Good morning,

In response to Democrats raising money to fund their quorum break last month, the Texas House will consider legislation on Tuesday aimed at stopping fundraising during special legislative sessions. In this week's One Click Survey, we want to know what you think of the idea.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, Sept. 1, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Signs ‘Big Beautiful’ Texas Congressional Map Into Law

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a Republican plan to make the state’s congressional district map “more red” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Erin Anderson has the details.
      

• Republicans currently hold 25 of the state’s 38 U.S. House seats. The new map converts five currently safe Democrat seats into Republican pickups.

     
• Recent legal decisions cleared the way for Texas Republicans to redraw district boundaries based on partisan political performance and increase the party’s advantage in future elections to reflect voting shifts seen in 2024, when President Donald Trump won support from unprecedented numbers of minority voters. Abbott said the new map “ensures fairer representation.”
      
• Several Democrat-aligned groups filed legal challenges to the new congressional map even before it was signed into law. They claim the new map is racially gerrymandered to eliminate majority-minority districts. That claim has been sharply disputed by the map's authors and promoters.

Texas A&M Fights Records Request on New Civics Initiative

• Robert Montoya and Adam Cahn report that the Texas A&M University System has chosen to fight a records request regarding a new “citizenship initiative.”
      
• At issue is a program announced earlier this year by Texas A&M's president, Mark Welsh, to produce “great citizens.” Welsh has been a strong proponent of the left-wing "diversity, equity, and inclusion" agenda in his previous work at A&M and in the Obama administration. Welsh appointed a pro-DEI academic to help design the new program.
     
• This summer, Texas Scorecard requested records about the program, but the TAMU System refused. It has asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to allow them to keep the records secret.

Harris County Approves Nearly $470K for Gay Softball World Series

• Despite Harris County officials clashing over the size of a looming budget deficit, Michael Wilson reports they voted last week to commit nearly half a million dollars to host the Gay Softball World Series.
      
• Yes, that is apparently really a thing.
     
• A spokesman for the Gay Softball World Series told commissioners that, in the past, such funding came from state coffers, but their request was denied this year.

State Commission Reprimands Former Hays County Judge

• A former Hays County judge has been publicly admonished by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for her behavior while in office. Travis Morgan reports that the commission’s investigation has underscored the importance of professionalism in Texas courts.
      
• Democrat Millie Thompson served as the judge of the County Court-at-Law No. 3 in San Marcos.
     
• The commission found that Thompson had created a hostile work environment within weeks of taking office in 2021 and excessively recused herself from cases without a valid legal explanation. She resigned from the bench after just four months in office.
      
• The admonition against Thompson does not impact her ability to practice law or seek a judicial post in the future.

Teacher’s Aide Fired for ‘Inappropriate Communication’ With Student

• An educator was fired from Pearsall Independent School District over allegations of inappropriate communication with a student. According to police records, Alizandra Berrelez has been a paraprofessional at Pearsall Junior High since 2024.
     
• She has been certified as an educational aide since October 2023.
     
• Pearsall ISD's superintendent notified the local community that an unnamed employee had been fired "regarding inappropriate communication between a paraprofessional and a student."

Quote-Unquote

"There is no such thing as a good tax." – Winston Churchill​

One Click Survey

Legislation on the calendar tomorrow in the Texas House would prohibit legislators and statewide officials from soliciting or receiving campaign contributions during special sessions. This would mirror the prohibition that already exists for the regular legislative sessions.

Do you agree with this new restriction on legislators' fundraising activities?

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

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