Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, April 18, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Border County Officials Want Special Session on Border Security

• As illegal aliens continue to pour across the southern border into Texas, three border county officials are calling for an immediate special session to establish a statewide law enforcement agency tasked with fighting border-related crimes. Emily Medeiros has the story.
         
• Kinney County Judge John Paul Schuster, County Attorney Brent Smith, and Sheriff Brad Coe want the special session focused on legislation that was killed in the final days of the 2023 regular session.
      
• “Despite their best efforts, Texas law enforcement is struggling to uniformly implement state laws along such a vast border. The complex cartel criminal networks that stretch across the state require a statewide agency to dismantle them. We need the proper tools to confront this crisis.” – Brent Smith
      
• Only the governor has the power to call a special session of the Texas Legislature. Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet responded to the Kinney County letter.

Texas Taxpayers Fund Sky-high Superintendent Salaries

• Newly released Texas Education Agency data for the 2023-24 school year shows eight superintendents with salaries above $400,000 and another 81 receiving $300,000 or more. Erin Anderson breaks down the data.
          
• The lucrative salaries are supplemented by benefits such as allowances for cars, phones, and housing, along with large pension contributions. They often include hefty bonuses as well. All are provided at taxpayers’ expense. Superintendent salaries are set by elected school board trustees. The top administrators’ salaries show no correlation to the number of students enrolled in a district or students’ academic performance.
       
• “Superintendents are getting rich from their public service. Such self-centeredness is violative of taxpayers and the public trust. Worse, it deprives classrooms of resources needed to teach kids to read, write, and do math.” – James Quintero, Texas Public Policy Foundation

TLR Helping Dade Phelan Raise Money in Houston

• Embattled Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) is raising money in Houston next month with the help of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. Like Phelan, TLR has long been a proponent of Democrats holding chairmanships in the GOP-dominated House. Brandon Waltens has the details.
          
• The early May event is set for less than three ahead of the runoff election for Phelan, where he faces David Covey—a businessman who placed first in the three-way March GOP primary. 
         
• In addition to his primary runoff election, Phelan is being challenged for the speakership by Houston-area State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress).
        
• Learn more about TLR in our new documentary, HUBRIS.

Democrat Sues Tarrant County GOP for Place on Executive Committee

• Tarrant County Republican Party and its chairman, Bo French, are being sued by a Democrat who has been declared ineligible to serve as a GOP precinct chairman.
        
• During the March Republican primary election, Chris Rector won a seat as precinct chair position 4320 for the Tarrant County GOP. He had run for the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2022, and then this year ran for U.S. Congress as a Democrat.
       
• French has ruled Rector ineligible to hold the precinct chair due to his actual party affiliation.
       
• In social media posts, Rector has described himself as "a Democrat." He has hired the general counsel for the Tarrant County Democrat Party to sue French and the local GOP.

Kaufman ISD Residents to Consider $387 Million Bond

• Kaufman Independent School District is pushing for a bond that would cost taxpayers more than $387 million, including principal and interest, over 30 years. Luca Cacciatore explains school district taxpayers already owe $97 million from previous bond issuances.
      
• Kaufman ISD is specifically seeking to use the debt for district-wide security projects, such as upgrades to security cameras, security film, and security fencing. The district also wants to build a new elementary school and add classrooms to another existing facility.

New Documentary: HUBRIS

Quote-Unquote

"Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all."

– George Washington​

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