Good morning, 

Forgive me if I've mentioned this before, but Texas Scorecard offers a growing library of shows and podcasts – including my own Texas Minute podcast. Find the current line-up below.

But first... Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Republican Scuttles Election Integrity Priority Legislation

• A high-profile piece of election integrity legislation is all but dead in the Texas House, with less than two weeks left in the legislative session. And, as Brandon Waltens reports, it was killed at the hands of the legislator who was promoting it.
        

• The legislation effectively bars Texas from participating in a controversial voter roll interstate crosscheck program, known as ERIC, by setting new cost limits and security requirements for any program used by the state. Texas law requires the state to participate in a crosscheck program, but some GOP officials and election integrity advocates want the state to withdraw from ERIC due to concerns about the program’s costs, data security, and possible partisan access to voter data.

          
• The legislation moved swiftly through the Texas Senate, but progress lagged in the House.
     
• When the measure finally came up on the calendar yesterday, State Rep. Jacey Jetton (R–Richmond), the legislation's House sponsor, prepared to explain the bill. Almost immediately, State Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D–Dallas) raised an objection on procedural grounds—claiming that the bill analysis was inaccurate.
      
• Rather than fight, Jetton wilted like a fragile flower in the Texas heat.
     
• Jetton postponed consideration of the legislation until after the end of the legislative session, thereby killing it.
      

• Significantly, Jetton’s action saved House Speaker Dade Phelan from having to issue an actual ruling on the Democrat's objection. Had Phelan agreed with the objection, the legislation would have been sent back to the House Elections Committee where it still could have been possible—albeit within a tight timeline—to be brought back on the calendar in time for a vote later this week. Just as important, Jetton's action prevented his fellow Republican members from exercising their right to overrule a bad ruling by Phelan.
        

• Jetton allowed the Democrats to kill important legislation without giving voters the courtesy of an actual debate and a record vote.

Media 'Witness' Called 'Not Credible' By Police

• In the aftermath of the horrible events in Allen earlier this month, a self-described gun-lover and former Army officer became a breathless media star advocating for gun control as he described being the "first on the scene." Soli Rice has the details.
      
• McKinney resident Steven Spainhouer told MSNBC: “I don’t know what the gunman’s problem was, but it wasn’t mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets.” 
       
• Allen police have labeled Spainhouer's media interviews as "not credible." While his interviews described in gory detail his allegedly heroic actions, police say it is not accurate.
       
• According to Allen police reports, Spainhouer “did not perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or administer first aid,” nor did he “move a deceased mother who was covering a live child.” (All of which he claimed in various interviews.)
        
• Spainhouer responded to APD’s statement on Facebook, saying he had seen it and was “hurt and disappointed.”
      
• According to voting records, F. Steven Spainhouer of McKinney has voted in Democrat primaries since at least 2014, including last year.

E-Verify Stuck in Texas Senate

• Despite illegal aliens continuing to cross the state’s southern border in record numbers, the Texas Senate has yet to act on a proposal that advocates say would drastically limit a major incentive for illegal immigration. Darrell Frost reports a few Republican senators are blocking legislation requiring Texas businesses to participate in the "E-Verify" employment verification program.
       
• Senate Bill 1621 by State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R–Brenham) would mandate the use of E-Verify for all employers in Texas. Currently, Texas state agencies and public institutions of higher education must use E-Verify. 
      
• When the legislation passed out of the Business and Commerce Committee, State Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) voted with Democrats in opposing it.
       
• Now, the legislation is reportedly being blocked from full Senate consideration by one or more Republican senators.
      
• Chris Russo of Texans for Strong Borders said getting the legislation out of the Senate quickly would put pressure on the House to pass the measure and get it to the governor for enactment. The 88th Legislative Session ends May 29.

San Antonio Teacher/Coach Arrested For Having Sex With A Student

• Police have arrested a teacher and coach at Northside Independent School District in San Antonio following reports she was engaged in a sexual relationship with a female student. As Erin Anderson reports, this is only the most recent Texas public school educator charged with a sex crime involving a student.

       
• Stephanie Woods, 28, a biology teacher as well as a basketball and tennis coach at Warren High School, has been charged with having an improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
       
• The illegal sexual relationship between the teacher and student was reportedly first exposed by a friend of the victim telling a therapist, who then notified the police. When police interviewed the victim, the girl admitted spending the night at the teacher’s home multiple times beginning in December, when she was 17 years old. The girl said she lied to her parents about where she was going.
       
• Woods was released from Bexar County Jail on a $50,000 bond and ordered to stay away from minor children and social media. State records show her teacher certification is currently listed as valid.

Legislation Advances Protecting Children From Porn

• Legislation protecting Texas children from online pornography has been unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on State Affairs, moving the measure closer to becoming law.
      

• The measure requires sites showing sexually explicit content to verify users are at least 18 years of age and makes manufacturers of devices used to view the sites activate porn-filtering technology.
      

• Other states have already enacted age verification for online porn. Earlier this month, Pornhub blocked all Utah residents from accessing its XXX-rated site in response to that state’s law.
      

• GOOD! That's a win for decency.

White Republican Male Now Identifies As A 'Woman Of Color'

• In a recent episode of his podcast, Chris Salcedo visits with Ryan Webb, a male Republican from Indiana who decided last month to identify as “a woman of color.”
      
• Webb's point, of course, is to highlight the insanity of the "trans" movement.

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