Good morning,
Even in an age of text messages and emojis, real words on real paper matter more than ever. More on that thought to close out the week.
This is the Texas Minute for Friday, May 23, 2025.
– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Time Running Out for Senate To Pass Bill Ending In-State Tuition for Illegals
- A top immigration bill backed by the Republican Party of Texas is at risk of dying in the Senate, despite sitting on the intent calendar for nearly a week. Brandon Waltens has the details.
- Texas' public colleges and universities offer a reduced tuition rate to students who reside in the state, with taxpayers subsidizing the difference. In 2001, then-Gov. Rick Perry signed into law legislation allowing illegal aliens living in Texas to qualify for in-state tuition.
- There are currently more than 59,000 illegal aliens enrolled in colleges and universities across the state.
House Approves Crackdown on THC Products Following Push From Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
- After hours of debate, the Texas House approved Senate Bill 3, legislation that aims to effectively ban the sale of THC-infused products and shut down the growing number of shops selling them across the state. This has been a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
- Patrick has called the rapid expansion of more than 8,000 THC retailers across Texas a “backdoor marijuana legalization effort,” driven by legal loopholes.
- The original Senate version was intended to prohibit THC product sales, shutter existing smoke shops, and prevent new ones from opening. When it got to the House, SB 3 was turned into a regulatory measure.
- Action on the House floor, led by Dr. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress), restored the Senate's language. Oliverson said "no social good comes from the legalization of intoxicants."
Oliverson pointed to a significant rise in poison control calls and hospital visits linked to synthetic THC, particularly among children, citing data from the Texas Poison Control Network, Cook Children’s Hospital, and UT Houston. He said the 2019 law legalizing hemp in Texas was never meant to greenlight potent THC derivatives.
Lawmakers Want to Prohibit Soda Sales with SNAP Cash
- No longer will Texans be allowed to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to purchase soft drinks. As Addie Hovland reports, the legislation—which originated in the Senate—defines “sweetened soft drinks” as “a nonalcoholic beverage made with carbonated water that contains five grams or more of added sugar or artificial sweeteners.”
- The Senate's version of the measure also prohibited SNAP benefits from being used to purchase candy, cookies, potato chips, corn chips, and energy drinks. The House Human Services Committee removed those groups.
- Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott sent a formal request for a waiver to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to be able to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase sweetened drinks and candy.
OTHER HOUSE NEWS
Members of the Texas House passed Senate Bill 20 yesterday, creating criminal penalties for possession or promotion of obscene visual material that appears to depict a child under 18 years old. Sydnie Henry has more information.
Harris County Commissioners Vote To Give Sheriff Deputies Pay Parity With Houston Police
- As Joseph Trimmer reports, Harris County commissioners voted yesterday to increase pay for sheriff deputies in order to achieve pay parity with Houston police. County officials estimated the cost of the raises will be about $140 million per year.
- Earlier this year, Houston Mayor John Whitmire unveiled a sweeping five-year contract proposal that would boost Houston Police Department starting salaries from approximately $64,000 to $81,000.
- Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies had warned that without significant salary adjustments, many deputies would leave the department when faced with a $24,000 first-year salary gap with HPD.
- Harris County has been facing a reported $130 million budget deficit.
Texas A&M Paid $27.5M in 2024 Coaching Buyout
- Adam Cahn reports that Texas A&M led the Southeastern Conference in coaching buyouts in fiscal year 2024, according to data obtained through a series of public information requests.
- In total, Texas A&M paid former coaches $27.5 million in buyouts. The main driver was a $19.2 million payment to former football coach Jimbo Fisher, who was fired in November 2023 after a 45-25 record over six seasons.
- Fischer will receive $7.2 million annually through 2031 from TAMU, with total payments topping $75 million.
- Texas A&M said that no taxpayer money was used to pay the buyouts.
My fellow Aggies all said Jimbo Fisher would have us leading the SEC in football… I guess we didn’t realize it would be in coach payoffs.
OTHER EDUCATION NEWS
A 38-year-old substitute teacher working in Kennedale Independent School District is accused of exposing 14-year-old students to sexually explicit videos and engaging with them in “X-rated” conversations. Erin Anderson has the story.
This Sunday on REAL TEXANS
Larry Brock Jr.
On Sunday's edition of REAL TEXANS, I talk with Lt. Col. Larry Brock Jr. about his experiences as a J6 political prisoner and how he felt when he was pardoned by President Donald Trump.
by Michael Quinn Sullivan
In 1946, ancient scrolls were discovered by Bedouin shepherds in the caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea.
Eventually, nearly a thousand scrolls were found by archaeologists. The scrolls covered most of what we know as the Old Testament, as well as commentaries on those texts, other religious documents, and even some information about life in the community that lived in Qumran before it disappeared into the sands of time.
Who these people dwelling in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea were continues to be a topic of debate. It is believed many of the scrolls were placed in clay jars in the caves during the Great Jewish Revolt in the late 60s and early 70s A.D. Clearly, the residents of Qumran wanted the documents preserved from the ravages of war with Rome.
Two lessons spring to mind. First, the scrolls themselves provide a stunning testimony to the power of devoted transcription. These ancient copies of even more ancient texts mirror the translations we use today.
Second, the people at Qumran—maybe the Essenes? A sect of Sadducees?—clearly wanted to preserve these writings, the fundamentals of their faith. They did so in the very best way they could.
Even in an age of text messages and emojis, we can relate. Original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution sit in special cases at the National Archives, set to drop safely into special chambers at a moment’s notice of a natural or manmade disaster.
We do this for the same reason they did: to preserve the words that define who we are.
It’s not that thousands upon thousands of copies of the Constitution don’t exist. (I have three different copies within arms’ reach as I type this!) No, we protect those original copies because they are meaningful representations of what we believe and who we are as a self-governing people.
Before the discovery of the scrolls at Qumran, it was very fashionable to question whether the translations we read today were authentic. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls rendered that argument obsolete.
Words matter. Maintaining faithful translations and copies of important works remains as important today as it was 2,000 years ago.
Quote-Unquote
"Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy."
– Margaret Thatcher
