Good morning,

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought of local governments using tax dollars to high lobbyists. Below, you'll find their thoughts.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Texas Land Commissioner Blasts Offshore Wind Farm Proposal

• Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has sent yet another letter to the Biden-Harris administration opposing a federal proposal to lease nearly 150,000 offshore acres to an energy company with no experience in wind projects. Will Biagini has the details.
       
• According to Buckingham’s letter, the proposal aims to lease 142,528 acres off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico to a company called Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC. The company allegedly has no experience with the construction of offshore wind farms.
      
• “As the steward of Texas state-owned submerged lands extending 10.3 miles to the boundary of federal waters, I have serious reservations about leasing vast swaths of the Gulf to a company that has yet to operate a single functional wind turbine to date,” wrote Buckingham.
      
• The commissioner asserts that moving forward with the project would impact and displace local fishing communities. Hurricane paths in the Gulf would also pose another risk, as they have the potential to damage wind turbines.

More Than One Million Viewers

• More than 1 million people have now watched Red Power!
      
• Red Power highlights the crucial issue of unreliable energy subsidies in Texas, uncovering the hidden dangers and geopolitical risks tied to the state's increasing dependence on wind & solar power.
      
• The push for "green energy" is compromising the national and economic security of the United States while subsidizing the Chinese Communist Party’s rising Red Power.

Cost of Illegal Immigration Continues to Rise

• An additional $380 million in federal funding has been allocated to localities supporting illegal aliens. Addie Hovland reports this follows $259.13 million awarded in grants from the Department of Homeland Security’s Shelter and Services Program in April.
       
• Through the SSP and FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program-Humanitarian Awards, nongovernmental organizations and localities were also given more than $780 million to support those who entered the country illegally.
      
• Upon illegally entering the U.S., individuals often become eligible to receive various taxpayer-funded benefits, including those for their U.S.-born children.
      
• With the influx of illegals coming through the southern border, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is experiencing historic backlogs. Experts have said these are making it increasingly difficult, frustrating, and costly for anyone attempting to immigrate to the U.S. legally.

Elon Musk Notches Legal Win Over Liberal Attack Group

• A lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s social media platform X against the leftist attack organization Media Matters will proceed following a recent court ruling. Daniel Greer reports Media Matters is accused of manipulating and then misrepresenting user experiences on the social media platform. The leftist group then organized an advertising boycott.
      
• Media Matters sought to have the case tossed out, but those efforts were stymied by the federal judge overseeing the case.
   
• Two state attorneys general, including Texas’ Ken Paxton, are investigating Media Matters and its activities. 

Texas School Superintendents Mysteriously Depart

• Parents in Grand Prairie and Harlingen are left wondering what happened with their school districts’ top administrators. Erin Anderson reports that both men have been suspended or resigned for undisclosed reasons in recent days.
       
• During a special meeting on September 4, Grand Prairie Independent School District’s board of trustees voted to place Superintendent Jorge Arredondo on paid administrative leave pending an unexplained investigation. He had been hired on July 1 with a base salary of $317,000 plus performance bonuses and other benefits.
       
• Some have speculated the investigation could be tied to Arredondo’s handling of district finances and contracts during his last superintendent job.
       
• On September 3, Harlingen school district trustees agreed to let Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez “resign and pursue other interests” after just one year on the job, citing “serious issues.” Again, no details were disclosed to the public.
       
• Harlingen trustees had voted in April to give Gonzalez a $10,000 raise—to $310,000—and extended his contract. Gonzalez was named Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Boards in 2020.

Corsicana Residents Speak Out Against Proposed LGBT Event

• Residents of Corsicana turned out Monday night to speak against a council member’s push to host a taxpayer-funded LGBT event. Emily Medeiros has the story.
     
• During an August 26 meeting, Corsicana Councilmember Shayla Johnson asked if the city would fund the event, noting that the city of Waxahachie—35 miles up the road—hosts its own LGBT events. The discussion was tabled.
   
