Good morning!

I appreciate the flood of thoughtful, and personal, responses to yesterday’s One Click Survey. There was a lot of great discussion about the ethics of businesses requiring employees to take one of the “COVID-19 vaccines” as a condition of employment.

Check out the results, and a sample of the responses, at the end of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, October 13, 2021
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Property Tax Relief Running Out Of Time?

• Two proposals to lower Texans’ property taxes are finally moving toward a vote in the Texas House, but Erin Anderson reports it may be too late for lawmakers to deliver property tax relief before the third special legislative session ends.
   

• House Bill 90 and Senate Bill 1 received public hearings in the House Ways and Means Committee on September 30 but remained stalled for more than a week. Yesterday, committee members finally voted to advance both tax-relief measures. The next stop for both is the House Calendars Committee before they could be debated on the chamber floor by the full membership.
   

• Constitutionally, the current special session must conclude on Oct. 19.

A Conversation With Chad Prather

• “We have got to enable the citizens of Texas to protect their lands, protect their borders, protect their properties. We’re in Texas and we’re not going to put up with invasion,” said Chad Prather in a conversation with Brandon Waltens. This week Texas Scorecard is releasing uncut, unedited one-on-one interviews with the Republican gubernatorial candidates. 
      
• Having never served in a publicly elected office, Prather throws conventional wisdom to the wind in the way he exposes inconsistencies in the ideology of his political opponents. He spent 20 years in radio and television, from the cab of his truck to the studio of The Blaze TV. 
     

• Prather blames Greg Abbott and excessive spending for out-of-control property taxes in Texas. “It starts at the top. We have got to cut spending. Spending in the State of Texas has increased by $48 billion in the last two terms of Greg Abbott. That’s untenable.”
   

• The series began yesterday with former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and concludes tomorrow with businessman Don Huffines. Incumbent Greg Abbott did not respond to the invitation to participate.

Dallas Parents Press Abbott For Help

• Parents of children in the Dallas Independent School District appealed directly to Gov. Greg Abbott at an event, alleging the district is segregating and targeting their fifth- and eighth-grade children who oppose the district’s mask mandate. Robert Montoya has the story. 
      
• “They literally withheld education. They stuck them in the library for two weeks with no access to any classes,” Lauren Davis told the governor. “My daughter’s failing every class.”
     
• The governor called it “outrageous” and said he would “talk to our legislators about it [and] see what we can come up with.”

‘Blowing up On Twitter’

• The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was recently exposed in a video by gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines for hosting a webpage dedicated to “helping empower and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, and non-heterosexual (LGBTQIA+) youth, their peers, and family.”
      
• Within hours, the webpage was removed. As Jacob Asmussen reports, newly released records show just how rocked the Abbott-run agency was by the criticism. The senior staff was told “This is starting to blow up on Twitter.” That statement came in an email with the subject line “Don Huffines video accusing Gov/DFPS of pushing liberal transgender agenda.”

Five House Republicans Want To Weaken Heartbeat Bill

• Although it has only been in effect for less than two months, five Republican members of the Texas House want to change the state’s Heartbeat law. Brandon Waltens has the details.
   
• The law exposes abortion doctors and clinics to lawsuits if they perform an abortion on a baby after a heartbeat has been detected. The five lawmakers would add an exception for instances where there has been a claim of rape or incest – something proponents of the law say would weaken the measure. 
   
• Pushing to change the law are Republicans Lyle Larson (San Antonio), Charlie Geren (Ft. Worth), Geanie Morrison (Victoria), Stan Lambert (Abilene), and Sam Harless (Spring). 

36 Cities!

• The City of Nazareth (population 311), located about 60 miles southwest of Amarillo, became the latest Texas city to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion within their city limits. Mark Lee Dickson explains how local activists made it possible.

Let’s Go Brandon!

Y’All Answered

Yesterday we asked Texas Minute readers to set aside questions of government mandates and esoteric debates about employment policy in the free market. We wanted to know your personal belief on the question of whether or not employers should require their employees participate in one of the “COVID vaccination” regimens in order to keep their job.

Readers answered with a resounding “no” (97.8 percent), compared to 2.2 percent saying “yes.”

Here’s a sample of the responses:

• “Absolutely, positively hell no. I applaud the employees who have pushed back and am ashamed of the employees who are silent.  The Covid vaccine mandate is not about health; it is about control.” – Roxann Bilger
    
• “I run a business. We not only don’t require employees to be vaccinated, we would never ask what they put in their bodies. … Corporate America has become way too paternalistic. I’m not their parent. We have a business relationship, and at the end of each pay period, we’re square.” – Spencer Siino
   
• “No individual should be forced to do something or anything to keep their job, it’s called extortion.” – Priscilla Hallmark
    
• “Why would an employer want to risk losing productivity because of a Covid-19 outbreak? All those sick days can be avoided if employees get vaccinated.” – David Holden
     
• “I don't believe that employers force its employees to receive yearly flu vaccines.” – Jennifer Herr
   
• “I believe the employer should be able to require the shots.  It is their business and they run it.” – John Martin
   
• “I personally don't believe employers should be allowed to force employees to get a vaccine. We are against vaccines mainly due to the link between certain vaccines and abortion.” – Cathy Blake
   
• “I don’t believe employers ‘should’ require a vaccine, but I do believe private employers ‘may’ require it, then the employee can elect to get it or go somewhere else.” – Gerald Slater
   
• “The Government should never require an experimental DNA therapy drug to anyone so they can have freedoms to work or travel or eat.” – Kim Moore
     
• “It’s a choice, just like killing a baby that Democrats call ‘women’s health,’ it’s a choice belonging to the individual and not some corporate busybody!” – Jeff Martinez
   
• “The jab has been proven neither safe nor effective, despite the rhetoric to the contrary. So, I’m a resounding no on if it should be required to keep your job.” – Michael Kinzie
   
• “What’s interesting is that getting the vaccine shots has gone from a Safety issue to a Control issue and people are tired of it and are fighting back.” – Michael Jauch
   
• “This madness will stop once enough refuse to comply.” – Mary Philio
   
• “Why this virus??? There’s never been a mandate on other vaccines to keep your job.” – Joseph Hunt

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