Good morning!

Bet you didn’t think you’d start the day learning you have something in common with leftwing financier George Soros, but you do: you are both funding a liberal news source in Texas.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Modify your email preferences.

• North Texas officials are warning changes in how the state defines and reports cases of the Chinese coronavirus could “significantly and artificially” spike local case totals, creating false alarm as Texas begins to reopen for business. Erin Anderson has the full story.
       
• Collin County Judge Chris Hill advised residents over the weekend that the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) will begin reporting “probable” COVID-19 cases in addition to “confirmed” cases. Under the state’s expanded criteria, it is possible to meet the definition of a probable COVID-19 case without exhibiting any symptoms at all.
       
• “I fear this is coming at a time when we’re just now starting to reopen. If the numbers jump in a false way, it’s going to start to be very concerning to our citizens that we’re actually going backwards.” – Collin County Judge Chris Hill
       
• Having failed to win a statewide election in a quarter century, Texas Democrats don’t have many homegrown options for a state convention headliner. Instead, reports Cary Cheshire, they’ll be bringing in a California Democrat who has become one of the most well-known creatures in the Washington swamp: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
       
• In case you missed it... Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office launched a probe last week into alleged mail-in ballot harvesting in Harris County triggered by a complaint from activist Colleen Vera.
   
• You might recall Vera is a recipient of the Conservative Leader Award – an engraved cavalry sword presented at Empower Texans’ annual Conservative Leaders Gala – for her ongoing fight for education reform. (She was also featured in our 2011 “Protect the Classroom” campaign.)

• Former State Sen. Konni Burton (R-Fort Worth) pointed out this little gem in an email a couple of days ago: the Austin-based progressive news source, the Texas Tribune, took $800,000 in a forgivable government loan as part of the Paycheck Protection Program meant for legitimate businesses. Run as a non-profit, the "Trib" is little more than a miniature New York Times; operated by liberals pushing a left-of-center philosophy.
      
• In addition to George Soros’ cash, the Texas Tribune receives a massive funding from state universities, other state agencies, and taxpayer-funded lobbyists. So I am sure you will be surprised to find that their brand of “news” refuses to hold establishment politicians accountable for working against the taxpayers.
       
• “Media organizations were not forced to shut their doors like most businesses in Texas were. And yet the Tribune applied for and received $800,000 from the PPP, which was designed to help businesses harmed during the shutdown. Not only is that insulting, but it makes me wonder how many other newspaper outlets in Texas received this same benefit?” – Konni Burton, CEO of TheTexan.news
       
• Congratulations: your state and federal tax dollars are being used to subsidize an online leftwing news site. 
      
• As an aside, Empower Texans and Texas Scorecard didn’t seek government handouts, despite being “qualified” to do so. Our stated bias is to protect the taxpayers, and so we did what so many other families and small businesses have been doing: we cut spending.
        
• In just a handful of months, people around the world have become exhausted from panic-driven, unconfirmed data and anecdotal evidence about the Chinese coronavirus. Two Texans – Paul Hastings and Ben Billups – put together an easy-to-use website that reports the most recent, confirmed numbers about coronavirus, with updates delivered several times a day. No hype, no media bias, no hyperbole. Check out coronavirustracker.us.