-State Rep. Brian Harrison calls on Gov. Abbott to add conservative priorities to fourth special session call
-AG Ken Paxton files suit against former employees
-What to pay attention to in tonight’s elections
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Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison of Midlothian is calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to add multiple conservative priorities to the next special session call.
Harrison asks that the following be addressed during the next special session:
- Secure the border by passing bold legislation similar to the Border Protection Unit Act and the Texas Title 42 Act.
- Ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates for all students.
- Rein in executive “emergency powers” so a future Governor cannot abuse them.
- Prohibit hostile and Communist governments from purchasing Texas land.
- Protect our grid from attacks and reform our energy market by setting reliability standards.
- Ban all tax-payer funded lobbying.
- Eliminate job-crushing regulations by sunsetting any that are not reviewed every 4 years.
- Reform the constitutional provisions on impeachment as proposed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
- End destructive ESG policies by statutorily defining fiduciary duty.
- Protect Texas women and girls and define “woman” in statute to thwart Biden’s abusive policies.
- Establish a path to eliminate property taxes by requiring future surpluses be used to lower rates.
- Ban all race-based admission, employment, and contracting practices in public universities, private universities that accept federal money, and all government entities.
As the third special session ends on Tuesday, lawmakers have only passed two of the four items on the governor’s call.
The only two items with legislation passed and sent to the governor were a ban on COVID-19 employer vaccine mandates and one border security measure increasing criminal penalties for human smuggling and operating a stash house.
Other legislation to allow Texas to remove illegal aliens from the state stalled following a disagreement between the House and Senate on wording and implementation.
Although there was a big push from Abbott on school choice, the measure was killed again in the Texas House.
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Attorney General Ken Paxton is fighting back against a group of former employees who have alleged they were fired unfairly.
In October 2020, eight of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top aides accused him of bribery and abuse of office. After being terminated from employment, four of them filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton. They alleged that Paxton did political favors for Nate Paul, a real estate developer and donor, by having his office intervene in his legal disputes.
Earlier this year, the Office of the Attorney General and the so-called “whistleblowers” reached a settlement for $3.3 million to avoid a costly court battle.
The Texas House refused to approve the settlement, leading to their impeachment of Paxton in May.
He was acquitted on all impeachment charges by the Senate in September, after much of the testimony from the former employees undermined their own accusations. For example Ryan Vassar, admitted to having no evidence when reporting Paxton to the FBI. Another, David Maxwell, said he made claims to House investigators and didn’t know whether or not those statements were true.
After Paxton’s acquittal, the group of former employees continued on with their lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office filed a counter suit, asking a judge for a temporary restraining order that would enjoin the former employees from pursuing further legal action that they have already agreed to settle.
“Texas taxpayers should not have to bear the burden of litigation in a lawsuit that has already been resolved,” said Paxton.
The judge granted the restraining order and has set a hearing for November 14.
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