Good morning, 

Sources tell me Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and the leadership of the Texas Senate and House are looking to keep the Lone Star State’s Capitol mostly closed – or at least burdensome for the public to access – during the 2021 legislative session. What do you think of that?

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020
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• Elected officials are being caught violating the “coronavirus” mandates, rules, and guidelines they expect everyone else to follow. Ranging from Austin Mayor Steve Adler to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the trend has been to brazenly break their own mandates and offer a belated apology only if caught.
   
• As Urban Reform’s Charles Blain puts it in a new commentary, “What is it about elected officials thinking they are above the laws they set for us?”
     
• It’s worth noting how many of the “do as I say, not as I do” politicians are Democrats...

• Members of the Texas legislature are refusing to admit if they took a trip to Hawaii in recent weeks to attend a “legislative conference.” Even while the rest of the country has been told not to travel, and entry to the Aloha State has been extraordinarily difficult for most citizens, legislators from around the nation gathered there for a junket organized by a leftwing organization best known for dismantling partisan primaries in California.
       
• The California-based organization told Politico that Texas legislators were in attendance – but has refused to say which ones. Not a single member of the Lone Star State’s House or Senate has admitted to attending. Brandon Waltens has the details. 
       
• Less than a dozen of the state’s 181 legislators told Texas Scorecard they absolutely did not attend. Citizens curious if their legislator attended the island getaway should contact their state lawmakers directly.
       
• Again, it is worth noting that it was a leftwing organization’s event...

• Texas lawmakers soon have to decide if they will ban the practice of allowing taxing entities to hire lobbyists. This has been a long-standing priority of the Republican Party and conservative activists; the Texas Senate adopted a ban in 2019 only for the Texas House to gut and kill the measure.
   
• State Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) has filed legislation banning taxpayer funded lobbying to be addressed during the 2021 legislative session. Jacob Asmussen has the story.
     
• The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs will hold an interim committee hearing this afternoon covering taxpayer-funded lobbying and abortion.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

If Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, and legislators keep the Capitol mostly closed to the public during the 2021 legislative session, should voters hold it against them in the 2022 elections?

Today In History

One day after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese air and naval forces, the United States declared war on the empire. Less than a week later, Germany declared war on the United States.