Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, May 31, 2023.

– Brandon Waltens 

House Adjourns Special Session, Remains At Odds With Senate on Property Tax Relief

• The first of several special sessions is ending almost as soon as it began, as the House and Senate remain divided on the issue of property tax relief (one of two items on the special session agenda) leading the House to adjourn Sine Die.

• Darrell Frost reports that while House and Senate leadership went back and forth over which strategy for property tax relief would be most effective during the regular session, Gov. Greg Abbott remained particularly silent on the issue.

• Now, he has directed the Legislature to focus “solely” on “reducing the school district maximum compressed tax rate,” or the maximum tax rate school districts can impose on property owners to fund their operating expenses.

• Moving with considerable speed, the Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 1 by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), which would increase the homestead exemption to $100,000 and provide 10 cents (per $100 of appraised value) of tax rate compression, totaling $12.1 billion in property tax relief. 

• When the bill was sent over to the House, however, Phelan said he would not refer it to a committee, as he did not believe it was germane to the governor’s call.

• Instead, the House approved House Bill 1 by State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas), which would reduce the maximum compressed rate by 16.2 cents and provide around $12.4 billion in relief, significantly less than its final $16.3 billion proposal from the regular session.

• That legislation was passed immediately. The House then later adjourned Sine Die, meaning the Senate can take or leave the proposal.

Advocates Ask Abbott to Widen His Special Session Call for Border Security

• Following lawmakers’ failure to pass meaningful border security legislation, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has included border security in his call for a special session of the state Legislature.
   

• Sydnie Henry reports, Abbott specifically asked for “Legislation solely for the purpose of increasing or enhancing the penalties for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house.”
   

• However, according to Texans for Strong Borders President Chris Russo, enhancing penalties for human smuggling alone will not solve the crisis facing our state and nation.
   

• “We applaud Governor Abbott’s call for a special session,” said Russo. “But enhanced penalties on human smuggling alone are not enough to stem the tide of millions of illegal aliens entering our state. We urge him to widen the call to include repelling the invasion at our border, mandating E-Verify for employers, finishing the Texas border wall, and ending taxpayer handouts to illegal aliens. The future of Texas depends on it.”

More Sexually Explicit Material Found in Schools

• Just days after the Texas Legislature passed legislation that would keep sexually explicit books out of school libraries and classrooms, parents are continuing to find books that are sexually explicit and promote transgender ideology on school library shelves. Emily Wilkerson has the story. 

• House Bill 900, also known as the READER Act, would direct the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to adopt standards for school library collections that prohibit harmful, sexually explicit, and other unsuitable materials—which parents are still seeing in their children’s school libraries.

• Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston ISDs have a book available in their libraries called “Let’s Talk About It,” which covers gender, sexuality, and sexting. It also promotes transgender ideology, telling impressionable teens that many people medically change their bodies.

• "'Let’s Talk About It'” is one of the most sexually explicit books I’ve seen. There’s clearly no educational value in a book like this, and it’s concerning that so many districts have it available for students. Pornographic books do not belong in schools." –Kelly Neidert, Protect Texas Kids

Crony Establishment Will Veto Your Vote

• In a new analysis, Michael Quinn Sullivan explains how the Democrat-led impeachment of Ken Paxton represents an escalation in the war on grassroots activism.

Special Election Date Set For Vacant House Seat

• A special election to fill a vacancy in the Texas House is now scheduled, but not in time for the winner to participate in special legislative sessions that are underway now. Erin Anderson has the details. 
   

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that a special election for House District 2 will be held on Tuesday, November 7—the same date as the election to vote on constitutional amendments passed during this year’s regular legislative session.
   

• Disgraced former State Rep. Bryan Slaton, a Republican from Royse City, was expelled from the House on May 9 after an internal investigation found he had provided alcohol to a 19-year-old staff member prior to having sex with her at his apartment, then attempted to cover up the situation.
   

• Seven potential candidates have already announced their intent to run for the vacant seat: Kenneth Neal Barker, Jill Dutton, Heath Enix Hyde, Brent Money, Doug Roszhart, Krista Schild, and David VanTrease.
   

• The candidate filing deadline is September 6. The winner must receive a majority vote, so a runoff is likely.

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