Good morning, 

Hostile foreign governments have been aggressively purchasing land in Texas and around the country. Today, we want to know what you think about that.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, July 29, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Patrick Says Phelan Intends to Block School Choice... Again

• According to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) intends to kill school choice legislation again in the next session if he stays in charge of the lower chamber. Brandon Waltens has the details.
   
• Patrick said Phelan has refused to sign on to a budget priorities statement because it included school choice. That position puts Phelan at odds with both the Republican Party of Texas—which has long had it as a priority—and voters at large.
     
• While Phelan barely won re-election to his seat in the House, State Reps. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) and Shelby Slawson (R-Stephenville) have announced bids to challenge him.

RELATED ANALYSIS

• Phelan’s abysmal record of the Texas House under his mismanagement resulted in a political disaster; more incumbent Republicans lost their primary re-election campaigns than any time in modern history.
       
• Increasingly, Phelan is being pushed out of the picture by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as they make plans for the 2025 legislative session. If the governor and lieutenant governor seem done with the House speaker, it is because they know the chamber is, too.

Border Patrol Expands Operations Targeting Transnational Criminal Organizations

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced new efforts to its ongoing enforcement operations against transnational criminal organizations. Debra McClure reports two initiatives will target the southwest border from El Paso to San Diego. 
         
• Operation Plaza Spike aims to disrupt the cartel operations in “plazas,” cartel territories south of the United States. Meanwhile, Apollo X is designed to find and seize fentanyl, uncover supply chains, and determine where the contraband is coming from and where it’s headed.
      
• The timing of these new CBP efforts follows criticism of the Biden administration’s border policies, including the extreme views on immigration from the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee and Biden's "border czar," Kamala Harris.

TxDOT’s $1.7 Billion Toll Road Buyout May Keep Tolls in Place

• The Texas Department of Transportation is contemplating the purchase of a Houston-area toll road from a private developer. Even though the lanes would be bought with tax dollars, it is uncertain if the tolls will stay in place.
       
• The toll lanes on Highway 288 were part of a public-private partnership agreement with Blueridge Transportation Group that was originally set to last 50 years. The proposal would involve the state terminating the existing agreement in October and spending nearly $1.7 billion to acquire the already-built toll lanes.
        
• The Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees TxDOT, voted in March to move forward with the buyout, though questions lingered about whether the state would stop the collection of tolls on the stretch of highway.
      
• "Under no circumstances should the Department expend public money to buy out a toll road and then continue to charge tolls." – Terri Hall of Texans for Toll-Free Highways
      
• The commission will meet tomorrow in Austin to further discuss the issue.

Bail Bond Ring Busted in Harris County

• A Harris County bail bond scheme has resulted in 53 people indicted and 37 taken into custody for participating in wire fraud related to the use of falsified documents. Charles Blain has the story.
       
• AABL Bonds, the company at the center of the scheme, has bonded out numerous high-profile defendants over the years. They are now accused of falsifying documents used to provide bail bonds to criminal defendants and their families who otherwise would not qualify.
     
• If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

RELATED NEWS

Texarkana Teacher Gets 25 Years for Exploiting Students

• A former educator will serve 25 years in federal prison for crimes he committed while working as a band teacher at Texas High School in Texarkana Independent School District. Erin Anderson reports the man admitted to exploiting several minors who were his students.
        
• Brandon Neil Sams began working as a color guard instructor at Texas High School during the 2019-20 school year. He used social media and messaging apps to communicate with underage students and gave his victims gifts—including cell phones, clothes, and prepaid credit cards—to persuade them to do what he wanted.
        
• “The sentence he received today should serve as a warning to all child predators: we will find you, and you will face justice.” – U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs

Today In History

On July 29, 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Quote-Unquote

"Buy land, they're not making it anymore."

– Mark Twain​

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Hostile foreign governments, especially the Chinese Communist Party, have stepped up efforts to buy land in Texas and around the nation. Experts have pointed to the security and economic threats posed by allowing those sales to take place.

The Texas Senate passed legislation in 2023 that would have banned such purchases in Texas, but the measure was killed by House Speaker Dade Phelan's leadership team without a vote in the chamber. While more than 95 percent of Republican primary voters approved a ballot resolution banning those sales, there are those—like the Texas Farm Bureau—arguing there should be no restriction on who land owners can sell out to.

Should China, Iran, and other hostile foreign governments or their agents be allowed to purchase Texas land and mineral rights?

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!