Good morning,

We've come to the last day of early voting and the final weekend before the General Election. I end the week reflecting on our responsibility, as citizens, to be tireless in our efforts to preserve liberty.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Texas Hospitals Must Now Report Medical Costs of Illegals

• Effective today, hospitals in Texas are required to collect and report the healthcare costs of illegal aliens. As Brandon Waltens reports, the new rule was ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott in August.
    
• Under the governor's executive order, hospitals must report the data quarterly to the Health and Human Services Commission. Under federal law, patient care is not impacted by a patient's immigration status, but the state can collect the information.
      
• One goal of the required reporting is to collect more accurate data for the purpose of better policymaking.
       
• In 2021, Attorney General Ken Paxton revealed that Texans annually pay between $62 million and $90 million for illegals in the state's emergency Medicaid program. He estimated taxpayers are paying another $579 million to $717 million for hospitals to provide uncompensated medical care for individuals in the country illegally.
       
• “Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state,” said Abbott when issuing the executive order. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”

Texas Ranked #7 in Tax System Efficiency and Competitiveness

• A new report by the Tax Foundation has found that Texas ranks behind six other states in terms of tax system efficiency and competitiveness. Will Biagini has the details.
    
• While Texas boasts no individual income tax or a blanket corporate income tax, it does impose a gross margins tax on many businesses—which the Tax Foundation describes as both burdensome and complicated.
       
• The six states with more competitive tax structures than Texas are Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Montana, and New Hampshire.
      
• The real competition for Texas in that group is Florida. Texas imposes a 6.25 percent sales tax rate with an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.20 percent. Florida, meanwhile, boasts a 6.00 percent sales tax rate and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 7.00 percent. Similarly, Texas' effective property tax rate is double that of Florida.
        
• “Texas is often championed as the shining beacon on the hill when it comes to economic opportunities and freedom,” said Andrew McVeigh of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. “While that may be true in some respects, it fails to match reality when it comes to the tax burden on taxpayers.” 

A&M and UT Invest Endowments in CCP Companies

• Valerie Muñoz describes newly revealed records showing the investment arm of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University bought shares in more than 50 Chinese companies.
       

• According to records uncovered by the American Accountability Foundation, the universities' investment firm—the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company, UTIMCO—has invested in Chinese companies that operate under the auspices of the communist party.
        

• In 2021, the U.S. Department of State issued a fact sheet on the subject of American academic institutions investing in China. It outlined how U.S. investors have unknowingly been using university endowments to fund work by companies affiliated with the Chinese military.
        

• The nine-member UTIMCO board of directors includes regents from the University of Texas and the Texas A&M University systems.

17-Year-Old Illegal Alien Charged With Human Smuggling

• Texas troopers arrested Jesus Gonzalez, a 17-year-old illegal alien, for human smuggling. Emily Medeiros reports the arrest came after the Mexican national evaded authorities last week in a high-speed chase in Webb County.
       
• During the chase, Gonzalez helped five individuals he smuggled across the border escape capture. He was charged on Oct. 24 with one count of evading arrest, one count of evading arrest with a vehicle, and five counts of human smuggling. Gonzalez was released the next day.
      
• “The reckless disregard for the safety of others should not be tolerated from any person, especially from someone who is in our country illegally,” said Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith. “It’s obvious that this person has no respect for our laws or the well-being of others. Some Texas justice would do this person a lot of good.”

Teacher Faces 10 Felonies for Sexually Assaulting Student

• A now-former Texas teacher was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, along with nine other sex crimes against a student. As Erin Anderson reports, this comes more than two years after he was allowed to resign while under investigation for the allegations.
        
• David Rios taught law enforcement at Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District, located northeast of San Antonio.
        
• District officials placed Rios on administrative leave in February 2022 when the allegations arose, then allowed him to resign his position in April 2022 while the investigation continued.

Houston Mayor Announces City-sponsored Homeless Encampment

• In response to a citizen’s concern about the homeless population moving into neighborhoods, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced a program to create a city-sponsored homeless encampment. Charles Blain has the story.
    
• Houston has long had a "civility" ordinance prohibiting people from sitting, sleeping, or laying their possessions on sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. in certain neighborhoods. Based on resident complaints, the ordinance has been expanded over the years to additional neighborhoods.
       
• There are no details yet about the proposed homeless encampment, but Whitmire said it would be "a safe residential facility. Maybe a tent."

Friday Reflection
Brush Fires of Liberty

Even though there is no record that he said it, many people attribute to the American patriot Sam Adams the phrase, “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.”

It may be a spurious citation, but I think Sam Adams probably would have agreed with the sentiment.

The idea contained in that quotation is a simple one, with examples scattered throughout ancient and modern history. That is, perhaps, why the saying has such staying power: we know instinctively it is true.

Yet, in modern politics, we have allowed ourselves to be told to believe, and even to act, in contradiction to that truth. 

We’re expected to believe a majority must be on our side to prevail before we even get started. Polls are used and abused to tell us to ignore our beliefs... because no one else shares them and are doomed to fail.

We want engaging to be easy. We want victories to come with minimal work.

And so, maybe the naysayers are right—in the moment. After all, no great effort to right an injustice or reform a corrupt system ever began with a majority. It began as a good idea, but it was nonetheless abhorred by many.

Let me make a simple observation here and take a swipe at one of the conservative movement’s favorite sayings. It comes from the French poet Victor Hugo and goes like this: “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

In fact, almost everything is more powerful than a good idea. Good ideas die ignoble deaths all the time. And they die because the originator of the idea either assumed it would be recognized without question and adopted by all who beheld it... or was intimidated by the work of making it real.

What propels forward good ideas isn’t much different than what it takes to start a fire with a bit of flint and steel: persistent effort.

Let’s be honest: it’s actually hard work to engage with our friends and family. We risk scorn and rejection. We worry about social standing and professional retribution.

Yet, it is also immensely rewarding. One lit match might illuminate a step or two for a minute, but blazing bonfires can turn night into day.

With a “tireless minority” keenly at work, we can push against the darkness and illuminate the lives of our countrymen. It’s up to us. So, regardless of who said it, let’s get busy setting those fires! 

Our republic needs the light now more than ever.

Quote-Unquote

"We've been blessed with the opportunity to stand for something—for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to. And we have good reason to be hopeful and optimistic. We've made much progress already. So, let us go forth with good cheer and stout hearts—happy warriors out to seize back a country and a world to freedom."

– Ronald Reagan