Good morning, 

The Republican Party of Texas has new leadership.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Tuesday, July 21, 2020
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• If you were a delegate to the Republican Party of Texas' virtual convention this weekend, I hope you've caught up on your sleep. For those who missed the action, it was plagued with technical problems from the start. Delegates were unable to receive their credentials to vote securely on the first day, and the problem was never completely resolved, leaving some longtime grassroots activists reportedly unable to participate in the process, and frustrating those that were.
   
• The crescendo of the convention came late Sunday night (or rather, early Monday morning...) when Lt. Col. Allen West beat incumbent James Dickey to become the next chairman of the Texas GOP in a vote that stretched until 4 a.m. in some Senate Districts.
   
• "I know how to jump out of airplanes, but I'm going to learn how to be a pretty good chairman of the Republican Party of Texas." -Allen West
   
• Delegates were also able to approve a list of eight new legislative priorities for the next two years, including election integrity, religious freedom, monument protection, and a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. The full list of the priorities, along with their descriptions, can be viewed here. 
   
• The business of the convention, however, is not completely over. Delegates still need to debate and approve the party's platform and rules. A decision was made to hold a second convention, with a time and date to be determined in the coming days.

• Despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent statewide mask order and limits on public gatherings, local Rio Grande Valley politicians are not satisfied. Democrat county judges in Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr, and Willacy counties have joined public calls for Abbott to return their power to shut down their local economies once again.
   
• David Vasquez reports that Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez announced on Sunday evening he will be issuing a “stay-at-home” order, despite his inability to enforce it.
   
• On Sunday, Hidalgo County also issued an order requiring a mandatory quarantine and full cooperation with contact tracing efforts of any person who tested positive for the coronavirus or was exposed to it. 
   
• The order notably extends to those who have not tested positive but instead have only “reasonable cause to believe” that they have been exposed to the virus. Those people are ordered to quarantine for 14 days, make a list of all individuals they may have come into contact with, and inform their employers of their possible exposure.

• Another North Texas woman shares her story of harassment from society because her health condition exempts her from wearing a mask, in the latest in a series of Coronavirus Mandate Stories from Robert Montoya. 

• According to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, the state government can expect to pull in less money than it needs to meet its obligations—a development that could force the Texas Legislature to convene in a special session this year.
   
• On Monday, Hegar announced his office is projecting that state revenues this biennium will be roughly $11.6 billion less than initially estimated, creating a budget deficit of $4.6 billion that the Texas Legislature will need to resolve.
   
•  Hegar emphasized that these figures are only estimates and come with an “unprecedented amount of uncertainty.”

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