Comment on HB 3206

Helen Hernandez wrote about the common sense bill, HB3206 called the Texas Resident Drivers Permit. The bill is to allow illegal immigrants a chance to get a drivers license and then also be able to get automobile insurance for their vehicles. It is also stated that there will be a something on the license saying that it is strictly for driving and will not allow them to board planes. The person will be fingerprinted, have a background check and pay a fee of about $150.00.

I agree with Helen that this will be a useful bill to pass. Not only will it be good for safety by having these cars registered and insured there will be less of a chance that the uninsured motorist will run from the scene since they have the proper identification and insurance to cover them. This may also cut down on the amount of claims to insurance companies because of uninsured motorists. It will also bring in more money for the state. As Helen stated, “there are more than 1.6 million immigrants in the state of Texas and many of them drive”. If even a quarter of them opt to sign up for this, it will be worth it.

I have been hit by an uninsured motorist and was not aware that there was a specific type of insurance that you had to cover if you wanted your vehicle fixed. If this bill is passed I think it may help. At least a little bit.

To Read More About This Bill Please See Below:

HB3206

Is This Helping High School Students?

The legislators are at it again here in Texas trying to change the way education is bestowed on our young adults in high schools all over our wonderful state. If House Bill 5 passes, it will reduce the about of standardized tests and leave it up to the teachers and educators to determine the direction that children will need to go in with regards to their futures. It states that Algebra II is too difficult for some kids and it is a waste of time trying to teach it to them because they will just keep failing. Instead we leave it up to the teacher and the tests they give to decide what rout the kids would be best taking. HB 5 says that we should be preparing our kids to be able to join the workforce right out of high school instead of preparing them all for college.

I do believe that the amount of standardized testing has gotten out of control. I unfortunately, don’t have the best plan of action for what should be done. I also believe that kids should take things in high school that they are interested in taking as well. One thing I don’t agree with about this bill is giving up on our kids. Most children don’t know what they want to be or do when they grow up. The bill is not saying that it is going to remove algebra II and certain science classes from the curriculum, but that if the student is not excelling than they might as well put them in something that is more technical that they can apply to everyday work environments. Something that caught my attention was people who are in low income areas will be affected by this the most. If the schools don’t have to provide the classes to as many students then eventually the class will go away completely.

Most people I know who are attending college had to take developmental math courses because they did not receive the proper credits during high school. This not only costs them more money than they should be spending, but they could have been given the education while they were younger. There should also be refresher courses available for college students so they don’t have to attend a full semester college courses. It would be helpful to have a reminder of what you did learn in high school if has been a few years since graduation.

If you would like to read more about this bill please click below:
House Bill 5

We need to help teach our children

I agree with Jamie’s blog post on Unplanned Parenthood about Senate Bill 521 causing more harm than good to Texas children. I firmly agree that it takes a village to raise a child. We as a nation “or world” need to ban together to help with properly educating our children to make the correct choices in life. Parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and whoever else may be part of our children’s lives need to take it upon themselves to make sure that every child gets all the information possible to live a happy productive life. Sometimes leaving it up to the parents and only the parents is not the best couse of action. I agree wholeheartedly that the school is one of the best places (beyond what is taught at home, of course) to learn about safe sex and where to go if you are in trouble. Just because Planned Parenthood provides abortions they are going to remove the material from schools. I understand that this is more an attack towards Planned Parenthood, but in reality it is going to harm our children more in the end. Why does the state seem to think it is fair to remove necessary information from our children? Some parents need to also understand that having “the talk” with your kids is just as important though. I wish it were not deemed such an uncomfortable conversation to have with our kids. Sex is looked at as a bad thing and some think it is best to teach children abstinence. The majority of teenagers are going to have sex. Why not make sure they are armed with as much information possible to ensure their safety and to help cut down on unplanned pregnancies. It is more important to teach the repercussions of having unsafe sex and how to protect yourself, girls and boys alike. 

To read more about Jamie's blog post please click below:
Unplanned Parenthood

Sonogram Law passed in Texas

Texas adopted a law in February 2012 that requires women who want to have an abortion must first have a sonogram and hear a physical description of the embryo/fetus. They are also required to hear the heart beat then wait 24 hours before they can have the procedure. This law does not apply to women who have been raped or who have been involved with incest.

Austin District Judge Sam Sparks did his best to overturn the law with a temporary order but it was overturned by the 5^th Circuit Court of appeals. His grounds for the order were that it violated the first amendment rights of physicians and was constitutionally vague.

I have many issues with this law. First, why does the state think it is their right to tell any woman what they want to do with their own bodies or tell doctors who are intelligent, certified and qualified who are there to help women make sound decisions on medical treatment/care. What about women who want to get one because of domestic abuse? There are also families out there that make a very hard decision to end a pregnancy because they learn the child will not make it to full term or will have to live their lives in unbearable pain and wont have a quality life because of it. There are many reasons people decide to get an abortion.

Rick Perry was quoted in the Texas Tribune by saying, “a victory for all who stand in defense of life…ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has the facts about the life she is carrying, and understands the devastating impact of such a life-ending decision.”

Typically, when a woman goes in to have an abortion she is already pretty clear on what she is going in there to do. Forcing doctors to give a description of what the embryo/fetus looks like and turn up the volume so they can hear the fetal heartbeat is disgraceful and unnecessary. This is already traumatic enough of an experience, why humiliate them more with invasive and unnecessary procedures. Then make them wait an additional 24 hours before they can have the procedure done. If the doctor does not comply with this law they will be fined $10,000.

Peter J Durkin, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast showed his disappointment with the ruling when he said, “allows Texas politicians to shame and demean women and tell doctors how to practice medicine…every Texan should be outraged that politicians are interfering with their most private medical decisions.”

