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Beginning late yesterday, our website host suffered "global" service issues throughout the night that impacted the availability of TexasScorecard.com. Hopefully, by the time you open today's Texas Minute, everything will be back online!

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Thursday, April 24, 2025

Health Bill Amended to Prohibit Social Transitioning of Minors

• The Texas House took a step toward reinforcing the role of parents in their children’s mental health care, adopting an amendment yesterday that ensures state-funded services cannot be used to promote social gender transitions in minors in certain rural hospitals. Brandon Waltens details the story.
   
• The amendment, offered on the House floor by Republican Steve Toth of Conroe, was added to legislation aimed at strengthening rural hospitals and expanding access to care across underserved areas of the state. Toth said the amendment was necessary to address what he called a growing trend of mental health providers “alienating children from their families.”
       
• The amendment prevents hospitals that receive the funding from offering any services or treatments related to social gender transitioning of minors. Toth emphasized that the goal is not to stigmatize children, but to protect them from being led away from the people who love them most. 
      
• The amendment passed with a party-line 88-55 vote, and the legislation requires one more procedural vote in the House before moving to the Senate.

Texas Scratch Tickets Have Been Gamed Before, Will it Happen Again?

• At best, the Texas Lottery is a Ponzi scheme financed by the mathematically illiterate. More likely, it is a money-laundering operation run with the official blessing of state officials. Daniel Greer explains yet another way the "game of Texas" has been hijacked by the cozy relationship between vendors and agency officials.

Texas Senators Unanimously Pass Impeachment Reform Legislation

• To address flaws exposed during the 2023 impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Senate unanimously adopted yesterday a series of reforms that must now be approved by the House. Sydnie Henry has the story.
     
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who became a vocal critic of the House’s handling of the Paxton impeachment after the trial concluded, pledged to overhaul the process to ensure fairness and transparency. Patrick also criticized former House Speaker Dade Phelan for what he described as a rushed and opaque process, noting it took over 18 months for Texans to learn that the impeachment cost taxpayers more than $5.1 million.
      
• Among the reforms pushed by the Senate is a requirement that all testimony in an impeachment case be sworn to by the witnesses. Under the Senate's proposal, House members would have 72 hours to review evidence before floor deliberations, and an additional 72 hours after deliberations before a final vote. 
      
• Senators also adopted a constitutional amendment that will ensure impeached state officeholders continue to receive their regular pay while proceedings are ongoing. This addresses the situation in which Comptroller Glenn Hegar withheld approximately $50,000 of Paxton's pay during the impeachment, without providing back pay following the acquittal.

BREAKING SENATE NEWS

Senate Committee Advances E-Verify

By a vote of 6-4, the Senate's Business & Commerce Committee has advanced legislation authored by Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) that would require the use of E-Verify in the Lone Star State. This is considered a key tool in combating human trafficking and the employment of illegal aliens. A full story will be available later today.

As Texas GOP Priority Stalls, Republican Staffer Promotes ‘Woke’ Agenda

• With just 40 days left in the Texas legislative session, a bill designated as a priority by the Republican Party of Texas remains stalled in committee, despite mounting grassroots pressure and vocal support from conservative leaders across the state.
      
• Legislation filed by State Rep. Hillary Hickland (R–Belton) and co-authored by a bipartisan group of lawmakers seeks to restrict the display and marketing of sexually explicit adult products in retail environments accessible to children. The legislation has been languishing in the House Committee on Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development, chaired by Rep. Angie Chen Button (R–Richardson).
      
• As it turns out, Button's chief of staff—Amanda Willard—is reportedly keeping the legislation bottled up. Willard's social media accounts have been a hotbed of leftwing activism. 
      
• "Her open embrace of radical progressive ideology, including elements of the woke agenda, raises serious concerns about who is influencing Republican policy decisions," said Christin Bentley, who leads the Texas GOP's subcommittee charged with promoting the Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids priority.

OTHER HOUSE NEWS

Education Committee Hears Homeschool Freedom Protection

Amid concerns about the impact of school choice legislation on the homeschooling community, a measure to codify established homeschool freedoms received a public hearing yesterday in the Texas House Committee on Public Education.

Brazosport ISD Want Voters to Approve New Debt

• Voters in the Brazosport Independent School District are being asked to approve $167 million in bond debt to pay for “essential” improvements. As Erin Anderson reports, those bonds will cost taxpayers $258 million when including interest.
      
• Most of the money will be spent on campus renovations and new buses. The district plans to spend $6.1 million ($6.8 million with interest) on technology devices for students and staff, including Chromebooks to be used for testing purposes. Because the taxes levied to finance debt are not subject to recapture by the state, districts have an incentive to finance purchases with borrowed bond money.
      

• Brazosport ISD taxpayers currently owe $376 million in outstanding bond debt principal and interest.

Quote-Unquote

"You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen."

– John Adams​

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