Good morning, 

In the One Click Survey we ask if a special session of the Texas Legislature should be called to address the growing number of businesses requiring current employees to get the COVID jabs or face unemployment.

You will find that at the conclusion of today’s Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, October 26, 2021
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FEMA Rejects Abbott’s Ask For Aid

• The administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected Gov. Greg Abbott’s appeal for emergency aid to deal with the border situation. Sydnie Henry has the details.
         
• “President Biden continues to abandon the people of South Texas. While President Biden refuses to do his job, Texas is doing everything possible to help secure the border,” an Abbott spokesperson told Texas Scorecard.

GOP Lawmaker: Abbott Not ‘Sincere’ On Vax Mandate

• While thousands of Texans face the prospect of losing their jobs under COVID vaccine mandates, Gov. Greg Abbott continues to avoid calling legislators back to Austin for a special session to address banning such mandates. State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) says the issue has “no support” from the governor. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      

• In a Facebook exchange on Sunday, Toth — who has authored and supported numerous efforts to ban vaccine mandates — criticized Abbott’s timing in adding it to the third special session, and his failure to call a fourth special session.
     
• “If the Governor was sincere we would have placed it on the call day one and if it didn’t pass he would [have] called us right back immediately.” – Rep. Steve Toth
   
• The Republican Party of Texas has officially called on Abbott to bring lawmakers back for a fourth special session. Under the Texas Constitution, the governor can call the legislature into a special session to address specific issues.
   
• Whatever you think of the issue itself, each passing day, it becomes harder to assume anything other than Gov. Abbott’s executive order on employer mandates was intended only as a PR stunt for the Fox News crowd and not a sincere effort.

• Check out today’s Luke Macias Show, where he talks in greater depth about Gov. Abbott’s apparently duplicitous dealings with Rep. Toth.
   
• Meanwhile, Griffin White details the responses to the Biden Administration’s vax mandate at the four major airlines. In short: employees are resisting.

‘Parent Activist’ or ‘Domestic Terrorist’?

• In a new video commentary, Tim Lambert of the Texas Home School Coalition addresses the growing attitude of school board members and Democrat federal officials to shun parents – and even prevent them from participating in the governance of the schools.
     
• “THSC believes that parents should be in charge of what children are learning. What children are learning should not be deliberately and aggressively hidden from parents.” – Tim Lambert

Second-Most Liberal Republican Is Leaving

• State Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Humble) has announced he won’t be seeking re-election to Texas House District 127. This removes the second-most liberal Republican, and an obstacle to many Texas GOP priorities, from the 2023 legislative session.
     
• As Jeramy Kitchen reports, Huberty already had an announced primary challenger in Anthony Dolcefino. 
        
• Earlier this year Huberty was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after he rear-ended another vehicle at a stoplight.

Heartbeat Law Goes Before SCOTUS

• The United States Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments on November 1 regarding the constitutionality of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which protects babies from abortion after a heartbeat is detected. Griffin White has the details.
   
• The Texas Heartbeat Act took effect on September 1 of this year, despite mounting legal challenges. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused a request by Biden’s Justice Department to block the law pending a final ruling by the court.
     

• This is uncharacteristically hasty for the Supreme Court, which may indicate they intend to make a ruling on the constitutionality of the Heartbeat Act soon.
   

• “This is a great development for the pro-life movement because the law will continue to save an estimated 100 babies per day, and because the justices will actually discuss whether these lawsuits are even valid in the first place,” said Kimberlyn Schwartz of Texas Right to Life.

Dan Patrick Draws Second GOP Challenger

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will face at least two challengers in the 2022 Republican primary. The president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, Daniel Miller, announced his candidacy late last week, joining  former Texas Eagle Forum president Tracy Bradford in the race.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Amid growing numbers of Texans fearing for their livelihoods as Texas-based companies impose COVID vaccine mandates, pressure is building on Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session dedicated to the issue. Should he call a special session?

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