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.
Too Close for Comfort
The last decade of homeless policy has been an abject failure. Currently the United States is facing the highest levels of homelessness and encounters with the mentally ill are increasing in Texas’ large cities. The blame can be squarely fixed on ‘Housing First’ which has prioritized a ‘one size fits all’ approach while ignoring the underlying causes of chronic homelessness. When...