I believe there are women out there that may use it as a form of birth control as well, but don’t punish the women who truly do know the risks and have methodically made the decision. The goal should be to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies. This is a whole other issue though. They have made it almost impossible for women to seek medical attention who are either low income or without insurance.

Something needs to be done to overturn this law. It is an outrage!

If you would like to read more about this law please refer to this site:

Judges: Texas Can Enforce Sonogram Law Now

Bring More Medicaid to Texas

By expanding Medicaid it will bring jobs and money to Texas. A blogger, Mary Ann Roser writes that, "With more than $200 million a year at stake, the Travis County Commissioners Court is urging the Legislature to expand Medicaid coverage to more needy people in Texas, the state with the highest rate of uninsured residents." Link to Bringing more money to Texas

There is a bill in place that Gov. Rick Perry states he is opposed to and will veto it, if it makes it through the legislature. As quoted by the deputy press secretary Lucy Nashed, "It would be irresponsible to add more Texans and dump more tax payer dollars into an unsustainable system that is broken and already consumes a quarter of our budget."

Roser reports that Texas legislator Schwertner says that, "Texas needs the flexibility to change Medicaid by focusing more on individual responsibility and possibly offering different kinds of coverage to patients in the system. 'Some recipients may not need a full package.' Schwertner said."

There are concerns about expanding the network of coverage because there may not be enough doctors to care for the onset of new patients.

There are lawmakers who are pushing for the bill because they say that passing this bill will help more than 23.8 percent of Texans who are not currently covered. Garza Cortez states, "It's a life or death situation for our families...We know so many that hold off on medical care because they don't have insurance or they don't have the money...It's so cost effective to do this."

It is stated that by 2016 Travis County alone would bring in $275.8 million to include 85% of eligible adults being covered by a report done from Texas Impact and Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas Inc.

Reports from 2011 say that over 209,348 citizens in Travis County alone are currently uninsured.

I have a few points on this issue that I would like to address. First off, expanding a system that is broken is not going to kill the economy. Why not expand the system and by the time the next Texas legislature meets have other bills in place to change the system to work better for the people and for the money available.

Second, people who are considered in poverty make a mere $15,401 a year and a family of four $31,809, as per the federal government. If this law passes the government will pay 100% for the first three years and then 90% by 2020 and beyond. I don't see how Texas loses money in this situation.

Third, giving people medical insurance will cut down on the unnecessary trips to the emergency room that cost the state billions of dollars a year.

Fourth, an argument that doctor's won't be available for the influx of patients that they are going to receive when and if this bill where to pass. If Texas is is going to receive more money than maybe more doctors will be inclined to join in and start accepting more patients that get Medicaid. Not only that, our hospitals will be able to give the care to the people who really need it and not focus on the people who come in with non-emergency issues.

To read more please click the link below:
Medicaid expansion would bring more than $200 million to Travis County, commissioners say

Does closing prisons save the state?

Austin American Statesman (AAS) has an editorial called "Money misspent on prisons is money better spent elsewhere." (Link to article) The writers of this editorial claims that the incarceration rate has dropped to 150,000, a decline of about 7000 prisoners from what was reported three years ago. This number is supposed to continue to decrease since the rate of crime in Texas has dropped. The state of Texas is focusing more on rehabilitation and treatment programs for certain crimes.

This also holds true for the 6 juvenile detention centers in Texas that are only filled to half the capacity. The editorial states that Texas, in addition to the state run prisons, they also leases beds from privately operated prisons and spend $123 million to lease these beds. The rational for keeping these prisons open is for economic reasons, by keeping them running, it means more jobs for the counties they are located.

Gregory Hooks says these findings are incorrect and that the prison does not contribute much, it may actually negatively impact the economy. Hooks backs these finding up by stating, "is attributable partly to the lower pay and fewer benefits offered by private prisons, which also have a higher turnover rate than state prisons."

The proposal is to not renew the contracts with the privately run prisons when the contract runs up. Also to close two per-parole transfer facilities that are privately run that house around 4400 prisoners and employ 757 workers. Once these are closed they want to consolidate the prisoners to direct money elsewhere.

I do believe that there is a way to consolidate and this editorial makes very valid points. One thing that would have to be done is to make sure nonviolent offenders are not mixed in with the violent ones. They will need to keep the prisons open that can keep these criminals separate in different cellblocks. Closing privately run prisons and hiring more workers in state run prisons may end up being more profitable for the employee and reduce turnover rates for the state.

Here is the link to the article:
Money misspent on prisons is money better spent elsewhere

What are laws for?

This is an article published in the Austin American Statesman about the total amount of money paid out to lawmakers/lobbyists each year for their pension plan/retirement funds. This is money that the taxpayers of Texas pay. A group called Texans for Public Justice a watchdog group, filed a lawsuit to have the courts force the Employees Retirement System (ERS) to release the information to the public about how much is being paid out to the mere 103 former lawmakers (who are now lobbyists). The courts ruling was that it was against the law to release these records because doing so would violate a few laws and the persons collecting the retirement/pension and is confidential information not to be made public. The article also states that Rick Perry, who is officially "retired", is collecting his pension on top of the $150,000.00 salary he collects from the State for being Governor. Not even regular state employees are allowed to do this, officials say. Judge Livingston states, "I'm torn between the public's right to have the information and the privacy rights of the individuals."

So what is it with politicians, lawmakers, lobbyists, etc., the people who are supposed to be out there working for us and protecting our rights? I don't understand why they are more worried about protecting their own rights over the rights of the entire population of Texas. Why do they get reelected ever year if this is public knowledge? Seems to me that this law was passed only to protect a select few. I thought laws were passed to protect the general public.

Here is the link to the article:
Pension benefits for ex-lawmakers remain secret