Within the broad sphere of the criminal justice system, it is perhaps understandable that physical entities — predominantly state prisons, but also increasingly county jails — have received most of the scrutiny among the reform-minded. Rapid growth in prison and jail populations, driven in large part by “tough on crime” sentencing policies that emphasized carceral sanctions for...
Too many students feel afraid to speak honestly on campus for fear of offending someone, a new national survey of college students says. University censorship regimes are teaching some students not only to live with but to embrace the conformism of thought inculcated through university speech codes, speaker dis-invitations, “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” and campus...
Pension Tracker, a project of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research led by former California State Assemblyman Joe Nation, Ph.D., is out with its updated assessment of the nation’s unfunded state and local government pension fund liabilities. It’s not a pretty picture—especially if you live in Alaska, California, Connecticut or Illinois where your per...
Career and technical education (CTE) used to be called vocational education but was successfully rebranded with the reauthorization of the Perkins Act in 2006. The push to rebrand at the time had to do with the twin issues of declining enrollment in these programs as well as a social stigma associated with a correct perception...
An investigative report by WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky recently exposed a particularly innovative — although likely illegal — method that the state’s child protective services caseworkers came up with to remove children from their families without court approval. According to the report, Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers kept stacks of blank emergency removal orders that...
For Eva Arriaga, the “skilled worker disconnect” was uncomfortably close to home. Though the Houston area economy is booming, the young single mother lacked the skills she needed to take advantage of the shortfall of as many as 8 million welders, plumbers, electricians and other skilled workers that the American workforce would need by 2027. The qualification...
Today, the Conservative Texas Budget Coalition announces a recap of how the Texas Legislature did in achieving their key fiscally conservative priorities this session. The 2020-21 Texas budget of $243.7 billion, which excludes funds to Harvey recovery and property tax relief, increases by 12.5 percent above the 2018-19 appropriations. This amount means this budget is...
It’s over. Monday concludes the 86th regular session, meaning that it’s time for lawmakers to go home and for the public to grade their work. So let’s take stock of the good, the bad and the unfinished of the last 140 days. Assuming deals hold and no vetoes happen, the best thing to come out...
Job growth has been running 80% stronger in low-tax states than in high-tax states since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in December 2017. Understanding why holds important lessons for policy, economics, and politics. The new tax law scaled back the federal subsidy for high state and local taxes. Prior...
When President Trump spoke before a group of energy workers in Louisiana recently, he pointed out the role energy plays in our robust economy. “In Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and states all across our land, workers like you are lighting up our homes, powering our factories, and reducing energy costs...
When the legislature creates a criminal statute that is punishable by a fine alone, meaning that incarceration is not a potential consequence even if the offender is found guilty of the alleged conduct, the legislature is making the statute’s intended use clear. It would shock Texans if certain offenses were manipulated as a “tool” for...
We’ve all known the disappointment of a television series that ends badly. Whether a truncated season wrapped up with a too-tidy bow (Game of Thrones) or an ambiguous fade-to-black (The Sopranos), we can sometimes feel the time we invested in a show was misspent. That’s a little like the Texas Legislature. With just days left...