Good morning,

Early voting starts next week on 17 proposed constitutional amendments, seven of which deal with property taxes. I end the week reflecting on why Texans must study up on the issues and participate in this practical exercise in self-governance.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, October 17, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Deploys National Guard Ahead of ‘No Kings’ Anti-Trump Protests

• Ahead of nationwide “No Kings” protests planned for tomorrow, Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to Austin. As Brandon Waltens reports, the event is linked to left-wing Antifa groups that have staged anti-Trump demonstrations across the country.
       
• The state’s Homeland Security Division is monitoring for potential threats to terrorism. President Trump recently designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.
           

• The “No Kings” movement describes itself as an anti-authoritarian protest effort opposing what organizers call “executive overreach” by President Donald Trump. Similar demonstrations in June drew large crowds nationwide, including in major Texas cities.

Court Orders Immediate Halt to Loving County ‘Takeover’ Scheme

• A state district judge has granted Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for a temporary restraining order against an Indiana man accused of orchestrating an illegal plan to “take over” Loving County by importing out-of-state voters with promises of free housing.
    
• The order bars Malcolm Tanner and anyone acting with him from allowing new residents onto the property purchased as part of the Indiana man's public plans to replace local officials and rename the county after himself.
       
• Paxton filed suit earlier this week against Tanner, accusing him of violating public-health laws, running a public nuisance, and committing deceptive trade practices by luring followers—mostly women and children—to a remote site in West Texas with false promises of “free homes” and cash payments.

Attorney General Investigates University of North Texas Over Left-Wing Extremism on Campus

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the University of North Texas because of its unsatisfactory handling of left-wing threats on campus. Robert Montoya has the story.
    
• In announcing the investigation, Paxton referenced the harassment of UNT’s Turning Point USA chapter last month following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the university's general unwillingness to penalize those making violent threats.

Data Centers Transforming Texas’ Electricity Market

• With electricity prices climbing nationwide and state regulators warning of “lower system stability,” Texas is confronted with the high costs of serving data centers while protecting local communities and resources. Paige Feild examines the issue.
    
• While Texas regulators are imposing new performance standards on high electricity demand consumers, concerns remain over how the state can sustain these energy-hungry projects. For example, when the Stargate I campus in Abilene is completed, its energy requirements will be equivalent to powering more than 1 million homes.

Head of Texas Racing Commission Steps Down

• The executive director of the Texas Racing Commission, Amy Cook, will be stepping down at the end of the year. No reason was given for the change, though the agency has been criticized by lawmakers for operational and leadership deficiencies.
      
• A state auditor’s report from last summer revealed a pattern of financial mismanagement at the Texas Racing Commission.
      
• For example, the TRC’s Horse Industry Escrow Account contained more than $3 million in expenditures that lacked proper documentation, and the account funds had been used for unallowable purposes. The commission will be subject to sunset review in 2028-2029.

Houston Delays Homeless ‘Super Hub’ Vote Amid Resident Backlash

• A heated Houston City Council meeting this week forced a delay on a $16 million proposal for a homeless “super hub” east of downtown, as residents accused city officials of ignoring neighborhood concerns. Michael Wilson has the update.
    
• The proposed site was used as a "migrant shelter" until its lease expired in August. City officials say that with minimal renovation, it could provide 150 to 225 beds and include access to healthcare, psychiatric services, and substance abuse treatment. Despite being appraised at roughly $6.7 million, city officials were planning to spend $16 million to purchase the property and then up to $14 million annually to operate it.
       
• Earlier this week, dozens of residents packed the city council chamber to voice concerns about the project. Residents described feeling dismissed and claimed city leaders were rushing the project without adequate transparency or neighborhood input.
       
• Mayor John Whitmire predicted the project would be approved when the council takes the issue up again next week.

OTHER HOUSTON-AREA NEWS

School Bus Monitor Accused of Sex Crimes Against Student

• Steven Lackey, a bus monitor for the Leander Independent School District, has been arrested and charged with sex crimes against a student. Erin Anderson has the report.
    
• Cedar Park Police were contacted by Leander ISD last week regarding allegations of indecency with a child involving a district transportation employee. After an investigation by the Special Victims Unit, Lackey was arrested this week, with bond set at $250,000 for each charge.
       
• While acknowledging the investigation, district officials have declined to confirm Lackey’s dates of employment with Leander ISD or which bus routes he worked.

This Sunday on REAL TEXANS

Friday Reflection

Constitutionally Pragmatic on Property Taxes

New residents of the Lone Star State are often amazed at how often we amend our constitution. This year, we have 17 amendments on the ballot. Ignore them at your peril.

Adopted in 1876, the Texas Constitution was designed to keep power as divided as possible. The features of our state government included a weak governor with comparatively few executive appointments, a part-time legislature, and an elected judiciary. Matters of law that in most states are handled by statute instead require public ascent through constitutional amendments. But even then, there are no citizen-led initiatives or referendums, meaning that the part-time legislature must generate those amendments.

It was all designed to keep government small. How successfully it has done so is another matter, given the size of state spending in recent decades and the steady drumbeat of government expansion. 

All of the amendments on the 2025 ballot are important, as each will impact life and liberty in the Lone Star State. The topics range from a new scheme for funding water projects to much-needed property tax relief.

There are a great many resources available to help navigate the details. You will even find that conservatives disagree on both the philosophical propriety and the real-world application of some of the proposed amendments. Such debates and disagreements should be encouraged, as they will help drive forward better policy.

Let me offer a thematic example. I will be voting for all the propositions dealing with property taxes (those are 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 17). For the most part, these are “exemptions” and “exceptions.” Such efforts will reduce property tax burdens; for some, the savings will be vanishingly small, while significant for others.

There is a healthy argument to be made against such exemptions. By eliminating or exempting some individuals from property taxes, some right-thinking individuals can argue, the burden—theoretically—might get heavier for everyone else. The thinking boils down to this: the political energy focused on exemptions and exceptions to property taxes could be better spent on eliminating property taxes altogether.

I categorize that as philosophically correct—if politically wishful—thinking. Nothing on this 2025 ballot will eliminate property tax burdens. The fact is that property taxes will not be eliminated, or even significantly reduced, until some number of legislators and a large number of local officials lose their elections over the property tax issue. If homestead exemptions had been “off the table” in 2025, the result would not have been the elimination of property taxes. It is sad that 25 years into our state being Republican-dominated, our property tax burden is higher than ever. 

And, no, cutting property taxes doesn’t require an income tax; that is a moronic threat leveled by those who want to keep the immoral system in place. Somehow, a half-dozen other states have managed to avoid income taxes while also having lower property tax burdens than Texas. Surely we are at least as competent as they are!

As for me, I look at it like a sinking ship. I’d prefer the ship not sink, but faced with the harsh reality of an icy ocean far from land, I want to save as many people as possible. So, I vote for property tax exemptions and exceptions without a millisecond of hesitation.

Those who wish to be governed over, who hope to have wise men make beneficent decisions on their behalf, can afford the luxury of wishful thinking. I suggest that, as citizens ruling over Texas, we must work in the light of what is actually before us.

The cause of liberty in the practice of self-governance demands a certain pragmatism that requires the citizenry to keep focused on what we want while acting deliberately in the present.

As Texans, we have the opportunity to exercise our constitutional muscles and engage in the business of governing our state. However you vote, I hope you will take advantage of it.

Quote-Unquote

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

– Plato

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