Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tip Line Asks Texans To Report ‘Mentally Ill Men’ Violating Women’s Private Spaces

• With the Women’s Privacy Act now in effect, Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a new enforcement initiative, launching a public tip line to report violations of the law. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      
• The OAG's website is now accepting reports from citizens about state agencies or political subdivisions allowing biological males into female-only private spaces, such as restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities. Paxton said the system will help his office identify agencies that are not complying with state law.
      
• Vanessa Sivadge, founder of the advocacy organization Protecting Texas Children, told Texas Scorecard the tip line would help ensure the law is fully enforced. 

Husband & Wife Run for Same Office in Llano County

• In Llano County, a husband and wife are running against each other for the same commissioner seat, turning a battle over the public library system into a family affair. Sydnie Henry has the head-scratching story.
     
• Robert Little, running as a Republican, and Democrat Leila Green Little are both challenging longtime Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Don Moss (R), who has served nearly 20 years on the Llano County Commissioners Court. According to Moss, the center of this challenge is the Llano County library system. He wants to keep what he calls "dirty books" out of children's hands; the Littles, on the other hand, oppose his efforts.
     
• The Littles did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment about the unusual nature of their political operation.
      
• Jessica McRee-Grabert, the Llano County GOP chairwoman, confirmed that both Moss and Robert Little met all the criteria to be on the March Republican primary ballot but declined to comment on either. The Democrats' county chair, Richard Day, described the Littles as "wonderful people" who "would be an enormous improvement over the incumbent."
    
• So, two Democrats are challenging a Republican; one of them as a "Republican." Gotcha.

UT San Antonio Rebrands Racially Segregated Cancer Conference

• Adam Cahn reports that a cancer research conference that has previously focused almost exclusively on Latinos will return in 2026 under a slightly different name. In February, UT Health San Antonio will host the conference that has been rebranded “Advancing Cancer Research for Latinos and All Populations.” Until this recent rebranding, the conference was known as “Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos.”
      
• The conference agenda does not contain any examples of content aimed at “all populations.” Instead, the lectures and breakout sessions are focused exclusively on Latinos. Former First Lady Jill Biden, who is neither a medical doctor nor a cancer researcher, spoke at the 2022 conference.
      
• The upcoming 2026 conference is sponsored primarily by pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Genentech, and Revolution Medicines.

TEA Releases Schools’ A-F Report Cards for 2024 and 2025

• Texas schools’ final A-F report cards for 2024 and 2025 are now publicly available, giving parents and taxpayers a look at how well their schools performed in those years. As Erin Anderson explains, the final accountability ratings also reflect any school districts’ successful appeals of their preliminary scores.
       
• Preliminary ratings for 2024 and 2025 were released in August. The 2024 ratings, like the 2023 ratings, were delayed when school districts sued over how the ratings were calculated.
       
• The TEA’s TXschools.gov and Accountability System search webpages have been updated to reflect the final 2024 and 2025 A-F ratings and scaled scores for all districts. Updated information is also available on the agency’s 2024 and 2025 Accountability Rating System pages.
          
• According to the TEA, more than 5.5 million students were enrolled in Texas public schools in the 2024-25 school year, attending one of 9,084 campuses in 1,208 school systems statewide.

State Commission on Judicial Conduct Accused of Ignoring Supreme Court Order

• As Travis Morgan reports, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct is accused of intentionally misinterpreting a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Texas in ongoing litigation. In October, the Texas Supreme Court issued an order stating that judges are not required to perform same-sex weddings.
      
• The SCJC now claims that the SCOTX order applies only to judges who refuse to officiate weddings altogether. At issue has been the case of McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley, who received a public warning in 2019 for officiating heterosexual weddings while referring same-sex couples to a minister who would help them. She cited her religious beliefs as the reason for her policy.
      
• Following the Supreme Court action, Hensley filed a motion for summary judgment, asking for the case to be decided without trial because there is no dispute over the facts. The SCJC opposed her effort, downplaying the importance of the Supreme Court's October order and disagreeing with Hensley's interpretation.
    
• "The liberals on the commission are doing word gymnastics in order to arrive at the outcome they want." – State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) 

Mayor Proclaims ‘No Sharia Law’ in Keller

• Addressing concerns about the increasing influence of an Islamic legal system that is incompatible with U.S. and Texas law, the mayor of Keller has signed a proclamation “affirming constitutional supremacy, American sovereignty, and rejection of foreign legal systems” in his city.
     
• Republicans at the federal and state levels are also addressing Texans’ increasing concerns about the spread of Sharia law. Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott called for investigations into “possible criminal violations by Sharia tribunals masquerading as legal courts” in North Texas. In October, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Austin) introduced the Preserving A Sharia-Free America Act that would prevent all foreign nationals who observe Sharia from entering or remaining in the country.

Quote-Unquote

"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one."

– Thomas Paine​

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* The new congressional boundaries for representational purposes will not take effect until January 2027.