Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, April 10, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Anti-climb Fence Installed Near El Paso 

• New anti-climb concertina wire fences have been installed by the Texas National Guard along the border near El Paso following a riot last month initiated by illegal aliens. Will Biagini has the story.
       
• The new barricades reportedly consist of 12-foot-tall wire fence panels laced with a 3-foot-thick looping layer of concertina wire.
      
• Texas Border Czar Mike Banks explained the importance of the anti-climb barricades. “We need to continue putting in temporary infrastructure in the form of anti-climb fencing, concertina wire, razor wire, [and] border buoy barriers. Texas is going to protect Texas. We’re going to defend Texas.”

New Ad Takes Aim at Dade Phelan’s Radical Democrat Chairs

• A new television ad from Club for Growth Action targets House Speaker Dade Phelan’s appointment of liberal Democrats to leadership positions. Brandon Waltens reports that the 30-second spot highlights several of the Democrats that Phelan appointed to lead committees in the Texas House.
         
• Among those featured is El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, who Phelan placed in charge of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Moody pushed the "defund of police," has a history of promoting "red-flag" gun confiscation proposals, and wants to abolish the death penalty.
        
• Phelan recently said he has "not wavered" on his support for putting Democrats in charge of key committees in the GOP-dominated House.
      
• (The ad itself can be found here.)

Paxton Sues Harris County Over 'Plainly Unconstitutional' Program

• Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the state is suing Harris County over its “Uplift Harris” guaranteed basic income pilot program that the county launched at the start of the year. Charles Blain has details.
     
• Paxton described Harris County's program as "plainly unconstitutional."
       
• The program was funded using $20.5 million in federal relief aid. It will give $500 per month for 18 months to 1,900 families who are 200 percent below the poverty line. Applicants must live in one of the predetermined zip codes and could receive the money through direct deposit to their bank account or a prepaid debit card. 
      
• According to the state's lawsuit, the Texas Constitution prohibits local jurisdictions from granting public money to an individual. Paxton asserts that the program's lottery-based selection is unconstitutional because it awards benefits based on arbitrary factors. 
       
• Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said she will "vigorously defend the county and this program in court."

Republican Runoff Candidates Embrace ‘Contract with Texas’

• Republican runoff candidate Keresa Richardson is all in on a new conservative Contract with Texas to reform the state House rules and elect a “real” Republican speaker. Yet, as Erin Anderson reports, the incumbent Richardson is challenging has been noticeably silent—in part because the regime running the House has bankrolled his candidacy.

         
• Richardson already signed a similar contract created last year by Collin County conservative activists.
        
• Incumbent Frederick Frazier came in a distant second place behind Richardson in the March primary. Late last year, Frazier pled guilty to various crimes related to his 2022 campaign for the seat. Last week, one of the architects of the Contract with Texas—State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington)—renewed his calls for a House investigation into Frazier's conduct.
         
• While the Contract with Texas was released earlier this week with 13 signatories, that number has grown by nearly a dozen in the days since. In addition to Richardson, other Republican runoff candidates who have signed the contract include Cheryl Bean, Ben Bius, David Covey, Andy Hopper, Helen Kerwin, AJ Louderback, David Lowe, Katrina Pierson, and Alan Schoolcraft.

Houston Police Find DNA Matches for Uninvestigated Rape Kits

• Houstonians were shocked to learn earlier this year that 264,000 incidents were never investigated by the city police. Now that the problem has been exposed, previously untested rape kits have turned up 76 matches.
     
• This means that the perpetrators' DNA collected at the time of the incident, but not investigated, has been directly tied to "a separate criminal offense or a known offender." 
      
• Of the 264,000 cases that went uninvestigated, 4,017 were adult sexual assault incident reports. Of those, the department has tested 1,147 that had DNA evidence. 

Quote-Unquote

"God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless."

– Chester W. Nimitz​

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