Good morning,

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

The Texas Heist

• We are excited to present our new full-length documentary, "The Texas Heist."
       
• For months, Texans have been asking, "Who runs the Texas House?" They point to a GOP-dominated chamber that nonetheless fails to deliver on key conservative reforms. They express frustration that of those that get passed, many are watered down, while others take an unnecessarily long time to get across the finish line.
        
• The documentary looks at how Texas reached this place politically, who is responsible, and what can be done about it.

• Please share "The Texas Heist" with your family, friends, and neighbors!

Watch this documentary, and the rest of Texas Scorecard's video programs, for free on Roku and Apple TV devices!

Judge: Texas’ Tuition Discount Encourages Illegal Immigration

• As Texas continues offering discounted in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens, Brandon Waltens reports that a federal appellate judge is calling the policy “a flagrant violation of federal law.”
   
• For more than 20 years, illegal aliens living in Texas have been allowed to attend public universities and pay “in-state tuition,” a discounted rate otherwise reserved for Texas citizens.
      
• The policy was challenged in a lawsuit led by the Texas Public Policy Foundation against the University of North Texas on behalf of Young Conservatives of Texas. While a federal judge overturned UNT’s in-state tuition policy last year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision last month. This week, the full court voted not to reconsider the decision. Judge James Ho was the sole dissent.
      
• “Our national objectives are undercut when states encourage illegal entry into the United States,” said Ho. “Put simply, states can’t treat illegal aliens better than they treat U.S. citizens. Yet that’s undeniably what Texas law does.”

School Libraries Closed to Check for Explicit Materials

• As the new school year begins, Fort Worth Independent School District is closing all school libraries until August 25 to ensure all materials contained within are suitable for student consumption. Sydnie Henry has the details.

           
• Following months of parental outrage over sexually-explicit materials in student libraries, the Texas Legislature passed a measure prohibiting school libraries from housing materials that are sexually explicit, vulgar, or educationally unsuitable. 
      
• A FWISD spokesman told Texas Scorecard librarians returned last week and “received training… so we can be in compliance" with the new law.

🇨🇳 Red Threat: Special Interests

• Chinese Communist Party groups are lobbying Americans’ and Texans’ public servants for policy outcomes that benefit the CCP.
       
• In the latest installment of a week-long series, Kristen Stanciu explores the extent to which the CCP has been allowed to exploit lobbying efforts and other international initiatives to undermine the Lone Star State.

Your Texas Lawmakers

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