Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, July 25, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

U.S. House Moves to Defund Biden's West Texas Land Grab

• An amendment defunding the Biden administration's land grab in West Texas has passed the U.S. House.  Debra McClure reports that the measure was filed by Texas' Jodey Arrington, who serves as the chairman of the House Budget Committee.
     
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized a plan to purchase private lands or acquire conservation easements in Texas and New Mexico.
       
• Property rights advocates have said the USFWS plan would permanently "harm the economy and private property rights."
       
• "When the federal government enacts policies that could interfere with the day-to-day lives of the hard-working farmers, ranchers, and energy producers who depend on this land for their livelihoods and on whom we depend for our nation’s food security and energy independence, my first instinct will always be to defend their rights, their way of life, and the future of rural America." – Jodey Arrington

Farm Bureau Defends Right of CCP to Buy Land in Texas

• At a hearing in the Texas House yesterday, a spokesman for the Farm Bureau defended the right of those closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party to purchase land in the Lone Star State. Brandon Waltens has the report.
        
• The Select Committee on Securing Texas from Hostile Foreign Organizations was hearing testimony about foreign governments and related individuals purchasing land in Texas. The issue has come under scrutiny after CCP insiders have been able to buy thousands of acres of land adjacent to military installations in Texas and around the country.
      
• Legislation blocking such purchases passed the Senate in 2023 but was killed by House Speaker Dade Phelan's leadership team without a vote of the chamber. The select committee's chairman, Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant), doubled down on the Phelan leadership team's opposition to the Senate plan.
       
• On the March primary ballot, more than 95 percent of Republican voters said they would support a ban on hostile foreign ownership of Texas land. 

Texas Taxpayers Are Footing the Bill for a Democrat PAC’s Voter Registration Program

• A Democrat political action committee has found a loophole in the Secretary of State’s website, allowing it to send unlimited, unsolicited voter applications to its targets at the taxpayers’ expense. Ian Camacho has the details.
        
• Based on text messages with voters obtained by Texas Scorecard, "Powered By People" seems to have engaged in deceptive practices to have taxpayers subsidize its voter registration and mobilization program.
         
• At issue is a functionality on the SOS website essentially allowing third parties to request voter registration cards be sent, at taxpayer expense, for citizens. Ostensibly, the function is intended only for individuals to have the forms sent to themselves.
          
• Election integrity experts have said "Powered By People" is exploiting a poorly designed website and a lack of clarity in state law.

El Paso County Asks for Millions to Cover Operation Lone Star Incarceration Costs

• El Paso County is asking Gov. Greg Abbott for millions of dollars in financial assistance to cover jailing costs for those arrested under Operation Lone Star. Will Biagini reports the county wants state money to cover the detainees' processing, medical, and judicial costs for those apprehended as part of Texas’ border security efforts.
      
• The county reportedly lost $10 million in federal contracts because it lacked jail space, which was used by illegal border crossers.
       
• The governor's office has not yet responded to requests for comment on the issue.

Lubbock Defunds Event Over Drag Show Promoting LGBT Agenda

• Luca Cacciatore reports the Lubbock City Council has cut $30,000 in funding from its monthly Art Trail event due to a sexualized drag show performance promoting the LGBT agenda.
       
• For years, the city has supported the Art Trail through a Hotel Occupancy Tax grant that supports Lubbock's art centers, museums, galleries, and local businesses.
       
• City Council Member David Glasheen and Mayor Mark McBrayer aired concerns this week over event organizers using some of those public funds for LGBT exhibits and even a drag show. In June, the Art Trail offered a program titled “Queering Texas," aimed at children.
      
• “Tax dollars should not be used to promote or support causes that conflict with our West Texas values.” – David Glasheen

Appraisal District Adopts Reforms Requested by Taxpayers

• Tarrant County residents could see lower property valuations for tax purposes, thanks to new procedures approved by the Tarrant Appraisal District board of directors. Erin Anderson has the story.
       
• However, the changes—championed by the board’s new taxpayer-elected directors—may not result in lower property tax bills, depending on what local governments do with their rates.
      
• Tax consultant Chandler Crouch called the measures “a huge step in the right direction.”
      
• Properties will now be appraised every two years instead of annually, and generally, residential appraisal increases will be capped at five percent.
       
• The changes were adopted at the first meeting of the TAD board, which now includes three members selected directly by voters.

A Texan in Israel

• While on a trip to Israel last week, I met with a young Texan who is thinking about making his life under a Lone Star flag that isn’t the same one with which he grew up.
        
• Dallas-born and raised Simcha Geller is a Texans’ Texan. He’s an Eagle Scout and, at 20, a devotee of both conservative politics and Republican activism. After graduating high school, he was accepted into the international program of a well-respected rabbinical school. Halfway through his program, the Oct. 7 terrorist attack occurred.
      
• “It’s like someone flipped a switch,” said Geller.

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Quote-Unquote

"Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice."

– Thomas Paine​

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