Good morning,

The Texas GOP is moving forward with plans to close its 2026 primary. Today, I want to know what you think of that.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, June 30, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

SCOTUS Upholds Texas Age-Verification Law for Online Porn Sites

• In a win for protecting children from the harmful effects of pornography, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring age verification to access X-rated content online. Erin Anderson explains the ruling.
       
• At issue was legislation passed in 2023 with near-unanimous bipartisan support requiring commercial pornography websites to use “reasonable” methods to verify that viewers are at least 18 years of age before they access X-rated content online. Even though a coalition of porn industry plaintiffs sued the state, the largest such site had already shut down access in Texas.
     
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling “a major victory for children, parents, and the ability of states to protect minors from the damaging effects of online pornography.”
      
• As the new law takes full effect, companies that violate the state’s age verification requirements will be subject to fines of up to $10,000 per day, an additional $10,000 per day if the company illegally retains identifying information, and $250,000 if a child is exposed to pornographic content due to not properly verifying a user’s age.

Texas Set To Become ‘Bitcoin Sanctuary’

• A new law creating the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will allow cryptocurrency to be used as an investment vehicle for the state. As Ryan Dy-Liacco notes, the law gives the Texas comptroller discretionary power to manage the reserve separately from the general fund. 
       
• Unlike similar reserves in other states, Texas’ bitcoin reserve has no official cap, with the discretion to buy, sell, and hold being left with the comptroller. This means that Texas has an unlimited capacity for investments in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as long as they have an “…average market capitalization of at least $500 billion over the most recent 24-month period.”
       
• Back in March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. Unlike Texas' reserve, the federal program will come only from forfeitures and seizures, not direct investments.

Texas Water Development Board Declares Interregional Water Conflict

• There is now a state of interregional water conflict between two regions of the state, according to a statement issued by the Texas Water Development Board. Addie Hovland has the details.
      
• The fight is between the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and East Texas, revolving around the controversial Marvin Nichols Reservoir project proposal. The project would deliver drinking water to the DFW area (known as "Region C" in the water planning system), but would require the use of eminent domain to acquire nearly 200,000 acres in East Texas, a.k.a. Region D.
      
• According to the Texas Water Code, the Texas Water Development Board is responsible for determining the validity of the claims in the conflict and then coordinating mediation for a resolution.
        
• As the old saying goes: whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.

Lawmakers Want Conservative Priorities on Special Session Agenda

• Multiple state lawmakers are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to include several conservative priorities on the agenda of the upcoming special session.
   
• The items range from the Texas Women’s Privacy Act to election integrity and pro-life issues, as well as a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. All of them represent items that did not make it across the legislative finish line during the regular session.
     
• “While this session boasts many conservative victories, each of these unfinished items is essential to securing a conservative future for Texas,” wrote State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) in his letter to Gov. Abbott. “There has never been a more critical time to make these priorities the law of this Great State.”

Harris County Faces $1.3 Billion Shortfall in Flood Bond Projects

• Almost seven years after Harris County voters approved a $2.5 billion flood bond to protect residents from future storms, Joseph Trimmer reports that a newly confirmed budget shortfall threatens to derail dozens of critical projects.
     
• County officials revealed last week that the flood control program faces a $1.3 billion funding gap, largely due to inflation, rising construction costs, and an over-reliance on external funding. Only about 30 percent of the bond’s allocated funds have been spent so far.

Parents Sue Over Daughter’s Secret Social Gender Transition

• A Houston family is taking the state’s largest school district to court, claiming their daughter was socially transitioned by school staff in direct defiance of their explicit instructions. Michael Wilson has the story.
     
• Terry and Sarah Osborn allege Bellaire High School socially transitioned their daughter against their explicit wishes. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Superintendent Mike Miles, Bellaire High School Principal Michael Niggli, school counselor Sarah Ray, and multiple teachers.
     
• According to the suit, more than six Bellaire High School employees referred to the Osborns’ daughter—who is biologically female—using a masculine name and male pronouns for two years. The situation began in ninth grade, when the student’s theater teacher distributed a worksheet asking for students’ names and pronouns.
      
• The parents claim they did not learn about the consistent use of male pronouns by teachers until the student was well into her sophomore year. At that point, they formally requested that teachers revert to using their daughter’s biological pronouns. Despite their requests, the lawsuit alleges that the teachers continued using male pronouns.

Today In History

On June 30, 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper setting out his theory of relativity that has since reshaped modern physics.

Quote-Unquote

"What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right."

– Albert Einstein

One Click Survey

The Republican Party of Texas has announced it is moving forward with "closing" the 2026 primary. This would mean only those individuals who register as Republican ahead of the election would be allowed to vote in the GOP nominating contest. According to the GOP chairman, "only Republicans should pick Republican nominees."

Do you want the GOP to close its primary?

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