Surprising news from the latest Gallup polls: in a list of the top ten most Democratic and Republican states, Texas didn’t go red. Gallup considers Texas a battleground state that resists identification with the left or right. Population growth, a significant Latino constituency, and other changes could mean that Texas will go blue or at least purple in the next few years.
On Thursday, House Democrats pushed a vote on restoring education funding when the House hears HB 10 on Feb. 21st, the first supplemental bill being considered in the session. HB 10 pays a hefty $4.5 billion Medicaid bill. The bill also gives $630 million to the Foundation School Program. Republican leaders say legislation for education funding could be on the floor in 5-6 weeks. In related health news, $130 million in additional state spending for mental healthcare services has not yet been approved and mental health advocates warn that the state cannot keep cutting spending.
Legislation continues to be rolled out to reform education. TEA Commissioner Williams weighed in on STAAR and suggested that 8-10 was the number of ideal tests students should pass to graduate. Commissioner of Higher Education Paredes warned that if Texas continues on its current path, students will not be college-ready.
News of the Week
Where there’s smoke … there’s a proposed statewide smoking ban
Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, told us today that she is absolutely planning to file another smoking ban bill– after she works out the kinks on this one with the umpteen number of groups she’s working with (she listed five off the top of her head as we walked and talked at the Capitol today: American Heart Association, Texas Medical Association, Texas Restaurant Association, March of Dimes, the American Cancer Society….).
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Texan Perry and Californian Brown Battle for Business
Rick Perry went on a four-day “business recruitment trip” to California, escalating his raids on Jerry Brown’s economy and getting enough attention to, maybe, get some businesses to think about moving. After new taxes that were imposed by California and Congress at the end of 2012, Californians — including decision-making executives — are among those who pay the highest taxes in the country.
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Plan Emerging for Legislature to Pay IOUs
Lawmakers are planning at least three bills to address the state’s supplemental needs instead of the usual one. The first measure needs to be signed by Gov. Rick Perry in March so the state can pay billions in upcoming health care bills on time. A second supplemental bill will address the state’s costs from fighting wildfires and providing prisoner health care, but it won’t need to pass so quickly. A third measure, also not a rush item, will reverse $1.75 billion in delayed funds to school districts.
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High school graduation proposals prompt warning
A surge of bills seeking to loosen high school graduation requirements could end up leaving many Texas students ill-prepared for college and life beyond high school, state Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes warned Wednesday.
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Capitol Digest: Former education chair works for Pearson
Lobbyist Rob Eissler, a former state representative who chaired the House Public Education Committee, has taken on publishing and testing giant Pearson as a client, the Texas Tribune reported.
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A quick primer on Texas House’s “supplemental bills”
This year, the Texas House chief budget writer introduced a five-bill, supplemental package. It actually goes beyond mere spending, or appropriating of money: Some of the bills would undo accounting tricks and tax-collection speed ups that lawmakers approved last session. They did those things to avert making deeper spending cuts as they bridged a two-year, $27 billion budget shortfall.
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Cancer agency reforms clear first hurdle
Legislation aimed at curbing abuses at the state’s troubled cancer agency and its private foundation cleared its first hurdle Tuesday as lawmakers try to address the scandal that has halted grants from a $3 billion pot of taxpayer money.
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Senate panel eyes new high school graduation requirements
The minimum high school diploma in Texas would be scrapped and all high school students would choose from four new graduation plans under legislation considered Tuesday by the Senate Education Committee. All students would be required to get at least 26 credits to graduate and many students would have more elective courses to choose from in the proposed system.
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Texas education chief weighs in on testing debate
Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams told lawmakers Tuesday that he thinks the appropriate number of mandatory end-of-course exams for high schools students is between eight and 10. Most Texas students now have to pass 15 exams under state law.
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Plan Emerging for Legislature to Pay IOUs
Like a family with past due notices piling up at the door, the Texas Legislature has some current bills it needs to pay before it can plan the state’s next two-year budget.
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Texas mental health care funding has stagnated, even as calls to boost efforts grow
State budget writers have yet to approve the additional $130 million health commissioner David Lakey has sought for mental health services in 2014-15. The request was put in long before the slayings in Newtown, Conn., though Lakey and his boss, Health and Human Services Commission chief Kyle Janek, have both testified that they were shaken by recent events.
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Lone Star Rising
When it comes to politics — both present-day battles and future trends — ground zero right now is the fastest-growing of the mega-states: Texas. Lots of political trends reveal that a bluer Texas is on the horizon.
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Regents grill UT’s President Powers
Regent Wallace Hall insisted on questioning Powers even though Regent Steve Hicks, chairman of the academic committee, had said he wanted to move on to another agenda item. Among other things, Hall wanted to know why Powers hadn’t hired a vice president for development, or fundraising, after the board instructed him to do so.
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House Resolution to Test Support for Immigration Reform
House Concurrent Resolution 44, which urges the U.S. Congress to “swiftly enact and fund comprehensive immigration reform that creates a road map to citizenship,” comes after President Obama’s Tuesday State of the Union address, where he again pushed Congress to craft a bill to address the 11 million to 12 million people living in the country illegally, and to repair the nation’s existing immigration system.
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Part-Time Legislature Can Create Financial Hardship
In his two decades in the Texas Legislature, Rep. Garnet Coleman has learned to hustle. The Houston Democrat has gone bankrupt once, come close to it one time after that and managed to rebuild his finances yet again while remaining in office. During certain periods, he said, his wife has worked two jobs to support their family so he could stay in the Texas House.
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