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Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Dustin Burrows Faces Scrutiny Over ‘Speaker-Elect’ Claim

• An official request has been made of the Office of the Attorney General to legally scrutinize State Rep. Dustin Burrows' use of the title “Speaker-elect” without securing a clear majority of pledged votes. Brandon Waltens details the issue.
        
• The request was made yesterday by State Rep. J.M. Lozano (R-Kingsville) after Burrows began using the title in high-dollar fundraising solicitations. 
       
• “Our statutes provide a number of reasons to be concerned,” wrote Lozano in his letter to Paxton. He cited Penal Code Section 37.11. That section of state law makes it a crime to use a title if there is an “intent to induce another to submit to the person’s pretended official authority.”
       
• After being defeated in the Republican caucus nomination vote on Saturday by State Rep. David Cook (R–Mansfield), Burrows claimed to have 76 pledges for the speakership of the Texas House. That list has been shrinking ever since.
        
• Within hours of his announcement, eight Republicans and a Democrat said Burrows had falsely used their names. In the days since then, more Republicans have withdrawn support for Burrows and backed Cook.

RELATED NEWS

• Ironically, Burrows is set to be in Houston for a high-dollar “Speaker-elect” fundraiser for himself on Thursday. Every member of the Harris County GOP delegation, except Lacey Hull, is backing Cook for speaker.

Federal Judge Blocks Biden Rule Providing Health Insurance to Illegal Aliens

• A federal judge has blocked a Biden-Harris administration rule that required health insurance coverage for those brought across the border illegally as children. Valerie Muñoz has the story.
      
• Texas and 18 other Republican-led states sued the federal government over the rule, allowing some illegal aliens to enroll in a federally run health insurance plan under ObamaCare.
     
• The states successfully argued that the Biden rule forced U.S. citizens and legal residents to fund health care for illegal aliens.
      
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the decision on social media. “Today, we prevented yet another attempt by the Biden Administration to spend our hard-earned tax dollars on radically unpopular policies that put illegal aliens ahead of America[n] citizens.”

Texas Can Help Take Back Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from China

• According to recent research from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, China is the chief producer of key ingredients for pharmaceutical medicine, and its dominance in this field is only continuing to grow. As Addie Hovland reports, Texas lawmakers could reorient the pharmacological landscape.
       
• A new analysis of import data finds that the number of pharmaceutical chemicals from China to the U.S. increased by 600 percent between 2016 and 2021.
       
• TPPF has four policy recommendations for Texas lawmakers concerned about the future of safe and reliable pharmaceutical supplies. Those include origin labeling, state quota contracts and bids, reform of state drug regulations and market dynamics, and an analysis of the vulnerability of the supply chain.

Mayoral Candidate Admits to Mail Ballot Fraud

• More than four years after he was caught with a box full of fraudulently obtained mail-in ballots, Carrollton mayoral candidate Zul Mohamed pleaded guilty this week to 109 voter fraud felonies. Erin Anderson reports a Denton County jury will now determine the punishment, which could range from 2 to 20 years in prison or probation.
       
• Mohamed ran for mayor in 2020 after losing a Carrollton City Council race two years earlier. In September 2020, Denton County Elections officials received dozens of suspicious ballot-by-mail applications, all with similar writing and requesting ballots be sent to the same address—which turned out to be a commercial mailbox store.
      
• Denton County Sheriff’s Office investigators placed trackers in a box of ballots, staked out the store, and traced the scheme back to Mohamed. He was charged with submitting fraudulent mail ballot applications and possessing mail-in ballots or carrier envelopes without the voter’s knowledge or request.
      
• He also lost the race, receiving just 6,540 votes of the nearly 26,700 cast.

UT-Austin LGBT Course Promotes Sexualization of Minors

• Robert Montoya reports that the University of Texas at Austin has been offering an “Introduction to LGBT Studies” course this fall. One of the required course textbooks promotes the sexualization of minors.
      
• The course itself claims to provide “an intersectional perspective on LGBTQ+ studies.”
     
• One of the required books for the course is “The Routledge Queer Studies Reader,” which argues for the sexualization of minors. The author complains about “the systematic separation of children from queer adults.”
       
• "The LGBT movement, like everything else on the left, becomes more radical by the day. It has morphed from a movement about redefining marriage to one openly advocating for the mutilation of children and pedophilia." – Brady Gray, Texas Family Project

Border County Judge Joins Republican Party, Citing Democrats' Leftward Drift

• Once a member of the Democrat Party, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina announced yesterday he is switching to the GOP.
      
• Webb County, which includes the City of Laredo, has historically been a Democrat stronghold. However, in November, the county flipped and voted for President Donald Trump—the first time in a century that Webb County supported a Republican presidential candidate.
       
• Tijerina’s decision reflects a broader political shift occurring in South Texas. In November, 12 of the state’s 14 border counties voted Republican. 
      
• “For years, I’ve watched the national Democrat Party drift further left, embracing policies that don’t reflect the values of our community. This is not about politics; it’s about staying true to my principles and the people of South Texas. The party left me, and the people of South Texas, behind.” — Tano Tijerina

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Jennifer Thatcher of Zapata

Previously announced 2024 Awardees...

⚔️ Jim McIngvale

Quote-Unquote

"The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing."

– Milton Friedman​

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