Good morning!

Here is the Texas Minute for Thursday, September 8, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

‘Border Security Is National Security’

• Experts and activists gathered in Austin on Wednesday to discuss topics ranging from trafficking and cartels to the ongoing invasion. Sydnie Henry was there and will be providing detailed reporting in the coming days.
      
• One of the notable speakers was Ken Cuccinelli, a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America, who has promoted the plan for states to declare an invasion and defend their sovereign borders. 
      
• Mark Morgan, the former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, highlighted the most pertinent fact of the day: “Border security is national security.”

Texas Lawmakers Detail Plans For School Choice

• Appearing on The Salcedo Storm podcast, Republican Texas lawmakers Phil King (Weatherford), Bryan Slaton (Royse City), and Brian Harrison (Waxahachie) discussed the ongoing battle for school choice. Katy Drollinger has the details of their conversation.
     
• “At some point, we’ve got to let competition do the job … that we allow it to do in every other sector of our economy. Because, right now, what are the parents to do?” asked Harrison.
       

• Although educational freedom is a Texas GOP priority for the 2023 legislative session, Slaton expressed concern that top Republican lawmakers may derail school choice legislation by continuing to appoint Democrats to committee chairmanships in the Texas House. Democrats serving as chairmen can easily kill Republican legislation by simply not including conservative bills in the committee’s agenda. The House Committee on Public Education is currently helmed by a Democrat.
      

• The Salcedo Storm can be found at Texas Scorecard and everywhere you download podcasts.

🇨🇳 Chinese Communist Party Targets Texas Oil Industry

• Infiltrating Texas’ commerce is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s multi-pronged approach to contaminate and weaken the Western world. As part of that plan, Beijing has made serious inroads into the heart of our economic power, raising significant concerns at a time of rising prices of oil and gas.
      

• Kristen Stanciu looks at ways the CCP has embedded itself into our state’s reliable energy resources. Americans would do well to be guarded and suspicious when state-owned and state-influenced Chinese companies come knocking.
           

• These deals are not innocent business transactions; they are well-planned, methodical inroads to access American energy and create yet another foothold for the CCP in the Lone Star State.

The District That Defied The Lockdowns

• In the latest edition of Kambree Nelson’s show, she visits with Lance Johnson, the superintendent of Peaster ISD in North Texas. While districts across the state were empty and quiet from COVID-19 shutdowns, this district was bustling with business as usual.

Petitioning For... Higher Property Taxes?

• While most Texans long for lower property taxes, especially as they struggle with rising prices driven by 40-year high inflation rates, a group of residents in one North Texas city is asking local officials to raise their property taxes. Erin Anderson has the details.

     
• Allen resident Carol Cook started an online petition to block tax relief efforts in her city. She is horrified that three members of the city council want the city to operate at the “No New Revenue” property tax rate. Any rate higher than the NNR is a tax increase, even when the tax rate is smaller than what it had been previously.
     
• The three council members Cook references were elected in 2021 after campaigning on a platform of maintaining city services without raising property taxes.
   
• A competing petition was started by Nathan Polsky, in support of the taxpayer-friendly “NNR” for Allen. 
     
• “Nothing is preventing individuals from paying more in property taxes if they feel that they have the additional funds available,” wrote Polsky, “but with the current state of the nation, we feel that residents should not be forced to carry that burden.”

Big Tech Is Out Of Control

• Yes, Big Tech is out of control. But in this episode of Liberty Cafe, Bill Peacock explains why we cannot count on Big Government to fix Big Tech.
      
• You can find Liberty Cafe at Texas Scorecard, or on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

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Your Federal & Texas 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.