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Good morning, 

In today's One Click Survey, we want to know what readers think about a proposed "guest worker program" in the state house benefiting Mexican nationals.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, May 12, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

UPDATE: House Calendar Stacks Up Against Conservatives

• With two key deadlines rapidly approaching this week in the House, coupled with legislative inaction earlier in the session and delay tactics being employed in recent days, conservative activists are noting with distress the lack of progress on consensus reforms needed in Texas. These range from bans on taxpayer-funded lobbying and the collection of union dues to substantive property tax relief and bail reform.
      
• The House came nowhere close to finishing their regular business on Friday or Saturday, took yesterday off, and will start today with a backlog of hundreds of pieces of legislation. 
          
• Between five-day weekends and the plodding pace of legislative business, the House leadership is on a path to limiting GOP success. When lawmakers come home and tell you they "ran out of time," remember that they were the ones playing games with the clock.
     
• Meanwhile, lawmakers are still set to debate and vote at some point in the coming days on Democrat-sponsored legislation that would create a "guest worker program" for Mexican nationals.

Cruz and Gill Target Universities’ Foreign Funding

• Legislation has been filed in both chambers of Congress to penalize universities that fail to report financial contributions from foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran. As Debra McClure reports, companion measures have been filed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) and U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Flower Mound)
          
• Cruz said these global adversaries expend a great deal of resources in an effort "to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think."
       
• The proposed Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act would apply "a 300% excise tax on all funds institutions receive from designated countries of concern" and a "110% excise tax on unreported funds by institutions that fail to disclose funding from any foreign entity."
       
• Universities with large endowments and a "history of misconduct" would receive audits every two years to ensure compliance.
      
• "American universities that receive taxpayer funding and mold the minds of our next generation of working adults should not be compromised by the foreign influence of adversarial nations and their big ticket donations." – Brandon Gill

Texas House Moves To Restore AG’s Power To Prosecute Election Crimes

• Legislation to restore the state attorney general’s authority to prosecute election-related crimes passed the Texas House on Friday. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• Authored by State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R–Plano), the legislation would allow the attorney general to step in and prosecute election law violations if a local prosecutor fails to act within six months of receiving a law enforcement report.
      
• The measure comes in response to the 2021 State v. Stephens decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which held that the attorney general did not have independent authority to bring criminal charges under the Election Code. The ruling was condemned by Paxton and the two most recent attorneys general: Greg Abbott and John Cornyn.
       
• All three Court of Criminal Appeals judges who supported the decision and were up for re-election were defeated by Paxton-endorsed challengers in 2024.
       
• While the Texas Senate passed a similar bill last month, the House did not take up that version. As a result, additional steps will be required to reconcile the two versions before the legislation can head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

DOJ Joins Paxton, Abbott in Probing Controversial Islamic Compound

• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced that the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a federal investigation into the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) and its proposed 402-acre Muslim development, EPIC City, near Josephine, Texas.
       
• Last month, Cornyn sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi urging federal authorities to review the project amid concerns about religious discrimination, the potential application of sharia law, and possible violations of federal law.
          
• "Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no place in the Lone Star State. Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under the Trump administration, they will be." – John Cornyn

UT-Austin Announce $100M Investment in Classical & Civic Education

• Adam Cahn reports that officials at the University of Texas-Austin have announced a dramatic expansion of its classical education program, committing $100 million to the School of Civic Leadership.
      
• The new school is advertised to develop “citizens who understand the ideas and institutions that have made free, prosperous societies possible.”
     
• The School for Civic Leadership opened in 2023 and has hosted events focused on topics such as freedom, virtue, the American founding, and the history of Western Civilization.

Democrat Judge Temporarily Limits Lottery’s Ban on Ticket Resellers

• A Democrat judge in Travis County has temporarily limited the scope of a Texas Lottery Commission rule banning ticket reseller services. Luca Cacciatore reports the order came at the request of Lotto.com operator LTC Texas LLC, which is a ticket reseller.
     
• Resellers, also known as couriers, allow customers to play the lottery online through an intermediary who buys the ticket at a brick-and-mortar store on their behalf. These illicit services have drawn scrutiny for existing outside the state laws governing the lottery. The companies are also connected to other shady activities.
      
• Texas Scorecard previously reported that Lotto.com, for example, has offered illicit scratch-off tickets on its website and engaged in questionable marketing strategies with AMC Theaters and Uber Technologies.
     
• Internal communications have found that former Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Gary Grief had secretly recruited ticket resellers to operate in the state despite concerns over legality. 

Quote-Unquote

"Socialists cry 'power to the people,' and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean: power over people, power to the State."

– Margaret Thatcher​

One Click Survey

Democrats in the Texas Legislature want to create a "guest worker program" for Mexican nationals, similar to one proposed by President George W. Bush in 2004. Proponents say it would fill a "labor shortage" by giving low-skill jobs to Mexican laborers. Opponents say it robs Americans of entry-level jobs from which they can build their resumes.

Do you think Texans would benefit by making it easier for Mexican nationals to get jobs in the Lone Star State?

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