Good morning!

On Feb. 7, 1913, the Texas Legislature ratified the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Around the country, some folks are saying maybe that needs to be repealed. What do you think of the proposal? Let us know in the One Click Survey.

For the past few days everyone has been (rightly) worried about a Chinese spy balloon, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is taking aim at the Chinese spy tool millions of Americans are unwittingly carrying around in their pockets. 

You'll find all that and more in today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023 

State House Still Doesn't Have Committee Assignments

• While the Texas Senate is beginning committee work this week on legislation, members of the Texas House are still waiting for their assignments to be handed out – despite the Legislature being nearly one-fifth of the way through the constitutionally defined legislative session. Sydnie Henry has the details.

     
• Conservative activist Tom Glass noted on social media that of the past few legislative sessions, only one had House committee assignments released later than this session.
     
• “The longer you take to appoint [House committees], the longer it takes to organize,” explained political strategist Luke Macias on his podcast. “There’s definitely not a rush by any means for the House to begin working.”
      

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who serves as president of the Texas Senate, announced the Senate committee assignments on January 23, less than two weeks after the session’s opening day. At that point, the House had just begun gathering committee assignment requests from members.
      

• As a quick aside... If you have an Apple TV or a Roku TV, you can download the Texas Scorecard app on those devices where you can see all of our video content as well as streaming gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House and Senate. Just search for "Texas Scorecard" on your Roku or Apple TV app store.

Abbott Announces Plan to Ban TikTok

• To limit security risks from the Chinese Communist Party, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a new plan yesterday instructing state agencies on how to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from state-issued devices and agency internet networks. Katy Drollinger has the details.
          

• TikTok, which has more than 85 million users in the United States, is owned by the Chinese media company ByteDance. ByteDance employs Chinese Communist Party members and has a subsidiary partially owned by the country’s communist party, leading to concerns that the app poses a security risk for the U.S. and Texas.
      

• TikTok is already banned by the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security. The states of North Dakota, Maryland, and South Dakota have already banned the technology from their state's devices and networks.

       
• The governor's “Model Security Plan for Prohibited Technologies” instructs state agencies on how to ban and prevent the use of TikTok or other prohibited technologies on state-issued devices. Abbott’s plan also prevents state employees from using banned technologies on agency internet networks.
      
• “The security risks associated with the use of TikTok on devices used to conduct the important business of our state must not be underestimated or ignored,” said Abbott. “Owned by a Chinese company that employs Chinese Communist Party members, TikTok harvests significant amounts of data from a user’s device, including details about a user’s internet activity.”

Life Or Death: Texas' Power Grid

• A special three-part investigative series this week is looking at the state of Texas’ power grid.
     
• In the first installment, Robert Montoya finds that as Texas approaches the second anniversary of the 2021 winter blackout, the threat of a repeat is still very real. Experts say that for too long, necessary work of shoring up the state’s reliable energy supplies was short-changed by an emphasis on unreliable sources like wind and solar.
      
• In Part 2 of the series, Texas Scorecard will explore the actions by Texas’ public servants that led to the grid’s instability.

New Bureaucracy Would Pick Casino Winners and Losers

• The casino lobby has poured millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of Texas lawmakers, hoping the state will give them lucrative contracts – while keeping out competition. Sydnie Henry has the details.
      

• State Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow casino gambling in seven resorts across Texas. Over in the Senate, Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) has introduced a competing amendment authorizing casino gaming at one "resort" per metropolitan statistical area of 2 million people or more.
     

• Both measures would create a new bureaucracy called the Texas Gaming Commission. Under both proposals, this new bureaucracy would be granted broad powers not only in deciding who gets the coveted casino deals with the state, but also the rules around operating them.
      

• They say the real winner at every casino is the casino itself. In fact, it is big government bureaucracies and corrupt lawmakers who are the biggest winners.

One Click Survey

Every middle school student should know the framers of the U.S. Constitution nestled checks and balances throughout the federal government –three co-equal branches, and so on. Originally, that also included within the legislative branch: a popularly elected House checked by a Senate whose members were selected by the states' legislatures.

That changed with the 17th Amendment, making senators elected at-large in their states. Some around the country would like to repeal the 17th Amendment and restore the original balance of the legislative branches.

What do you think?

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