The Skills Development program funds specific training needs of certain businesses through public community or technical colleges or the Texas A&M Engineering Service (TEEX). In 2015, 87.4 percent of the businesses that benefited from the program were large businesses (500 or more employees). HB 108 would increase the focus of the fund on out-of-state applicants, possibly using Texan taxpayer money to fund the training needs of Texas businesses’ out-of-state competitors. Taxpayers should not be forced to shoulder the cost of private businesses’ training investments.
Broadening Our Threat Perception: Iran’s Texas-Pakistani Network
Too many policymakers think of the Iranian regime as solely a Middle Eastern matter. But with attentions focused elsewhere, a powerful network of South Asian Shia Islamists operates with near impunity much closer—across the state of Texas. On March 13, a Pakistani Shia mosque in Houston, named the Ali Center, hosted a commemoration for the...