March 31, 2020      5:09 PM

Gov. Abbott sides with Hotze in fight over Houston area church closures during pandemic

New executive order lists church services as “essential” and Abbott added that his directive overrides local orders if they are in conflict; Hotze and Woodfill have argued in court for church services to continue despite Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s order on staying at home

Flanked by Dr. Steve Hotze’s former business partner Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced an executive order that says church services throughout Texas should continue during the coronavirus pandemic. Just yesterday, Hotze and his attorney Jared Woodfill, a former Harris County GOP Chairman, asked the Texas Supreme Court to strike down Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s order shutting down church services in Houston.

Hidalgo’s order also did not define gun shops as essential businesses.

Meantime, Abbott’s order got mixed reviews from Texas House Democrats who didn’t agree with the part about church services but added the directive “essentially creates a floor for a statewide stay-at-home policy for all Texas counties, specifically for ones that had none in place prior to today.”

Gov. Abbott was somewhat vague about churches in his comments during his afternoon news conference, but here’s the language from his executive order:

By Scott Braddock

Copyright March 31, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved