Good morning, 

Remember “fifteen days to slow the spread”? It’s been 157 days, but the goal-line has moved from “slow the spread” to “wait for a cure.”

Here is today’s Texas Minute

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Monday, August 17, 2020
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• Ahead of the constitutionally mandated return of the Texas Legislature in January, lawmakers are wanting to keep you out of the Capitol... with the Chinese coronavirus as their excuse. That’s according to an internal survey of lawmakers obtained by Texas Scorecard’s Brandon Waltens.
   
• Over the past few weeks, rumors of quiet skirmishes between lawmakers who want the Texas Capitol largely opened as normal once the Texas Legislature returns to Austin this January and those who wish it closed have swirled around Austin. A legislator survey conducted by the House Administration Committee makes it clear those rumors are true.
   
• For example, lawmakers were asked: “Under what circumstances do you believe the Texas Capitol should be fully reopened to the public?”
     
• The minority opinion of legislators is to open the Capitol. Most sitting members of the Texas House supported mask requirements in the Capitol, temperature checks on entry, and restrictions on how many people can visit. Others said the Capitol should only be opened “when a vaccine becomes widely available.”
   
• Meanwhile, 80 percent of Texas legislators want to suspend public tours of the Capitol, and 60 percent support curtailing tours altogether.
     
• And while lawmakers think they should restrict the abilities of the public, the same lawmakers think they should get special privileges.
   
• For example, 76 percent of House members favor keeping the secretive Members’ Lounge open. In fact, one legislator noted having the members’ lounge continuing to serve them food and beverages was “absolutely necessary.”
   
• Can’t have legislators going to get their own food and beverages like commoners, now can we?
   
• Another lawmaker called the Members’ Lounge – which is hidden from the public – a “critical component” of the legislative process. The lawmaker added, “Often it is the only time for members to get to know each other and have good discussions.”
   
• Of course lawmakers always think it’s critical for them to have private spaces off camera and away from the general public – otherwise the citizens might know just what they’re doing! 
   
• For as abhorrent as it is that the Texas Capitol is currently closed to the public, it is even worse that lawmakers want to restrict citizens’ access to the legislative process when the legislative session begins.
     
• Make no mistake, while the Texas Legislature is considering closing the Capitol to taxpayers, they will keep the doors open just wide enough to allow in crony lobbyists and the leftwing establishment media.
   
• Demand that your legislator shares with you the answers their office gave House Administration. They should publicly – and on the record – declare their personal  position regarding citizens’ access to the Texas Capitol  and the legislative process... in front of their voters.
   
• You can call the office of your legislator today at 512-463-4630.

• As it stands right now: Members of the Texas House and their pals in the Austin lobby and establishment media don’t want you butting into “their” business, and they’re using the Chinese coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to keep you out.

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