Good morning,

Readers are furious with John Cornyn for compromising with the Democrats on Second Amendment issues. 

You’ll find out what they said, and much more, in today’s Texas Minute for Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Your Property Taxes Aren’t So Bad, Say Legislators

• At a recent meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, several legislators downplayed concerns about rising property taxes and instead pointed to recent legislation as providing adequate relief. Katy Drollinger has the story.
      
• When Democrat Sen. John Whitmire of Houston expressed concern about skyrocketing property taxes (yes, the Democrat was complaining about the tax burden), Republican Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston pointed to the “historic” tax relief of the last legislative session.
      
• Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) backed up Huffman’s comments and encouraged his fellow lawmakers to “wait on the process” and address Texans’ concerns about tax increases once final property tax bills are issued in October.
       
• Your property taxes are going down, right? No…? 🤷‍♂️
      
• “In this interaction between seemingly ‘tone-deaf’ lawmakers, their real feelings about tax relief were on full display,” replied Texans for Fiscal Responsibility in a statement after the hearing. “The ‘historic’ tax relief that lawmakers continue to promote from 2019 will result in … your tax burdens continuing to rise!”

Paxton Beats Biden In Court, Again

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is enjoying another victory against the Biden administration. This time, reports Jake Peterson, it was against a policy that has allowed illegal aliens to cross the southern border without consequence. 
     
• The lawsuit argued the administration was violating federal law by refusing to take custody of criminal migrants.
      
• “I continue to be baffled at the blatant disregard for the law that the Biden administration has repeatedly shown. It is beyond logic as to why they would want to break the law and threaten the safety of fellow Americans. If President Biden thinks the state of Texas isn’t ready to fight him and his disastrous border policies on every front, he’s dead wrong. I’ll just keep suing him in court—and winning.” – Ken Paxton

Phelan Announces Spending Recs Following Uvalde

• Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont) has announced a series of programs he wants funded before public schools kick off the 2022-2023 school year. As Syndie Henry notes, Phelan’s proposals could be allocated by the Legislative Budget Board and not require a special session.
       
• Phelan wants to increase mental health services, including: expanded telemedicine access, pediatric crisis stabilization and response teams, coordinated specialty care for youth experiencing their first episode of psychosis, increasing mental health bed capacities in hospitals, and increasing Multisystemic Therapy.
      
• The mental health services are estimated to cost more than $110 million in the first year.
     
• In regards to law enforcement, Phelan is seeking more funding for training; funding for a Texas School Safety Center to coordinate training, assessments, and planning among school districts; and funding for school districts to purchase silent panic technology. This portion would cost the state more than $32 million.

Houston Teacher Took Minor To Drag Show

• A father is speaking out against former Houston ISD teacher Patrick Pichler for allegedly taking his son to a drag show, while Pichler was employed by the district. As Jacob Asmussen reports, the former Sam Houston High School chemistry teacher was also a writer for an LGBTQ publication.
      
• “He recruited my son. He also took my son to a drag show when he was underage, and it was really bad; it was a really bad experience,” the father told the HISD school board about the 2019 incident. “He also put him next to this sex offender when he was out there with my son.”
     
• One of the drag performers has been identified as Albert Alfonso Garza, a registered child sex offender who was also a featured guest at a “Drag Queen Story Hour” for kids at the Houston Public Library in 2019.
     
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the Texas Education Agency to review the matter.

Here Comes The ‘Ike Dike’

• The U.S. House has authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plan the building of a massive “Ike Dike” project in Galveston, Texas. Though the project would cost an estimated $31 billion, proponents say it would prevent millions of dollars in damage from future hurricanes. Jake Peterson has the details.
      
• Discussion for a Galveston dike began following Hurricane Ike in 2008. Construction would likely consist of a concrete gate system spanning the 2-mile gap from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula. Environmental activists are questioning the project’s environmental impact.

Coming To The GOP Convention In Houston?

• Visit the Texas Scorecard booth this week so you can be entered in a drawing to win either a Sig Sauer P365 SAS or a Mossberg shotgun!

Y’All Answered

Yesterday, we asked about the “compromise” that U.S. Sen. John Cornyn led in negotiating in regards to Americans’ Second Amendment rights. 

By an overwhelming margin (96.3 percent), readers said they disagreed with Cornyn’s compromise with the Democrats – and just 3.7 percent said they support him.

