Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Monday, May 29, 2023.

– Brandon Waltens 

Lawmakers Leave with Unfinished Priorities

• Texas lawmakers have officially gaveled out “Sine Die,” ending the 88th Legislative Session Monday evening. Sydnie Henry has the report
   

• During the 140-day session, several conservative priorities were passed, but many more remain undone, with school choice—a priority of Gov. Greg Abbott—being one. 
   

• Mere hours following the conclusion of the regular legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the start of a special legislative session on property tax relief and border security
   

• “Many critical items remain that must be passed. Several special sessions will be required. To ensure that each priority receives the time and attention it deserves to pass into law, only a few will be added each session,” said Abbott, indicating that multiple special sessions will be required

Phelan's Popularity Plummets Following Lackluster Session

• Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s popularity in his district has taken a dive following the Legislature’s failures to address priority issues.
   

• A poll of Republican voters in Phelan’s legislative district commissioned by the Defend Texas Liberty PAC shows that 48 percent would vote for a conservative challenger to the speaker, with only 24 percent saying they would stick with Phelan. 29 percent said they were unsure.
   

• This is a massive shift from polling taken in January at the start of the legislative session, when 40 percent said they would support Phelan and 34 percent said they would vote for a conservative challenger. 26 percent said they were unsure.
   

• The drop in popularity comes at the conclusion of a legislative session where Phelan has antagonized conservative voters by appointing Democrats to lead powerful House committees while failing to pass legislation on a variety of key issues such as banning Chinese ownership of Texas land, universal school choice, and border security.

Trump Says Abbott is ‘Missing in Action’

• Following the Texas House’s vote to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, former President Donald Trump is calling out Gov. Greg Abbott for being “missing in action” over the impeachment. Emily Wilkerson has the details. 

• On Saturday, the House voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton over disputed charges of misapplication of public resources, bribery, obstruction of justice, abuse of public trust, and disregard of official duties.

• Trump took to Truth Social after the impeachment—a social media platform he created after he was banned from Twitter—asking where Abbott was during the impeachment.

• Meanwhile, Paxton was suspended from his duties and the matter was sent to the Senate, where two-thirds of the senators would have to convict him in order for him to be removed from office.

UT Austin Labels Conservative Media Outlets as ‘Disinformation'

• A taxpayer-funded Texas university is facing criticism for labeling conservative media outlets as “disinformation.” Katy Marshall has the story. 
   
• The University of Texas at Austin’s Global Disinformation Lab created a report for the Global Disinformation Index rating different news sources for their reliability.
   

• The report listed 10 conservative media outlets as the “riskiest” disinformation sites: American Spectator, Newsmax, The Federalist, American Conservative, One America News, The Blaze, The Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, Reason, and the New York Post.
   

• Unsurprisingly, the 10 “least risky” sites were all left-leaning.
   

• The University of Texas at Austin is a public university overseen by the University of Texas System’s Board of Regents. Led by Chairman Kevin Eltife, all board members were appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.

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