Good morning!

With a $25 billion surplus in the state coffers, readers want tax relief and will take it where they can find it, but… Well, you can get the details at the conclusion of today’s Texas Minute.

This is Wednesday, April 6, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Border Push Running Out Of Money

• Testifying for the Texas Senate Committee on Border Security today, the new Adjutant General Thomas Suelzer told State Sens. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury), Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen), and Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) that – at the current operational pace – funding for Operation Lone Star will run out by May 1. Sydnie Henry has the story.
     
• Suelzer took leadership of the Texas Military Forces from the previous adjutant general, Tracy Norris. Her tenure was widely criticized for contributing to the ongoing problems with OLS. Those included pay issues, reports of lack of equipment, questionable living conditions, and serious morale concerns.
     
• OLS has been criticized nationally as a “catch and jail” system, in which Gov. Abbott instructed state law enforcement officials to arrest illegal border crossers on criminal trespassing charges. However, many of those arrested as a part of this program were only temporarily held in jails along the border and then released into Texas to await trial.
      
• Curious that the governor’s politically motivated and poorly constructed border push is running out of money right after the Republican primary…

Texas A.G. Condemns SCOTUS Nominee

• Attorney General Ken Paxton is condemning the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court following revelations of her leniency toward child porn offenders. Katy Drollinger has the story.
       
• “Judge Jackson hasn’t merely erred on the more forgiving end of a spectrum of available punishments, as many judges sometimes do,” said Paxton. “Rather, during her decade-long tenure as a federal district court judge, she repeatedly cast victims aside, elevated criminal defendants above them, and sentenced the abusers well below the accepted federal guidelines.”
      
• For whatever reason, Paxton’s challenger in the Texas GOP runoff – George P. Bush – has been silent on the issue.

Abbott On Defense… To Patrick’s Offense

• In this week’s edition of his show, Luke Macias looks at Gov. Greg Abbott’s endorsements in the runoff elections – finding that, in each instance, the governor endorsed the most liberal Republican possible. Abbott’s endorsements, Macias argues, point to a singular focus: setting up a Texas House that is opposed to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s conservative agenda for 2023.

Patrick Prepares Senate To Push Against Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

• Lt. Gov. Patrick, whose role puts him constitutionally at the helm of the Texas Senate, is pushing senators to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying in 2023. As Sydnie Henry reports, the Senate has passed bans on the odious practice in the past, but those efforts were blocked by the Texas House leadership of Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
   
• In 2020, more than 94 percent of Republican primary voters supported a ballot proposition calling on lawmakers to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. 
   
• Patrick’s charge to the Senate between now and the start of the 2023 session is to “study how governmental entities use public funds for political lobbying purposes. Examine what types of governmental entities use public funds for lobbying purposes and what level of transparency is available to the public. Make recommendations to protect taxpayers from paying for lobbyists who may not represent the taxpayers’ interests.”
   
• After the House blocked a ban in 2021’s regular session, Patrick repeatedly asked Gov. Abbott to put the issue on a call of one of the three special sessions. Abbott repeatedly ignored Patrick and the issue.

It’s One Of Texas’ Most Powerful Offices…

• No office in Texas carries more sway, except that of governor and lieutenant governor, yet most Texans don’t know how the speakership of the House is selected. Brandon Waltens explains the process.

The Unwavering Warrior

• Ammon Blair is a warrior. An active agent with the Border Patrol, he previously served in the U.S. military and was recently released from service as Texas Guardsman due to his refusal to take the coronavirus vaccine. Sydnie Henry profiles a man whose days are spent serving others.
       
• “The purpose of this life is to return to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, so in order to do that, we must have freedom, and agency, and liberty,” said Blair, explaining his personal motivations. “I feel that by defending our rights, our God-given rights through the Constitution, doing that is one of the greatest single efforts that we can do.”
      
• He is also co-director of the True Texas Project’s Rio Grande Valley chapter, while working with Veterans for Child Rescue to combat child trafficking on the border and the Nazarene Fund to extract U.S. citizens from Afghanistan. In his church, Blair serves as a youth director, oversees emergency preparedness and response, and is the director of service projects.
     

