Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, September 27, 2023.

– Brandon Waltens 

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility Calls for Special Session to Eliminate Property Taxes

• As Texas lawmakers gear up for a special legislative session focused on education, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is asking Gov. Greg Abbott to prioritize property tax elimination. Katy Marshall has the story. 
   

• TFR said they support Abbott calling a special session on education freedom “so long as it is directed towards real, fiscally sound, education freedom for all Texas families.”
   

• However, the group also asked Abbott to include “legislation that provides a pathway to property tax elimination, a cause that you have publicly supported in the recent past.”
   

• While the legislature did meet earlier this summer for two special sessions on property tax relief, ultimately only $12 billion was put towards that plan, even though the state faced a surplus of over $31 billion.
   

• Texans for Fiscal Responsibility also asked Governor Abbott to include spending limitations on local governments and the abolition of taxpayer-funded lobbying on the special session call.

School District Serving Illegal Alien Settlement Warns of Fentanyl Overdoses

• A Texas school district has dealt with four drug overdoses potentially caused by the potent opioid fentanyl since the start of the 2023-2024 school year on August 8.
   

• Sydnie Henry reports Cleveland Independent School District Superintendent Stephen McCanless sent an announcement to district residents informing them that the overdoses are believed to be connected to Percocet pills laced with fentanyl.
   

• Fentanyl is a deadly drug that is currently the leading cause of death for people between 18 and 45 years old, according to retired DEA Agent Tyson Hodges. Hodges also noted that adolescent deaths due to fentanyl tripled between 2019 and 2021.
   

• McCanless sent his announcement in both English and Spanish. Cleveland ISD serves a large Hispanic population due largely to the presence of an illegal alien housing development called Colony Ridge. It is situated just north of Houston in Liberty County.
   

• Matt Bieniek, Director of Communications and Media for CISD, told Texas Scorecard the district is “prioritizing safety and taking measures to educate our students, staff, and community members on the dangers of fentanyl and opioid use.”

Prosper ISD Taxpayers Debate Priciest High School Stadium in Texas

• A multibillion-dollar bond package put on the November ballot by Prosper Independent School District includes a high school football stadium that, if approved, will be the most expensive in Texas history. Erin Anderson has the details. 
   

• Prosper taxpayers are divided over the district’s over-the-top spending, which has been a trend in the wealthy suburban school district north of Dallas.
   

• Prosper ISD’s proposed bond package totals $2.8 billion, plus interest, all of which must be repaid with property taxes.
   

• The new 8,000-seat stadium is expected to cost $94.8 million before interest.
   

• The district’s original stadium at Prosper High School seats 12,000 and cost more than $50 million. At the time it opened in 2019, it boasted the largest Jumbotron in a Texas high school stadium.
   

• The district has a history of building expensive facilities. Prosper High School opened in 2009 at a construction cost of $113.5 million, believed to be the most expensive high school in Texas at the time. In 2020, the district opened Rock Hill High School, with a price tag of around $200 million. Walnut Grove High School opened this fall at a cost that topped $200 million.

Roy Bashes Biden Administration for Open Border

• U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is using new video footage, which shows trainloads of military-age males on their way to illegally cross into the United States, to once again call on Congress to secure the border.
   

• Soli Rice reports, after the video was posted on X, Roy immediately called out Congress for failing to close the southern border.
   

• “Congress is f***ing around and our country is falling apart,” Roy posted on X. “I will not sit by, taking jabs from tyrannical leftists for the next year in hopes we can elect more loser mentality politicians to Washington in 2024.”
   

• With just one month left in the federal fiscal year, 2.2 million illegal alien encounters have been reported. As the border remains open, concerns are rising that FY 2023 will break FY 2022’s record of 2.3 million.
   

• Early this week, Eagle Pass announced a mass influx of illegal border crossers, many of whom are Venezuelan. Some illegal aliens attempted to claim a Texas island by “placing a foreign flag—that was quickly taken care of by our DPS Tactical Marine Unit.”

Bank Admits to Pressuring Software Company to Stop Processing Payroll for Gun Sellers

• Following an investigation spearheaded by Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, financial software company Intuit has discontinued internal policies that stopped gun manufacturers and sellers from using their software. Sydnie Henry has the details. 
   

• According to a letter from Cruz, JP Morgan Chase admitted to pressuring Intuit into creating policies that stopped gun manufacturers and sellers from using their payroll system QuickBooks. 
   

• Cruz said Texas-based firearm part manufacturer Dawson Precision brought the matter to his attention after Inuit canceled their QuickBooks subscription without warning. 
   

• “Intuit later said that it canceled Dawson Precision’s account because, as a firearm manufacturer, it was in violation of Intuit’s acceptable use policy,” wrote Cruz.
   

• “Ultimately, Intuit’s sudden decision had forced Dawson Precision to print paper checks for weeks while scrambling to secure another vendor,” noted Cruz. 
   

• After Cruz’s staff approached Intuit for an explanation, Cruz said Intuit “explained that its banking partners, JPMorgan, and Bank of America, demanded that Intuit create and enforce bank policies regarding firearm sellers and manufacturers."

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