(Great BOR reader diary about family planning. It's clear that these cuts aren't about saving money, but rather harming women and families. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
While Texas has some of the nation's toughest restrictions on reproductive health care, it has also drastically cut funding to family planning centers. At the same time the state has increased funding to so-called crisis pregnancy centers (CPC), which has decreased the access women have to reproductive health care in the state. In Rick Perry's Texas, women are not trusted to make their own reproductive health care decisions.
To be upfront, I recognize that it can be troublesome to compare apples and oranges. Unless Congressman Lloyd Doggett and Rep. Joaquin Castro are casting the same votes, how can you truly compare their voting records? This is, obviously, a problem, but the concerns raised thus far on BOR about the progressiveness of Rep. Castro and Cong. Doggett don't seem to be about any one issue. Instead, the focus appears to just be on how "progressive" each person is. The comments below, from when I first wrote about the potential race in the newly drawn CD-35, provide a good insight into what I'm talking about:
I think Castro may be too quiescent and cooperative with the radical republicans currently in place. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll be just as fierce an advocate and defender as Doggett has been. That would be great. Unfortunately, I'd rather just vote for the original. I'm advocating real leadership and persuasion rather than the current phony bipartisanship and equanimity. - Mcblogger
The wise thing for progressive Democrats to do is to leave a proven, effective US Congressman, with seniority, in office working for all Texans. - ssuits
Lloyd Doggett has been by far the best member of the Texas Congressional Delegation and I say that without hesitation. He has been there for us when quite frankly, there have been Texas Democrats who have not walked the walk. And so I'm going to be there for him. For that reason, I strongly support Lloyd Doggett. He has done the job and will continue to the job the way he has always done. - v2aggie2
That left me wondering - how progressive are the two likely candidates for the newly drawn CD-35? The result may surprise you.
How Progressive Are Congressman Doggett and Representative Castro?
Rep. Castro's rating is based on an analysis compiled by Mark Jones of Rice University, who evaluated "nearly 1,000 votes" to come up with his numbers. Congressman Doggett's rating is based on an analysis by National Journal, which creates individual scores on economic, social, and foreign policy votes and then generates one composite score. (Update: To compare among Democrats w/in their respective chambers, Rep. Castro ranked 12th out of 49 Democrats - putting him in the top 24% among Democrats in the Texas House, while Congressman Doggett ranked 147th out of 256 Democrats - putting him in the top 57% among Democrats in the U.S. House.)
Throughout the campaign, both Congressman Doggett and Representative Castro will have to -- and should -- answer lots of questions about policies, past and future, and where they stand. I expect Congressman Doggett to have a much greater understanding of federal issues, given how long he's been in office. But, at least on its face, these numbers should put to rest concerns that Rep. Joaquin Castro would not be a progressive enough member of Congress for Austin.
I was forwarded the following from Glenn Smith, a great thinker and off-and-on contributor to our site.
If you thought the legislative attacks on family planning and Planned Parenthood were all about abortion, think again.
In a moment of unscripted political bravado, Republican State Representative Wayne Christian made clear to the Texas Tribune that the Right’s true agenda is not about what happens in health care clinics after all, but rather about what goes on in bedrooms between consenting adults.
When they declare “war on birth control” they are intruding into the private, personal decisions of every man, woman and family in Texas.
How extreme are they? Consider that they’ve already repealed the law that requires insurance companies to cover the pill just as they do Viagra, they’ve encouraged pharmacists to undermine doctors’ orders and deny emergency contraception, and now they are pushing an outright plan to defund family planning — even though none of the funds can be used for abortion.
It’s time to draw the line and get politics out of our bedrooms once and for all.
The Lege has a really bad bill with a exceptionally bad amendment on it that needs to be removed before it becomes law.Take time out and make a call.
Please CONTACT YOUR TEXAS SENATOR IMMEDIATELY! • Birdwell, Brian
• Carona, John
• Davis, Wendy
• Deuell, Bob
• Duncan, Robert
• Ellis, Rodney
• Eltife, Kevin
• Estes, Craig
• Fraser, Troy
• Gallegos, Mario, Jr.
