Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

In Verifying Citizenship, Texas Finds Noncitizens Registered to Vote

• After running its entire list of more than 18 million voters through the SAVE database, Texas has identified 2,724 potential noncitizens who are registered to vote in the state. Erin Anderson has the details.
     
• Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced this week that her office had completed a full comparison of the state’s voter registration list against data in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database. That is an online service for government agencies to verify the immigration status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses. The Trump administration recently made the SAVE database available to all states. 
      
• Individuals identified as noncitizens but registered to vote will receive a notice from their county voter registrar and can present proof of citizenship to remain on the voter rolls.

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Texas’ New App Store Age Checks

• In the latest development in an ongoing clash between Texas lawmakers and Big Tech, a federal lawsuit is challenging Texas’ App Store Accountability Act. As Travis Morgan reports, the new law is set to take effect Jan. 1. It requires app stores to age‑verify every user and obtain parental consent before any minor can download or purchase an app.
       
• The Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Apple, Google, and Amazon, says the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and Commerce Clause as well as fundamental privacy rights. The group frames the law as a “broad censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps.”
      
• On the other hand, Gov. Greg Abbott has said the measure will protect children who are trapped in situations beyond their control by predators.
       
• "Unlike brick and mortar stores, which must verify a consumer’s age before the purchase of age-restricted products such as alcohol and cigarettes, minors are currently able to navigate through the digital world without such parameters." – State Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney)

DEI Advocate Dismissed From UT-Austin Leadership

• A tenured professor at the University of Texas at Austin says he was dismissed from his senior administrative post due to “ideological differences,” marking the latest shake-up in Texas’ statewide effort to reform higher education and curb leftist indoctrination. Robert Montoya has the story.
      
• Art Markman posted to social media that UT leadership had dismissed him in late September as academic affairs senior vice provost. A few days later, Gov. Greg Abbott seemed to confirm that by celebrating his dismissal.
      
• Markman had been named a senior vice provost at UT-Austin after promoting leftwing ideological agendas on campus, such as DEI. His departure came after the appointment of William Imboden as provost and executive vice president. Imboden is a Reagan scholar and proponent of higher education reform.

Texas Medical Board Updates Standards for Alternative Treatments

• Aiming to improve clarity for patients and simplify compliance for physicians while maintaining patient safety, the Texas Medical Board has finalized updates to its complementary and alternative medicine standards. But, as Addie Hovland reports, concerns have been raised about how the changes may be interpreted in the future.
      
• Notably, the new definition for “complementary and alternative medicine” refers to any treatment “not generally considered routine by most licensed physicians” and that may or may not fall under FDA regulation.  
      
• Dr. Mary Talley Bowden points out that the new rule also removes safe harbor provisions that were in the previous version, potentially undermining physicians’ autonomy and a patient’s right to seek nontraditional care.
      
• TMB President Dr. Sherif Zaafran said the change was an attempt to remove redundant language.

Lancaster ISD Band Director Accused of Child Sex Crime

• A Lancaster High School music teacher, DeShawn Darrell Parks, is on administrative leave after being accused of sexually touching a minor. Parks has worked for Lancaster Independent School District for more than 10 years and has been certified to teach music since 2013.

Quote-Unquote

"A leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people or improve the system they live under."

– Sam Houston​

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