Good morning!

There is deep, satisfying value in work, in and of itself. And for most of us, work is necessary to provide for the needs of ourselves and our families. The elitist push to sort types of work into the categories of “essential” and “non-essential” is both demeaning and dehumanizing. It is antithetical to our founding precept that all men have the inalienable right to the “pursuit of happiness.”

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, May 14, 2020
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• Republican State Sen. Jane Nelson (Denton) has announced the state budget process will require every agency to utilize zero-based budgeting in the wake of a projected shortfall due to the government-ordered shutdowns that have devastated the Texas economy. She heads the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which will have responsibility for drafting the state’s biennial budget next spring.
      
• As Cary Cheshire notes, zero-based budgeting is a powerful, pro-taxpayer tool to rein in expanding bureaucracies. Full implementation of zero-based budgeting has been a long-standing legislative priority of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
      
• Traditionally, appropriators in the Texas Legislature utilize what’s often referred to as either ‘baseline’ or ‘incremental’ budgeting. Under that process, agencies begin at their previous appropriation amount and are provided increases to account for rising costs, population, etc. Such a practice is inherently flawed because it rests on the assumption that the particular agency is running efficiently and revenue is spent appropriately. In addition to enabling waste, fraud, and abuse, the incremental budgeting is rigid and slow to adapt to new technologies and economic realities.

• “Don’t ever apologize for working.” That was the message small businesswoman Shelley Luther delivered at a rally in Laredo yesterday. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• You will remember, Luther was jailed for defying a court order regarding Gov. Greg Abbott’s shutdown of the Texas economy. She had defiantly reopened her Dallas hair salon, was hauled before a judge, and spent two nights behind bars. Her case drew national attention, resulting in Abbott being pressured to remove the jail time provisions of his orders. A GoFundMe account established in her name raised a half-million dollars, which she is now using to help business owners who have been similarly targeted by government.
      
• In Laredo, two beauticians were arrested in undercover sting operations conducted by city police. The women were offering hair and nail services in their homes. Luther contributed money to their legal defense as part of the Freedom Rally.
       
• “I challenge any government official to come and tell one of these beautiful ladies to their face they are not essential.” – Shelley Luther
       
• “Elected officials do not have the enumerated power to declare who is, and who is not, essential.” – Lt. Col. Allen West
       
• The Texas Workforce Commission reports there have been between 2.1 million and 2.4 million Texans thrown into unemployment thanks to the government-ordered shutdown of the state’s economy.

• Yesterday’s Texas Minute led with news of clear written warnings from the Texas Attorney General to city and county governments that are continuing to threaten Texans with jail and fines for violating emergency orders related to the coronavirus.
      
• Despite those warnings, Jacob Asmussen reports the mayors of Austin and San Antonio are pushing forward with plans to enforce the orders Attorney General Ken Paxton has described as “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
       
• Austin’s mayor, Democrat Steve Adler, claims Paxton’s warning amounts to “politicizing” the situation. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg (D) said Paxton was seeking a “cheap political headline” by calling out local officials.
       
• Remember: these mayors want to jail people for up to six months and fine them $1,000 for violating city orders – despite the state explicitly telling the cities they simply do not have the power or authority to do so.

• UPDATE: Responding to public pushback, city officials in Carrollton decided not to act on the police chief’s request to spend federal tax dollars allocated to combat the coronavirus on spy software and off-road vehicles. Erin Anderson has the details.

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