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Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Remember... At 9 a.m. today and every Tuesday, join Brandon Waltens and me on The Advance. We'll break down what will be news this week in the Lone Star State. You will find The Advance live on 𝕏, Facebook, and YouTube.

Paxton Challenges Power of District Courts to Order Gender Swaps on Documents

• According to Attorney General Ken Paxton, district courts in Texas do not have the judicial power to order state agencies to change a person’s biological sex on driver’s licenses or birth certificates to conform with their self-identified gender. Will Biagini reports that state agencies, such as the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of State Health Services, are being ordered to correct such changes that already might have been made.
      
• In August 2024, DPS rolled out a new policy to stop gender-confused people from changing their biological sex on driver’s licenses. DPS then became aware of court orders attempting to strong-arm the agency into making the changes. The agency asked Paxton for his opinion on the court actions in relation to state law.
       
• While opinions of the attorney general are not necessarily legally binding on courts, they are considered “persuasive authority.”

University of North Texas Under Federal Investigation for Race-Exclusionary Practices

• Amid the Trump administration’s crackdowns on identity politics, Valerie Muñoz reports that the U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into the University of North Texas over alleged race discrimination policies.
      
• The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights has begun investigating 45 U.S. universities for their alleged partnerships with The PhD Project—an organization that limits participation eligibility based on race. Specifically, white and Asian students were excluded from participating in the program. 
      
• The investigation into UNT comes after faculty at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School were exposed last month for sending emails to graduate students inviting them to participate in The PhD Project’s race-exclusionary conference. TAMU's president later announced the university would no longer be participating. Since then, eight Texas universities have retreated from their partnership with The PhD Project. 
       
• "Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment." – U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon
      

• UNT did not respond to requests for comment on the federal investigation.

Club for Growth Launches Six-Figure Ad Buy Promoting School Choice

• A new six-figure ad campaign in Texas has been launched by Club for Growth to rally support for school choice. Brandon Waltens has the story.
      
• Titled “Agree,” the ad highlights polling on the Education Savings Accounts proposal being debated in the Texas Legislature. Broadly speaking, the measure would provide up to $10,000 per student in an account controlled by the parents.
     
• The ad campaign is part of a nearly $1 million push from Club for Growth to advance educational freedom in Texas.
      
• Legislation has already advanced out of the Senate but only just received a hearing in the House last week. No further legislative action has been scheduled there.
      
• Outside of the Lone Star State, Club for Growth is running similar six-figure campaigns in Missouri, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The group has also successfully advocated for school choice legislation in Idaho, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Harris County Attorney Announces Run for Empty Congressional Seat

• Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has announced his candidacy for the congressional seat previously held by longtime Houston politician Sylvester Turner, who died earlier this month. Joseph Trimmer has the report.
     
• Menefee, a Democrat and self-described progressive, is known for promoting leftist policies. In 2022, for example, Menefee announced his office would not investigate or refer for prosecution cases of child gender mutilation in Harris County.
       
• Earlier this month, Harris County—under Menefee's direction—joined a lawsuit to block President Trump from reducing the federal government’s employee headcount.
      
• Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet declared a special election to fill the vacant congressional seat.

Belton ISD Identifies Another Teacher Arrested for Sex Crime Against Student

• Two teachers in the Belton Independent School District have been arrested in one week for sex crimes involving students, reports Erin Anderson.
      
• Estevan Banda, an elementary school teacher in the district, has been charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact, which is a second-degree felony. Banda’s alleged victim reportedly told Temple Police Department officers that the inappropriate contact occurred at school, where Banda taught fourth grade.
      
• His teaching certificate expired in 2022. District officials said that Banda is being terminated, and the Texas Education Agency is also being notified.
      
• A few days earlier, South Belton Middle School teacher Logan Demeny was arrested for a different crime, though also involving a student. Demeny is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a female student more than 10 times in 2021.

Galveston County Sheriff Sues Texas Commission on Law Enforcement

• A lawsuit by newly-elected Galveston County Sheriff Jimmy Fullen claims he’s immune from disciplinary actions by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, even as the commission seeks to suspend his peace officer’s license over allegations of falsified documents and past misconduct. Michael Wilson has the details.

Quote-Unquote

"The King has degenerated into a tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects’ obedience."

– Patrick Henry​

Y'All Answered

Members of the Texas Senate are looking at legislation to restrict the use of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits from being used to purchase junk food. Opposing that effort is the American Heart Association, claiming such restrictions could cause people to just not participate in the program.

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought about taxpayers subsidizing the purchase of unhealthy snack foods. Just under 93 percent of readers want lawmakers to block subsidies for unhealthy snacks, while 7.1 percent think recipients shouldn't lose access to them.

Here's a sampling of what readers said after participating in the survey...

• “SNAP is supposed to be 'nutritional assistance.’ Many of the snack foods are nothing but addictive junk that leads to terrible outcomes. We already have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country. Why pour gasoline on that fire?” – Deborah Wilkey
      

• “Stop the subsidies for unhealthy foods, but do so with the aim of abolishing SNAP. Food banks are a charity function, not a government responsibility.” – Chris Breaux
      

• “As a family who receives SNAP I agree that it should only be used for actual food and not junk food. But I do hesitate only in the fact that doing this will give the government more control. I do know that lots of people on SNAP will use it for all kinds of junk they should not.” – Stacia Hebert
      

• “Eat what you like, but don't expect me to pay for it.” – John Makow
      

• “Grocery items eligible for ‘food stamps,’ as we used to call them, were once limited to staples such as cheese, butter, rice, milk, flour, etc. Eligible items were labeled as such. As a kid in the 70s in rural Vermont, I remember asking my mom in the grocery store what the label meant.  Great idea to reapply such restrictions.” – Michelle Marceau
       

• “I am not in favor of any government entity being part of the ‘Nanny State.’ People need to be responsible for themselves.” – Mathew Howard
      

• “Why should my tax dollars pay for more sickness and disease?” – Heather Gill
      

• “I volunteered at the Houston food bank a few years back. We worked an assembly line putting ‘food’ into bags for distribution. A lot of what we had for the bags was candy, chips, and various snack foods donated because they were overstock. SNAP doesn’t need to provide junk food, the food banks have that covered.” – David Holden
      

• “Long ago, when I was a WIC participant, I appreciated that the grocery help they gave had to be spent on certain healthy items. I don’t think it’s a problem to regulate how a subsidy is spent.” – Sally Tutor
      

• “I work in a grocery store, and you would not believe the amount of absolute junk purchased with the Lone Star card. No wonder poor people are so fat. Of course, the junk food industry fully supports subsidizing this unhealthy nonsense.” – Forrest Parker
      

• “The key word is nutrition, but the number one item purchased is carbonated beverages.” – Randy Schroder
      

• “SNAP should be regulated to the basics. Meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, flour, shortening, sugar, seasonings, and bread. Keep it simple.” – Laura McGee
       

• “If the American Heart Association opposes the effort to restrict SNAP, then I am in favor of restricting SNAP.” – Curtis Simpson
      

• “I do not know when this was changed. When I was a cashier in the 80s, NO food like that was allowed.” – Karen Burnam
      

• “Let ‘em buy junk food with their money, not our taxes.” – Bob Davis

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