Good morning,

Today is the last day to nominate someone for the 2024 Conservative Leader Award.

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, September 19, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Urges Action from Secretary of State on Voter Citizenship Verification

• In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Jane Nelson yesterday, Attorney General Ken Paxton urged the state’s top election official to take decisive action to verify the citizenship of certain registered voters. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• The letter was sent in response to ongoing concerns about federal limitations that hinder Texas’ ability to confirm the citizenship of individuals registering to vote. According to Paxton, federal laws have imposed significant restrictions on states, making it increasingly difficult to verify citizenship for voters despite the fact that it is illegal for non-citizens to cast a ballot.
      
• Paxton said the influx of illegal immigration and restrictive federal laws regarding voter verification have left states like Texas with limited tools to ensure that only eligible citizens are voting.
      
• The attorney general asserts that the federal government has a statutory duty to assist states in identifying non-citizen voters. As such, Paxton is asking Nelson to request the federal government's help in verifying the citizenship of 1 million individuals registered to vote through methods that do not confirm citizenship.
      
• On Wednesday afternoon, Nelson issued her own letter to the director of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services. Her letter differed in language from the version Paxton offered but set a deadline for citizenship verification of Oct. 2.

Parole Scheme for Illegal Aliens has Re-started

• A new report reveals that as of August 2024, nearly 530,000 illegal aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) have been flown into the country and granted parole. As Will Biagini reports, this program has been operated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
       
• Most of the illegal aliens brought inside the country are given two-year parole grants as part of the controversial CHNV parole program.
      
• The CNHV parole program was frozen last month after an investigation by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service unearthed swaths of fraud. Specifically, fraud was discovered in the paperwork that a potential American-based sponsor filed with USCIS for illegal aliens seeking to obtain parole. Not only were many applications for parole submitted from the same address, but questions asked on Form I-134A received the same responses in as many as 10,000 different applications.
       
• In late August, however, the program was unfrozen—leading U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) to blast the Biden-Harris administration for the decision.

Houston Mayor Whitmire Turns Down Tax Increase

• Houston Mayor John Whitmire said this week he would not "look to raise taxes" until the city is in better shape. As Charles Blain reports, the mayor's comments follow a proposed tax increase by Whitmire's finance director just a week ago.
      
• "I’m not going to look to raise taxes until I can tell Houstonians I’ve done everything possible to cut out waste, duplication, and, quite frankly, corruption," said Whitmire.
      
• Whitmire wasn’t clear on precisely what he meant by "not raising taxes." Many equate that to the no-new revenue rate; some elected officials use it interchangeably when they mean maintaining the current property tax rate. Prior administrations have used "not raising taxes" when they sought to limit property tax collections to Houston’s property tax cap formula, the combined rate of population plus inflation or 4.5 percent, whichever is lower. 
       
• Off the record, council members have speculated that it means lowering the property tax rate but still allowing the city to collect more property tax revenue. The Houston City Council has until October 28 to set the city’s property tax rate.

Families Protest Rockwall ISD’s ‘Disregard for Student Safety’

• Concerned parents are continuing to protest against Rockwall Independent School District, highlighting problems and demanding policy changes that will protect student safety. Erin Anderson has the story.
       
• The protests center around an allegation of sexual abuse involving a pre-K teacher in the district who continues to work at a local elementary school. The victim's mother, Corey Booth, has been trying to raise awareness about her family's situation since August. She and others say her son's situation is not unique in the district; they want a series of reforms implemented by Rockwall ISD.
        
• Unless changes are made to protect students from sexual abuse, protestors are threatening to vote against the district’s proposed tax increase and $848 million bond package.

Nuclear Reactor Approved for Construction at Abilene Christian University

• Abilene Christian University will soon house an advanced nuclear reactor approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the first of its kind constructed in more than 30 years. Valerie Muñoz reports the reactor will not produce electricity but instead provide a platform for research.
        
• Bill Peacock, policy director for the Energy Alliance, said any movement on nuclear power is an improvement because the industry had been "essentially shut down for decades."
       
• The ACU project will involve collaboration with Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Georgia Institute of Technology to form the Natura Resources Research Alliance. Both Texas A&M and UT Austin have housed on-campus nuclear reactors for decades.
     
• Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott called on the state's Public Utility Commission to "evaluate advanced nuclear power reactors to determine if they can provide safe, reliable, and affordable power to our grid."

Quote-Unquote

"Schools teach exactly what they are intended to teach and they do it well: how to be a good Egyptian and remain in your place in the pyramid."

– John Taylor Gatto​

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