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Good morning, 

I am filling in for Michael Quinn Sullivan today. This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, April 8, 2025. 

– Brandon Waltens 

Ahead of Budget Debate, House Members Move To Slash Lottery Spending

• As the Texas House prepares to debate its version of the state budget later this week, conservative lawmakers are lining up amendments that would take a scalpel to the Texas Lottery Commission’s funding. They propose redirecting millions currently used to promote and operate the lottery to support taxpayer priorities like property tax relief instead.
   
• In recent months, the agency has come under fire for allowing third-party websites to sell lottery tickets online—despite concerns that the practice violates state law and opens the door to unregulated gambling. 
   
• Under the House’s proposed budget, the Texas Lottery Commission is slated to receive more than $667 million over the next two years, with the bulk of that money going toward vendor contracts, ticket printing, advertising, and retailer commissions.
   
• An amendment by State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth) would eliminate all funding for the Texas Lottery Commission and redirect the money to reduce school property taxes.​
   
• The budget, Senate Bill 1, is slated to be voted on in the Texas House on Thursday, April 10.
   

Texas Taxpayers Funded Anti-Border Security, Pro-Islam Show

• Records show the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, the state’s film grant system that’s housed in the governor’s office, funded the first season of a Netflix program “Mo” to the tune of $1.2 million. Robert Montoya has the details. 
   

• The series, which centers around the title character Mo, short for Mohammed, is about an illegal Palestinian immigrant and devout follower of Islam. Texas taxpayers helped fund the first season.
   

• At its core, the show is subversive to the values most Texans espouse. It’s anti-border security television that normalizes Islam and presents a one-sided view of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
   

• In one episode, Mohammed claims, "Jesus was Palestinian.”
   

• Meanwhile, there are efforts in the Texas Senate to expand film incentives to the tune of $2.5 billion over the next decade.
   

TAMU President Vetoes LGBT Class in Core Curriculum

• Texas A&M President Mark Welsh vetoed the faculty senate’s request to include an LGBT class in the university’s core curriculum for social and behavioral sciences.
   

• A December 2024 memo from Provost Alan Sams to Welsh, obtained by The Battalion, listed action items approved by the Texas A&M Faculty Senate. That body is chosen by the faculty to represent it under the “shared governance” model, in which the board of regents shares authority with the faculty.
   

• Unlike boards of regents, faculty senates are not accountable to Texans. Faculty senates are often found advancing ideological aims rather than education while undermining boards of regents, which Texans, through their elected public servants, appoint to manage universities.
   

• The TAMU faculty senate voted to certify “Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies" as a part of the university's core curriculum for social and behavioral sciences.
   

• Welsh struck a line through that item, indicating his disapproval. He signed it on February 11, 2025. His action does not discontinue this course offering at Texas A&M.

San Antonio Sued For Funding Out-of-State Abortion Travel

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the city of San Antonio to block taxpayer funding for women seeking to travel for out-of-state abortion procedures.
   

• Will Biagini reports that, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit, San Antonio’s allocation of $100,000 to fund travel for Texans seeking drug-induced abortions in other states violates state law. It also accuses the defendants—City of San Antonio officials—of “transparently” working to flout the law. 
   

• Paxton is demanding that the courts declare San Antonio’s actions unconstitutional and issue an injunction to block the city from further allocating public funds for out-of-state abortion travel. 
   

• “I will not stand by while rogue cities use tax dollars to circumvent state law and take the innocent lives of unborn children." –Ken Paxton

Quote-Unquote

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

– Thomas Jefferson​

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