Good morning, 

A Texas Democrat thinks you don’t pay enough for gasoline. And if you could vote for the speaker of the Texas House, who would you support? Tell us your answer in today’s One Click Survey.

Here is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

House GOP Caucus Endorses Phelan For Re-election

• In a secret vote on Saturday, members of the Texas House Republican Caucus endorsed House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) for re-election. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• The actual vote won’t be until Jan. 10, 2023, when the Texas Legislature convenes for the 88th Regular Session. Phelan is being challenged by conservative stalwart Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington).
       

• The process of Republican legislators nominating a unified speaker candidate ahead of the official vote at the start of the session in January was adopted in 2017 in an attempt to prevent Republican speaker candidates, like then-Speaker Joe Straus, from courting Democrat support for the position.
     

• In the years since, however, both former Speaker Dennis Bonnen and current Speaker Dade Phelan released lists containing Democrat supporters ahead of the caucus vote, making the exercise a formality.

        
• Phelan’s nomination at the caucus meeting was reportedly made by State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), while State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) made Tinderholt’s nomination.
      
• Reportedly, six of the 86-member GOP caucus supported Tinderholt’s campaign.
     
• “Because Dade Phelan has all the support of Democrats, Republicans fear the bully tactics of his team if they oppose him,” said Tinderholt. “That being said, I am undeterred in my fight to ensure we have strong conservative leadership this session and look forward to the floor vote on the first day of session.”

Why The Silent Treatment, Asks Texas GOP of Republican Lawmakers

• According to the Republican Party of Texas, only 18 of 86 incoming members of the Texas House have taken a public position on banning Democrats from holding committee chairmanships in the upcoming legislative session. Darrell Frost reports the Texas GOP has launched a campaign noting which lawmakers have – and have not – made their position known.
         
• During this year’s primary elections, 81 percent of Republican voters indicated on the March ballot they agree that “the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature should end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats.” A few months later, more than 5,000 delegates to the Republican Party of Texas Convention selected this objective as one of eight legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session.
        
• On Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told a Metroplex radio show that he has reduced the number of Democrat committee chairs in the Senate since he assumed office in 2015. Patrick added that next session, he intends to appoint just one Democrat as a committee chair: State Sen. John Whitmire (D–Houston), the longest-serving member of the Senate and the chair of the Criminal Justice Committee since 1993.

Rep. Frank: Lawmakers, Not Grassroots Activists, Get To Determine Priorities

• While conservative activists are pressuring lawmakers to pass the legislative priorities of the Republican Party of Texas, State Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls) says it’s not the job of the party to dictate what the Legislature should prioritize. Brandon Waltens has the story.
      
• “Whose job is it to decide legislative priorities? It is the elected representative’s job based on direct feedback from constituents,” Frank posted to Twitter over the weekend.
       
• The priorities of the Texas GOP are set by delegates to the party’s biennial state convention. Ironically, Frank’s Wichita County constituents seem pretty excited by the party’s priorities.
   
• More of Frank’s GOP constituents took positions on ballot questions ranging from banning Democrat chairs (81.95% in support), ending child gender mutilation procedures (93.66% in support), and enacting school choice (89.1%), than cast ballots in his election.
     
• As of publication, Frank did not respond to an inquiry from Texas Scorecard as to which, if any, of the party’s eight legislative priorities were not also his own. 

🎧 MACIAS: Legislators Melting Down

• On this week’s episode of his podcast, Luke Macias highlights the comments by Rep. Frank as emblematic of the challenges concerned citizens will face in the coming legislative session – especially, he says, in the Texas House.
   
• You can listen to his show on the Texas Scorecard website or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Senate Democrat Would DOUBLE The State Gas Tax

• Even as Texans struggle under rising inflation and high energy costs, Democrat State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (Austin) has filed legislation to increase the state’s fuel taxes. Sydnie Henry has the details.
      
• Eckhardt’s legislation would increase the state gas tax from 20 cents per gallon to 40 cents per gallon.
     
• The tax hike is part of a package of individual pieces of legislation filed by Eckhardt to attack the production and utilization of traditional energy forms (natural gas and oil) in favor of unreliable sources (wind and solar).

Voters Want Ban On Land Purchases By China

• A new poll released this week by Defend Texas Liberty reveals that the majority of Texas Republican voters want to preserve conservative values and protect the state from outside governments. As Soli Rice reports, China has been buying up Texas land, raising concerns about national security.
     
• The poll shows that 82 percent of Republican voters in Texas want to see the Texas government prohibit the Chinese government and Chinese citizens from purchasing land in Texas.
     
• Only 10 percent disagreed, saying that Chinese purchasing Texas land should be unrestricted.
     
• “There is no reason that the Chinese should own a single acre of Texas land, and we look forward to seeing the Legislature enact a ban this session,” said Jonathan Stickland, former state representative and current leader of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC.

San Antonio Venue Cancels Drag Shows For Rest of Year…

• After a young girl – who had no apparent parental supervision – was filmed visibly backing away from a drag queen, a San Antonio venue claims they feel “unsafe” continuing drag events for the remainder of the year.
      
• The “all-ages” drag show and toy drive was hosted Friday by the House of Eternas. Tayler Hansen, on behalf of the Texas Family Project, was there to record the event. He found a couple dozen adults and one young girl lacking parental supervision.
     

• Recordings of the event highlighted one instance when a drag queen asked the unattended young girl, who looked to be between the ages of 6 to 8, if she was having fun. Her response: She shook her head no.
       

• Later footage shows the girl visibly backing away from a drag queen—dressed in skintight black leather, devil horns, and makeup reminiscent of the rock band Kiss—when he moved closer to her. The venue published a statement saying the young girl belonged to a food vendor who was outside, adding that she was not left “unattended.”
      

• Sounds like House of Eternas feels more uncomfortable about getting caught than they are concerned for the safety and well-being of children.

ONE CLICK SURVEY

The election of the Speaker of the Texas House – the third most powerful position in state government – is restricted only to the 150 members of the chambers. Only two members (both Republicans) have announced their candidacy.

If you could vote for speaker, would it be for:

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!