Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021
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• A rule requiring COVID testing to participate in Senate hearings has one of Texas’ statewide elected officials suing another.
   

• In a lawsuit filed yesterday in Travis County, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and longtime Houston-area activist Dr. Steve Hotze take aim at Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate for their rule mandating citizens submit to a COVID test before entering the Senate gallery, participating in hearings, or otherwise entering any area in the Capitol controlled by the Senate.
   

• The lawsuit argues such restrictions violate the Texas Constitution, which requires legislative sessions to be “open and accessible to the public.” It also argues that the testing requirement violates Texans’ constitutional right to free speech and assembly, as well as the Open Meetings Act.

• “Patrick is leading an unconstitutional effort to shut down access to the people’s access to their government,” Jared Woodfill, the plaintiffs’ attorney stated. “A medical procedure has never been required to access one’s government.”
   

• “I don’t require anyone to get tested to come in my building,” Miller told Texas Scorecard. “The constitution allows us to address our legislators and it doesn’t say anything in there I can find about having to take a COVID test. It’s not being transparent for one thing, and it’s hypocritical.”
   

• “Knowing Dan Patrick, he’s probably going to retaliate,” Miller added.

• A spokesman for Patrick said, while the lieutenant governor does not vote on Senate rules, “he agrees with the unanimous decision of the Texas Senate to test in order to protect the public, the Capitol staff who interact with hundreds of visitors every day, as well as members of the Legislature.”

• A landmark hearing is scheduled for tomorrow in the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety, with a slate of bills permitting citizens to possess firearms without permits from the state scheduled for consideration.
   
• Iris Poole notes this will be the first time since 2015 that there has been a constitutional carry bill filed in both the House and Senate and the second time in Texas history it has been given a committee hearing, with the most recent hearing in 2017.
   
• The Republican Party of Texas and gun owners across Texas have been advocating constitutional carry for more than a decade, but efforts to eliminate the need for a state gun permit have consistently failed in years past.

• On Friday, the Texas’ Senate State Affairs Committee is set to hear legislation designed to prevent biological men from competing against female athletes in Texas schools. Joshua Pierce has the details.
   
• State Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) filed Senate Bill 29, a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, which would ensure athletic teams are based on biological sex. After President Joe Biden signed an executive order demanding transgender athletes be allowed in whichever gender-based sports team they choose, many have expressed concerns that such a situation would be unfair to female athletes. 
   
• "Our intent is to make sure girls can compete at the UIL level competitively and safely, not against biological males,” Perry's office told Texas Scorecard. 

• While Democrat city officials in Texas’ capital city are claiming to move past racist policies like segregation, they are creating a separate city services facility for citizens with brown or black skin color.
   

• Jacob Asmussen reports earlier this month, the Democrat-run Austin City Council passed resolutions formally apologizing for the city government’s “active involvement in segregation and systemic discrimination,” while at the same time beginning discussions on how to spend more tax dollars based on skin color and making plans to construct a “Black Embassy” downtown.
   

• The station, which will offer resources and support but be separate from the main city hall, will only service based on skin color.

• Lastly, Michael Swirsky reports on a letter to President Joe Biden, in which U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R–TX) criticized the administration for its restriction of the press from border detention centers and called on Biden to allow journalists full access to immigration facilities. 
   
• "[I]t is not enough for members of the Senate to see what is happening-the American people must see. That is why I requested that members of the media be allowed to join us. But your administration clearly and emphatically refused to offer press access. This is outrageous and hypocritical." –U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz

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