The EPA estimates that 10% of the total greenhouse gases emitted in 2012 came from methane and that 30% of those emissions were derived from the oil and gas industry. Notably, the second largest contributor to methane emissions is livestock.
The nuclear industry supplies 19 percent of America’s electricity needs. Nuclear energy is the only electricity source as cheap as coal, and it has zero carbon emissions. And yet the federal government has impeded the development of a healthy, competitive industry.
Since fiscal 2009, the total debt owed by cities, counties, school districts, and special districts has grown from $298.3 billion to $333.1 billion in fiscal 2014. That’s an increase of almost $35 billion over a relatively short period, pushing up the total amount owed by each Texan to near $12,500.
The per student debt burden - a figure rarely paid any attention by those advocating for more public school spending-comes to more than $21,850 owed for each of the state's 5.1 million students. Of course, some school districts' owe even more than that.
The first figure shows data indicating that December marked the 96th consecutive month that the Lone Star State’s unemployment rate has been at or below the national average.
The health care overhaul transferred control of 1/6 of the state economies, with underlying police power, to the federal government despite the lack of public support for the initiative (42 percent at passage and 38.5 percent now).
Alas, just because a Republican governor says a policy is conservative does not make it so. A close look at Pence’s plan reveals what is perhaps the worst of all the Republican Medicaid expansion “alternatives” to date.
The Pension Review Board’s (PRB) latest assessment of Texas’ state and local retirement systems depicts a worsening financial condition that could mean higher taxes and fees for future Texans.
Acting in a highly misleading manner, NASA and the NOAA failed to report that the statistics used as a basis to for their claims were only respectively, 48% and 38% likely to be accurate.
Written by Kolten Morris Texas has been at the forefront of job creation during the last six years when roughly two-thirds of net new jobs created nationwide were in the Lone Star State. To keep Texas on a path to prosperity, the 84th Legislature should create a mechanism to help slow the growth of the state’s budget while providing sales tax relief to Texans by creating the sales tax relief (STaR) fund. Many legislators would like to slow the growth of the state’s budget by saving money from reducing program funds or even eliminating them. Unfortunately, a mechanism to do this doesn’t currently exist. Instead, those savings go to other areas of the budget. Legislators have voiced their frustration with this process. The Legislature could fill this void by creating the STaR fund this session making it available for use during the 2017 session. This would provide a mechanism for legislators to allocate dollars to the fund then direct the comptroller to calculate the duration and amount to cut the state’s sales tax rate based on how much is in the fund. These dollars include budget surplus, funds available from cuts to ineffective state programs, and dollars in excess of the rainy day fund cap. Though the STaR fund would not be available until next session, let’s consider how it might work if the fund had a $2.2 billion balance. Near the start of a fiscal year, the comptroller would calculate the state sales tax rate adjustment based on sales tax revenue during the previous fiscal year. Let’s assume the $27.3 billion in sales tax revenue in fiscal 2014. Since each cent of the 6.25 percent sales tax rate collected $4.4 billion in revenue, the comptroller could lower the state’s sales tax rate to 5.25 percent for six months. The comptroller would transfer the money in the STaR fund into general revenue to replace the lost funds until the fund is depleted. The STaR Fund could benefit Texans by reducing the footprint of government and by saving them money in checkout lines, at restaurants, and at other consumer locations. With more money in Texans’ pockets, they could spend more of their money as they see fit, generating more business investment and economic growth in the process.
It may come as a surprise to some, but Texas is widely viewed as one of the nation’s leaders in criminal justice reform. The reinvestment strategies pioneered in the Lone Star State have been held up by national organizations as model reforms, so it’s no surprise that Texans are enjoying the lowest statewide crime rates since 1968. Never content to rest on its laurels, the Texas Legislature has already shown great interest in furthering these successes in the current session. After several high-profile abuses both nationally and within the state in recent years, the Legislature has signaled interest is protecting citizens from rampant excesses related to civil asset forfeiture.
The foreboding bottom line is this: “America’s universities now have “more full-time employees devoted to administration than to instruction, research and service combined.”