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In yesterday's edition, we asked about revelations that federal and state government agencies have funded news outlets. Find out what your fellow readers had to say down below.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

THE ADVANCE: Join Brandon Waltens and me live at 9 a.m. today for a look at the Senate and House calendars for the week ahead. We'll also discuss the potential impact presidential pressure could have on state lawmakers. You'll find us on 𝕏, Facebook, and YouTube.

Speaker Burrows Promises Texas House 'Will' Pass School Choice

• Responding to a weekend social media post by President Donald Trump, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said his chamber will pass school choice. Brandon Waltens has the details.
   
• On Saturday, Trump praised Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, State Sen. Brandon Creighton, and the Texas Senate for passing school choice legislation last week. The president noted that the House has repeatedly killed the measure, and he would be "watching them closely."
       
• Burrows responded with two words: "We will."
       

• The House Democrat Caucus—which largely supported Burrows—has been vocal against school choice measures, claiming the senate's legislation put "billionaires over students."

       
•  Speaker Burrows has not yet organized the House into committees. Legislation cannot begin moving until that happens.

Paxton Investigates Two School Districts Over Girls’ Sports

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened investigations into two more school districts after administrators reportedly advised parents to circumvent state law to allow boys to play in girls’ sports programs. Will Biagini has the story.
   
• Paxton's office has sent demand letters to the school districts in Hutto and Richardson for documentation of communication about students’ eligibility for participation in sports programs based on biological sex. Similar letters were sent last week to Dallas and Irving ISDs.
        
• Current Texas law limits participation in interscholastic sports competitions to the biological sex of the student listed on the student's birth certificate. 

Scorecard On Campus: Asking Longhorns About DEI

New Legislation Would Cut Off Tax Dollars to Media Outlets in Texas

• Following revelations that Texas taxpayers have been footing the bill for subscriptions and advertisements in media outlets like Politico, legislation has been filed to prevent state agencies from using public funds to support news organizations.
   
• Measures filed by State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park) aim to curb state-funded media subsidies.
       
• One of Cain's legislative initiatives would prohibit agencies from using appropriated money to advertise in or donate to statewide periodicals or internet news websites that rely on ad revenue or memberships. Another would bar state agencies—including the legislature—from purchasing periodicals or financially supporting any news media. He does make exceptions for certain institutions, such as libraries and museums, and allows legislators to buy a single subscription to publications in their districts.

RELATED NEWS

Defunding the ALA

• Legislation has been filed by State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) that would block schools and public libraries in Texas from using taxpayer funds to become members of the American Library Association, attend ALA conferences, or otherwise financially support the group.
       
• As Valerie Muñoz reports, controversy has been stoked by the rise of pornographic materials in tax-funded libraries. The ALA opposes all attempts to restrict access to library materials based on a reader's age.
        
• In 2023, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission ended its contract with the ALA after that organization elected a self-proclaimed Marxist as its president who said she wanted to create a “socialist vision for public libraries.”
        
• "Texas should be leading the fight against dangerous Marxist ideology, not subsidizing it." – Brian Harrison

Lawmakers Want to Bring Ten Commandments, Prayer to Texas Schools

• Luca Cacciatore reports on the efforts of two state senators to bring the Ten Commandments and prayer into Texas classrooms.
      
• State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) wants to require government schools to display "in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school" a copy of the Ten Commandments. It must be "legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom."
       
• "The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story. They are ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation," said King. "Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law."
       
• Meanwhile, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) has authored legislation that would permit all public and charter school operators to adopt policies that “provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day.”
        
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick set both issues among his top 25 priorities for the 89th Legislative Session.

Report: ‘Make Texas Housing Affordable Again’

• A new policy paper from the Huffines Liberty Foundation takes on housing costs as lawmakers grapple with related issues in the current legislative session. As Adam Cahn reports, the foundation has outlined the steps lawmakers can take to tackle elements of the issue.
     
