Good morning,

Yesterday we asked, in response to former President Trump’s public request of the governor, if lawmakers should impose a statewide audit of the 2020 election. Find the results – and a sampling of responses – at the conclusion of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

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Property Tax Relief Moves (Slowly) In House Texans are a step closer to real property tax relief, as legislation to buy down local school taxes with state surplus revenues finally saw its first action in the Texas House this week. Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] three measures were assigned to the Ways & Means Committee this week; all designed to lower all Texans’ property tax bills by using excess money in the state budget to replace school maintenance and operations (M&O) taxes.

It’s now up to the committee chairman, State Rep. Morgan Meyer [[link removed]] (R–Dallas), to schedule public hearings on the bills.

Pushed along by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt [[link removed]] (R–Houston), the Texas Senate has now several times passed various one-time and ongoing property tax relief measures. A Financial Sinkhole? Texas taxpayer debts are rising and the state’s financial health is declining due to a variety of causes, including inaccurate financial reporting and repeated poor decisions by state officials. Robert Montoya reports [[link removed]] on the unsettling findings made by Truth in Accounting’s 2021 Financial State of the States.

For the second year in a row, Texas has earned a “D” from the fiscal watchdog organization.

TIA found Texas needs to take an additional $13,100 from each taxpayer to pay off its $107.6 billion of unfunded debts. Those numbers are up from last year’s report [[link removed]], which found $11,300 more was needed from each taxpayer to pay off the $96.7 billion of unfunded debts.

“Texas’ representative form of government is being undermined because citizens make voting decisions based upon the wrong information,” TIA CEO Sheila Weinberg told Texas Scorecard. “The first step is to encourage lawmakers to pass truly balanced budgets that include the full costs of pension and retiree healthcare benefits. Currently, Texas elected officials use accounting gimmicks, like shortchanging pension plans.”

Protecting Girls, But Not Women? Legislation moving through the Texas Legislature would protect girls’ sports in the state’s public schools from being overrun by boys, but nothing is being done to protect women’s sports at the state’s taxpayer-funded universities. Jacob Asmussen has the details [[link removed]].

Why are legislative protections specifically excluding women’s college sports? The answer could rest, in part, with threats from the NCAA to move championship games away from Texas if state lawmakers chose to pass safeguards for college women’s athletics.

“It’s crucial that colleges are included in any sports bill passed this session,” said State Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R–Fredericksburg). “The Texas House must safeguard both women and girls.”

Disregarding the politically driven threats of the NCAA, other states – most notably Florida [[link removed]] – have passed legislation protecting women’s college sports. As For Other Session Priorities… Halfway through the second week of the third special session, the Texas House and Texas Senate are on two completely different ends of progress. Jeramy Kitchen has the details [[link removed]].

Of the seven agenda items, the Texas Senate has already passed four out of their chamber and sent them to the House. They very quickly moved on (1) legislation relating to youth sports, requiring that public school students play in UIL athletics associated with their biological sex at birth; (2) regulations on the restraint of dogs; (3) one-time property tax relief; and (4) a proposed constitutional amendment expanding the ways in which an offender can be denied bail. The final three – dealing with redistricting – have been the subject of several committee hearings.

In contrast, the Texas House did absolutely nothing in the first week of this special session. Though they briefly convened twice, the House did not refer any of the currently filed bills to committees until earlier this week.

House members and their staff say they were caught flatfooted by the abrupt announcement of the current special session, having previously been led to believe it would begin in October. A Fourth Special Session? Some House lawmakers have reported that House Speaker Dade Phelan has already privately indicated they will be returning [[link removed]] for a fourth special session, because they do not foresee tackling the redistricting maps completely during the current special session. Legislative Shake-Up With 11 House members and two state senators already announcing they are not seeking re-election to their current positions, more retirements are expected once the redistricting process concludes. Jeramy Kitchen reviews the known departures [[link removed]].

None of this is really unexpected in the decennial redistricting period, as shifting district boundaries give incumbents an easy opportunity to step aside – or just step away from politics altogether.

It is expected more retirements will be announced once the redistricting process is completed and final maps are approved, setting the stage for a contentious (and expensive) primary and general election cycle in 2022. COVID Rules Favor The Politically Connected As Texans muddle through month 18 of the COVID pandemic, a new obstacle to quasi-normality has emerged in the capital city: rules regarding outdoor events that seem to favor large corporate events while punishing the little guys. Adam Cahn reports [[link removed]], for example, how the City of Austin has yet to issue the necessary permits for the Austin City Limits festival, the iconic outdoor concert program.

The proximate cause? Confusion over the relevant COVID protocols. While ACL is widely expected to secure their permits, others without ACL’s corporate backing haven’t been so lucky.

Conservative Leader Award Nominations Nominations will be closing [[link removed]] on Friday for the 2021 Conservative Leader Awards. Remember: these awards go to grassroots activists not politicians. Know someone who puts their time, treasure, and honor toward making Texas better? Nominate them [[link removed]] for the Conservative Leader Award!

From the nominees, awardees will be selected and named at the Conservative Leader Awards dinner on Dec. 4, 2021, in Irving. Get more information and reserve your seats now [[link removed]]! Quote-Unquote

“You can’t be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.”

– Ronald Reagan​

Number of the Day

33

Texas ranks 33 out of the 50 states on the Truth In Accounting’s ranking of the states’ fiscal health.

[Source: Truth In Accounting [[link removed]]]

Y’All Answered

Former President Donald Trump sent a public letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking that the special session agenda be expanded to include a full audit of Texas’ 2020 general election. So far, Gov. Abbott has not publicly responded or added the issue to his legislative call. (The Secretary of State’s office, though, has said they will audit four of Texas’ 254 counties.)

Yesterday we asked: should Gov. Abbott demand lawmakers pass legislation requiring a full audit of the 2020 election? Of Texas Minute readers, 86.2 percent want the legislature to enact a statewide audit and 13.8 percent do not.

Here’s a sampling of the responses:

“Trump won Texas, so why he is calling for an audit, is beyond me!” – Arthur McLean

“Government is notorious for screwing literally everything up. I'm sure even something as simple as recording and counting ballots is no exception.” – Curtis Shrum

“For the foreseeable future, each election, at each level, should be audited. Then, who will conduct the audits and who will audit the auditors?” – Martin Gibson

“There is ample indication that the 2020 Presidential election was as crooked as sin with monkey business in every state regardless of the winner. That needs to be rooted out.” – Lynn Foster

“I think audits should be standard practice, every voter and candidate should feel confident that the election process was conducted lawfully and securely and without internal or external interference or influence.” – Debbie Faunce

“The government always wants to audit citizens for taxes, why can’t we the people audit the government to double check our elections are conducted in a fair manner?” – Mark Grano

“An audit is called for if at the conclusion wrong doers are identified and punished!” – Tim Hart

“Trump should never have endorsed Abbott. But he loves endorsing, hiring and nominating Vichy Republicans.” – Carl Howard

“I voted no. Conservatives and Republicans need to stop aiming to appease Trump and his many ridiculous claims. Loyalty to Trump is not a conservative virtue. Time to move on.” – Matthew Britton

“I vote no on a FULL audit until I know exactly what that entails.” – Richard Steenson

“While I believe there were irregularities and fraud in the last election, President Trump still won Texas. We have so many other issues on our plate this legislative session. An audit now is not the highest and best use of resources.” – Kelley Rumps

“How do you get the Trust and integrity in our voting system, if you do not find and fix the problems in the system.” – Danny Platt

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Produced by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Brandon Waltens, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is delivered weekday mornings (though we'll take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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