Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Attorney General Paxton Calls on Speaker Phelan to Resign

• Texas’ top lawyer says House Speaker Dade Phelan needs to resign after being in a state of “​​apparent debilitating intoxication” while presiding over the House. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       

• The comments from Attorney General Ken Paxton came in reference to a viral video that circulated on social media over the weekend showing Phelan slurring words and acting in a manner that some allege is consistent with intoxication.
      
• “After much consideration, it is with profound disappointment that I call on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign at the end of this legislative session. Texans were dismayed to witness his performance presiding over the Texas House in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication,” said Paxton.
      
• Paxton has called on the House General Investigating Committee to open an investigation into Phelan for “violation of House rules, state law, and for conduct unbecoming of his position.”
      
• All of this happened at the same time, literally, on Tuesday afternoon when the General Investigating Committee announced it was looking into the details surrounding a legal settlement reached between several former top-level A.G. staff who had been fired two years ago. 

Public School Administrators Admit to Ignoring CRT Ban

• Although state law bans Texas public school officials from teaching critical race theory, a new video shows administrators from several Dallas-area districts admitting to infusing the curriculum with racist ideology. Katy Marshall has the story.
      
• During Texas’ 2021 legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 3979, which was designed to prevent teachers from utilizing critical race theory and prohibits teaching that one race or sex is inherently superior to another.
      
• Despite the prohibition on CRT, a new video from Accuracy in Media depicts several school administrators saying they are ignoring the ban.
      
• And then there is Keller ISD’s Advanced Academic Coordinator Donna Hodge, who said her district simply renamed its curriculum so as to avoid violating the CRT ban.

House Lawmakers Reject Ban on College Faculty Tenure

• While the Texas Senate passed legislation removing tenure for new faculty at the state's public universities, members of the Texas House instead approved a drastically rewritten version that implements restrictions on the practice. As Sydnie Henry reports, the vastly different versions of the legislation must be reconciled by the two chambers.

Consequences For Educators Who Expose Kids to ‘Harmful’ Material

• While it is already a crime to sell, distribute, or display “patently offensive” sexually explicit materials to minors, legislation approved by the Texas House and Senate for the first time adds consequences for educators who do it. Erin Anderson has the details.
      
• House Bill 4520 by State Rep. Cody Harris (R–Palestine) adds exposing minors to harmful material to the list of crimes that require the state to revoke an educator’s teaching certificate. Additionally, educators convicted of, or receiving deferred adjudication for, the crime will also be disqualified from receiving benefits from the Teacher Retirement System.
       
• Left-wing school librarians opposed the legislation, claiming it would "criminalize" their profession.
      

• The House passed HB 4520 earlier this month with a near-unanimous bipartisan vote, and the Senate approved it earlier this week. It now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott for his consideration.

House Approves Election Security Measures

• Three measures to make elections more secure were approved in the Texas House on Tuesday, the deadline for the chamber to approve Senate legislation.

        
• One of those would, effectively, require Texas to withdraw from a costly interstate voter registration crosscheck program. Another would give the Texas secretary of state administrative oversight of county elections offices where recurring problems are identified.
      
• Others, however, died – including a measure allowing election crimes to be prosecuted in adjoining counties or judicial districts.

Investigative Series: Destroying Souls

• Check out the new Texas Scorecard investigative series titled Destroying Souls. The series is taking a painful look at sex trafficking in the Lone Star State.
      

• Part 1 explored the history of sex slavery in Texas. Part 2 examined how the government's response to the Chinese coronavirus hindered programs trying to address sex slavery.
     

• At noon today, Part 3 will explore the latest efforts to take on the sex slavery crisis.

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