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Good morning,

Labor unions and "teacher associations" in Texas overwhelmingly contribute to leftwing politicians and causes, but some governmental entities nonetheless collect those dues in the form of automatic payroll deductions. This week's One Click Survey seeks your thoughts on that practice.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, April 14, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Perennial Playoff Failures, Dallas Cowboys Focus on Profiting off the Texas Lottery

• In 2014, Jerry Jones went to Austin to hype his corporate partner—the Texas Lottery. Daniel Greer and Robert Montoya investigate how the perennial playoff failure has been focused on profiting off the scandal-plagued Texas Lottery.
       
• During that visit, Jones—whose Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996—said he’s constantly asked to sign losing Cowboys-branded scratch-off lottery tickets. While losing has become a defining characteristic of the Cowboys and a vast majority of lottery players, Jones himself is winning from the deal. 
         
• The Texas Sunset Commission issued a report this January that criticized the Lottery for its “ticket partnerships with recognized brands.” In addition to various royalties, the Lottery contract with Jones’ Cowboys finds the state pre-pays for promotional "prize" items—and the Cowboys collect the cash even if no one wins those prizes.
       
• As an aside, scratch-off tickets aren’t the only way the Lottery has funneled cash to Jones’ connected outfits. The Texas Lottery has a multi-year, multimillion-dollar no-bid contract for naming rights at Texas Lottery Plaza, an outdoor music venue located at the Toyota Music Factory. The venture is run by Legends Hospitality, a Jones-owned business.
      
• During the budget debate in the Texas House last week, funding for the Texas Lottery was eliminated.

Senator Wants a State Watchdog for Foreign Land Purchases

• Legislation by State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) would create a special watchdog office to review certain foreign land purchases in Texas. Luca Cacciatore has the details.
      

• The Texas Committee on Foreign Investment would be composed of representatives from the governor’s office, the attorney general’s office, and other major agencies. It would be tasked with reviewing abnormally high-dollar foreign transactions that could affect critical infrastructure, agricultural land, sensitive personal data of residents, or a strategic industry or asset.

     
• Under Parker’s proposal, foreigners seeking a transaction potentially relevant to national security must notify the Texas attorney general, who could determine whether an investigation is warranted.
      
• The legislation compliments Senate Bill 17, which was passed out of the chamber in March and prohibits individuals, companies, and agencies affiliated with certain hostile countries from owning Texas land. In the Texas House, State Reps. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) and David Spiller (R-Jacksboro) have also proposed legislation targeting land purchases by hostile foreign entities.

Park Reopens After One Year of Lockdown

• A year after being closed to the public to accommodate Operation Lone Star's border security efforts, Will Biagini reports the gates of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass are now open.
     
• According to a spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott, the park was no longer needed for the state-run operations, thanks to the Trump administration's actions securing the border.
     
• "Texas held the line against the Biden-Harris border crisis for the past four years, and Governor Abbott looks forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump and his administration to protect our state and the nation." – Andrew Mahaleris

More Than 700 Houston City Workers Accept Retirement Incentive

• More than 700 Houston city employees have accepted a retirement incentive ahead of the April 28 deadline, reports Joseph Trimmer. Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced the incentive in March as part of his plan to address the city’s $330 million budget deficit.
       
• The program targets about 3,000 eligible employees, providing a one-time payment of 25 percent of their annual salary and five years of employee benefits. The retirement program is viewed as a way to trim operating costs without resorting to across-the-board layoffs.

Dallas ISD Agrees To Enforce Ban on Boys in Girls’ Sports

• Dallas Independent School District has agreed to comply with a Texas law banning biological boys from competing in girls’ sports. 
       
• Back in February, Attorney General Ken Paxton pressured Dallas ISD to provide proof that it was not violating state laws protecting the integrity of female sports programs. That came in response to revelations that a DISD administrator, Mahoganie Gaston, was reportedly coaching parents on how to circumvent the law via out-of-state birth certificate loopholes. The letter demanded that the district relinquish any evidence of state law violations. 
       

• Gaston resigned after Paxton’s letter to the district sparked an internal investigation.

       
• Without admitting past wrongdoing, DISD says it will notify staff and will not counsel individuals on circumventing the law.

Celina ISD Seeks $2.29 Billion in School Bond Debt

• When voters in Celina ISD go to the polls in May, they will find the school district is asking for $2.29 billion in new debt. Yet, as Erin Anderson reports, property taxpayers will actually be on the hook for $4.5 billion when including the cost of interest payments.
      
• The billions in bond funds would be spent primarily on building 11 new schools, including a $631 million high school.
     
• Celina ISD taxpayers already owe $836 million in outstanding bond debt principal and interest.
      
• Someone once complained to me that "no one seriously looks at the cost of interest payments when they make a big purchase." Fiscal irresponsibility is never a good look.

Today In History

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., by the actor John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died the next day. Booth was caught and killed on April 26.

Quote-Unquote

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."

– Albert Einstein​

One Click Survey

While Texas is a right-to-work state, some school districts and other governmental bodies will, nonetheless, automatically deduct union and association dues from employees' paychecks. This represents a significant subsidy to labor unions by having the government serve as the "dues collector."

Should government agencies collect union and "association" dues from employees' paychecks?

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!