Education Needs Relevance Without Sacrificing Rigor: House Bill 5

by: Senator Leticia Van de Putte

Wed May 15, 2013 at 00:32 PM CDT

Unfortunately, much of this debate has focused on one shortsighted question: Do all students really need Algebra II? Many students will not attend a four-year university, this argument goes, so why should they be forced to spend time taking it?

The real questions need to be: At what point will students decide they are not on a university path? What can we do to prepare them for success in their chosen postsecondary path? And to be prepared for the jobs of the future, can any path afford not to require rigor?

I hope to reframe the debate in conference committee, and come out with a much stronger bill that helps every student realize his or her potential.

Read more below the jump.

Demand an Honest Budget

by: Kirk Watson

Mon May 13, 2013 at 07:42 PM CDT

Top Five Budget Requests of Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter

by: Texas Sierra Club

Mon Apr 22, 2013 at 02:18 PM CDT

The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) is one of the key programs at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that helps keep compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) ozone standards for clean air.  Funded by so-called dedicated fees collected from businesses throughout the state, TERP provides incentives to reduce (mostly) vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides in non-attainment and near non-attainment areas.  The fees raise some $190 million per year, but the current Senate version of SB 1 would only appropriate $90 million per year, while the House version would only provide $65 million per year. These funds are very important now because the U.S. EPA is likely to make the current air quality standard more stringent later this year.  Consequently, several more urban areas throughout the eastern half of Texas (Austin-Round Rock, San Antonio, Tyler-Longview, for example) would fail the standard and industries in the Houston region would face additional federal fines.

Sierra Club has joined with many public and private sector stakeholders throughout the state recommending that TERP appropriations be restored to at least $135 million per year.

Read more below the jump.  

83rd Legislative Update - My bills move to the House

by: Senator Leticia Van de Putte

Mon Apr 22, 2013 at 09:18 AM CDT

As you probably know, bills face a two-step process in the Capitol - they must pass one chamber, then the other - before they can go to the Governor for his signature and become law.

So far, 26 bills that I've authored have cleared that first hurdle - making it out of the Senate and over to the House. Additionally, four other bills on which I served as a secondary author have also moved over.

There isn't room to mention them all here, but here are some of the most notable:

Veterans/Military: As Chair of the Senate Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee, taking care of those who serve or have served - including their families - is at the forefront of my work in Austin.

Senate Bill 10 is the Veterans' Employment and Business Opportunity Act, and tackles veteran unemployment on three fronts: It allows direct hiring of veterans by state agencies through the Texas Workforce Commission's automated system, and requires at least 25% of the interview pool to be veterans; increases the ability of disabled veteran-owned business to compete for state contracts by making them  eligible for contracting with the Texas Council on Purchasing From People With Disabilities; and makes the College Credit for Heroes program permanent, letting certain military training translate into college credits.

SB 162 will also help the veteran unemployment problem by requiring state agencies that issue occupational licenses to provide an expedited licensure for service members, their spouses, and veterans within one year of separation from the military, if the license they obtained in the military is substantially similar to what Texas requires. (A year after the expedite license is issued, individuals would be expected to fully meet Texas requirements for that license.)

SBs 846 and 898 address veterans' mental health concerns. SB 846 requires the Texas Veterans Commission to coordinate with the Department of State Health Services to incorporate a suicide prevention component into its training of veteran county service officers. SB 898 enables a greater number of veterans and family members  to be eligible for Peer-to-Peer services under the Mental Health Program for Veterans.

SB 981 will allow electric utilities in Texas to adopt a discount program similar to the one we now have in San Antonio for burned veterans who must keep their houses cooler than normal.

Healthcare: SB 294 extends the Bexar Cares program until 2023. Bexar Cares requires information sharing among state agencies to more efficiently help at-risk children with behavioral health problems.

Human Trafficking: Combating this form of modern-day slavery is another of my major legislative campaigns. SB 92 will create a juvenile diversion court for human trafficking survivors, so that minors who have been prostituted may be treated as crime victims needing treatment and services rather than as criminals.

SB 532 would enact the recommendations of the Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force created by the 81st Legislature four years ago. It is actually still in the Senate, but that's okay - its companion bill, House Bill 8 authored by my dear friend Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston, has moved swiftly through the House and has been sent to the Senate. I am confident this will become law.

Not directly concerning human trafficking but closely related is SB 1356, requiring training at juvenile correctional facilities to help staff recognize when misbehavior by youth may be due to a past trauma rather than simple disobedience. Such trauma-induced behavior requires treatment, not punishment.

