Good morning,

Closing out the week, Michael Quinn Sullivan calls on voters to look past the political packaging if we are to advance liberty.

You'll find that at the conclusion of today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens
Friday, Sept. 1, 2023

Texas Agencies Charge Thousands of Dollars for Transparency

• State agencies across Texas are attempting to charge exorbitant amounts of money in exchange for documents relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
   

• Soli Rice explains how a recent investigation into the Texas Department of Transportation led Texas Scorecard to discover leftist ideologies within state agencies. The agency has promoted “preferred” pronouns within government email signatures, taxpayer-funded inclusivity training and DEI classes, and segregated employee resource groups.
   

• This prompted Texas Scorecard to launch more investigations into taxpayer-funded agencies across the state. 
   

• While some handed over their documents, others have demanded large amounts of money to provide them. The Texas Department of State Health Services wants a payment of $2,048 for the requested documents. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice wants $4,842.
   

• Taking the cake, however, was the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which has demanded $48,500 for the records. 
   

• Texas Scorecard will continue our investigation into these agencies in the coming weeks. 

Texas Court of Appeals to Consider New Law on Regulatory Certainty 

• After a Travis County district judge declared a new law reining in local regulations unconstitutional, the Office of the Texas Attorney General has filed an appeal. Lawyers familiar with the case expect it to ultimately reach the Texas Supreme Court. Emily Medeiros has the details. 
   
• House Bill 2127 by State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock) is also known as the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act. The law attempts to provide consistency by returning sovereign regulatory powers to the state in light of the patchwork of local regulations in place across Texas. It works by declaring local ordinances that are inconsistent with state law invalid.
   
• On Wednesday, District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble declared the law unconstitutional. With the Office of the Attorney General appealing, however, the law is still set to go into effect today.
   
• "Gamble’s ruling will exist only as persuasive authority for other courts until it is reviewed by the Austin Court of Appeals and is likely reviewed, ultimately, by the Texas Supreme Court,” said central Texas attorney Tony McDonald. “Only the Texas Supreme Court can give final approval to a decision binding courts across the state.”

Lawmaker Faces Trial Over Allegedly ‘Stolen’ Donations to Police Charity

• A Texas lawmaker is facing more legal trouble as a trial approaches, over accusations that the Dallas police union charity he headed took money intended for families of fallen officers. Erin Anderson has the report. 
   

• Freshman State Rep. Frederick Frazier (R–McKinney) works for the Dallas Police Department, but has been on administrative leave since last June. That’s when Frazier was charged with two felony counts of impersonating a public servant, which are tied to campaign sign shenanigans during the 2022 Republican primary.
   

• In 2017, Frazier was sued by Dallas Police Department Detective Katrina Ahrens, the widow of Dallas PD Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens—one of the five officers killed in the 2016 downtown Dallas sniper attack. Ahrens’ lawsuit accuses Frazier and other leaders of the Dallas Police Association's charitable foundation Assist The Officer (ATO) of stealing donations meant specifically for the families of the five slain officers.
   

• Frazier chaired the ATO at the time and is currently vice chairman of the organization.
   

• The trial over the stolen money is scheduled for October 23. Frazier has denied the allegations. 

Austin City Council Member Requests Audit of City Spending on Homeless Services

• Austin City Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly is requesting a “comprehensive review and audit of homeless services and spending" within the capital city. 
   
• Sydnie Henry reports Austin appropriated a record $80.9 million towards the city’s homeless crisis in their 2023-2024 budget earlier this month.
   

• However, the city’s homeless crisis has been ongoing since 2019, when a law against public camping was repealed, allowing the homeless to camp throughout the city. This created a more dangerous public environment and a wildfire of public backlash—including warnings from numerous law enforcement officials and a citizen-led petition with more than 126,000 signatures.
   

• The law against public camping has since been reinstated, as residents refused to allow the encampments to continue.
   

• Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak told Texas Scorecard, "Austin has spent well over [$300 million] in taxpayer dollars in the last four years on homelessness and we have very little to show for it."
   

• Meanwhile, Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey resigned Wednesday “amid growing concerns there is still not an effective strategy.”

LA to Pursue Legal Action Against Texas for Busing Illegal Aliens

• Meanwhile in California, the Los Angeles City Council voted to pursue a lawsuit and criminal probe against Gov. Greg Abbott and the State of Texas for busing illegal aliens to the city.
   
• Emily Medeiros reports the council voted unanimously to investigate whether the city can bring legal action against Texas and if the state’s busing of illegal aliens violated any criminal laws.
   
• Earlier this year, Abbott began sending buses full of illegal aliens north to relieve cities along the southern border. In June—after L.A. declared itself a “sanctuary city”—Abbott sent the first busload of illegal aliens to the city. Since then, he has sent 10 additional buses, delivering over 400 illegal aliens. Similarly, Abbott has sent more than 30,000 illegal aliens to other Democrat-run cities, including New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

📺 WATCH: The Headline

• On this week's episode, State Rep. Brian Harrison shares how Texas has still yet to ban COVID vaccine mandates, even as the Biden administration signals for new restrictions. Plus, Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi previews next week’s impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

• You can watch The Headline on the Apple TV or Roku apps, on an iOS or Android phone, or on the Texas Scorecard YouTube channel.

Friday Reflection:
Advancing Liberty By Testing Everything

As citizens, we have tolerated the devolution of our republic into cults of personality. Rather than a spirited contest of ideas among a self-governing people, elections have become a spectator sport complete with pompoms, jerseys, and cheerleaders.

The result? We’re all losers.

National cable news shows, ratcheting down their content to the lowest common denominator, put forward every question as the Elephant Team versus the Donkey Team. Yay, Elephant Team!

What do we do when it is revealed that an Elephant Team member wants to fund abortion, raise taxes, and strip people of their due process rights? The predictable response is usually, “Hey, at least they’re not a Donkey!”

We must do better.

The politicians of both teams, er, parties, absolutely love it. They spoon out political pablum and pretend it’s an ideological steak dinner.

And we’re to lap it up? Frankly, we should vomit it out.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, we read, “Test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

That should be true of everything, but especially in the most practical application of the working out of our faith in the public square. Too many of us unquestioningly accept the false narrative of Elephant versus Donkey. We accept evil as long as it comes packaged in the appropriate colors of our political team.

There are a disturbingly high number of “Elephants” actively seeking to replace our system of God-given self-governance with one of godless socialism—or, at least, they are unwilling to fight that godless takeover being executed by the Donkeys.

We have seen instance after instance of Republican lawmakers who would pedal us just a little slower toward the evil destination of a big, abusive, socialist state. Sometimes they themselves are deceived, worshiping the false gods of “statesmanship” and “compromise.” Others simply believe themselves ethically fit to be masters—intending to be benevolent, perhaps, but masters nonetheless.

As citizens, we must look past the packaging. We must put the promises of politicians to the test, examining what they have actually done or failed to do. We must reject those who actively conspire against us, and hold on to those who seek what is good.

By doing so, we will advance the cause of liberty for ourselves and our children.

Now Available: 'Reflections on Life & Liberty'

• The book comes in three formats: hardcover, paperback, and digital download. For now, "Reflections on Life & Liberty" is only available at Amazon.