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Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, January 15, 2026.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Illegal Aliens Cost Texas Hospitals More Than $1 Billion in 2025 According to new data obtained from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the state's hospitals incurred more than $1 billion in health care costs related to illegal aliens during fiscal year 2025. Brandon Waltens has the details [[link removed]].

Statewide totals show there were 313,742 hospital visits from illegal aliens. Emergency department visits accounted for roughly $230 million, while total inpatient care exceeded $820 million, underscoring that long-term hospitalizations, not emergency treatment alone, are driving much of the cost.

Although hospitals are required under federal law to deliver the care, unpaid medical costs are ultimately passed along to Texans. Taxpayers absorb the burden through higher insurance rates, public hospital funding, and state health programs. Illegal Alien Rammed ICE Vehicles in San Antonio Gov. Greg Abbott is blasting what he calls “organized” efforts to obstruct federal immigration enforcement after a suspected illegal alien in San Antonio allegedly rammed ICE vehicles with a car. Sydnie Henry has the full report [[link removed]].

According to the governor, the incident injured an agent and sent him to the hospital. Abbott is calling for those who attack or impede immigration agents to be arrested.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News that agents are facing “constant impediments” and “constant attacks” during enforcement operations, noting that “criminally illegal aliens” are turning vehicles into weapons.​ Winnsboro ISD Superintendents Accused of Covering Up Abuse Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that the current and previous superintendents of Winnsboro Independent School District are facing felony charges for failing to report suspected child abuse.

Aaron David Nation, the current superintendent, and his predecessor, Brian David Wilcox, were booked into the Wood County Jail earlier this week. Wilcox's wife, Ashley Ayres Wilcox, was a speech pathologist in the district who has also been charged.

Nation was just named Winnsboro ISD’s superintendent less than two weeks ago. He had been appointed to the position on an interim basis in the fall after Wilcox resigned in the wake of a sex abuse scandal and cover-up involving coaches at Winnsboro High School. Houston-area School District Considers Changing Accountability Policies, Potentially Violating State Law Elected trustees at the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District are considering revisions to language in their instructional material policy that, if approved, could leave the district in violation of state law. Addie Hovland has the story [[link removed]].

A new state law specifically allows parents, school employees, and district residents to challenge materials available in school libraries. But Cy-Fair trustees are considering a policy that would only allow challenges by “a district employee or a parent or guardian of a district student.” Essentially, Cy-Fair is attempting to cut out everyone else.

The board is scheduled to consider the new language at a meeting tonight, though a district spokesperson said they would “consider” adding back district residents. Tennessee Fighting Kalshi in Federal Court A federal district judge has temporarily blocked Tennessee’s Attorney General and the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council from enforcing the state’s gaming and sports wagering laws against Kalshi. Paige Feild examines the case [[link removed]].

Kalshi is an online sports betting platform rebranded as a “prediction market.” It allows individuals to purchase event contracts, presented as binary options, to wager on their prediction of the outcome of an event. This includes the ability to wager on sports events. The winning prediction then receives a payout upon the expiration date.

The company has said it is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and not by state law. A federal district court in Nevada ruled last year that Kalshi's argument relies on a strained interpretation of federal laws.

More than 30 states are fighting Kalshi, but Texas is not one of them. Quote-Unquote

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!" – P.J. O'Rourke​

Number of the Day

766

The number of hospitals in Texas, the most of any state.

[Source: Definitive Healthcare [[link removed]]]

Today in History

On January 15, 1870, the donkey was first used to symbolize the nation's Democrats. The cartoon in Harper’s Weekly by Thomas Nash was titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion." Four years later, it was Nash who also picked the elephant to symbolize the GOP in a cartoon about the possibility that Republican Ulysses S. Grant might seek a third term as president.

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