The inbox was flooded with emailed responses; here’s just a sample…

• “John Cornyn is the new John McCain.” - Bo French
        
• “What part of SHALL NOT INFRINGE does Cornyn not understand?! Red flag laws are a dangerous path to travel down. A slippery slope best left untraveled!” – Dawn Martin
       
• “Maybe now we can get a more accurate rating for John Cornyn from the NRA to show his true RINO colors.” – Eleanor Bigbie
         
• “When will Republicans learn there is no such word as COMPROMISE in the Left’s playbook. Compromise leads to mandatory conformity. Stop playing nice guy with the side that is out to destroy America.” - Steve Crevier
        
• “Cornyns's Compromise is a betrayal of every Texan he claims to represent.  The original Texians did not hesitate to defend themselves!  If they had, we would still be part of Mexico.  But maybe Senator Cornyn needs a history refresher.” – Fran Rhodes
       
• “We don’t need additional laws that give the government-Democrats-left-woke folk the opportunity to illegally seize guns from law-abiding citizens.” - Sandra Ludwig
       
• “I answered no--only because ‘HELL NO’ wasn't available as a choice.” – Mark Aiken
      
• “I moved to Texas to get away from the radical agendas like red flag laws, abortion, etc. I am disgusted by the lack of backbone to protect American rights and our children!” - Kim Moore
       
• “For years now, ‘compromise’ always means Republicans giving in to DEMs demands. I, for one, am tired of it.” - Eric Knutson
       
• “Why vote for party of the jackass when you have John Cornyn?” – Jane Kappes
        
• “We need to elect a Republican to replace Senator John Cornyn!” - Robert Chafin
       
• “I completely disagree with Sen. Cornyn and his actions to compromise with the Democrats.  He is an elitist who thinks he can compromise our rights under the Second Amendment.  There should be no compromise.” - Ruth Spencer
       
• “$100 says Cornyn cancels his appearance because this red flag language has blown up in his face.  If not, he should be booed off the stage by all attendees.” - Jeffrey Bane
       
• “Cornyn is maybe a Republican, but he’s NEVER been a constitutional conservative.” - Gary Hunt
       
• “‘Red Flag’ laws are a step toward giving up all our individual freedoms.  If allowed then we all might as well declare ourselves as slaves and accept that we are not in charge of our own affairs. In essence Red Flag laws allows me to set Law Enforcement on my neighbor just because I don’t like the way he looks.” - Rex Reeve
       
• “Senator Cornyn and all the other compromising 'Republicans' should be deported with the next group of illegal immigrants…if we could just find the guy to drive the bus.” - Ken Bintliff
       
• “Sen. Cornyn has always had more of a stomach for compromise and caving than standing up and fighting.” - Brad Burt
       
• “John Cornyn is, has been, and will always be a RINO. He's a ‘go along to get along’ guy and has rarely done anything to support his home state... unless he's running for re-election.” - Tara Souther 
       
• “Senator John Cornyn is a disgrace to Texas conservative values.” - Landon Capozzi
       
• “I thought I voted for a Republican with Republican ideals! If this law passes, every Democrat with any grievance against his neighbor will be burning up the phone lines ‘tattle-telling’ on them. All of us responsible gun owners have the same thought… ‘COME AND TAKE IT.’” - John Denison
     
• “If these 2nd amendment restrictions ‘worked,’ why is there so much criminal gun violence in blue cities where such laws are already in place?” - Myrna Sherman
     
• “Cornyn is a disgrace for Texas. There’s no compromise for the 2nd Amendment.” - Charles Reagan
     
• “Sen. Cornyn has no Republican principles. Once again, he is selling us out to save his position inside-the-beltway cocktail party invitation list.” – H.J. Bronson
      
• “I simply do not mind the bumping up of the age issue in order to purchase a gun, I believe 18 is way too young to purchase any gun, matter of fact, 21 may still be too young, however we shall see!” – Robert Fenimore
      
• “No new laws, until the government enforces the laws that already passed. I believed John Cornyn cares more for the deep state than he does for Texans.” – Danny Platt
     
• “We should not be surprised by John; he’s been compromising for years. He only waits for the tide to look favorable, then he joins in with the Dems.” – Michael Melillo

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.