Good morning!

Have you checked out the various shows Texas Scorecard now offers, including videos and podcasts? You'll find the growing directory at the bottom of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 

Career Training

• Know anyone between 18 and 25 who wants to make a difference in the fight for liberty? Tell them about Texas Scorecard's paid fellowship program! It offers tracks in writing, research, and administration. Applications are now being accepted for the Summer and Fall 2023 semesters.

Senator Files Legislation to End COVID Mandates

• Republican State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham has filed a legislative package aimed at ending COVID-19 mandates. Soli Rice has the details.
   
• “This series of bills will put an end, once and for all, to ineffective and crushing restrictions on our personal liberties that we saw during COVID-19,” explained Kolkhorst. “One of the most important actions we take is to learn from our lessons and make sure we put safeguards in place for future generations.”
     

• Among other things, the senator's legislation would forbid employers, government entities, schools, or colleges from requiring proof of vaccination from anyone.

GOP Gives Thumbs Up To Border Security Legislation

• The Republican Party of Texas has approved three pieces of legislation that meet their criteria for the party’s Border Security legislative priority, reports Sydnie Henry.
     

• If passed into law, one measure – House Bill 209 by State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R–Royse City) – would complete the border wall started by former President Donald Trump, while the other two would create an interstate compact for border security. Those are being pushed by State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) and State Rep. David Spiller (R-Jacksboro).
      

• Several other measures are under consideration by party officials, who note that this priority of the party is also a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
      

• The deadline to file legislation is March 10. Jill Glover of the Texas GOP tells Texas Scorecard she is “concerned about the lack of urgency from the Legislature so far” on border issues.

'Absolute Arrogance'

• Imagine high school classes where students are told to just play on their phones, or a teacher quits and is never replaced. As Erin Anderson reports, that is what Amy Hayhurst’s son faced in Canyon ISD. 
      
• When it got so bad the family decided to remove him from the school during his senior year, the Texas mom discovered the district hadn’t notified them he’d already met all the criteria for graduation—a mistake that cost her son while making money for the district.
      
• Yet when she filed a complaint using the school’s grievance process, Amy was met with “absolute arrogance” from district administrators, school board trustees, and eventually the Texas Education Agency—which rejected her grievance appeal, saying it wasn’t their job to force school districts to follow Texas’ education laws. 
      
• “In the end, the district and the board can violate any rule or law they want, pretty much knowing that nothing is going to happen to them.” – Amy Hayhurst
     
• Amy’s son is now a freshman in college, but she’s encouraging other parents to get involved in holding the government education bureaucracy accountable. 

Democrat Oversees Natural Resources In Texas House

• Overseeing the Natural Resources Committee in the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives is Uvalde Democrat Tracey King. As Darrell Frost reports, King is one of nine Democrats appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan this legislative session.
     
• King is one of the longest-serving members of the Texas House, having won his first election in 1994. Although he was ousted from his seat by another Democrat in 2002, he won it back two years later.
     
• In seconding the nomination of Dade Phelan for House speaker, King said "Dade Phelan gets it."
      
• Whatever that may be, what Texans get in King is a fairly standard liberal Democrat. He supports abortion, Medicaid expansion, mask mandates, and leniency for criminals and illegal aliens. He has also opposed efforts to secure elections, is against school choice, has worked against lowering property taxes, is fine with boys playing girls’ sports, and works to keep critical race theory in public schools.
     
• According to the House rules, the Natural Resources Committee has charge of “the control and development of land and water resources,” among other things.

Pushing Hate: Californizing Texas

• In the latest edition of a special investigative series looking at the roots of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" programs, Kristen Stanciu explains how the 

  cultural virus is turning local governments against Texas' values. 

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