Good morning, 

Yesterday we asked about schools imposing mask mandates on students; we received a lot of passionate responses! We’ve got the results and a sampling of your fellow readers’ comments below.

First, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021
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Speaker Phelan Finally Signs Arrest Warrants

• Nearly one month after Texas House Democrats fled the Capitol to break quorum and halt consideration of election integrity legislation, arrest warrants have now been issued for the missing members. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• On Tuesday evening, House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) reportedly signed arrest warrants for all 52 absent Democrats who have kept the 150-member body short of the quorum requirement set in the Texas Constitution, freezing the legislative process for weeks.
      
• Phelan’s action comes hours after the attending members voted – as they had done in July a day after the Democrats fled during the first special session – to bring the missing Democrats back to the chamber “under warrant of arrest, if necessary.” The only Republican to vote against the motion yesterday was State Rep. Lyle Larson of San Antonio.
    
• Larson is considered one of the most liberal Republicans in the Texas House, who has been openly flirting with running for statewide office under the banner of a new third party.
       
• The difference between yesterday’s vote and the one the House took back in July, is that following the first vote, neither Phelan nor Gov. Greg Abbott made any effort to actually issue arrest warrants for the Democrats despite public claims to the contrary. (Phelan did finally issue a single warrant for the arrest of Democrat Philip Cortez of San Antonio, who went to Washington, returned to the House floor, and then headed back to D.C.)
       
• Phelan has been under increasing pressure from grassroots activists and other House members – who themselves are under pressure from their voters – to take real action.
   
• The House is set to convene for legislative business at 10 a.m. this morning.

Texas Supreme Court: Yes, House Can Arrest Quorum-Busters

• Significantly, the arrest warrants were issued after the Supreme Court of Texas essentially reaffirmed the authority of the House to compel members to attend legislative sessions – up to and including arrest. That came in the form of reversing an order issued Monday by a Democrat district judge in Travis County. 
     
• That judge had tried to halt any arrests of Democrat lawmakers under the authority of the House.

Senate Keeps Going

• Only four days into the second special session, Senate committees have considered almost all bills on the governor’s agenda. Jeramy Kitchen reports the full chamber has already voted on several of them. The Texas Constitution gives the governor of the state sole authority to set the agenda for special sessions, which can last no more than 30 days at a time.
     
• The first special session ended Friday, and the second began Saturday. While the House (see above) has been unable to bring together a quorum, the Senate has made quick work of an agenda they had considered, acted upon, and adopted last month. As an aside, many of those items were also passed by the Senate during the regular 140-day session this spring.
     
• On Tuesday, Senate committees considered a bill seeking to preempt a patchwork of local government regulations against business employment practices and benefit distribution, as well as bills related to social media censorship and improvements to the supposed ban on critical race theory passed in the regular session.
   
• The Senate is on track, as Erin Anderson reports, to pass landmark election integrity reforms for the third time this calendar year. These reforms – which bring greater transparency, accountability, and access to the election process – are the basis for the House Democrats’ quorum-busting and obstructionism. 

Why Won’t Abbott Just Protect Kids From Gender Modifying Adults?

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised nearly a month ago to take action protecting children from having their gender surgically “changed.” While that is only a small part of the coercive problem of adults manipulating children, he nonetheless has not even followed through. As previously reported, the governor’s “big” action was to send a letter to a state agency last week asking them to decide if surgically altering a child constituted child abuse.
      
• Jacob Asmussen reports the governor’s inactivity on the issue has caused the Republican Party of Texas to publicly urge action. 
      
• “Gov. Abbott has the sole authority to add a gender modification ban to a special session, and he needs to do so,” said Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi. “Every day we wait, more Texas children are irreversibly harmed.”

Maybe This Is Why…

• In the latest edition of his podcast, Luke Macias reveals that Gov. Abbott’s hesitancy to do anything to protect children might be related to the adults he has appointed to serve in his administration. 
      
• The nation has been captivated by the story of James Younger, the child whose father has been fighting to protect the boy from being psychologically, chemically, and surgically “transitioned” by the mother. 
        
