Good morning, 

With the legislative deadline rapidly approaching, it appears as many as half of the Texas GOP priorities may not pass both chambers. That’s the subject of today’s One Click Survey.

First, here is the Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, May 19, 2021
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• Following the lead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas’ Greg Abbott issued a new executive order yesterday prohibiting government entities—including public schools—from issuing mask mandates. Iris Poole reports Abbott’s order levies a fine of $1,000 on local governments and officials who attempt to impose a mask mandate.
       
• Effective at the end of the day on June 4, the Texas Education Agency will be required to amend its guidelines so face-covering mandates will no longer be required of parents, students, teachers, and visitors.
         

• State-supported living facilities, hospitals owned or operated by the government, Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities, Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities, county jails, and municipal jails are not included in the order.

• REMINDER: local governments were encouraged by Gov. Abbott to institute mask mandates when he imposed his own statewide mask mandate (which he didn’t have the power to impose). So “thanking” him for this action is a bit like thanking an arsonist for helping put out the fire he started.

• Legislation that would direct the Attorney General of Texas to vet the voter rolls is heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature. Erin Anderson reports Senate Bill 155 by Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) is considered a key step in cleaning up Texas’ voter rolls and verifying voters’ citizenship.
       
• SB 155 adds the Texas Attorney General to the list of officials receiving information about voters who identify themselves as not meeting citizenship or residency qualifications for jury service. This means they are also ineligible to be registered to vote in the county in which they were called to serve on a jury—or, in the case of noncitizens, at all.

• The Texas House has given its approval to Senate-originated legislation forbidding homeowners associations from enforcing stringent regulations on religious displays. As Joshua Pierce reports, now that the measure passed both chambers, with no amendments, the bill will now be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott.
      

• The Republican Party of Texas has designated the measure as part of its religious liberty legislative priority.

• Both chambers of the Legislature have given unanimous approval to legislation banning the use of hypnosis to aid police investigations.
       
• Twenty-seven other states currently allow the use of hypnosis to aid investigations, while 22 states do not.

• If you thought school districts were supposed to encourage parents to provide more support and learning opportunities for their children, you haven’t been to Texas’ capital city. Jacob Asmussen reports the Austin Independent School District has announced they will no longer allow Parent Teacher Associations to fund additional school staff.
       
• Previously, local PTAs would fundraise in their communities to employ extra staff at their local schools, including support positions such as part-time reading and math specialists, Spanish teachers, technology assistants, and even cafeteria monitors.
       
• District officials say parents providing their child’s school with additional support is “inequitable” for other kids in schools across the city.

• In her bid for the mayorship of Fort Worth, Democrat Deborah Peoples has said she wants to “unite us into one Fort Worth.” Yet as Robert Montoya reports, divisive social media posts seem to show Peoples calling for a boycott of white-owned restaurants.
      
• “Shop only at black and brown owned restaurants every Sunday,” urged Deborah Peoples in a June 2019 social media post captured by the Tarrant County Young Republicans.
      
• “I’d like to know how Deborah Peoples plans to ‘unite Fort Worth’ when she clearly has a deep disdain for half of Fort Worth’s residents,” TCYR President Derrick Wilson told Texas Scorecard. “The choice for any reasonable voter is crystal clear when one candidate is so divisive; a vote for Deborah Peoples is a vote for a divided, not united, Fort Worth.”

• In a new commentary, Robert Pratt takes on the inherent racism embedded in  Critical Race Theory.
       
• “Evil ideas, those that go against our conscience, are much easier to hold and spread when people are seen not as individuals but as groups.” – Robert Pratt

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Should Gov. Greg Abbott call a special session of the Texas Legislature if lawmakers fail to pass all of the Texas GOP priorities?

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!