• Dr. Danny Reeves, pastor at First Baptist Corsicana, spoke against the proposal, saying taxpayers should not fund “sexual perversion.”
           
• Others said they opposed using tax dollars to fund events antithetical to community values. A small number of individuals spoke in favor of what Johnson said would be “small gestures” for LGBT residents.
      
• Councilman Chris Woolsey shared that sentiment. “I represent the people who put me in office, and when I talk with the people who voted for me, this is not the kind of thing they want to see the city of Corsicana sponsoring. It’s not the kind of thing that our tax dollars need to go to.”
       
• The council took no action on the matter.

Tarrant County Commissioners to Reconsider Move Letting Leftist Organization Register Voters in Government Buildings

• After approving an amendment allowing a leftist organization to use government buildings to register voters, Tarrant County commissioners will hold a special meeting to reconsider the decision. 
       
• Commissioners voted last week on a policy allowing county-certified volunteer deputy registrars to utilize the facilities as long as they conduct business during normal public access hours. Effectively, the amendment gave the leftist Texas Battleground Engagement Fund access to government buildings.
       
• The amendment passed in a 3-1 vote, with Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare as the only dissenting vote. Commissioner Gary Fickes was the sole Republican to vote for the amendment, while the third Republican on the Commissioners Court, Manny Ramirez, was absent during the vote.
      
• Fickes later said he did not intend to vote for the measure and Ramirez is against it. The meeting to unravel the action will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. 

Van Duyne Tapped to Lead Texas GOP Victory Effort

• The Republican Party of Texas has announced that U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne will serve as Victory Chair for the party’s efforts ahead of the November election. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• Van Duyne replaces Alexandra Mealer, who stepped down from the position earlier this year after being appointed to the Houston METRO board.

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Quote-Unquote

"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."

– Thomas Jefferson​

Y'All Answered

House Speaker Dade Phelan recently announced he had hired taxpayer-funded lobbyist Mike Toomey as his new chief of staff. Toomey has lobbied for Democrat-run local governments like Harris County. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly tried to ban the practice of taxing entities hiring lobbyists, but the House leadership has blocked those attempts. Ending taxpayer-funded lobbying has been a long-standing priority of the Texas GOP.

Yesterday, we asked if conservative lawmakers should try again in 2025 to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying in Texas. More than 97 percent of readers said they want the practice banned, while 2.9 percent do not.

Here's a sampling of what readers had to say after answering the survey...

• “Taxes should never be used against the people! On either side, it is wrong.” – Glenda Piacenti
       

• “The lobbyists have taken control of our legislature. It’s time to make a change in how our taxpayers’ money is spent.” – Lane Burgess
      

• “Why is it that the people who are just barely getting by have to fund other people’s lifestyle and politics just because they are required to pay taxes? Lobbyists are right up there with con artists.” – Teresa Soll
      

• “The question is, why do these taxing entities need someone to lobby for them?  It's like a baby needing someone else to encourage his mother to feed him.” – Roger Taylor
       

• “Every time I turn around, it seems one form of government or another is using my tax dollars to work against me.” – Diana Firestone
      

• “It’s atrocious that my county and city use our hard-earned tax money to lobby against the citizens, it’s wrong any way you look at it.” – Phil Sanders
      

• “Duh. Why are my tax dollars paying someone to lobby against my interests?” – Cindy Armstrong
      

• “Smaller counties are typically members of the Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association. This organization serves as a lobbying arm for us smaller populated counties to have a place at the legislative level.  Otherwise, only the interests of the 5-10 most populated counties would have the influence to dictate their policies and legislation to those smaller rural counties who have very little in common with the big city mentality.” – Mark Myers
       

• “Stop using OUR tax dollars to work AGAINST us!” – Debbie Adams
       

• “It is wrong to tax a person and use their own money to further increase taxes on them.” – Chris Breaux
       

• “It is morally wrong to allow government to pay lobbyists to convince other government bodies that it is OK to defy the will of the people.” – B.D. Marshall

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