Good morning!

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, June 29, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Special Session, Round 2...

• One day into the new special session, the icy relationship between the Texas House and Senate has not yet thawed after the first special session ended in deadlock. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      
• As a reminder: All legislation constitutionally resets with each special session – requiring votes of the two chambers, according to their processes, to advance legislation.
      
• The House is advancing the same legislation it did in the first special session: putting $12.3 billion toward the compression of school taxes – fulfilling to the letter the call issued by Gov. Greg Abbott. The House has not yet passed their measure for this special session.
      
• The Senate, meanwhile, has. Senators are also sticking to their plan of using the $12.3 billion to compress tax rates and increase the "homestead exemption" so that homeowners get a larger break. In addition, the Senate's tax plan exempts more small businesses from the state's gross margins tax.
       
• Also yesterday, senators unanimously added a $2,000 bonus payment to teachers in urban school districts and $6,000 to rural districts. That has an estimated price tag of $3.2 billion. It was advanced by State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio), who has been rumored to be a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate against Ted Cruz.
     
• The Senate's tax relief and teacher bonus measures were both sent to the House.

House Members Re-file Measure to Eliminate Property Taxes

• The governor's special session call includes his ask for legislation putting the state on a path toward eliminating school property taxes. Emily Medeiros reports two Republican House members have again filed legislation to accomplish that.
       
• State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) has introduced a plan that would abolish school property taxes in five years. Harrison also wants to require any other entity that levies property taxes to get 60 percent approval from voters.
      
• State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park) is promoting his plan that would reduce the tax more slowly.

MILLER: "They Blew It."

• In a new commentary, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller explains his frustrations with the Texas Legislature and why he is going on a "RINO hunt."
   
• "I’m on the side of the millions of Texans that voted for reforms only to be laughed at by lying politicians that manipulated them for votes and power." – Sid Miller

City Rejects Appraisal District Budget

• City officials in Corsicana rejected the Navarro County appraisal district’s proposed 2024 budget, saying doing so would reward poor government performance. Erin Anderson reports the city council wants other local jurisdictions to join them in fighting the appraisal district.
    
• The Navarro Central Appraisal District has proposed increasing its 2024 budget by 15 percent over last year.
      
• “Not only does this budget increase the size of government and their ability to collect citizens’ data, it uses our tax dollars to reward poor government performance,” said Corsicana City Councilmember Chris Woolsey. “This year’s Appraisal District budget spends carelessly and recklessly, and they want to stick you with the bill.”

Fort Worth School Requires Choir Participation According to Biological Sex

• In the face of LGBT activists demanding that gender-confused girls be allowed to sing in the boys choir, the board of directors at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts has decided that participation will remain based on biological sex. Sydnie Henry has the story.
   
• Following a vote of 4-2, the charter school will now require proof of biological sex, as marked on birth certificates, when students join the choirs.
   
• Fort Worth activist Carlos Turcios took to social media to declare the action a “major win for parents,” adding that the “artificially created transgender ideology has no place in our schools!”

Parents Protest ‘Filthy’ Books in New Braunfels Library

• Local and school librarians continue to use their profession to ramp up LGBT activism around Texas, reports Valerie Muñoz.
      

• Concerned parents recently met at a New Braunfels City Council meeting to read excerpts from pornographic books that the local public library highlighted for minors during “Pride Month.”

Far-Left DEM Brags About His Leadership Position In Campaign Push

• In a fundraising email, a far-left Democrat placed in leadership by House Speaker Dade Phelan says his chairmanship within the Republican-led Legislature will help him be re-elected to office. Soli Rice has the story.
        
• State Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) has been serving in the House since 2009 and has been a top lieutenant for Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont. Moody was Phelan's choice to be the number two official in the House in 2021, a position he had to give up following the Democrats' failed quorum bust.
       
• But Phelan has kept Moody in leadership, appointing the Democrat to chair the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.
      
• “I’m in the unique position of having a significant leadership role despite being in the minority party,” Moody bragged in his re-election announcement.
      
• State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R–Arlington) acknowledged Moody’s place of leadership. “He’s telling the truth. Establishment Republicans continue to put far-left Democrats in leadership positions in the Texas House. It’s no wonder Republican priorities keep dying.”

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