Economy

Payroll Employment Down By 20.5 Million In April, California Hardest Hit State Amidst COVID Lockdowns

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued its official employment report for April—or, in this season of COVID-19, more appropriately, the unemployment report. The topline is that nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million jobs, with the unemployment rate jumping 10.3% to 14.7%, the highest one-month jump since these statistics started being tallied in 1948. Some...

May 8, 2020

Higher Education

U.S. Higher Education: Too Big Not To Fail?

As someone who has researched American higher education for the past three decades, one thing I can tell you is that it involves a lot of numbers. A lot of graphs. A lot of percentages. What it doesn’t provide is a lot of clarity. Why? It’s not the fault of the numbers gatherers, who are...

May 8, 2020

Criminal Justice

Texas Must Promote Safety Inside and Outside Prisons

Danger is lurking inside our state prisons, and we can’t afford to delay action on safe and reasonable measures to mitigate it. Already, more than 1,300  incarcerated individuals and 400 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in Texas. More cases are imminent, and coronavirus could spread rapidly, overwhelming staff, incarcerated individuals, and the prison...

May 8, 2020

Economy

Workplace Recovery Act

The owners and workers of America’s businesses—both small and large—have done their part. When government called upon them, they stepped up by shutting down, though many of them were unsure whether they would ever reopen or return. This is America and we will come back. There aren’t a more resourceful and resilient people on the...

May 7, 2020

Criminal Justice

Don’t ignore prisons and jails in COVID-19 response

In recent years, Texas has emerged as a national leader in cutting crime and closing prisons. Now, as we confront COVID-19, state and local leaders must recognize the health of our fellow Texans behind bars, both those incarcerated and staff, is intertwined with the health of our communities. Coronavirus cases have mushroomed in the state...

May 6, 2020

Higher Education

Don’t Ask ‘Is College Worth It?’ Ask ‘Which College Degrees Are Worth It?’ Instead

For years, there has been a low-level debate simmering about whether college is worth it. This debate has been somewhat maddening for both sides. The “yes, college is worth it” side notes that reliable data sources, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, say education pays. And the College Board’s annual report, also titled Education Pays, consistently...

May 6, 2020

K-12 Education

Texas Law Hurts Students

Imagine if a state enacted a law that wound up banning the use of the latest medical technology during a crisis. Practically speaking, that is what Texas has done in education. In 2013, the state of Texas passed a law prohibiting any new public school districts from offering full-time online education. The law said only...

May 5, 2020

Economy

Open Up Now

The data is in and the implications are clear: Texas has flattened the curve and prevented the COVID-19 pandemic from taking more lives. Our state hasn’t come anywhere close to seeing a run on hospitals, demonstrating our system is more than capable of handling anyone who contracts the disease. Now is the time to reopen the Texas economy and...

May 5, 2020

Health Care

Texas Does Not Need Medicaid Expansion

Have Texas lawmakers “made the coronavirus fallout worse” by not expanding Medicaid? That’s what Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party claims in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His prescription is for the Legislature to expand Medicaid as soon as it convenes in January. First, a little background. In the last decade, we have seen substantial changes...

May 5, 2020

Taxes & Spending

Don’t raise taxes when Texans can least afford it

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on lives — and livelihoods. In the coming months, when we hopefully have more answers about how to defeat the virus in order to save the former, cities and counties will have a big decision to make that will affect the latter: How much will they increase property taxes this...

May 4, 2020

Election Integrity

Mail-in voting is not a cure-all for voting amid a pandemic

Texas Democrats have a cure-all for our worries about in-person voting in upcoming elections. They want to expand mail-in balloting to include every Texan. Republicans who point to problems with the plan are said to be trying to suppress the vote, or are callously indifferent. “Voters should not have to choose between their lives or...

May 3, 2020

Criminal Justice

Safety first both outside, inside jails

By now, it is unlikely that anyone hasn’t heard of “social distancing.” Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus earlier this year, a full-court press of public initiatives have been enacted to curb its spread — with the need to physically distance ourselves from one another as the chief aim. Though not without great economic...

May 1, 2020