• Harris, Chris
• Hegar, Glenn
• Hinojosa, Juan "Chuy"
• Huffman, Joan
• Jackson, Mike
• Lucio, Eddie, Jr.
• Nelson, Jane
• Nichols, Robert
• Ogden, Steve
• Patrick, Dan
• Rodriguez, Jose
• Seliger, Kel
• Shapiro, Florence
• Uresti, Carlos
• Van de Putte, Leticia
• Watson, Kirk
• Wentworth, Jeff
• West, Royce
• Whitmire, John
• Williams, Tommy
• Zaffirini, Judith
Rep. Dennis Bonnen unexpectedly put a horrible amendment on an already bad (but previously limited) bill - SB 875 - that now makes the bill universally bad.The bill passed in the House. Bonnen's amendment gives immunity from ALL nuisance suits!!! It strips your right to protect your property and your health from pollution from ANY SOURCE. If mercury from a coal plant contaminated your lake or pond, you couldn't do anything about it. If sulfur from that coal plant destroyed your pecan trees, your roof or even if it impaired your breathing - you'd be out of luck. If toxic runoff from an industry or CAFO reached your land or creek, there would be nothing you could do. The immunity goes for pollution of land, water or air. It's that bad!!! The bill could come up on at any time. Please email or call RIGHT AWAY!!! Immediately!!!
Please contact your State Senator IMMEDIATELY! Urge them to vote NO on SB 875.
Failing that, at least strip the Bonnen amendment from the bill. Ask them to take at least 48 hours so they can look at the bill carefully.
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Who Represents Me? http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us Background information: SB 875 is authored by Senator Troy Fraser.
House sponsors of the bill are Reps. Kelly Hancock, Warren Chisum and Wayne Smith.
Bonnen Floor Amendment to SB 875
REMOVES PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTIONS
A nuisance in legal terms in an unreasonable interference with the use or enjoyment of your property. To prevent a trespasser or polluter from destroying your land, you could bring what's called a nuisance action against them to get them to stop and pay for any damages to your property.
Bonnen's amendment is a very bad amendment that will give polluters immunity for personal injury and property damage. The bill as it came over from the Senate only applied to greenhouse gas emissions and was intended to protect businesses from greenhouse gas nuisance lawsuits filed by the EPA, according to the House Research Report. It was not intended to affect nuisance actions filed by individuals.
This amendment broadens the scope of the bill substantially. It now amends the civil practice and Remedies Code to apply to all nuisance actions, brought by individuals and the government. The amendment gives immunity to any polluter (not just greenhouse gas) in a suit for nuisance or trespass, if the polluter proves its conduct was authorized by federal or state permit. The plaintiff can overcome the defense (rebuttable presumption) only by clear and convincing evidence that the polluter knowingly withheld or misrepresented material relevant to determining compliance with the order, and that was the primary reason the permit was granted.
1. It is immunity for a polluter.
2. The definition of "person" is expansive and does not limit the defense to any type of polluter or pollution. It will apply to any nuisance or trespass.
3. The only thing a polluter needs for immunity is a permit.
4. The exception requires the claimant to prove by "clear and convincing" evidence that the polluter lied or withheld material information relevant to its compliance or to getting the permit.
5. This exception will be impossible to prove. Proving someone has lied or withheld evidence, by clear and convincing evidence is an almost impossible standard. Any documents proving such fraud will often be beyond the plaintiff's reach, but it will likely be impossible to meet the standard - clear and convincing evidence - without such a "smoking gun"
On Monday, Governor Rick Perry attended the new headquarters opening of the King Street Patriots -- which is apparently an important stop in-between his giving speeches to RNC Chairs in Dallas and trying to force his own Party to do what he wants on the budget. Anyways...
I received an e-mail from a woman who attended the event, shook the Governor's hand, and took a lot of notes. For the most part, the event was most of the anti-Washington rah rah rah that we've all heard a thousand times. But Perry did say something interesting regarding the loser pays bill that passed, and with her permission, I wanted to republish her notes. Consider this a rough transcript of what Perry said at the opening of the new King Street Patriots headquarters:
The Loser Pays bill puts us over the top, better than we already are, into the stratosphere. I told Haley Barbour a year ago that I was going to do this and he said, Rick, if you do this you can put a toll road on every highway that goes into Texas! (much laughter and applause) We are setting standards! We say NO to special interests!
