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Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

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After 910 days of waiting, Texas’ James E. “Trey” Trainor III finally received a hearing [[link removed]] from the U.S. Senate’s Rules & Administration Committee on his nomination from President Donald Trump to the Federal Election Commission. An otherwise uneventful hearing nonetheless drew the presence of both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

The FEC has been without a quorum and unable to conduct business ahead of the 2020 election. Trainor’s confirmation by the Senate – which could now finally happen within the next several weeks – would allow the agency to conduct business. A widely recognized election law expert, Trainor has advised the president’s campaign, the Republican Party of Texas, Texas Right to Life, and Empower Texans – among a wide variety of conservative and Republican causes. FEC appointments are explicitly partisan, a point made by McConnell, who noted Trainor would “re-establish parity” at the FEC.

“Trey Trainor's confirmation to the Federal Election Commission would not only restore the quorum at the FEC necessary for it to carry out its responsibilities, but would strengthen the FEC with an individual of the utmost character & experience. I strongly support his nomination.” – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz [[link removed]]

A state district judge has decided Dallas County must count all ballots cast on Super Tuesday, correcting a mistake by the county’s top election official that left votes from multiple polling places “unaccounted for.” Erin Anderson has the details [[link removed]].

Meanwhile, when Tarrant County judges met behind closed doors last month to remove cases involving Child Protective Services from the purview of a judge, Local Administrative Judge David L. Evans said the move was “in the best interest of the system.” They took the cases from Judge Alex Kim, whose sin was to follow the law and rule for a mother seeking to save her daughter’s life. Robert Montoya reports on the story [[link removed]] after reviewing the 92-page meeting transcript.

Apparently the “system” is more important than the lives of “children.”

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton recently issued a joint statement saying that “Price-gouging is un-Texan and will not be tolerated in our state,” and that they “will work to ensure that anyone who engages in this act is held to account.” But in a new commentary, Matt Rinaldi argues [[link removed]] that government meddling with prices “can cause more harm to people ... than temporarily inflated prices.”

“Indeed, the characteristic ‘bread lines’ of socialist economies are the direct result of price ceilings on food, usually promoted by the government as prohibitions on ‘price gouging.’” – Matt Rinaldi The Empower Texans team is expanding! We are excited to welcome Sarah Nash as our first Director of Marketing & Community Engagement. With a professional background in the fashion world, but armed with a history of consistent engagement on conservative issues, Nash brings an exciting new perspective to our work.

For our central Texas office, we are hiring for new positions in our expanded development team, and looking for an audio-visual specialist. We are also hiring statewide for our new neighborhood engagement and canvassing program. Check out our “ opportunities [[link removed]]” page to learn more. Number of the Day

314,972

Total primary votes reportedly cast in Dallas County’s primary election. The Texas Secretary of State’s website reports 231,688 Democrats voted in their party’s primary, compared to 83,304 voters in the GOP contest.

[Source: Texas Secretary of State; author calculation]

Quote-Unquote

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”

– Benjamin Franklin​

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CEO, Empower Texans

Texas Scorecard & Texans for Fiscal Responsibility

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PO Box 49730 | Austin, TX 78765

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PO Box 36875 | Houston, TX 77236 The Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day that we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is produced on week days and distributed at 6 a.m. (though I'll probably take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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