• Acknowledging that he only sleeps about three to four hours a night, Ammon also prioritizes spending time with his children, involving them in the outdoors through hunting and fishing as well as practicing their various sporting interests.

Y’All Answered

Some are suggesting that a portion of the state’s $25 billion in surplus revenues could be used to suspend the gasoline tax (which brings in about $2.5 billion) to help Texans confront high fuel prices. So we asked what Texas Minute readers thought of the idea.

Of readers responding, 74.4% answered “yes; suspend the gas tax” compared to 25.6% who answered in the negative. And, yet, many of those who answered “yes” were quick to email with some strict caveats and concerns. Here’s a sampling from the inbox…

• “Taxation is theft. Permanently suspending property tax would be even better. Reducing the size, scope, and cost of government would be awesome.” – Thomas Williams
     
• “States should not bail out Congress’ failure to reign in a fraudulent national administration who appears determined on destroying our republic.” – Truman Reid
      
• “Suspend the gas tax? Can we suspend this RINO governor?” – Alan Mowery
      
• “I'd rather be taxed on my gas, which I can control, than taxed on my property.” – Julie McCarty
      
• “I responded ‘yes’ to suspending the tax, but only for a short while. It is smarter to get the production increased so the price will get back down to what it was. I would rather use part of the surplus to lower property taxes.” – David Lease
       
• “No, keep the tax for now, use the surplus to abolish property taxes, and allow the Democrats full credit for the high gas prices.” – Gerald Slater
     
• “I say no, don't suspend the gas tax. Especially if it is going to be covered by the $25 billion surplus. Suspending the gas tax would be temporary and help people disproportionately. Please, please use the $25 billion surplus to eliminate property taxes.” – Chris Underwood
      
• “We've been told that we have a surplus, so this could help all of us with little financial pain to the state.” – Kathy Powe
     
• “The surplus should be used as a PERMANENT reduction in property tax and PERMANENT lowering of the school debt ceiling. [Consumption] taxes are a better tax than forcing the citizens to rent their home from the king.” – Rod Dixon
      
• “Not only do we NOT need to suspend the gasoline tax BUT the legislature needs to STOP diverting a portion of it to fund schools. IF that was done initially, there would be enough money to build/maintain state roads and we wouldn't have the ridiculous toll roads and be paying foreign entities to run them!” – Rowell Lubbers
     
• “I voted ‘yes’ on the One Click Survey, but I also think that the Legislature should be focused on using that surplus for property tax reduction.” – Cindy Armstrong
     
• “Yes! Suspend the gas tax and use the surplus to end property tax immediately or stop the flow of illegals coming in. But I suspect that the politicians in Austin will just start another unending bureaucracy or find a way to line their own pockets with the money.” – Jim Hughes
      
• “I'm gonna go out on a limb that even I partially disagree with and say no, Abbott should not suspend the gas tax. I don't want Biden taking the credit this close to the midterms. Even without the road tax, we still have a problem that needs to be fixed at the source.” – Francis Hamre
       
• “Only by letting prices get higher/no relief will the American public be able to see how dangerous the current administration really is.” – Kathy Fisher
      
• “I support all tax relief, whether it be for property taxes or fuel taxes.” – Hanslin Peterson
      
• “It sounds great on the surface to drop the fuel tax at the pump. But, it's only a feel good-idea, as government will always make up the missing tax. I, for one, would rather expose the devil I see.” – Jennifer Herr
        
• “I said ‘no’ because Gov. Abbott is already doing too much by executive fiat, and the chance of a special session is nil.” – Laura Morton
       
• “Suspending the Texas gas tax will drop prices about 20 cents/gallon – until the wholesale price rises. I think we should follow the ‘Come and Take It’ philosophy. Ramp up production in Texas and ignore the federal mandates. The only reason the federal government has the power to raise prices is because we allow it.” – Harley Willett
       
• “It would be a huge help to all, from the big rig truck drivers down to the individuals trying to feed themselves and/or their family.” – Debbie Lawson

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.