How can Texas reduce expenditures for the new public school employee health program while protecting and improving benefits? The Texas 78th Legislature faces this key question as members confront a $9.9 billion revenue shortfall. The health care program is targeted for legislative cuts. Funded for its first year only, the program was financed by revenues taken from a “one time” source; additional blows were delivered by a sagging state economy and rising insurance costs, estimated in the range of $2.5 billion for the 2004-2005 fiscal year.
Higher Education
Safe Schools and Fair Standards
Safe Schools and Fair Standards Key points: Texas’s higher education code is not aligned with Supreme Court precedent on the correct standards for defining harassment. Texas statute does not define what makes conduct “severe,” “persistent,” or “pervasive.” The existing legal framework should remain intact but needs updated definitions that protect both free speech and students...
September 28, 2026