For Neill Hurley, the hardest parts of complying with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the ACA, or ObamaCare — have been the decisions taken away from him, such as choosing his own doctor, and the decisions that have been forced upon him. “We want to make sure our kids’ health is taken...
Texas has recently improved school discipline policies, but additional changes are needed, such as discontinuing out-of-school suspension to punish truancy, implementing restorative practices, and revising zero tolerance policies involving non-dangerous conduct to enhance principals’ discretion.
2018 04 Testimony FosterCarePrevention CFC Logan by texaspolicy on Scribd
Paying more for housing? Blame City Hall. In spite of paying regular lip service to affordability, city officials continue to push big government policies that make it more expensive to live in Austin. In fact, officials are exploring a new one now. Earlier this month, Austin’s Code Department began seeking public input on a...
When most of us think of rural areas, we conjure up bucolic images of the countryside with more serenity and fewer hassles than are encountered in city life. However, in recent years, that image has been disrupted with revealing books such as J.D. Vance’s compelling “Hillbilly Elegy” and stark data showing rural areas are...
Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, infamously tweeted a link in early April to a story calling for a bloodless civil war to solve America’s problems. The piece, “The Great Lesson of California in America’s New Civil War: Why there’s no bipartisan way forward at this juncture in our history — one side must win” was...
When La Joya ISD’s $20 million Sports and Learning Complex (which includes the state’s first public school water park) opened last week, Superintendent Alda Benavides called it “exciting.” The complex includes tennis courts, a natatorium, a golf course and a planetarium. “I think it’s a dream come true and it will provide a lot...
Cities charge municipal right of way fees—or franchise fees—to certain utilities for the use of the public right of way. Like taxes on businesses, these fees are passed on to customers. Texas’ Local Government Code stipulates that these fees should be “consistent with the burdens on municipalities created by the incursion of certificated telecommunications providers...
A new article lays bare the increasing irrationality of ISD administrator compensation. According to the Texas Monitor, over the last 15 months, ISDs around the state have approved severance packages to 24 superintendents worth an estimated $6 million or an average of $250,000 per official. Troublingly, many of these arrangements appear to have been much...
A Texas mom, Valerie Gonzales, was thrown in jail because she couldn’t afford the $1,000 demanded in order to be released. What was her offense you might ask? Gonzales had racked up fines and fees for unpaid traffic tickets. There was nothing related to drinking and driving or neglecting to ensure her kids buckled...
The opioid problem is at a crisis level, but targeting pharmaceutical companies because of their deep pockets may enrich a few, but will fail to benefit many. Recently, personal injury lawyers have been chasing Texas counties to file lawsuits on a contingent fee basis against pharmaceutical manufacturers for the cost of dealing with opioid abuse. The...