It is natural for many to advocate leaving Muny and the tract alone. We would agree completely if the challenges of fulfilling UT’s mission were different. Unfortunately, things have changed a great deal even in the last 10 years: UT now finds itself in a city suffering an affordability crisis even as the Legislature continues to cut financial support to the university.
Some truly outstanding people work in the living centers. They make herculean efforts to improve the quality of life for residents. However, they’re fighting against a rip tide that can drown the most determined caregiver. Direct care is one of the most difficult jobs: turnover is outrageously high, and as a state we provide few incentives to keep doing it—let alone to do it well.
In our state, if you want to buy a brand new car, you only have one option — a franchised auto dealer. But consumer tastes have evolved since auto-dealer laws were put in place. Just as many of us would rather order groceries and household goods online than go to a brick-and-mortar store, some of us want to choose how to purchase our vehicles — and we should have the freedom to do so.
Civil asset forfeiture is a tool of law enforcement whereby the suspected fruits of criminal activity can be seized and repurposed to combat future criminal activity. “Suspected” is a key term, as current Texas law doesn’t require government to prove in court that criminal activity actually took place — or even to arrest someone for such crimes.
Insurance carriers driving out high-quality providers with unfair practices does not serve consumers or their communities. It limits access to timely emergency care. Don’t be fooled by the false narrative that freestanding ERs avoid contracting with health plans for financial benefit. Insurance companies should improve their networks and offer fair payment to the freestanding ER industry.
Three years ago, I visited a children’s shelter and learned about a 14-year-old mother with two children. The child-mom and her babies were in the Texas foster care system. Legally, Texas was the parent of all three: all three vulnerable children at risk for more abuse, poverty, and a lifetime on welfare.
Our founders were both realists and idealists. They knew the terrors of war and prepared for its eventuality. They also believed the decision to commence war, or even engage in potentially provocative and aggressive offensive military action, was too terrible and momentous to entrust to one or even a select group of elected officials.
An overwhelming majority of Texas voters support the requirement for a permit to carry a loaded handgun in public. This issue shouldn’t even be up for debate.
Lawmakers need to stop these discussions to cut billions in highway funding. Texas voters are counting on them. The Legislature needs to keep its promise to improve mobility and safety for Texas drivers.
The consequences for criminal behavior by minors should not be delivered within the adult criminal justice system. Seventeen-year-olds are not adults. Their behavior should be handled in the juvenile justice system where their parents can be engaged in the process and where the approach is more rehabilitative than punitive.
For President Trump, improving the security of Americans lies in bolstering a defense system that is “stretched far too thin.” This affirms a Republican ethos on safety and security and yet we know, from years of work in economically distressed communities, that these cuts target the very security systems — social, educational, emotional and health — that children rely upon to survive and thrive.
Nothing will ever be more important than doing the right thing, day after day, on and off the field.
Yes, our immigration system is flawed and needs reform. Our elected representatives in Washington are right to want to improve and review federal programs to ensure they are working in the best interests of all Americans. But ignoring the needs of our economy by denying American companies access to global talent runs the risk of moving those jobs and even entire companies abroad — taking wages, tax base and innovation with them to competing markets.
Texas should give its special-needs children an opportunity to receive the specialized care they deserve and to fulfill our state constitutional mandate. House Bill 1335 would give all special-needs students in Texas an alternative to the one-size-fits all public school system by establishing an innovative form of parental choice.
A food retail incentive fund would provide financial assistance to businesses looking to expand healthy retail into "food deserts" while also attracting additional private and philanthropic dollars to further bolster development. This novel approach would unleash the power of the free market and create businesses and jobs.
According to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, demand for full-time registered nurses exceeds supply by more than 20,000
Houston has long been a strong proponent of disability rights and has crafted first-of-their-kind regulations to ensure all Houstonians can take part in the ride-sharing revolution which has swept our state.
The removal of federal education regulations under the Trump Administration places greater responsibility on state policymakers to regulate school district resource allocation.
The organizations that best understand and adapt to America’s largest living generation today will have the top talent, the best leaders and the most engaged customers tomorrow.
The Texas Legislature, on average, has consistently funded only 80 percent of what it costs to provide for children in foster care. On average, community foster care and partner providers who provide specialized services for acutely traumatized children lose money every day they care for a child.
