Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

House is Frozen as Quorum is Busted

• The Texas House is at a standstill with just days left in the third special session, reports Brandon Waltens. Yesterday, for the second day in a row, the chamber lacked a quorum for conducting business.

      
• When attendance was taken Tuesday morning, only 77 of the chamber’s 150 members registered as present. Chamber rules require 100 House members to be on the floor in order for business to move forward. The absences include a majority of Democrats as well as 20 Republicans.
     
• Among those skipping work was State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), who chairs the powerful Calendar Committee.
       
• In 2021, Democrats fled the Texas House for Washington, D.C., for 38 days in order to avoid votes on election integrity legislation. Suggestions that a repeat of that quorum bust could be unfolding were refuted by Democrat State Rep. Erin Zwiener (Driftwood). In a post on X, she claimed members were not given the usual warning that attendance would be critical and accused Republicans of faking a quorum break because they don’t have the votes for school choice.
       
• The House will try again to meet at 6 p.m. today.

Abbott Announces Deal with Phelan on School Choice

• Gov. Greg Abbott announced the expansion of the special session agenda to include billions in new spending on public education. He said this decision “follows productive discussions” with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan on school choice.

        
• According to the governor’s office, the deal calls for creating a voluntary "education savings account" program in Texas that will have "universal eligibility" for all K-12 school children. 
      
• It will also phase out the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Test. Students participating in the ESA program will have the option of taking either a norm-referenced test or STAAR test to ensure the program achieves good educational outcomes.
       
• The Abbott-Phelan deal also includes "billions" more in funding for Texas public schools for the current biennium, including teacher pay raises and school safety.

Republican State Rep. Says Texans Already Have School Choice

• A Republican state representative is making the dubious claim that Texas parents already have school choice – despite the assertions of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and the Republican Party of Texas. Emily Medeiros has the details.
    
• San Angelo Republican Drew Darby’s argument hinges on the idea that because parents can choose to send their children to private or parochial schools, they, therefore, have a choice. 
       

• School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis told Texas Scorecard that Darby is trying to change the meaning of school choice to gaslight his constituents. 
       

• Darby said he does not believe his opposition to Abbott's school choice agenda will impact his 2024 re-election efforts.

A&M’s Interim President A Promoter of DEI

• As controversies swept Texas A&M last summer over the prospective hiring of a left-wing political advocate as the university’s journalism director, several changes to university leadership followed. That included the president's resignation and the appointment of Mark Welsh as the interim successor.

      
• But as Sydnie Henry reports, Welsh has been a proponent of left-wing ideological pushes – including so-called "diversity, equity, and inclusion" programs. 
   
• As recently as this year, Welsh has said he opposed the Texas Senate's landmark legislation requiring public colleges and universities to disband DEI departments and dissolve any internal DEI programs for hiring and employee training. That law takes effect on January 1.
       
• Welsh was instrumental in DEI advocacy at A&M's Bush School. He hosted the first-ever “Diversity Town Hall” in 2021 and chaired the Bush School’s DEI Committee. Welsh was also involved in instituting “mandatory DEI trainings for students" as well as the faculty and staff.

Cruz Wants to Bring Back DNA Testing to Prevent Trafficking

• After his most recent trip to the southern border, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) said he believes it is necessary to bring back DNA testing for all illegal border crossers as a way to address human trafficking. Soli Rice has the story.

        
• On his podcast, Cruz recounted a recent border trip with federal agents. They encountered a group of illegal aliens, many of whom—if not all—were unaccompanied minors.
       
• The children said they were going to their uncles' homes... but he realized these children were not going to an actual family member but rather were being trafficked.
       
• Cruz wants DNA testing to be resumed, which the Biden administration ended without explanation, as a way to better deal with the problem of unaccompanied minors being trafficked into the U.S.

Paxton Continues Endorsing Candidates for Texas House

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is ramping up his involvement in the upcoming Republican primary election. This week, he endorsed challengers to two incumbent GOP House members.

        
• In House District 1, Paxton endorsed Dale Huls over incumbent State Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R–New Boston). In House District 83, Paxton endorsed Wade Cowan over incumbent State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock).

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