Good morning,

In this edition of the Texas Minute, you’ll learn that abortion provider Planned Parenthood has allegedly been trying to register dead people to vote. Also, we have results from yesterday’s One Click Survey about businesses hosting drag shows targeting kids.

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Scores Victory Against Biden

• Earlier this year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against a rule issued by the Biden administration that would force schools and employers to allow confused children and adults to use whichever gender-specific bathroom or locker room they desire based on which gender they feel like that day.
      
• Soli Rice reports a federal court has now blocked implementation of the rule.
   
• “It is time for the Biden administration to quit forcing their political agenda,” said Paxton. “This is about the safety of children. It is time to put their well-being first.”

Abbott, O’Rourke Clash On School Choice

• As the gubernatorial race heads into the final stretch and the Texas GOP has made school choice a legislative priority, Emily Wilkerson reports Texas voters have made it clear that they support parental rights in education. According to a September poll from Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, 60 percent of Texas voters support school choice, while only 28 percent were opposed.

        
• Gov. Greg Abbott has ramped up his support for the school choice movement this year, stating parents are an important part of their child’s education and they should play a role in that decision.
      
• The Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee, Robert “Beta-male” O’Rourke, has criticized Abbott’s support of school choice and pledged to reject any effort to “remove public tax dollars” from public schools.
      
• According to the UTT/DMN poll, school choice is supported by 65 percent of Hispanics, 57 percent of blacks, and 59 percent of whites. The poll found it is supported by 53 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans.
      
• Whether school choice legislation will pass in the Republican-led Legislature is anything but certain. Last session, the issue was soundly rejected by legislators in the Texas House (including a majority of Republican members).

Planned Parenthood Texas Caught Trying to Register Dead Voters

• Less than a month from the November election, the Republican Party of Texas says it is receiving “numerous” reports of Planned Parenthood mailers attempting to register deceased voters. Sydnie Henry has the details.
     
• According to the Republican Party of Texas, “in one notable example from Harris County, the mailer was addressed to an individual who has been deceased for over 11 years.”
      
• “Voter fraud is real and it happens in Texas,” said Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi. “We have trained and placed thousands of poll watchers and election workers all over Texas to ensure Texans have the free and fair election they deserve.”

Lawsuit Challenges Amarillo’s Debt

• A lawsuit brought forward by businessman Alex Fairly against the City of Amarillo is challenging the way the city council used anticipation notes to finance a proposed rebuild of the Amarillo Civic Center. Thomas Warren has the details.
      
• Specifically, Fairly takes aim at the city council’s use of $260 million in “anticipation notes” to fund a rebuild of the Amarillo Civic Center Complex – despite voters rejecting a similar plan in 2016 and 2020.

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Y’All Answered

In yesterday’s One Click Survey, we asked if Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar should use his authority to fine businesses that host sexually oriented drag shows targeting children. Overwhelmingly, readers favor (93.5 percent) Hegar using his authority to fine those businesses, while 6.5 percent do not.

Here’s a sampling of the comments from my inbox…

• “What is the point of having Republicans in office if they do absolutely nothing when they are elected?” – Heather Gill
      

• “It should not matter if these drag shows are targeting children or not, this is still a sex show and needs to be taxed accordingly.” – Greg Reinhart
      

• “Texas is becoming just another of those states who don't uphold the laws that may be ‘controversial’ or ‘unpopular’ with some. A law is a law. If you don't like it, work to get it repealed, don't just ignore it.” – Charlene Roberson
      

• “Not only should he, it should have been done long before this survey.  Maybe it’s time for a new comptroller.” – Garry Ludwig 
      

• “Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar should absolutely fine these businesses IF they are targeting children! It's our job to protect the children. Parents should be fined as well, probably arrested and charged with child endangerment. When are the GOOD GUYS going to put a stop to all this debauchery?!” – Dawn Martin
      

• “Once again, we must be very careful around this very slippery slope.  As conservatives, we stand for a small and limited government.” – Roger Taylor
      

• “Yes to fines; however, what ever happened to prosecuting and jailing people who expose minors to pornography?! Schools get by with it, but if I did it, the FBI would raid my house and haul me off to jail!” – Cheryl Alexander
      

• “These ‘Drag’ events are the same as taking your teenage daughter to a strip club and telling her that is the way she should act.” – Rex Reeve
      

• “Yes, Hegar needs to fine these businesses that expose children to such perversion. What happened to protecting children from things such as this? Now it's everywhere you turn. God and prayer is taken out, evil and perversion steps in to take its place.” – Barbara Campbell
      

• “Not only fine them, but put them out of business!” – John A. Burney
      

• “If these bars are behaving as a sexually oriented business, which they are, and they are benefiting from claiming they are not, which they are, they should be fined. Legislators should be shamed for their inaction on this demonic issue.” – Jakob Malik
      

• “Issuing a fine to a business for an act of child abuse seems so minimal. They should lose their license and be charged with child abuse because that is what it is.” – Kim Moore
     

• “These businesses should not only be fined but shut down as well.” – Joe Kendrick
     

• “I believe that exposing yourself or showing pornography to minors is a crime.  I don't see why schools or gay bars should be exempt from the law.” – Thomas Williams
     

• “Glenn Hegar is up for re-election. Everyone should be bombarding his office between now and Election Day.’ – Landon Capozzi
     

• “In my opinion, children should be protected, from all deviants, as the law allows. I believe folks have rights, to be whatever they, as consenting adults, want to be, in the privacy of their own homes, but they have NO right to foist their beliefs on the rest of society, most especially children.” – Dennis Carty
      

• “It is the law so he should enforce it with a fine! It is a simple issue!” – George McClure
     

• “One of the primary objectives of the left is destruction of the family as we have always known it.  These drag shows are a great way to accelerate that process.  Glenn Hegar is a pansy.  Pansies are wonderful flowers in colder months, but at the first sign of real Texas heat, they just fade away.  We need far less pansies in our state government and a few more grass burrs that thrive on extreme heat.” – Carl Justice

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.