ACCOUNT READ ONLINE   Good morning! Here is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, April 12, 2023.   – Michael Quinn Sullivan    Biden Ends The National COVID Emergency, But Abbott Lets It Linger In Texas President Joe Biden has signed legislation officially ending the national emergency issued over three years ago for COVID-19. But the Lone Star State is still operating under Gov. Greg Abbott's ongoing COVID emergency declaration, reports Brandon Waltens.        Texas is now the only Republican-led state to still be under a state of emergency for COVID.      First issued by Gov. Abbott on March 13, 2020, the emergency declaration became the basis for numerous COVID-related executive orders, including business shutdowns and mask mandates—all without input from the Legislature. As Texas began to reopen, executive orders were issued by Abbott in an attempt to prohibit local entities from implementing more stringent COVID rules.      Abbott has said he will keep the COVID order in place until lawmakers pass a reform of the state's emergency powers laws.      The Texas Senate has made progress on that, passing legislation that would prevent a governor from issuing an emergency declaration for more than 30 days without calling a special session of the Legislature. They have also approved legislation to ban future shutdowns and medical mandates. Such legislation has yet to be considered in the House.   Election Security Measures Move Through Texas Senate With more than a month remaining in this year’s regular session, a handful of measures to protect Texas elections are moving quietly through the Legislature. As Erin Anderson notes, this is a big change from two years ago when election integrity fights consumed much of the energy in the Capitol and sparked multiple special sessions.      Senate Bill 1070 by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) received preliminary approval from the Senate on Tuesday on a party-line vote of 19-12. The measure effectively bars Texas from participating in a controversial voter roll interstate crosscheck program, known as ERIC, by setting new cost limits and security requirements for any program used by the state.     Another election security measure making progress is Senate Bill 2 by Hughes. It restores felony penalties for illegal voting offenses. In 2021, Republicans in the Texas House conspired with Democrats to reduce the penalties at the last minute.      SB 2 passed the Senate on March 14 and was sent to the House the following day. But Speaker Dade Phelan waited 25 days, until Monday, April 10, to send the measure to the House Elections Committee for possible consideration.      As of April 11, only two bills have moved out of the House Elections Committee and none have yet reached the House floor for action.      It's almost like the Republicans in the Texas House leadership are okay with illegal voting...   Lawmakers Consider Age Restrictions On Digital Porn Traffickers and predators use pornography as a grooming tactic to desensitize children, an expert informed Texas lawmakers this week. This testimony was delivered during a hearing on legislation that would require and enforce age restrictions to access pornographic materials online. Soli Rice has the details.      Legislation filed by State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth) would require age verification using state-issued identification to access “adult websites,” where pornographic content is available, and allows parents to sue if their child is exposed to pornography online.      “Research shows that children are more susceptible than adults to addictions and to developmental effects on the brain and preventing this first exposure to harmful content is just as important as preventing future exposure to more mainstream websites,” said Schatzline.      Deborah Simmons, a Williamson County mom with more than 10 years of experience in the information technology industry, told lawmakers that consumer-side "filters are inadequate" for the task of protecting children from pornography.      “We have lots of adult entertainment and lots of adult activities and products that require age verification,” said Terry Schilling of the American Principles Project. “We have had zero problems or complications when it comes to verifying the age of people for online sports betting, online alcohol sales, even online marijuana sales in some states like California. We have had no issues with privacy problems.”   More Than 200 Citizens Show Up For School Choice Hearing In the House Following a vote in the Texas House last week that would block state funding for expanding K-12 education options for families, a House committee received testimony yesterday from more than 200 witnesses on three school choice bills. Darrell Frost reports from the Texas Capitol that those speaking out overwhelmingly favor more educational freedom.        Sometimes the exchanges between witnesses and House members got testy. Michael Olson, the bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, had perhaps the most dynamic exchange with a committee member during the hearing. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) suggested that Olson was advocating to take money from public schools for the benefit of Catholic students. He responded that he was “testifying for parents and students.”      Olson went on to argue that it is the responsibility of parents—not the state—to educate their children, but there is nevertheless “a legitimate state interest in the education of children.”      Last week, the Texas Senate gave approval to legislation that would establish an Education Savings Account program that would provide $8,000 per student to participating families. It would give school districts with fewer than 20,000 students more than $10,000 per year for each student who withdraws from public school under the program.    UT Regent Is A Big Democrat Donor A review of University of Texas Regent Janiece Longoria’s campaign donations reveals a large amount of money given to liberal Democrats.      Longoria was originally appointed to one term on the U.T. Board of Regents by former Gov. Rick Perry in 2008. In 2017, she was appointed anew by Gov. Greg Abbott, and she has now been reappointed for another six-year term.       A report published by the American Accountability Foundation points to what they call a “potential misalignment between Regent Longoria’s priorities and the values held by Texas voters.” Longoria’s donation record shows at least $73,357 given to far-left Democrats. If her donations to Abbott and Perry ($28,500) are excluded, her record is a 2-to-1 Democrat donor.           Abbott’s appointments to the board of regents are subject to approval by the Texas Senate, where State Sen. Donna Campbell (R–New Braunfels) chairs the Nominations Committee.