Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Thursday, July 23, 2020
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• As Texas is dotted with mask mandates from both state and local governments, businesses are now caught in the middle of conflicting government orders, according to a former state legislator who practices healthcare law.
   
• Robert Montoya reports that the general public and businesses both seem largely unaware of medical and disability exemptions from the mask mandate, as well as the existence of those who the exemptions are in place to protect.

   

• "The Americans with Disabilities Act] prohibits businesses from asking about disabilities. A business is risking liability if they ask anything beyond whether a disability prevents them from wearing a mask. Abbott has really put businesses in a tough position." –Former State Rep. Matt Rinaldi

• The effects of government shutdowns continue to drastically affect nearly every industry in Texas. In Austin, the “Live Music Capital of the World,” government officials have recently forced at least 132,000 citizens out of work and are now on the brink of killing off a whole local industry—live music. Jacob Asmussen has the details.
   
• "Of the 50-something venues in the city, there’s going to be five or 10 left after this. ... So … that should be a good indicator of how serious this problem is. It’s not maybe a couple of little places are going to go away. It’s like all of the music venues in Austin are going to be gone. That’s what’s going to happen really soon." –Steve Sternschein, co-founder of the National Independent Venue Association
   
• "Live music venues are far and away skyrocketing to the top of every category in terms of hardest hit, imminent closure, layoffs, trickle-down effects to the rest of the economy in the form of taxes and vendor contracts." –Rebecca Reynolds, head of the Music Venue Alliance in Austin

• After serving 15 years on the state’s highest civil court, Texas Supreme Court Justice Paul Green announced he will be retiring in August with over two years left on his six-year term, leaving the spot vacant for Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint a replacement.
   
• Though Texas has an elected court, if a member retires during an unexpired term, the governor has the power to appoint a successor to fill the remainder of their term. It has become common practice in recent years for justices to retire during the middle of their terms in order to trigger a gubernatorial appointment, leading to a hybrid system in which most justices are appointed by the governor before later facing the voters.
   
• Of the current nine justices on the Texas Supreme Court, six were originally placed on the court through appointments.

• The latest data shows recoveries from the Chinese coronavirus continue soaring statewide. Out of Texas’ population of over 29 million, 3,958 have tragically died from the virus, and nearly 175,000 have recovered.
   

• As of Monday, recoveries continue rising and deaths are low in Texas’ urban counties:

  • Bexar County reported totals of 10,284 recoveries and 257 deaths.
  • Collin County reported 4,473 recoveries and 65 deaths.
  • Denton County reported 2,736 recoveries and 42 deaths.
  • Harris County reported 18,490 recoveries and 535 deaths.
  • Tarrant County reported 10,644 recoveries and 299 deaths.
  • Travis County reported 14,059 estimated recoveries and 203 deaths.

• If you missed it yesterday, Texas Scorecard sat down for a live interview with entertainer and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Chad Prather to talk about his future run for governor. In the interview, Prather talks about why he's decided to run, his thoughts on mask mandates, mandatory vaccines, gun rights, and more.  

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