The underlying legislation will add Texas to a handful of states that have some version of "loser-pay" rules for lawsuits. Those rules are supposed to limit frivolous lawsuits by making it costly for litigants to file suits that have little chance of success. But under the bill that passed the Texas House last week, some lawsuit winners might have to pay their opponent's legal costs.
That's not loser pays. We have been supportive of fighting lawsuit abuse, including the medical malpratice cap, but this goes well beyond the kind of sensible tort reform that has taken place in Texas over the last decade.
Ed. note: This is a running count. Check the end of the diary for updates on the total. Latest is 12,372.
"There is no bunk in these numbers."
Today, the Texas Progressive Alliance -- a large group of Democratic and progressive bloggers in Texas -- released a preliminary tally of school district job cuts and resignations in just 60 school districts in Texas. TPA emphasized that this is a working document, and there are likely many, many more jobs that have been eliminated since January than those represented below.
If you know of other ISD layoffs, job cuts, etc. that are not represented at the list at the bottom of the post, please leave a comment and let us know!
The following is from the TPA release:
AUSTIN—More than 12,000 Texas public school teachers, librarians, administrators, and support staff have left their school job in the roughly three months since the Texas Legislature released proposed budget figures for the 2012-2013 biennium, according to data released Tuesday by the Texas Progressive Alliance.
"There is no bunk in these numbers," said Vince Leibowitz, chair of the Alliance, a group of progressive online activists including more than 50 netroots activists, bloggers, and online writers from across Texas. "These numbers are the cold, hard, truth and show precisely how significant an impact the proposed budget is already having on school districts across the state," Leibowitz said.
More alarming, he noted, is that the more than 12,000 layoffs, firings, and voluntary or forced retirements represent only a fraction of the devastating toll the proposed budget is taking on public education. "These reductions come from a grand total of 60 of the state's 1,234 school districts, less than five percent of all school districts statewide," he noted. "Imagine how high this number will be when data is collected for all of these school districts," he continued.
The Alliance collected the data from publicly available sources including newspapers, television stations, and other media outlets that cover Texas school boards. The data was compiled by members of the Alliance and includes districts from all parts of the state.
The data was released on the heels of an announcement by the Texas Legislative Budget Board that the proposed budget being considered by the Legislature will be the first since at least 1984 that does not adequately fund public school formula funding and makes no allowance for enrollment growth.
"Yesterday, Senator Ogden was quoted as saying that Texas school districts could 'live with,' five percent cuts," said Charles Kuffner, Vice Chair of the Alliance. "Evidently, Senator Ogden and Republicans in the Legislature, Governor Perry, and our state leadership think losing 12,000 public school employees, increasing class sizes, and reducing the quality of instruction are worth living with. We do not," Kuffner stated.
The Alliance will continue to track school district layoffs through the start of the 2011-2012 school year and today will ask readers of their blog to help them track this critically important number in ISDs across the state.
The TPA noted that, "as best as possible, the Texas Progressive Alliance attempted to avoid counting projected job loss figures. The numbers below should reflect jobs that have already been cut and positions that have promised not to be fulfilled. In some cases, news reports reported several totals of jobs reduced or positions not filled; in those cases, the Texas Progressive Alliance used the lowest and most certain of the figures."
Here are the numbers and ISDs facing cuts, with sources:
With the State of Texas needing to find ways to trim billions of dollars to balance its budget, shifting pharmacy services from a fee-for-service system to a Medicaid managed care system in order to save money may seem like a good idea at first blush. A closer look at the proposed Medicaid managed care "carve-in" of pharmacy services, however, reveals that any such savings predicted from the program are elusive, manufactured, and fleeting, at best.
Currently, pharmacy services for Medicaid patients are delivered by community-based pharmacies who are reimbursed by the state through a fee for service structure. This simply means that the state reimburses a pharmacy a pre-determined rate to cover the cost of the product (drug) and the cost of doing business (paying the pharmacist). The administrative cost of this approach to the State is a mere 1% of total program outlays.
