Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Wednesday, July 22, 2020
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Be sure to tune into our conversation with Chad Prather, the host of The Chad Prather Show and candidate for Texas governor, at 10:30 a.m. on Facebook Live!​

• Amid rumors that Gov. Greg Abbott is considering shutting down portions of the state’s economy or empowering local officials to do it for him, two prominent Republican lawmakers are making headlines this week after aggressively opposing such a measure.
   
• Republican State Sens. Paul Bettencourt (Houston) and Brandon Creighton (Conroe) issued a press release Tuesday afternoon, making clear their staunch opposition to a second shutdown of the Texas economy. Their statement comes after Democrat Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Democrat County Judge Lina Hidalgo have both requested Abbott impose restrictions on the state’s largest city and county.
   
• "The TMC ‘Daily New COVID-19 Hospitalizations’ chart clearly shows we are past the July 5th peak as new hospitalizations have come down steadily and flat-lined for the past three days. This great news shows we can continue to keep the Texas economy open and fight the virus at the same time." –State Sen. Paul Bettencourt
   
• While rumors persist that Gov. Greg Abbott will either issue a statewide order or empower local officials to shut down much of the state’s economy, few further actions have been taken in the past few weeks to substantiate an enforcement scheme greater than the status quo.

• 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.

• An email containing Marxist propaganda sent by a counselor at the Plano Independent School District has been confirmed to be authentic. The documents promote key demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, but school officials said the webinar “was not authorized, nor is it in use.”
   

• On July 10, a document that appeared to be an email sent by Plano ISD Counselor Dianne Evans to fellow counselors Sian Flores and Amy Henry circulated on social media. The email, dated June 12, 2020, contains documents from a webinar called “Understanding the Black Experience in America: Be the Change You Want to See in the World.”
   

• Of great concern to parents is an attached “Master List of Black Revolutionary Readings” that includes radical Marxist and violently militant authors:

  • Terrorist Muammar Gaddafi’s "Green Book"
  • "Black Like Mao: Red China & Black Revolution"
  • Che Guevara: "Guerrilla Warfare"
  • Basic Marxism-Leninism Study Plan
  • Karl Marx & Frederick Engels: "The Communist Manifesto"
  • Lenin's "The State and Revolution"

• Speaking of schools, yet another North Texas county health department is shutting down back-to-school plans, barring all local districts from holding in-person classes for weeks due to fear of the Chinese coronavirus.
   

• On Tuesday, Tarrant County’s local health authority, Dr. Catherine Colquitt, issued an order banning on-campus, face-to-face instruction and activities until September 28.
   

• With certain exceptions, students countywide will be limited to remote learning for the first six weeks of the 2020-21 school year. The order applies to all pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in public and non-religious private schools in Tarrant County.

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