WEEKLY REPORT
April 27, 2012
Let’s raise loan limits at credit unions
The No 1 issue for small businesses is having access to capital. It’s the difference between success and failure, job growth and unemployment and a successful start-up or a going-out-of-business sign.
(View complete article here.)
Back restrictions on payday lenders
Businesses that deal in small dollar amount, high-interest loans that have been successful in beating back attempts to regulate them in the Texas Legislature will be squaring off with the Austin City Council today.
(View complete article here.)
Money is available to restore public school funding
Recently, public school students began taking the new, more rigorous STAAR exam. In light of the new exam, a pop quiz seems appropriate: How much did the leadership of this state cut from the public education budget during the 82nd Legislative Session? A) No money was cut; B) Schools actually received a funding increase; or C) $5.4 billion.
(View complete article here.)
1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed
The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work. A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge.
(View complete article here.)
Report: Texas Medical Residency Slots Not Keeping Up
Responding to calls to meet the state’s physician shortage, Texas medical schools have increased their enrollment by roughly 30 percent in the last decade. But the slots available for students to complete their medical residencies in Texas are not keeping pace, according to a new report from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
(View complete article here.)
HBO Obesity Series Showing Texas Schools Debuts
The four-part series, The Weight of the Nation, is part of a public health campaign aimed at reducing obesity. Part three of the series, “Children in Crisis,” was shown Monday at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.
(View complete article here.)
Conflicts mar decision on stem cells
The Texas Medical Board, like other official state boards and commissions, is a political entity. Its 12 physician members and seven public members are all appointed by the governor.
(View complete article here.)
Editorial: When new math goes old school in Texas
The State Board of Education, which oversees curriculum in Texas public schools, is talking about taking elementary school math back to the basics — as in requiring students to use paper and pencil to figure out math problems instead of plugging numbers into a calculator then hitting =.
(View complete article here.)
Clock Ticking on $2B Sales Tax Refund for Oil Companies
The Travis County District Court ruling held that machinery used to extract oil and gas is exempt from Texas sales tax. The Texas Comptroller’s office, defendant in the suit, estimated that approximately $2 billion in potential refund claims could be affected by the decision.
(View complete article here.)
U.S. gasoline prices now cheaper than a year ago
After dropping for most of the month, gasoline is now cheaper in much of the U.S. than it was a year ago. That hasn’t happened in more than two years, and it could be part of a larger decline in gasoline prices that could lift consumer confidence ahead of the summer driving season.
(View complete article here.)
OPINION: Why are oil prices falling?
Last week I paid 10-cents-a-gallon less for gasoline than I did the week before, at the same service station. While $3.79 seemed a bargain, it did cause me to wonder.
(View complete article here.)
Judge reconsiders multibillion-dollar question: Should sales tax be paid on oil equipment?
State District Judge John Dietz said Thursday that he is reconsidering his decision two weeks ago to exempt oil and gas extraction equipment from the state sales tax.
(View complete article here.)
Justice Department moves to postpone state’s voter ID case
A motion by the federal government in the fight over Texas’s voter identification statute could jeopardize chances that the law would be in place for November’s elections.
(View complete article here.)
Texas AG releases voters’ Social Security numbers in mix-up
State Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office inadvertently gave the Social Security numbers of millions of Texas voters to opposing lawyers in the voter ID case but said on Wednesday the information never was exposed publicly.
(View complete article here.)
Political activists disagree on conservatism
Voters hear candidates claim they are the true conservative in a race, while they paint their competitors with the dreaded “moderate” label. Political action committees and activists create elaborate score cards to quantify a candidate’s conservatism.
(View complete article here.)
In Legislature, Fresh Faces and an Experience Deficit
The 2010 election swept a huge number of new people into the Texas House — 35 of the 150 members, the vast majority of them Republicans.
(View complete article here.)
Editorial: We recommend Crownover in state House 64 GOP race
Republican voters in Texas House District 64 have a choice between a seasoned, reasonable incumbent and an enthusiastic newcomer. Our recommendation goes to Rep. Myra Crownover, 64, who is completing her sixth term representing Denton County. She has spent that time learning the ropes in Austin, building key relationships at home and advancing to a position of influence.
(View complete article here.)
OPINION: Hart: Texas leaders with balanced approach need to step up
Last Friday, I wrote a column questioning why no Texas business leaders are challenging Gov. Rick Perry‘s recent “no new taxes” compact – even though it means the state will delay badly needed investment in infrastructure like roads and water, or in educating a sufficient health care workforce.
(View complete article here.)
Understand uncertainties to ready for water future
With the sweat from 2011’s record-setting temperatures just now drying off and projections of a continued drought cycle in Central Texas, discussion about securing current and future water supplies is becoming increasingly urgent.
(View complete article here.)
Tribune Fest: The Impact of the Eagle Ford Shale
As part of our day-long symposium on energy and the environment at the University of Houston on April 13, UH Law Center Assistant Professor Tracy Hester led a discussion of the economic and environmental impact of the Eagle Ford Shale.
(View complete article here.)
Lawmakers say reforms may not be working at state’s youth lockups
As the former superintendent of the Giddings State School claimed in a lawsuit that he was fired in March for reporting violations of state law and growing safety issues at the troubled lockup, a legislative inquiry was expanded Wednesday to focus on whether 5-year-old reforms to the troubled system are still working.
(View complete article here.)
ATF: Two-Thirds of Guns Recovered in Mexico From U.S.
About two-thirds of the weapons recovered by Mexican authorities since 2007 and submitted to U.S. law enforcement for tracing had origins in the United States, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Justice.
(View complete article here.)
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