• Those include substantial reductions (or outright elimination) in property taxes, restraining local government spending, streamlining (or eliminating) land use regulations and building codes, and closing the border.

Superintendent Allowed to Resign Over Undisclosed Misconduct

• Trustees in Lake Travis Independent School District voted unanimously during a special board meeting to let Superintendent Paul Norton resign and receive a payout of his contract while avoiding further scrutiny. As Erin Anderson reports, Norton had been placed on paid administrative leave in December for alleged misconduct presented to trustees in a closed meeting.
      

• Some residents have accused him and other administrators of financial misconduct and said they provided documentation in a grievance submitted to the district last year.

      
• According to a statement issued by the school board president, the complaint against Norton did not relate to students or district finances. He was hired in 2020.
        
• In addition to being paid the remainder of his salary and benefits for the current school year, Norton will receive a $158,000 severance payment and $60,255 for unused vacation and personal days. The district and trustees also agreed not to participate in any “grievance, complaint, or other claim against Norton” and to withdraw any grievances against him.

Real News for Real Texans

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Quote-Unquote

"News is something somebody doesn’t want printed; all else is advertising."

– William Randolph Hearst​

Y'All Answered

It was revealed last week USAID and other federal agencies were funneling millions of dollars to leftwing publications. The president immediately ordered all such payments to end. Texas Scorecard's follow-up research found state agencies doing the same thing.

Yesterday, we asked readers if they thought Gov. Greg Abbott should—like President Trump—order state agencies to stop all payments to media outlets. Less than one percent of readers think those payments should continue, while 99.2 percent want that funding cut off.

Here is a sampling of the responses we received from folks on the topic.

• “Anything the government touches becomes their proxy.” – Bob Davis
       

• “There is absolutely no (good) reason for a government to finance media.” – Cindy Armstrong
       

• “Bribery never creates a level playing field.” – Sherry Poe
      

• “Why should Texans pay for propaganda? It is a waste of money.” – Kenneth Gardner
      

• “Over 70% of Americans don’t trust the media, so why waste taxpayer’s money on a dishonest platform?” – Molly Gail
       

• “Removing governmental subsidies should INCREASE independence. Currently, we have puddles of propaganda.” – Arthur Potter
     

• “Media outlets are not being ‘funded,’ but are subscriptions.” – Dalene L. Buhl
      

• “There are two groups vehemently opposed to disclosure of USAID expenditures—those who will be exposed for engaging in grift, money laundering, and kickbacks; and Democrats.” – Erich Wolz
       

• “The press is intended to be the people’s watchdog of government, so it defies logic for the hens to be paying the foxes to guard the hen house.” – Elissa Harrell
      

• “Where does it say in the U.S. Constitution that the Federal Govt should fund the media?” – Rodney Deschamps
      

• “If agencies and businesses in general have to survive on their own without government assistance, it’s a win-win for us all.” – Betty Bailey-Lucas
      

• “It’s obscene that government should even attempt to psychologically manipulate us using our own taxpayer funds.” – Claire Nybro
      

• “In my opinion, a free press is free with their opinions when they use their own dollars. But when they use someone else's money (our tax dollars), then they will have government-controlled opinions in their press.” – Jerry Fox
      

• “It's outrageous that any government is subsidizing any news organizations. No wonder so much of the news is so biased. For that matter, I've always felt that NPR should have been defunded years ago. Actually, it should have never been funded in the first place.” – Marta Hollowell
      

• “The 330+ million American citizens should never fund programs that intentionally harm our great nation. These ‘news organizations’ threaten the fiber of our nation with destructive narratives they push. We shouldn’t fund them.” – Dave Dorsey
       

• “There is a reason for the term ‘free’ press. With money, there are strings. In Texas, let our preference be for free, unbiased press, not propaganda.” – Margie McAllister

Directory of Your Current U.S. & Texas Lawmakers

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