The Texas legislature is proposing that Medicaid pharmacy services be shifted to a restricted managed care system where "middlemen," known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), would set the rules for administering pharmacy services to Medicaid patients. It is asserted by proponents of this change that this move would save money, but such "savings" come only in the form of a premium tax on health insurance plans, which would in turn be passed on to all consumers of private insurance products in Texas.
This premium tax "benefit" to the State is nothing more than a tax and is dwarfed by the economic damage that a the resulting restriction in access to pharmacy services would impose on the State and its citizens.
As many of you know, every ten years, states redraw their state and federal legislative districts to reflect new census data. What you may not be as familiar with is our infamous redistricting history in Texas.
The most recent, and probably most egregious, attempt at redistricting happened in 2003. We are still recovering from that battle.
Now, it's time for Texas to redistrict according to the new census numbers. So, even facing a deep budget hole and a typical set of legislative battles, we have to tackle redistricting, too.
Let's Get Into the Details
The Texas House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Texas Senate has 31 members. Each of those members' districts must be drawn with almost exactly the same number of people. According to census information, each Senate district should have around 811,147 people. To put that number in perspective, each Texas Senate district will have more residents than the states of Wyoming, Vermont, or Alaska. Each Texas House District should have 167,637 people after redistricting.
Unlike the number of Congressional Districts (which can increase or decrease based on the rate of population growth in Texas relative to the rest of the country), the number of Texas Senate districts is set at 31. So, as the population of Texas increases, the number of people within each Senate district also increases.
Simply dividing the districts evenly by population, of course, isn't very hard. Doing so in a way that is legal, and that fairly reflects Texas regional and political views as well as its historic communities of interest, is another matter. To get more information on Texas redistricting, visit: www.kirkwatson.com.
As the student population has changed, Texas has continued to pile more demands on schools, and it costs money to meet those demands. Schools began giving the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, a much tougher exam than its predecessor, in 2003, and began that year to require students in the third grade to pass the reading section of the test to advance to fourth grade. Today the test is tied to promotion in grades five and eight. In addition, students who used to graduate from Texas high schools with three credits in math and three in science now must have four credits in each. To meet these demands, schools have spent more on student remediation, teacher training and the renovation of science labs.
Schools are preparing to give a new test next year, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, which the Texas Education Agency has promised "will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests." And let's not forget that, led by our last governor, the federal government created an additional set of accountability measures for schools to meet during the past 10 years.
The increasing demands on students have put more demands on teachers and principals, particularly considering the state's heavy emphasis on standardized testing to judge schools.
Districts across the state have therefore decided to hire instructional coordinators, curriculum specialists and others to give students extra attention and to help teachers make sure their lessons help students meet the escalating expectations.
After some digging, we were able to determine exactly how much the cost of standardized testing went up under the Perry/Bush era of standardized testing. When you breakdown the numerous ways that the cost of standardized testing adds up -- including contracting with an agency to develop the tests, testing materials, study guides, and additional school personnel to administer all the tests -- what does it add up to? From a 2009 Statesman blog post titled, "The high cost of TAKS, we learn that:
When added up, taxpayers will pay about $93 million this year to administer standardized tests to Texas students, Zyskowski says, or nearly ten times the cost of just nine years earlier.
Jason Embry: "Do you mean, initially, or do you mean, it's your goal, by the end of the session, we're still not hitting the rainy day fund?"
Perry: "That would be my goal. Not tapping into the rainy day fund means not tapping into the rainy day fund."
Embry: "How strong of a line in the sand are you going to take on that? Are you going to tell these folks, 'Don't send me a budget that taps in the rainy day fund?'"
Perry: "Oh I think we've already said that. Do I need to take a chisel out there and chisel it into the side of the Capitol? I think everybody takes me at my word.
Pitts pressed, "Does that mean at some point you would agree to use some of the rainy-day fund?" and that Perry hasn't drawn a line "that you will never touch the rainy day fund?"
"Absolutely," Armbrister said. "We even talked about it with the governor, and he said, 'Yeah, I haven't drawn a line in the sand.'"
