Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, August 10, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Housing Project For Illegal Aliens Strains Local Resources

• A housing development outside Cleveland, Texas, just north of Houston, is populated primarily by illegal aliens. As Ryan Hughes reports, the development is putting a major strain on local government.
      
• Cleveland ISD is starting the upcoming school year with six new schools and more than 12,400 students—double the student population of just three years ago. The district has hired 1,498 staff members since the 2021-2022 school year.
   
• “Colony Ridge Communities” is a land development project that markets property to illegal aliens through loan loopholes and is one of the largest settlements of illegal aliens in the country. Colony Ridge is partially funded by William Harris, a major donor to Gov. Greg Abbott.

POLL: Texas Republicans Want More Border Barriers

• Just a month after Texas began installing buoy border barriers to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the Mexican border, Republicans overwhelmingly support the program. Soli Rice reports on the findings of a new poll.

         
• The polling firm CWS Research announced yesterday that 69 percent of Republicans want more barriers installed.
       
• The buoy barriers placed in the Rio Grande by the Texas Department of Public Safety have drawn condemnation from Mexico and the Biden administration. Only 9 percent of GOP voters said Abbott should comply with Biden's demand that the barriers be removed.
       
• If a federal judge were to order Texas to remove the barriers, just 17 percent of Republican voters think the state should comply.

Abbott Signs Property Tax Relief Law, But Texans Expected More

• On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a ceremonial signing of the property tax relief measures passed in the second special session of the legislature. As Sydnie Henry reports, the legislation was officially signed into law last month.  
   
• Taxpayer advocates used the bill signing to criticize the governor and other state officials for misrepresenting the size of the tax relief package. 
   
• "Abbott saying this is the largest in history at $18B is deceptive. It’s only $12.7B. It’s sad politicians have to be deceptive for no reason." – Tim Hardin, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
       
• The package is the second largest in state history, and the "$18 billion" number is achieved by double-counting a relief measure passed in 2019.

Second Lawsuit Filed To Block Law Protecting Children

• Earlier this year, the Texas House voted to honor several LGBT groups and designate February 14 as their "day" at the Capitol. Yesterday, many of those same groups filed a lawsuit against the state so that groomers and pedophiles can perform lewd and sexually explicit acts in front of children. Emily Medeiros has the story.
       
• At issue is a new law prohibiting sexually explicit drag performances on public property and in the presence of children.
       
• The ACLU filed suit a week ago. The new lawsuit was filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of a theater group, some individual performers, and several Texas LGBT chambers of commerce.
      
• Those LGBT chambers of commerce were the ones Republican lawmakers were so eager to honor in a resolution pushed by a Democrat lawmaker.

Williamson County Elections Administrator Resigns

• Williamson County Elections Administrator Chris Davis resigned yesterday following an hours-long closed meeting of the county's Election Commission. Erin Anderson will continue covering this late-breaking story as it develops.
         

• According to the meeting agenda, the commission was prepared to accept Davis’ resignation, suspend him with or without pay, or terminate him—suggesting a serious issue with his performance. Davis has been under fire since the 2020 election from residents critical of mistakes made by his office, such as giving voters the wrong ballot styles, as well as Davis’ failure to address their concerns.
         

• But not everyone has been critical of Davis. Williamson County Democrat Party Chair Kim Gilby said during the open portion of the meeting that Davis was fair, transparent, and professional, adding she had “an incredible working relationship” with him.
      

• The commission will meet on Tuesday to discuss appointing an interim elections administrator ahead of the fall elections.

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