Education: I am particularly proud of and hopeful for SB 1538. There are public and charter schools that specialize in helping high school dropouts get back into the education system and achieve a diploma, but school rating systems fail to recognize the special challenges such schools face. SB 1538 would require these circumstances to be considered, so that such schools don't get punished for doing exactly what they're supposed to do.

Coordinated school health programs currently address a range of physical health concerns for students. SB 1352 would require that mental health be addressed as well.

The education code currently outlines conditions under which a teacher may remove a student from the classroom for disciplinary reasons. SB 1541 would similarly specify conditions under which bus drivers could similarly remove students from a bus and refer the student to the principal.

Economic development: Craft brewing and distilling are rapidly expanding industries nationwide, but Texas companies in the beverage industry are hamstrung by inconsistencies in the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code. Several bills that I have authored or coauthored will level the playing field for these entrepreneurs, such as SB 828 which would allow them to more effectively market their products, or SB 905, which would allow them to sell a small amount directly to consumers visiting a distillery.

The final day of session, known as sine die, will be May 27.

Texas Lunch Links: West, Texas Updates, Nate Silver's Gun Model and Payday Lending Drama,

by: Nick Hudson

Fri Apr 19, 2013 at 00:30 PM CDT

WEST EXPLOSION UPDATES: The West Fertilizer Company's plans for a "worst-case scenario," filed with the EPA June 2011, didn't anticipate a gigantic explosion. Though the family-owned plant was "fined or disciplined" three times in the past 10 years, it had not had a "comprehensive inspection" since 2006. Texas' regulation of chemical storage doesn't appear to be as robust as other states. There are more than 160 casualties and at least 12 fatalities. President Obama promised Governor Perry prayers and federal aid in a telephone call yesterday.

MODELING THE GUN VOTE: Over at FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver produced a very interesting logistic regression model that seeks to explain with five variables each United States senator's voted on the background check amendment proposed that failed to muster 60 votes. The five variables are: gun-ownership rates in the senator's state; whether or not the senator caucuses with the Democrats; the senator's voting record on a liberal-conservative scale, based on the the DW-Nominate system; the share of the vote that Obama received in the senator's state in 2012; and a variable indicating whether the senator is running for re-election in 2014.

PAYDAY LENDING: After what the Texas Tribune called a "raucous" debate, Republican Senator John Carona pulled his payday lending bill from the Senate floor on Thursday. During the debate, which became at times heated and personal, Republican Senator Troy Fraser and Democrat Senator John Whitmire, criticized Carona and suggested that senators needed more time to consider six proposed changes to SB 1247 that would have strengthened consumer protections.

Keep reading Texas Lunch Links below the fold!

Helping Traumatized Kids in Texas' Juvenile Justice System

by: Senator Leticia Van de Putte

Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 10:04 AM CDT

When young people end up in our state's juvenile justice system, that statement is, unfortunately, the easy assumption to make. Real life, of course, is usually more complex than that. Bad behavior usually has a cause.

Too often, children who head the wrong direction in life got started down that path by the bad hand they were dealt early in their lives. So many of our kids have been abused, either emotionally, physically, sexually, or some combination thereof. Or they were neglected, or suffered deprivation.

Each year, roughly half of the youth referred to Texas' juvenile justice facilities have experienced some type of trauma. These traumas can't just be swept from their psyche - they leave scars. Those invisible scars often show up in their behavior - certain "triggers" can set them off, causing severe overreactions that can be mistaken for disobedience by untrained staff in juvenile facilities. This leads to harsh and counterproductive responses, including the use of long seclusions in secure facilities, or being held in restraints - responses which often makes a kid's trauma worse.

This negative cycle of  trauma-incarceration-trauma pushes youth deeper and deeper into the juvenile justice system, and farther and farther away from the behaviors that lead to the right path. In fact, research in Texas shows that a youth's past experience with trauma is the single largest predictor of how deeply involved that youth will become in the Texas juvenile justice system.

I want to help children avoid this cycle. That's why I introduced Senate Bill 1356 in the current legislative session. This bill, if it becomes law, will require the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and county juvenile departments to include "trauma-informed care" in their existing training programs for appropriate staff, including probation officers, detention officers, and court-supervised community-based program personnel. The training would provide specialized skill for working with juveniles who have experienced traumatic events.

This would allow staff to recognize when a child may be reacting to a trigger, and then deal with the crisis appropriately, rather than using punishments that may just send the youth crashing into a downward spiral. Rather than asking "what's wrong with you?" staff need to ask "what happened to you?" That's a crucial difference.

