Good morning,

An audit of Harris County's 2022 election found multiple failures. In this week's One Click Survey, we want to know if you think the Texas Legislature should do more to address election security.

Here is the Texas Minute for Monday, October 23, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Don't Forget: Early Voting Begins Today

• Starting today, Texans can vote on the 14 statewide constitutional propositions. In many areas, citizens will be asked to cast ballots on new taxes and additional local debt.
       
• Here's a roundup of recommendations made by grassroots and policy organizations on the propositions.
      
• Early voting continues through November 3. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7.

School Teachers Brag About Pushing Left-wing Agenda

• A new investigation released by Accuracy in Media finds educators in the Corpus Christi area bragging about how they incorporate left-wing principles in their classrooms. Emily Medeiros has the story.
       

• Specifically, they were talking about the 1619 Project, which is The New York Times Magazine’s initiative to reframe the country’s history by placing slavery at the center of the national narrative. Besides its political bias, the project has been widely criticized for having notable factual errors regarding major events.
      

• Back in 2021, legislation was signed into law that was supposed to prevent critical race theory and other left-wing ideological frameworks from entering Texas classrooms.
       

• Reporting by Accuracy in Media and others finds that government school teachers and administrators are willfully circumventing or ignoring that law.
       

• “Our investigations have proven that Texas laws banning the principles of CRT aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on,” said Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media.

Abbott Slaps House Over Watered-Down School Choice Proposal

• As part of this third special legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott has tasked lawmakers with implementing a school choice program. Specifically, he has called for “legislation providing education savings accounts for all Texas schoolchildren.”
       

• As Brandon Waltens reports, a proposal floated by the House late last week quickly drew Abbott's disapproval.

        

• The Senate has passed multiple school choice and educational freedom programs, which have been killed in the House by Speaker Dade Phelan without giving them a debate by the full chamber.

        

• State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) chairs the House Committee on Public Education. He filed a 200-page piece of legislation late last week that combines teacher pay raises with a very limited education savings account program.
      

• While the Senate’s latest version would give $8,000 to each qualifying student, the House reduces that to $6,160 and caps the number of students who can participate to 25,000.
      

• Buckley also wants to eliminate the state’s A to F accountability ratings for public schools.
      

• A spokesman for the governor said Phelan has been told the legislation is unacceptable, as it "differs from what the Governor’s office had negotiated with the House’s leadership team selected by the Speaker."

Texas National Guard Places Concertina Wire Along New Mexico Border

• Texas National Guard soldiers have placed concertina wire along 18 miles of the Texas-New Mexico border near El Paso in an effort to curb illegal immigration.
       

• Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on social media that soldiers have placed the wire near Sunland Park, New Mexico—a town that borders Mexico and El Paso— because illegal aliens have been entering there before heading into Texas.
       

• His action has drawn the ire of New Mexico’s Democrat politicians. 
       

• “To me, this is just one of many political stunts that the Texas governor has cooked up to demonize immigrants, and that provides no real long-term solution to the crisis we’re facing.” – U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM)

Ronny Jackson: Bar Pro-Hamas U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib from Intelligence Briefings

• A Texas congressman wants to bar a pro-Hamas Democrat from receiving security briefings. Texas' Ronny Jackson (R) sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House asking that his colleague, Democrat Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, be prohibited from receiving classified information. Soli Rice has the details.
      
• Jackson added that Tlaib has “chosen to side with Hamas by spreading misinformation.”
     
• He also pointed out that Tlaib has consistently demonstrated antisemitic behavior since being elected to Congress.

Today In History

On Oct. 23, 1883, the county seat of Taylor County was shifted from Buffalo Gap to Abilene.

Quote-Unquote

"A broader reading of history shows that appeasement, no matter how it is labeled, never fulfills the hopes of the appeasers."

– Ronald Reagan​

ONE CLICK SURVEY

An audit of Harris County's 2022 election by the Texas Secretary of State found "multiple failures," ranging from insufficient supplies at polling places to misreporting voter registrations. 

Should Gov. Greg Abbott add election security reform to the special session agenda?

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