Good morning, 

If you were wondering, the Texas House did manage to have a quorum for business last night, which consisted of passing several resolutions. It was announced by Speaker Dade Phelan that the House would "stand at ease" until Monday or Tuesday. The special session ends on Tuesday.

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

House to Abbott: School Choice Is Dead For Now

• Despite being the top legislative priority of Gov. Greg Abbott, school choice legislation appears all but dead in the Texas House. Brandon Waltens reports on the announcement made last night.
      
• State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado), the chair of the  House Public Education Committee, said after the business was concluded that the timeline was “too tight for the House to be able to move something in this special.”
      
• The Texas Senate has repeatedly passed school choice legislation, including SB 1 in the opening days of this special session.
     
• On Wednesday, Abbott said he had reached an agreement with House Speaker Dade Phelan on a compromise bill that would include “billions” of dollars in new funding for public schools.

600,000 Known ‘Gotaways’ Reported at the Border

• During a national security hearing on Capitol Hill, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified that more than 600,000 known “gotaways” were reported at the border over the last 12 months. Soli Rice has the details.

     
• It is assumed the actual number of gotaways is higher than reported. In federal law, "got away" refers to an illegal alien who "is directly or indirectly observed making an unlawful entry into the United States."
          
• The last year saw 2,475,669 illegal alien encounters along the southwest border. Combined with the number of known gotaways, this brings the number of known illegals attempting to cross into the United States or successfully crossing to more than three million.
      
• The total number of FBI terror watchlist suspects arrested along the southwest border in FY23 came out to 169—more than the previous six years combined. This excludes any potential suspects that may have evaded Border Patrol when crossing the border.
       

• According to Customs and Border Protection estimates, more than 18,000 gotaways made it into the U.S. during the first six days of October alone.

Texas Senate Reworks House Border Legislation

• The Senate Committee on Border Security approved an overhaul to a House measure intended to allow Texas to remove illegal aliens. Sydnie Henry has the report.

      
• Concerns over the implementation of the measure were raised in the Senate, leading State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) to substitute in language that he said would overcome those perceived shortcomings.
       
• For example, the House version allowed law enforcement to order an illegal alien to return to Mexico without being convicted of the new state crime. Birdwell explained that created conflicts in state and federal law. Under his version, illegal aliens must first be tried under a new state law before they can be sent to the border for deportation.
      
• Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith (R) was not pleased with the changes, saying he felt it put too much power in the hands of the Biden administration.

Cruz Files Hamas Sanctions Act

• U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced legislation that would impose sanctions on Hamas and others associated with the terrorist organization. Emily Medeiros has the story.
       
• The Hamas Sanctions Act would prohibit U.S. tax dollars from going to the Gaza Strip as well as sanction every Hamas member and affiliate known to the U.S. within 15 days. 
        
• If enacted, the law would block Hamas’ ability to find safe havens abroad in countries like Qatar or Turkey. It would impose sanctions on hotels, landlords, banks, and similar businesses in allied countries that provide services to Hamas leaders.
       
• “The United States should use every resource at our disposal, including our diplomatic power and sanctions leverage, for as long as it takes, to ensure that our Israeli allies are able to utterly eradicate Hamas.” – Ted Cruz

Two More Phelan Allies Draw Challengers

• Two Dallas-area state representatives will face challenges for their House seats in the March Republican Primary. Morgan Meyer (Dallas) and Jared Patterson (Frisco) are both closely aligned with House Speaker Dade Phelan.

       
• Meyer is being challenged in the GOP primary by local attorney Barry Wernick, while Patterson will face former Dallas County Clerk Cynthia Figueroa.
            
• Meyer and Patterson both voted for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Houstonians Turning Out For Mayoral Race

• A race to replace term-limited Mayor Sylvester Turner is drawing Houston voters to the polls as Texans turn out to cast ballots in statewide and local elections. Erin Anderson reports the mayoral contest centers on two septuagenarian Democrats: State Sen. John Whitmire and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
   
• A University of Houston survey conducted earlier this month showed Whitmire leading Jackson Lee with 34 percent compared to 31 percent. But the same poll found that in an expected runoff, Whitmire led Jackson Lee 50 percent to 36 percent.

Granger Will Not Seek Re-Election

• After over 25 years in Congress, Republican U.S. Rep. Kay Granger has announced she will retire at the end of her current term.

      
• She previously served as the mayor of Fort Worth and was first elected to Congress in 1996.
      
• Granger has been plagued for several years over a scandal concerning her son’s involvement with Panther Island, an economic development boondoggle disguised as a flood control project. A 2019 programmatic review found that for 15 years, nearly $400 million of taxpayer money was spent on the project, with little to show for it.
     
• Granger currently holds a lifetime score of 66 percent on the FreedomWorks Congressional Scorecard. Even in recent weeks, Granger has drawn the ire of conservatives after refusing to vote for Jim Jordan (R-OH) for Speaker of the House. 
        
• State Rep. Craig Goldman (R–Fort Worth) is widely rumored to be planning a run. Businessman John O’Shea, who has the endorsement of Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced his Republican campaign for the seat earlier this year.

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