Good morning, 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, January 14, 2020
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• Texas won’t continue participating in the refugee settlement program. Cary Cheshire reports Gov. Greg Abbott has transmitted a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally ending the state’s participation in the program.
      
• While a state commission appears poised to recommend the end of partisan judicial elections in the state of Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing back. As Brandon Waltens reports, the legislatively created Judicial Selection Commission has been in the news because its members – appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and House speaker – have intimated their interest in removing party labels in judicial elections.
       
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released a statement fighting back against those reports and outlaying his opposition: “Texans feel strongly about voting for their judges. The commission will need to make a compelling argument to the people and legislators to change the current system. I do not believe that support exists today.”

• My take? Removing party labels in judicial elections would accomplish two things. First, it would result in more Democrat and Democrat-like judges. Second, it would be the excuse for ending judicial elections altogether and letting an Austin-run committee appoint (liberal) Texas judges.
     
• Government officials associated with the disastrously bloated Panther Island Project admitted last week the design phase is far from complete, which runs counter to a third-party review published in 2019. Ross Kecseg and Robert Montoya report the cost of the real estate boondoggle to taxpayers has ballooned from $435 million in 2006 to more than $1.17 billion in 2018.
       
• The project has been overseen by the son of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth). She secured federal funding for the project during the Obama years, but the Trump Administration has cut off federal funding until it can be brought under control.
     
• Last year, grassroots activists in Tarrant County fought to elect three new members to the board of the property appraisal district. Robert Montoya reports one of those newcomers – conservative leader Rich DeOtte – is now calling on the grassroots to continue the fight reforming the way people’s homes are valued for tax levies.