• As it turns out, the psychologist who has been actively conditioning James to accept the “transition” and adopt a female personality is an appointee of Gov. Abbott. The governor appointed Susan Fletcher, Ph.D., to serve on the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychology, as well as the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and the Texas Safety Commissioner.
      
• Reasonable people understand that psychologically conditioning a child to change genders constitutes child abuse as surely as forcing them to take “puberty blocker” pills or submit to surgical alteration of their genitals. Why does Greg Abbott refuse to say that?

Abbott Sued By Elected Officials Over Mask Prohibition

• In a rapidly escalating fight with Gov. Greg Abbott, local officials across the state are challenging the governor’s executive order banning mask mandates.
   
• A growing wave of officials in cities from San Antonio to Dallas to Houston have commanded new mask mandates on citizens. Dallas and Austin Independent School District superintendents are forcing all students, employees, and visitors on school campuses to wear masks. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is requiring masks on all city employees on city property.
   
• On Tuesday afternoon, Texas District Judge Antonia Arteaga (D) ruled officials in San Antonio and Bexar County can go ahead and mandate masks at schools for now – despite the governor’s order from July.
   
• In that July order, the governor decreed: “No governmental entity can compel any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine administered under an emergency use authorization. … No governmental entity, including a county, city, school district, and public health authority, and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face covering or mandate that another person wear a face covering.”
   
• Notably, the Texas Legislature chose not to address government overreach and mask mandates in the regular legislative session, and Gov. Abbott has not placed legislative remedies on the call for the special sessions.

Y’All Answered

In yesterday’s One Click Survey, we asked readers: “Should Texas school districts be allowed to mandate that children wear masks?” Only 4.7 percent of readers think schools should be allowed to mandate masks for children; 96.3 percent of readers take the opposing view.

Here’s a sampling of what folks had to say:

• “Follow the science, mask wearing is as useless as Joe Biden.” – Danny Platt
      
• “Children are not as susceptible to this virus and natural immunity is far superior than anything man-made. This is all about control and how far the tyrants in control can push this.” – Mandy Kirkland
     
• “If wearing a mask makes one feel better, then go for it. Otherwise, leave the rest of us alone, because wearing a mask is not without side effects.” – Bruce Freeman
     
• “While I personally feel that the mask issue is a smoke screen I feel that it is more appropriately addressed on a local basis and not by “King Abbott”.  If you don’t like the actions of a school board then change the members of the school board or better yet get involved yourself.” – Rex Reeve
      
• “I don’t believe there should be mandates, by Governors or schools. Most people will do the right thing if they have the knowledge to make an informed decision... schools who are mandating the masks are following the Marxist agenda which seems to have more power these days.” – Debbie Faunce
      
• “No one should decide if children in school should be masked except their own parents. Otherwise, it is tyranny!” – Harry Hingst
     
• “School mask mandates - another good reason for school vouchers.” – Tobie Hall
      
• “If parents are allowed to determine the sex of their child, approve their child to have an abortion or allow their child to drive a car, surely they can decide whether or not they should wear a silly mask.” – Steve Sullivan
     
• “Parents should decide for themselves if their kids should wear masks or not.” – Twyla Tranfaglia
      
• “It is becoming more and more evident that masks were and continue to be nothing but political theater; an attempt to intimidate and frighten people into submission.” – Roger Taylor
        
• “No one should have the right to tell schoolchildren to wear masks or who should get the vaccine. My children are homeschooled, so, the mask mandate doesn't concern us. But, one of my children works in healthcare and is ‘required’ to get the vaccine or be terminated. It's BS! What happened to ‘my body, my choice’? I guess we have a choice when it comes to killing an innocent unborn baby, but not about masks or vaccines.” – Cathy Blake
      
• “Forcing children who are in the process of developing language and social skills to wear masks at a time when they are not likely to contract the COVID virus is child abuse.” – Ken Marx
     
• “Schools should not be allowed to force kids to wear masks; however, this whole charade is what Governor Abbott gets when trying to play King. Let the legislature write the laws, and Abbott (and his executive branch) can then enforce them.” – Gary Eulenfeld
   
• “It is the parents responsibility to protect their children’s health and well-being.  It is the school district’s responsibility to educate children… If the parents want to take the extra step of telling their children they have to wear a mask it is their prerogative to do so.” – Bob McCleskey

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