Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Since he got the snakes out of Ireland, maybe St. Patrick could do something about the Wuhan coronavirus?

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, March 17, 2020
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• The Trump Administration yesterday afternoon asked Americans to do work and school from home, and avoid gathering in groups of more than 10.
      
• Responding to concerns from parents and teachers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced he has eliminated the requirement that students take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR) tests this year. Brandon Waltens has the story. 
     
• Abbott also said his office is evaluating how to approach the upcoming primary runoff and municipal elections scheduled for May. Last night he announced he would delay calling a special election to fill the unexpired term of State Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), who recently announced his resignation from office to take a job at the University of Houston.
      
• The cities of Houston and Dallas are ordering the closure of all restaurants for dine-in service; other cities are expected to follow suit fairly quickly.
      
• One of the largest political gatherings in the world—the Republican Party of Texas’ state convention—could be pushed back from mid-May to mid-July due to concerns from the Wuhan Coronavirus, according to party chairman James Dickey. The move won’t be finalized until the April 4 meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee.
     
• It is already apparent that the fiscal impact of the coronavirus shut down will be immense – for individuals, businesses, and governments. At every level of government, elected officials and bureaucrats spend every dollar they can get from the taxpayers, and often even more than that. That behavior only makes economic downturns and emergencies even worse for everyone. Legislators, school boards, and city councils must start making cuts to spending now.
         

• With the state’s economy and citizens’ everyday life thrown into flux by the coronavirus, government officials must cut non-essential spending indefinitely.
     

• Diane Trautman, the Democrat in charge of elections in Harris County, said it’s time to “move on” from Super Tuesday voting problems caused by her mistakes. Erin Anderson has the details. 
     
• Maybe Harris County Elections Administrator Trautman should just move on?
     
• President Donald Trump’s announcement that interest on all federally held student loan debt for what is expected to be the remainder of 2020 could result in the average student loan-holding Texan saving $1,000 or more over the next year. Cary Cheshire has the details.
     
• Texas Scorecard has begun a series of interviews with candidates in runoff elections for the Texas House. Yesterday Jacob Asmussen visited with Jennifer Fleck who is seeking the Republican nomination in House District 47 in a runoff against Justin Berry. You can watch their conversation on our website.
     
• The HD47 runoff originally looked to pit Fleck against former Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman, but The Texan reports final numbers showed Berry with a one-vote lead for second place. In a statement, Zimmerman said he would not seek a recount, citing the $20,000 cost and Fleck’s “respectable lead.” He also endorsed her candidacy.
      
• In a new commentary, Jackie Schlegel – the mother of a special-needs child – writes that having compassion for others and taking responsibility for our own health and well-being should be our response to every health crises. 

• Gov. Abbott and other politicians are moving to offer waivers for various regulations that impede the movement of goods and services. 
     
• “We need [Texas] legislators next session to examine every regulation that was waived during the crisis and ask ‘If we didn’t need it then, do we really need it now?’” – Tony McDonald
     
• Meanwhile, political analyst Derek Ryan has suggested what might be the best form of economic incentive: “Instead of cutting interest rates to zero, how about we just cancel April 15th for everyone? Everyone gets their money back for last year.”
     
• And finally... Attorney General Ken Paxton has set up a hotline for folks to report coronavirus price gouging (see Matt Rinaldi’s recent commentary commentary on the subject). I regret to inform you that your property tax notice doesn’t qualify; your local governments are allowed to gouge you at their pleasure.