Talk about adding salt to the wound, especially since Austin was just rated the “least affordable U.S. city for minimum-wage workers.” Last month, the Austin Independent School District hired a new superintendent, and that official’s starting salary has just been revealed. For her first year, she’ll rake-in a whopping $334,000—more than double what the Texas...
Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide unrest of the summer months, local, state, and federal authorities are taking a fresh look at significant reforms to how the criminal justice system engages with those in its charge. One important area, affected by both the aforementioned crises, is the need to address how to maintain...
A recent report highlighted the desperate need for more foster families in rural communities west of San Antonio. Historically, the Department of Family and Protective Services, or DFPS, has struggled to recruit in rural areas — a problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These rural communities surrounding Bexar County are a part of Region 8b,...
As the economy continues to reopen and gain strength amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a common concern is how to ensure the safety of the public and the workers at businesses around the country. Government certainly has a role in providing information, guidance and support. But ultimately its best approach is to serve as a partner...
On Aug. 27, Austin launched a campaign called, “a week of action to support ending homelessness.” It admittedly sounds wonderful… something around which all should be able to coalesce. Instead, we should heed the lesson from Hans Christian Andersen’s fable, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Austin’s efforts to address its spiraling homelessness crisis are clothed in...
Journalist H. L. Mencken described the unintended consequences of governance like this: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” In energy and environmental policy, California’s gotten it “good and hard” in recent years. Record wildfires. Rolling blackouts. Politicians like Democrat Gov. Gavin...
It’s election season, so of course candidates on each side are predicting doom and gloom if the other prevails. However, on criminal justice reform, recent history suggests even a divided government can prioritize public safety without being too tough on taxpayers. At the federal level, this meeting of the minds culminated in the First Step...
California just saw electrical blackouts due to a lack of power, rather than due to wildfires, for the first time since 2001. The left’s systemic environmentalism that emphasizes green bling over the basics, like reliability and power lines, is to blame. California’s woes would have been far worse were it not for gas and coal-powered generation in other...
At a time of wrenching division, police officers and those returning from prison share unexpected commonalities that can bring us together. On the surface, these two groups would seem dissimilar, but a groundbreaking Las Vegas program that bridges this divide has caught the attention of both the White House and the governor of Nevada. Perhaps more importantly, it...
As too many school systems dithered indecisively regarding reopening, many parents have decided that one lost semester was one too many and acted. Micro-schools-or “Pandemic Pods” are fast becoming the Cajun Navy of K-12 education, but not everyone is pleased. The Texas Tribune, for instance, said “The ‘Do It Yourself’ approach to education threatens to leave behind...
Many Texans have had to make sacrifices this year. Now, some local elected officials are calling on city governments to do the same. One recent high-profile example: Dallas mayor Eric Johnson took aim last week at “bloated” city salaries, saying in a Dallas Morning News op-ed: “The city manager in Dallas makes $406,850 in salary...
Amid a time with one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. since the Great Depression, some local Texas entities are trying to raise property taxes. This would be especially detrimental to low-income households, which are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Problem with Property Taxes Taxes on property are not connected to...