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Good morning,

Federal law currently puts taxpayers on the hook for illegal aliens' medical costs. In today's One Click Survey, we want to know what you think of that.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, April 28, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

In One Month, Illegal Aliens Cost Taxpayers $121.8 Million in Hospital Fees

• Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to gather from state hospitals the cost of providing services to illegal aliens. As Brandon Waltens reports, the first month of reporting data is now available: $121.8 million.
      

• Under the executive order, hospitals are required to inform patients that their responses to questions about legal status will not affect their care, as required by federal law. 

     
• While this initial release covers just a single month, HHSC plans to release full quarterly data going forward. The first annual report, covering the full year of data, is set to be released on January 1, 2026.
      
• In 2021, Attorney General Ken Paxton estimated that Texans were already paying between $579 million and $717 million per year in uncompensated care for illegal aliens. With the first month’s data already topping $121 million, the new reports could put the annual figure even higher.

Jilted Lottery Ticket Reseller Sues the State Over Ban

• The lottery ticket reseller Lotto.com has sued the Texas Lottery Commission over recently contemplated rule changes that ban the online sale of lottery tickets. Daniel Greer has the background.
   
• While state law has from the start required lottery tickets to be sold in person, the commission has allowed online sales under the dubious theory that because such sales weren't explicitly prohibited they were permitted. After abuses and claims of foreign money laundering schemes have been exposed, the commission is now looking to get their rules in line with legislative intent.
          
• The company is suing over the changes, which would end its business model. The lawsuit makes it clear that state officials enticed these "resellers" to come into Texas. For example, in 2023, Texas was the first state in which Lotto.com offered a "digital scratch product” featuring the nonsensically labeled “digital latex.”
         
• They weren't even pretending to abide by the clear intent of state law!

MORE LOTTERY NEWS

• Texas Scorecard reported earlier this month on Grief being missing, which his lawyer disputed. But, as Patrick noted last week, Grief still hasn't come forward to answer questions.

Senate Blocks 'Guaranteed Basic Income' Programs

• Harris County's guaranteed income program would be blocked under legislation passed last week by the Texas Senate, reports Joseph Trimmer.
   
• The legislation prohibits cities, counties, and other political subdivisions in Texas from using public funds for guaranteed income programs, blocking the payments even if the program is funded by federal dollars.
     
• Harris County's Democrat-pushed program, Uplift Harris, sought to provide $500 monthly, no-strings-attached payments to nearly 1,900 low-income households. Illegal aliens were included in the county's plan. The funding—over $20 million—came from leftover federal COVID-19 relief money, which was originally intended for pandemic recovery, not for launching permanent entitlement schemes.
        
• Attorney General Ken Paxton led the charge against those efforts, with the Texas Supreme Court agreeing to block them. The court noted “serious doubts about the constitutionality” of Harris County's program.
      
• “Harris County’s original uplift program was a random lottery giveaway of public money with no return to taxpayers, little transparency, and a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.” – State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston)

South Texas Teacher Allowed to Resign After Arrest for Sex Crimes Against Student

• A teacher in Donna Independent School District has been allowed to resign following his arrest for sex crimes against a student. Erin Anderson has the details.
     
• Javier Hernandez, a career and technology teacher in Donna ISD for nearly a decade, was recently charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student. 
     
• A Donna ISD spokeswoman admitted that Hernandez was allowed to resign, but declined to provide other details. The district claims Hernandez passed “rigorous background checks” before he was hired.

Quote-Unquote

"It simply doesn't make any sense for us to have illegal aliens in our custody in our courts and then let them go back to living here illegally. That's wrong and we should stop it."

– President Bill Clinton​
May 6, 1995

One Click Survey

Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that state hospitals report the treatment costs for illegal aliens. The first report was just issued. It found that in just a single month, illegal aliens cost Texas taxpayers at least $121.8 million in hospital charges.

Should federal law continue to require states to pay for medical treatment services offered to illegal aliens?

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