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

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Forces Google to Pay

• As the year ends, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a $700 million settlement with Google over the tech giant's anticompetitive practices. Sydnie Henry has the details.

      
• Under Paxton, Texas led a coalition of all the states in taking on Google.
       

• Google must pay $630 million in restitution—minus costs and fees—to consumers who made purchases on the Google Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 and were harmed by what Paxton describes as the company's anticompetitive practices. Google will pay the states an additional $70 million in penalties.

      
• “Texas has led the nation in the fight to hold giant tech companies accountable for monopolistic activity,” said Paxton. “I am proud that this settlement brought together so many states who recognized the importance of protecting free markets.”

2023 in Review

Texas Finally Banned Child Gender Mutilation

• After several years of failure to act, Texas lawmakers in 2023 passed a ban on gender mutilative drugs and surgeries for children. Valerie Muñoz looks back on the story.
        
• A 2019 custody battle over a 7-year-old boy played a pivotal role in prompting the Republican Party of Texas to prioritize legislation aimed at protecting children from gender mutilation. A Dallas jury ruled against the boy's father for trying to stop his ex-wife from transitioning their son into a girl.
     
• In addition to a legislative ban, Attorney General Ken Paxton has ordered an investigation into Dell Children’s Medical Center for potential illegal performance of “gender transitioning” procedures.
        
• Homosexual groups have begun offering travel vouchers to “gender-diverse” minors seeking mutilative procedures outside Texas.

2023 in Review

House, Senate, Governor Sparred Over Property Tax Relief

• When the 2023 legislative session began with a surplus in excess of $31 billion, many believed some amount of property tax relief was almost certainly an easy win. Brandon Waltens explains how infighting nearly derailed the effort.
       

• While property tax relief was a legislative priority of Abbott, the House and the Senate were at odds all year on the approach. House members advocated for stronger appraisal caps and the Senate supported an increase to the homestead exemption. For his part, Abbott embraced a plan to use the money to help buy down—or “compress”—local school property taxes.
        
• A special session was called to address the matter immediately after the regular session ended, during which the House refused to meet. Following a month-long stalemate, a compromise plan was reached that resulted in the second-largest tax cut in state history but nonetheless failed to meet the expectations of many taxpayers.
        
• “The Texas Legislature had an historic opportunity this year with a $33 billion surplus to provide lasting property tax relief. Unfortunately, at just $12.7 billion in new tax relief passed this year, the second-largest new property tax relief package in Texas history, the Legislature squandered that historic opportunity,” said Andrew McVeigh of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.

2023 in Review

Texas House Repeatedly Killed School Choice

• School choice has been a top priority for the Republican Party of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott, but the Texas House spent 2023 continually shooting it down. Emily Medeiros explores the policy fight that is reshaping the 2024 political landscape.

     
• Leading up to the 2023 legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott promised to get the job done. 
     
• While proposals to create Education Savings Accounts moved through the Texas Senate, the Republican leadership of the Texas House slow-rolled—and then killed—similar initiatives.
      
• As the year wore on, Abbott promised action on school choice and even threatened political retribution for those Republicans who opposed him. The Senate again passed variations of school choice legislation. Finally, the House leadership allowed a vote on an omnibus education finance measure that included a school choice program.
       
• Twenty-one Republicans and the full Democrat caucus voted to strip the school choice proposal—effectively killing Abbott's priority for 2023.
      
• In response, Abbott has begun endorsing against the Republican opponents ahead of the 2024 GOP primary.

Today In History

On Dec. 27, 1836, Stephen F. Austin died in the town known today as West Columbia. He was 43 and serving as secretary of state for the newly formed Republic of Texas.

Quote-Unquote

"By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail."

– Benjamin Franklin​

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