Good morning,
There's a lot in the world to tear us apart. A 300-year-old ladder in Jerusalem is evidence that unity can be achieved around the most important things. More on that below.
This is the Texas Minute for Friday, May 16, 2025.
– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Hundreds of Bills Die as Texas House Hits Deadline
- At the stroke of midnight, the deadline for House bills to be passed on second reading expired, leaving hundreds of pieces of legislation on the calendar now dead for the session. Of course, as Brandon Waltens reports, numerous conservative priorities, like those ending in-state tuition for illegal aliens or mandating E-Verify for employers, didn’t even make it to the House calendar.
Despite having months to act, the House spent much of the early session at a crawl, taking frequent long weekends and moving relatively few bills. In the first months of the session, numerous conservative members highlighted the coming logjam by objecting to the early adjournments. The result was a bloated calendar yesterday, with a 30-page document listing hundreds of bills awaiting action.
One significant item to make it across the finish line was House Bill 3441 by State Rep. Shelley Luther (R-Sherman). Her legislation would allow individuals to sue vaccine manufacturers if a drug they advertised caused harm.
A high-profile casualty, however, was House Bill 3219 by State Rep. Joanne Shofner (R-Nacogdoches), which would have required the Texas commissioner of state health services to issue a statewide order allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a prescription.
The session is not over, however. With this deadline now passed, only legislation that originated in the Senate is still eligible to be considered by the House in the coming weeks.
Texas Alliance for Life Accused of Sabotaging Pro-Life Legislation
- A well-known pro-life activist has made an alarming accusation against a pro-life organization, revealing a political rift in the process. Adam Cahn has the story. This is not the first time Texas Alliance for Life and its executive director, Joe Pojman, have been accused of sabotaging pro-life legislation.
- Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee who turned against the organization and became a pro-life advocate, has accused Texas Alliance for Life (TAL) of working to prevent proposed pro-life legislation from receiving a hearing.
- According to Johnson, TAL threatened to pull its endorsement of a Republican House committee chairman—John Smithee of Amarillo—if he held a hearing on popular pro-life legislation authored by conservative State Rep. Brent Money (R–Greenville).
- Back in 2017, TAL publicly aligned itself with NARAL, a pro-abortion advocacy group, to oppose a ban on dismemberment abortion.
- They aren't called the Faux-Life group by activists for nothing ...
Gov. Abbott Requests Waiver to Ban Unhealthy SNAP Purchases in Texas
- Gov. Greg Abbott has formally requested a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As Sydnie Henry reports, Abbott wants to prohibit the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the purchase of unhealthy foods, such as soda and candy.
- His move, announced in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, marks a significant push to reshape the nutritional standards of SNAP purchases in Texas.
- SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is the largest federal nutrition assistance program, helping over 41 million Americans afford groceries each year. While the program’s stated goal is to increase access to nutritious food, critics argue that a substantial portion of SNAP benefits are currently spent on items with little or no nutritional value.
- Meanwhile, State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston) is seeking a legislative ban on the use of SNAP benefits for products such as soda, candy, cookies, potato chips, corn chips, and energy drinks. "Taxpayer-funded junk food turns into taxpayer-funded healthcare."
Humble ISD Trustee Seat Contested After Winner’s Eligibility Is Challenged
- A former Humble ISD trustee candidate has alleged that her opponent is ineligible to hold the seat she won due to residency requirements. Joseph Trimmer has the full report.
- According to public records, the winner did not update her voter registration to an address inside Humble ISD until after the filing deadline for her application to run.
- "Parents and voters deserve better." — Harris County Republican Chair Cindy Siegel
OTHER EDUCATION NEWS
Andrew Hansen worked in the school district’s Technology Department and had access to all campuses.
Carrollton Police Officer Cole Langston, assigned as an SRO in Lewisville ISD, is on leave pending investigation of allegations tied to a former Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD student.
University of Houston Pivots Research Focus Amid Federal Funding Cuts
- Michael Wilson reports that officials at the University of Houston are shifting research focuses and reassessing budgets amid the Trump administration’s cuts to federal grants for DEI and climate change.
According to university officials, 25 federal grant programs have been eliminated, and half of the institution’s new federal awards have been cut. These reductions amount to a funding loss of approximately $4 million.
Vice Chancellor for Research Claudia Neuhauser cited UH programs that support African American engineering students as an example of projects that can be retooled, suggesting these initiatives could be broadened to include all students, thereby making them re-eligible for federal support.
"The universities, I think, that accept the new reality, pivot quickly, will be the winners. That’s what we have to do." – U of H Regent Gregory C. King
This Sunday on REAL TEXANS
In this week’s edition of REAL TEXANS, Daniel Greer visits with State Sen. Bob Hall about the Texas Lottery. The conversation covers the history of gambling in Texas, the proper roles of government, and the future (or lack thereof) of the Texas Lottery.
New interviews with REAL TEXANS every Sunday!
Friday Reflection
Uniting in Division
by Michael Quinn Sullivan
Ladders don’t usually show up in the popular imagination as symbols. A ladder is just a ladder … except when it is something more.
In the Book of Genesis, we’re told about Jacob’s dream in which he saw a ladder extending from the earth to heaven. He saw angels ascending and descending. That vision has, for many theologians, signified God’s active engagement in the affairs of men. It symbolizes the reality that only God can bridge the gap between the Holy Creator and the fallen creation.
For Jacob, that ladder reaffirmed the promises God had made to Abraham and Isaac.
A different kind of ladder, though one also steeped in symbolism, has been on display in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem for over two centuries. The five-rung ladder is impossible to miss as you enter the paved courtyard outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Once inside, the church’s ancient, elaborate decor will take your breath away. Nearly two millennia of incense hangs in the air. Sunlight streams through ancient stained glass. It all conspires to make that simple wooden ladder, which you’ll have seen just before entering, such a stark contrast. There is nothing special about it; it could have come from your grandfather’s storage shed.
The ladder is propped incongruously against the building’s facade on a closed balcony over the main door. It has been there for a long time. The reason is reflected in the precarious balance that governs the church’s operations and the long-standing divisions within the faith.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built on what is believed to be the site where Jesus was crucified and buried before his resurrection. Under a decree set in the mid-18th century, six Christian denominations oversee the church: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox.
That agreement stipulates that nothing about the church can change and no objects can be moved without the explicit consent of all six denominations. This is meant to quell disputes at this most sacred of sites.
Yes, even that cedar-wood ladder is included.
No one is quite sure why the ladder was left there in the first place, although it was certainly there in 1728, when negotiations for the Status Quo agreement began. It was there when the agreement was finalized in 1757 and reaffirmed in the mid-1800s. And it is there right now.
I enjoy visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre when I’m in Jerusalem, in large part because I appreciate the spiritual weight of nearly two thousand years of Christian pilgrims. Of course, that long line of pilgrims consists of individuals—each of us having brought our peculiar thoughts and heresies and fears and sins and joys. We bring them to this church that may (or may not, but likely is) be where Jesus was crucified, buried, and then raised.
If there is any place we should set aside our differing understandings of theology, it should be at the foot of the cross.
The ladder is a reminder that even in our serious—and not-so-serious—disagreements, God gives us the ability to find unity in Christ. Our great hope is that one day, in glory, we won’t need silly agreements covering ladders to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Quote-Unquote
"What ever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man."
– Edmund Burke
