Good morning –

Under the Texas Constitution, only the governor can call lawmakers into a special session – and only to consider items the governor approves. That’s the subject of today’s One Click Survey, which you’ll find at the conclusion of the Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, November 9, 2021
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Abbott Sends Second Letter On School Porn

• On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to the Texas State Board of Education, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and Texas Education Agency, directing them to “develop statewide standards to prevent the presence of pornography and other obscene content in Texas public schools, including in school libraries.” Jeramy Kitchen has the full report.
   
• Two weeks ago, parents in Keller Independent School District revealed that one of the local high schools provided a sexually explicit graphic novel to minors in the school library. The next week, Gov. Abbott sent a letter to the non-governmental Texas Association of School Boards asking them to deal with the situation. 
     
• TASB responded that they lacked the legal authority to take action, and directed the governor to the agencies of state government that are charged with overseeing schools.
   
• In his most recent letter, Gov. Abbott specifically directs the leaders of these organizations to develop statewide standards to prevent this sort of content from infiltrating public schools. He stopped short of providing a timeline for the action to be taken.

Will Heartbeat Survive SCOTUS?

• Conservatives are concerned about the fate of the Texas Heartbeat Act, after Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett spent a significant amount of their time undermining the law with their questions. In the latest edition of his podcast, Luke Macias visits with legal scholar Josh Blackman about what the questions mean.
      
• A professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, Blackman recently penned a commentary for Newsweek entitled, “In Texas Abortion Case, Kavanaugh and Barrett Caved to Judicial Supremacy.”

Grassroots Sue State Over Misleading Ballot Language

• Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), Grassroots America – We The People (GAWTP), and the True Texas Project (TTP) have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Secretary of State John Scott, challenging the recently passed constitutional amendment known as Proposition 2. 
   
• As Jeramy Kitchen reports, the lawsuit alleges that the ballot language that was put before voters on November 2—and passed—failed to comply with common law requirements and was substantially misleading due to an omission of the phrase “ad valorem tax increases.”
     
• In 2011, virtually the same ballot proposition was put before Texas voters in the form of Proposition 4. That ballot language included the clarifying language about adding local debt to be repaid with higher property taxes, and was rejected by the voters.

U.S. Reopens Mexican Border to Vaccinated Travelers

• The border with Mexico has been reopened for legal travelers, though they will have to present their COVID-19 vaccination card for entry. Sydnie Henry has the details.
   
• Meanwhile, the illegal aliens that have entered—and even some that have been released—remain unquestioned on their vaccination status.

Biden Vax Mandate On Hold For Now

• The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has placed the Biden Administration’s COVID vax mandate on hold, based on a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Griffin White has the story.
   
• The mandate, issued through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, applies to federal contractors and businesses with more than 100 employees and had been slated to take effect on Jan. 4, 2022.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

For weeks the Republican Party of Texas has been urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session focused on employer vaccine mandates. With thousands of Texans facing job losses over the issue come January, a growing number of lawmakers have joined the chorus.

Given Gov. Greg Abbott’s unwillingness so far to call a special session of the legislature for the purpose of addressing employer vaccine mandates, are you more or less willing to support him in the 2022 GOP Primary?

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