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Good morning,

Liberty will die on these shores only after we have killed it in our hearts. I end the week reflecting on the republic's need for each of us to rise up and exercise the muscles of freedom.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, May 1, 2026.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan [[link removed]]

Democrat Judge Orders State Review of Islamic Housing Proposal A Democrat judge in Travis County ruled this week in favor of the developers of a planned Islamic community in North Texas, who have been blocked by the Texas Workforce Commission. Erin Anderson explains [[link removed]] the latest in this ongoing story.

Known interchangeably as EPIC City or The Meadow, the planned community straddling Collin and Hunt counties would include a residential community with a mosque, school, and other amenities catering to Muslim families. The project has been blocked by a variety of concerns and legal investigations.

The developers were blocked by the TWC last year over allegations that the project violated the Texas Fair Housing Act. Now, the developers claim in court filings that agency officials are illegally refusing to review the new plans they submitted to comply with a settlement agreement.

Judge Laurie Eiserloh (D) denied the TWC's motion to dismiss the case and instead ordered the agency to review the developers' documents within the next two weeks. The agency has already appealed the judge's order. Paxton Expands H-1B Fraud Investigation Attorney General Ken Paxton’s probe into alleged abuse of the H-1B visa program is rapidly expanding, with nearly 30 North Texas businesses now under scrutiny for suspected fraud tied to so-called "ghost office" schemes. Brandon Waltens has the details [[link removed]].

Reports cited by the attorney general indicate some of the businesses may be operating out of nonexistent or inactive locations—listing residential homes or otherwise non-operational sites as offices while sponsoring H-1B visa holders. Paxton credited Blaze TV and Texas Scorecard personality Sara Gonzales for exposing H-1B fraud across Texas.

In January, Paxton revealed his office had begun examining a handful of North Texas companies suspected of operating sham enterprises. At the time, his office pointed to evidence that some firms maintained polished websites advertising services that did not appear to exist, while listing vacant homes or unfinished buildings as business addresses.

"I will not allow the H-1B program to be abused by bad actors seeking to use it as a loophole for allowing foreign nationals to invade Texas." – Ken Paxton [[link removed]] UT-Austin Rebuts KUT’s Claims Over Festival Move A public radio station festival previously scheduled for this weekend on UT-Austin’s campus will move off campus following disputes over safety and security standards. Adam Cahn has the story [[link removed]].

At issue is the KUT Festival, an event designed to highlight Austin’s cultural and political scene. Earlier this week, radio station officials said they were “confused” by what they described as last-minute concerns.

Documents reviewed by Texas Scorecard, though, show a different story. According to a letter from UT-Austin’s General Counsel to the station’s general manager earlier this week, university officials had communicated “areas of concern” with the radio station “over the past months.” Those ranged from KUT not making an appropriate provision for police presence to an inadequate emergency medical response plan.

According to a UT-Austin source, the university applied the same security standards [[link removed]] to the KUT event that had been applied to a recent visit by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; KUT simply “refused to comply.” More Educator Misconduct Transparency On the Way Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that the man tasked with enforcing the state's educator misconduct rules is warning that school districts and teachers should expect more transparency and accountability.

The Texas Education Agency's inspector general for educator misconduct, Levi Fuller, said this week that his three-part plan for addressing the growing problem is transparency, accountability, and proactive prevention.

Among other things, Fuller has unveiled an interactive dashboard displaying data on the number and types of misconduct reports submitted to TEA, cases under review, the disciplinary actions, and the number of individuals placed on the Do Not Hire Registry.

"We need to figure out what we can do to keep these people from getting into schools in the first place." – Levi Fuller [[link removed]]MORE EDUCATION NEWS Former Round Rock ISD Teacher Accused of Raping Student [[link removed]] Victoria ISD Wants $437 Million in New Debt [[link removed]]

by Sydnie Henry

South Texas School District Pressures Staff To Vote in Bond Election [[link removed]]

by Addie Hovland

Houston ISD Expands AI-Focused Program to More Campuses Three months after announcing a two-campus pilot, Michael Wilson reports [[link removed]] that Houston ISD’s state-appointed superintendent has expanded his AI-focused school program for the 2026-27 school year. The district has said AI will not replace teachers, but rather use technology to supplement classroom instruction.

The expansion to nine campuses is the latest development in a rollout that has moved quickly since Superintendent Mike Miles publicly introduced the concept in January. These schools would operate around preparing students for a workforce in which, as Miles has put it, artificial intelligence “will be ubiquitous.”

Campuses will operate from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the formal school day ending at 4 p.m. After hours, students can participate in what the district calls “Action Labs,” which include athletics, music, and other activities. Meals will be provided at no cost to the students, but will be paid for by taxpayers. This Sunday on REAL TEXANS Jace Yarbrough on Lawfare and the Future of America

On this week's edition of Real Texans, Brandon Waltens sits down with Jace Yarbrough [[link removed]] to discuss his fight against COVID-era mandates and what an “America First” agenda should look like in Washington.

New interviews with REAL TEXANS [[link removed]] every Sunday!

Friday Reflection Curing Our Heart Issue [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, not cancer, lightning strikes, or earthquakes. It is a killer of our own making; it’s the killer we allow in our lives when we’re literally doing nothing else.

There are exceptions, but for the most part, heart disease is the death we give ourselves. Of course, I’m not writing today about the disease that doctors diagnose in the context of medicine, but rather a disease killing our republic.

As it turns out, liberty dies from heart disease as surely as men.

In the late 1940s, a businessman named Henning Prentis noticed a pattern in history that leads from bondage to self-governance back to bondage. The so-called "Prentis Cycle" was developed in a series of speeches and essays.

It goes like this:

"From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to freedom; from freedom to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to fear; from fear to dependency; and from dependency back to bondage once more."

One probably couldn’t better summarize the 400-year period of biblical history covered in the Book of Judges, not to mention all that came after.

If we are honest, we can find America’s place in that cycle. But like the fat man who puts down the snacks and picks up some walking shoes, the cycle isn’t necessarily a fait accompli. The damage is irreversible, but only to the extent we force ourselves to stop wallowing complacently in the mire created by our lazy and selfish sloth.

That requires each of us—every man and woman—to turn from our "wicked ways" (to borrow from 2 Chronicles 7:14), to love God, and to serve each other. That requires we get off the couch and get to work. We must rise up from our abundance-laden complacency. We must set aside our sense of entitlement and exercise the muscles of freedom. We must shrug off apathy and embrace our responsibility as citizens.

Liberty will die on these shores only after we have killed it in our hearts. And so it is only by reconditioning our hearts for God-fearing self-governance that we can save our republic.

Quote-Unquote

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again."

– Ronald Reagan

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