Good morning,

Anyone hoping Gov. Greg Abbott would be inspired to follow other Republican governors already moving forward to reopen states were disappointed by yesterday’s press briefing.

Here is today’s Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, April 22, 2020
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• With 1.9 million Texans struggling with government-imposed unemployment, Gov. Abbott spent a large portion of his press briefing on Tuesday discussing 488,000 jobs allegedly available around the state. (As an aside, Abbott skirted around saying the actual unemployment number – instead calling it “abundant.”)
     
• There was no new information from Abbott’s press briefing; nothing new is happening. Abbott continues to publicly dither, hiding behind his recently appointed “strike force” rather than take action on his own. The centerpiece of his Tuesday press conference was to remind the media that the strike force would have a plan for a plan early next week. 
       
• Abbott did mention – almost dismissively – the historic collapse of oil and gas prices this week. Never before in history have futures gone negative, but Abbott referred to it simply as oil prices going up and down. The governor indicated unemployed and furloughed oil field workers might look for caller center gigs allegedly open in West Texas. (As noted in yesterday’s Minute, the industry’s problems are a lack of demand driven by the government-ordered economic shutdown.)
     
• It’s not just Republican governors who are moving faster than Texas’ Abbott in getting things reopened. Former State Rep. Matt Rinaldi noted last night "even the Democratic Governor of Colorado, a state hit 5x harder than Texas by the virus, is being more proactive in lifting restrictions.”
      
• We ran a poll on Facebook which has had more than 1,600 respondents – 88 percent of whom want Texas reopened, 12 percent said Abbott was right to keep things shuttered. What do you think?
      
• In an interview with radio station KFYO, Republican State Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock encouraged listeners frustrated with their property tax bills to demand tax relief from school districts, cities, and counties. Cary Cheshire reports Burrows had a direct message about the ongoing government shutdown of the economy: “You can’t task force your way out of this. People need to be in charge of their own life and we need to move forward.”
      
• One North Texas city isn’t waiting for permission. Colleyville Mayor Richard Newton signed a proclamation Monday declaring in-person worship is no longer prohibited, elective medical surgeries can resume, gatherings of up to 10 people will no longer be limited to family, and businesses can start slowly reopening. Robert Montoya has the details.
       
• Outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R-Lake Jackson), whose ethical and temperamental issues led to an unplanned retirement from office when his current term expires, is replacing a moderate Republican on the powerful Legislative Budget Board with the Democrat chair of the LGBTQ Caucus. Brandon Waltens reports Bonnen removed San Angelo’s Drew Darby from the LBB without notice, and replaced him with Democrat Mary Gonzalez of Clint. 
       
• What could go wrong? Under law, the LBB is responsible for state spending when the legislature is not in session. With state revenues plummeting from the government-imposed economic crisis, it is the LBB which will determine cuts now and recommend spending for the next biennium.
       
• As cities and counties across Texas continue to ban churches and other houses of worship from meeting in person, updated guidelines from Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could put an end to those local restrictions.
       
• In the last week, citizens in Texas’ capital city have witnessed a growing list of iconic restaurants and businesses being killed off permanently by the government quarantine. Jacob Asmussen has the details.

• In a new post, Robert Montoya reflects on the victories being won by grassroots activists against government officials’ coronavirus overreach. 
      
• One example includes Julie McCarty, Fran Rhodes, and the True Texas Project pressuring Tarrant County Commissioners to back down from a draconian order in just 24 hours.  
     
• “Officials can no longer suspend our Constitution for their own power. Texans can, and will, be both vigilant and cautious as the Chinese coronavirus situation continues to develop.” – Robert Montoya

• Later this morning, the Texas Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in what is arguably the most important parental rights case in Texas history. Jeremy Newman of the Texas Home School Coalition explains the significance of the case, in which a father is battling for custody of his daughter against the fiancée of the girl’s now-deceased mother.
      
• Rachel Bovard’s newest commentary explores the way Big Tech – notably Facebook and Google – are conspiring with state governments to restrict your constitutional rights. For example, she explains how Facebook is going to “remove information about quarantine protests from its platform — regardless, it seems, of the form of these protests or even if they were being conducted in a socially distant manner.” 
   
• “This crisis has, in a way, said the quiet part out loud: tech companies have unprecedented troves of personal information on all of us, and they are willing to share it with the government. Corporate power and state power using similar methods to achieve similar ends. The way forward is as uncharted as the power of these companies is unchecked.” – Rachel Bovard

Quote-Unquote

“The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.” – Ronald Reagan