Good morning,

You can take the lieutenant colonel out of the Army, but apparently you cannot take the Army out of Allen West.

More on that in today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, May 6, 2021
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• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that bans vaccine passports, mandates an audit of spending authorized by the governor in an emergency, and limits the time of local government emergency orders. As Robert Montoya reports, legislation banning “vaccine passports” in the Lone Star State will receive a hearing today in the Senate Committee on State Affairs.

• Less than four weeks remain in the legislative session. 

• The Texas House of Representatives voted yesterday in favor of Senate Bill 8, known as the Texas Heartbeat Act. Jacob Asmussen reports the proposed law would make abortions illegal once the baby’s heartbeat is detected.
      
• “The heartbeat is clear and unequivocal evidence of human life,” said the legislation’s House sponsor, State Rep. Shelby Slawson (R–Stephenville). “Many men and women in this chamber have had that incredible experience when we first heard the sound of our then-unborn babies play out in a doctor’s office … that beautiful melody of a tiny life: innocent, vulnerable, and worthy of our protection.”
     
• The Heartbeat Act passed almost on a party line vote, 81 Republicans voting “yes” and 63 Democrats voting “no.” State Rep. Ryan Guillen (Rio Grande City) was the only Democrat to join in supporting the protection; no Republicans voted against it.

• Meanwhile, constitutional carry passed a major milestone on Wednesday by passing the Senate on a party-line vote of 18-13.
       
• As Jeramy Kitchen reports, the “debate” lasted more than eight hours, with senators adding eight amendments – altering the language that passed out of the Texas House in mid-April.
      

• Now, it will be up to the House of Representatives to decide whether or not to accept the changes or appoint a conference committee to settle out the differences. Timing is crucial, given the number of days remaining to conduct legislative business and get the bill to the governor’s desk.

• Controversial legislation in the Texas House is getting yet another revision on its way to the chamber’s floor. In its original form, House Bill 3 by Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock) was presented as a response to the pandemic, but only codified the power-grab made by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2020.
   
• As Jeramy Kitchen reports, the measure has been significantly re-vamped. Will it be enough?
   
• One of the harshest critics of the original HB 3, constitutional law expert Matt Rinaldi, has said: “Though it is a marked improvement over the original version of the bill, it still endorses lockdowns and mask mandates as pandemic responses. With HB 3, House Republicans are endorsing the biggest policy mistake and invasion of personal liberties in our lifetime and setting the stage for it to happen again.”
   
• The influential activist group Grassroots America put it more succinctly: “Scrap HB 3.”
   
• Similarly, Texas GOP Chairman Allen West used a press conference at the Capitol yesterday to reiterate his opposition to HB 3.

• Thus far, the House of Representatives has been reluctant to bring up any legislation actually reforming executive authority. The Texas Senate, though, has passed several bills reforming the governor’s interpreted and controversial authorities, as well as that of local governments, in times of emergency.

• Speaking of Lt. Col. Allen West’s press conference… After chiding an Austin TV reporter for being late, he challenged the much younger man to do 30 push-ups as penance – even offering to do them with the reporter. As you might expect, the TV reporter declined. So, West did the push-ups anyway to the cheers of onlookers.

• The Texas House passed legislation this week to establish the “1836 Project,” which Joshua Pierce reports would in many ways mirror President Trump’s “1776 Project.”
   
• House Bill 2497 by State Rep. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) would place a heavy emphasis on Texas’ children being educated in Texas civics, particularly the founders and founding documents. The bill passed on a vote of 124-19 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

• In a new commentary, Krista McIntire warns parents about legislation that seems designed to help parents when dealing with Child Protective Services. She has been suspicious of the measure’s true intentions, and says the bill “stomps on constitutional rights, privacy rights, state law recording rights, and even property rights.”

• Join me in wishing a very happy 20th birthday to my daughter, Ruth!

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