Good morning!

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, February 25, 2021
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• Let’s connect on social media! I’m on Parler, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as LinkedIn, Gab, and MeWe.
      
• Texas Scorecard can be found on Parler, Facebook, Twitter, Gab, and Instagram. Facebook users should also check out our Citizens’ Bureau group.

• The Texas House and Senate are scheduled to begin hearings later today to investigate the causes of last week’s power outages.

• While 80 people have died as a result of the power outages that left millions to freeze in single-digit temperatures, some say the number may actually be much higher. Yet, as Joshua Pierce reports, determining that number is a difficult task.
      
• “We may have preliminary information in weeks, not days,” said Chris Van Deusen, a Texas Department of Health Services spokesman.
      
• Regarding categorization, it will not be left to medical examiners to decide whether a death was storm related. According to Van Deusen, county officials throughout Texas—particularly constables and justices of the peace—will investigate deaths in their area and make the determination. Cases that local registrars believe are storm-induced will be sent to state epidemiologists to evaluate.

• Legislation has been filed by State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R–Tyler) ending the governor’s and local officials’ mask mandates and barring them from ever issuing such mandates again unless the legislature authorizes it.
     
• Robert Montoya reports that Schaefer filed House Bills 2097 and 2098 on the same day Tarrant County commissioners in North Texas unanimously extended their countywide mask mandate, compelling businesses to fine citizens in their buildings $1,000 if they aren’t wearing a mask.
      
• And don’t forget that Texas remains under a statewide mask mandate from Gov. Greg Abbott.
       
• “Want a mask mandate with a criminal offense? Pass a law. [The g]overnor can't create a crime & also enforce the crime. That violates separation of powers. No one person should ever have that power. HB 2097 & 2098 will repeal the mask mandate and restore checks/balances.” – Matt Schaefer
   
• Is your state representative  signed on to those bills? Call them and ask... today.

• Barely a month into Joe Biden’s presidency, a federal judge has already indefinitely struck down one of his signature campaign promises. Jacob Asmussen reports a federal district judge has ordered a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration, banning them from carrying out a 100-day freeze on illegal immigrant deportations.
   
• Biden had tried to halt nearly all deportations on his first day in office—signing an executive order within hours of his inauguration—but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the administration, arguing the action was “unlawful and perilous.”
   
• “HUGE WIN. The first of many against Biden’s unlawful agenda.” – Ken Paxton

• Jacksboro attorney David Spiller won a special-election for House District 68, replacing Drew Springer who advanced to the state senate in a special election. Springer, of course, was replacing Pat Fallon who won a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat.
   
• Erin Anderson reports Spiller won the seat with 63 percent of the vote over fellow Republican Craig Carter, a Nocona businessman. (See the Number of the Day for additional context.)

• Speaking of elections... the U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to hear a number of appeals stemming from concerns about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. 
   
• Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented, arguing the Court should have reviewed two crucial cases out of Pennsylvania.
   
• “These cases provide us with an ideal opportunity to address just what authority nonlegislative officials have to set election rules, and to do so well before the next election cycle. The refusal to do so is inexplicable.” – Justice Clarence Thomas
   
• Erin Anderson has the details, and what it might mean for Texas.

Today in History 

On Feb. 25, 1836, Samuel Colt patented his famous revolver. The Congress of Texas purchased the 1839 model for its Navy, while the Texas Rangers popularized the weapon.

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