the most when government stays out of the way, and we are proud to endorse him for re-election to the Railroad Commission.” – Ross Kecseg
      
• As Cary Cheshire notes, the Texas Railroad Commission is the state’s oldest regulatory agency, overseeing the state’s oil, gas, and mining industries. Despite the name, it ceased regulating railroads more than a decade ago. Given its importance to the state’s economy, the commission is comprised of three members elected statewide on staggered six-year terms.
     
• In the first of a series of candidate profiles, Matt Stringer chats with J. Ross Lacy about his bid to represent Texas’ 11th Congressional District. The west Texas seat’s incumbent, Mike Conway of Midland, previously announced he wasn’t seeking re-election and created a multi-candidate primary. Lacy comes into the race with a professional background in oil and gas, and service on the Midland City Council.
        
• At an event this week U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) was asked about her campaign’s new claims of now being pro-life, when in the past she had described herself in media interviews as “pro-choice.” Parker County Conservatives posted the audio of her convoluted answer, which only muddied the water. She can be heard telling the audience that her record is “strongly pro-choice.”
      
• Either Rep. Granger doesn’t know what her position currently is... or, maybe worse, she doesn’t care and is saying anything to hold on to power.
      
• Our friends at Direct Action Texas are reporting that Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls may have violated federal campaign laws in his campaign for an open U.S. House seat. Nehls is running in the crowded CD22 GOP field, and stands accused in a complaint before the Federal Elections Commission of transferring money from his nonfederal campaign account to his federal committee.
     
• Why does it matter? Texas doesn’t have the campaign contribution limits for state and local offices that exist for federal candidates. Therefore, transferring funds from a Texas campaign account to a federal campaign account is strictly forbidden under federal law.
      
• As DAT explains it, Nehls’ alleged transfer of money from a “non-federal account to his federal account has the effect of allowing donors to bust contribution limits if they have given to both campaigns.”

• For Texas Scorecard’s newly launched Life section, Jacob Asmussen writes about the most recent Bible study topic tackled by the Empower Texans staff: having the courage to choose the truth.

Your Federal & State Lawmakers