Good morning,

Is your school board operating above board? You’re sure? I bet that’s what the voters in a small town in South Texas thought…

You’ll learn about that in today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, January 13, 2022
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Not Paying Texas’ Troops

• Texas soldiers are unnecessarily entangled in a train wreck of layered bureaucracies, political issues, staff turnover, and IT headaches. Robert Montoya reports that issues in paying troops – first identified last year – persist.
   
• As Texas Scorecard reported in December, an unknown number of Texas Military Department soldiers taking part in Operation Lone Star were being paid late. A whistleblower’s allegations of “rampant pay issues” first made to Texas Scorecard in October, were confirmed by communications obtained through a Public Information Act request. The issues were severe enough for Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard, to directly ask Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar for help on October 18.
     
• The hardships appear to be ongoing. A source within TNG told Texas Scorecard on January 10 there are still Texas soldiers not being paid on time. “We still have soldiers missing paychecks from October.”  
     
• While operating under state orders and for state operations, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military. Abbott’s office has not responded to Scorecard’s inquiry if the situation is resolved and soldiers are now being paid on time. On January 11 the governor claimed “all paycheck issues have been addressed.” 
     
• Of course, last weekend, an email surfaced from Maj. Gen. Norris urging soldiers not to talk to the press.

Abbott Censured By Wise County GOP

• The executive committee of the Wise County GOP voted unanimously this week to censure Gov. Greg Abbott. Sydnie Henry reports this is the first censure of Gov. Abbott in 2022… but not the first time he has been censured.
   

• This is familiar territory for the governor. In the summer of 2020, Abbott closed Texas businesses, instituted state-wide mask mandates, and utilized overreaching executive authority to handle pandemic affairs. Numerous county GOP executive committees – including Republican strongholds like Montgomery, Denton, Hood, Ector, Harrison, and Llano – reacted by formally censuring Abbott for violating republican principles of government.
      

• In their censure, the Wise County GOP cited – among other things – the governor’s failure to call a special session of the legislature focused on protecting Texans from vaccine mandates. Such a session has been requested by the Republican Party of Texas, 30 Republican lawmakers, and numerous conservative grassroots organizations.

Abbott In Trouble?

• Lt. Col. Allen West’s campaign for the GOP gubernatorial nomination claims he has taken the lead, based on new polling. According to his campaign, West has “secured close to 40 percent of the support of likely primary voters.” Gov. Greg Abbott is shown in second with 32.5 percent.

EXCLUSIVE: Texas GOP Chair Talks Vaccines & Priorities

• As elected officials across the nation continue to force coronavirus vaccines on citizens, Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi is continuing to call on the state legislature to address that and other unfinished priority issues.
   
• “It’s clear we can’t rely on the courts to save us,” Rinaldi told Jacob Asmussen in an exclusive interview.
   
• “I think our top priorities are to get any of the [GOP] legislative priorities over the finish line that haven’t gotten over the finish line yet,” said Rinaldi, which includes banning child mutilation experiments, ending taxpayer-funded lobbying, and the “most pressing priority right now … fighting back against vaccine mandates.”

School Board Member Admits To Bribes

• A school board member in La Joya ISD resigned last week after admitting he accepted bribes and kickbacks totaling nearly a quarter million dollars. Erin Anderson has the story.
        
• La Joya ISD Trustee Armin Garza is the latest public school official convicted on federal public corruption charges for participating in a conspiracy to steer lucrative contracts to certain vendors in exchange for cash.
      
• La Joya ISD is a low-income district near the southern border in Hidalgo County. Under Texas’ Robin Hood school financing system, the state takes “excess” property taxes “recaptured” from wealthier districts and redistributes the money to poorer districts like La Joya. The tax money is intended to be used for educating students.
        
• While relying on taxpayers in other districts to fund their operations, La Joya officials were spending so much on “energy savings” that it was worthwhile for a vendor to pay tens of thousands in bribes to secure a contract.
     
• Now, look in your community, where approximately 90 percent of voters don’t vote in school elections. Are your school board members working for you? Are you sure?

Your CURRENT Federal & State Lawmakers

This does not account for new district lines, which take representational effect next year.
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