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Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, August 27, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

House Votes To Restore AG’s Election Fraud Powers After State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) helped sink it during the regular session, legislation restoring the power of the attorney general to prosecute election fraud passed the House yesterday. Brandon Waltens has the details [[link removed]].

The legislation, which originated in the Senate, gives the attorney general jurisdiction to directly prosecute violations of Texas election laws. It also requires law enforcement agencies to turn over reports of probable election offenses to the AG’s office and mandates that local prosecutors share information upon request.

Similar legislation advanced during the regular session but died in a conference committee after the House and Senate passed sharply differing versions. Shaheen, leading the House negotiators, insisted on including a six-month delay before the attorney general could take up cases—a provision Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Senate rejected as unworkable. The impasse killed the effort, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to place the issue on the special session agenda.

At issue has been a 2021 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals striking down the attorney general’s long-standing authority to independently prosecute these election-related cases. Trial Court Shields LGBT Organization From Investigation A Travis County court has sided with an LGBT group in a legal fight with the attorney general over records documenting gender mutilation procedures performed on minors. Paige Feild details the case [[link removed]].

More than a year ago, Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into medical professionals allegedly providing illegal gender mutilation procedures to minors and defrauding insurance companies. As part of that investigation, the gay-rights group PFLAG refused to turn over its documents. A Democrat judge in Travis County recently sided with the LGBT organization in blocking the AG's investigation.

The Supreme Court of Texas is scheduled to take up the matter later this year. Houston Doctor Keeps Fighting Texas Medical Board Attacks Under attack by the Texas Medical Board since 2022 after prescribing ivermectin to a patient during the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston's Mary Tally Bowden says she is not backing down after a panel ruled against her this week. Addie Hovland has the story [[link removed]].

Dr. Bowden—an ear, nose, and throat specialist—objected to the decision because it was made by an unelected administrative law judge from the State Office of Administrative Hearings. It will be up to the TMB to take final action, which Dr. Bowden says she will appeal.

In supporting Bowden's fight, Dr. Kelly Victory has argued [[link removed]] that the "weaponization of state medical boards" is not only bad for physicians but also their patients. School Districts Must Follow Ten Commandments Law Texas school districts are being instructed to display the Ten Commandments [[link removed]] in classrooms under a new state law. While ongoing litigation has halted the displays in 11 districts, Attorney General Ken Paxton is warning that the rest of the state's districts are still expected to comply with the law.

The law requiring the Ten Commandments in every classroom is set to take effect on September 1. It requires every elementary and secondary classroom to display a framed copy or durable poster of the Ten Commandments in a “conspicuous place.” Schools are not required to purchase the posters, but they must accept and display any donated copy that meets the law's requirements.

The injunction applies only to Alamo Heights ISD, North East ISD, Austin ISD, Cypress Fairbanks ISD, Lackland ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Houston ISD, Dripping Springs ISD, Plano ISD, and Northside ISD.OTHER EDUCATION NEWS Rebecca Romijn Ontiveros, an educator in the Marfa Independent School District, is accused of sexual misconduct with a student. Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that the suspect is the daughter of the Marfa ISD school board president. Ontiveros, who has worked as an elementary paraprofessional since 2023, allegedly “developed a relationship” with a high school student. She does not hold a Texas teaching certificate.

Last year, a Marfa ISD substitute teacher was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to producing child sexual abuse videos. America First Senator or MAGA Fraud?! In this week's edition of COME AND TAKE IT [[link removed]], Sara Gonzales examines the record of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Support For Texas Scorecard

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$18.36 [[link removed]] Other 🔒 [[link removed]] Quote-Unquote

"One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!"

– Winston Churchill​

Today in History

On August 27, 1990, Dallas-born musician Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash.

Number of the Day

6

The number of Grammy Awards won by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

[Source: Grammy Awards [[link removed]]]

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(202) 224-2934

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(202) 224-5922

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(512) 463-2000

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(512) 463-1000

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