In a recent survey of girls incarcerated in the state secure juvenile facility, fifty percent said their time in county juvenile probation did not help them deal with their past trauma. That's too many young people who aren't getting the treatment and help they need.

I know this trauma-informed care can work - my inspiration for this bill came from seeing it in action right here in Bexar County. In recent years, Bexar's juvenile probation department took advantage of a trauma-informed care training program provided by the Hogg Foundation beginning in 2007. Since joining that effort, Bexar has reduced seclusions, restraints, suicide attempts, and injuries in juvenile facilities much more than the state average.

The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC), a nonprofit research organization devoted to creating a criminal justice system that is fair, efficient, and safe, endorses my bill.

"SB 1356 is an important step towards a stronger Texas juvenile justice system that heals traumatized youth," said Benet Magnuson, a policy attorney with TCJC. "Our current juvenile justice system sends the most traumatized youth deepest into the system. In the future, our juvenile justice system must give staff the skills they need to support traumatized youth, and our policies must stop practices, such as the use of long isolations to punish youth, that re-traumatize kids in trouble."

Ultimately, a justice system cannot simply be about punishment, it must also put people on the right course. And there's no better time to do that than when they're young. I believe this bill will aid that effort.

I'm grateful to my Senate colleagues who voted SB 1356 out of the Criminal Justice Committee. I look forward to it passing the entire Senate, the House, and eventually getting signed into law by Governor Perry. Our children deserve better treatment.

State Senator Leticia Van de Putte represents District 26 in Bexar County.

Texas Lunch Links: Education Requirements, Election Law Changes, and Cats and Dogs

by: Nick Hudson

Mon Apr 08, 2013 at 00:00 PM CDT

EDUCATION: The Washington Post Editorial Board chides Texas lawmakers today for considering rolling back rigorous education standards. Writes the board, "If enacted, the measures promise to have a particularly pernicious effect on students from low-income families without college-educated parents."

ROADS: As Texas fails to provide a steady stream of funding for its road projects, some counties are asking local taxpayers to foot the bill for completion of state transportation infrastructure.

LON BURNAM: The Star-Telegram has a great profile of Texas Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth), who has a different, more effective approach in the 83rd Legislature than in sessions past.

ABORTION FIGHT: As anti-abortion bills begin receiving committee hearings and committee approvals, the culture war looms in Texas.

ELECTION LAWS: Lawmakers on Monday take up bills that would shrink the early voting period from 17 to 10 days.

LEGISLATIVE OVERVIEW: The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has a good comparative overview of Texas' 83rd Regular Legislative Session 90 days in. Writes Chris Tomlinson, "there is still plenty of time for hot-button issues."

CATS AND DOGS: The Dallas Morning News provides readers a good overview of legislation in Texas that would impact the treatment of a range of animals, including cats, dogs, sheep and goats.

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte: Helping Dropouts Drop Back In

by: Senator Leticia Van de Putte

Mon Apr 01, 2013 at 07:09 PM CDT

But there is no debate on another point: A high school diploma is something to which all students should aspire and achieve. And it's crucially important that Texas not erect unnecessary obstacles to obtaining that diploma.

That's why I filed Senate Bill 1538, which will help both traditional and charter high schools that reach out to dropouts, getting them back into school and into that cap and gown.

Getting dropouts back into school isn't just a noble goal - it's an economic necessity.

I've said that education is the fuel for our economic engine, and there are accurate statistics to prove it: A 2009 study by Texas A&M found that, of Texans with a high school diploma (but not a college degree), the average yearly salary is $21,361. For those who drop out of high school, the average is only about two-thirds that: $14,592. That's lost income for individuals and families, as well as lost revenue for the state.

That can literally be the difference between being in poverty or not - the federal government's official threshold for poverty for a two-person household, under age 65, without children is $15,374.

It can also be the difference between incarceration or not: Two-thirds of inmates in Texas prison system are high school dropouts.

Read more below the jump.

Texas Lunch Links: Payday Loans, Death Threats and High-Stakes Testing

by: Nick Hudson

Wed Mar 27, 2013 at 11:59 AM CDT

PAYDAY LOANS: Rev. Gerald Green, Jr. of Dallas-based CitySquare proposes four specific changes to Republican State Senator John Carona's, "dramatically weakened payday lending bill."

GALLEGO CHALLENGED: San Antonio Express News is reporting that Representative Pete Gallego, the Democrat who was elected to Texas' 23rd congressional district in November, has an early Republican challenger for 2014.

EDUCATION: The Texas House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to reduce the required number of high school end-of-course exams from 15 to five and to change high school graduation plans to emphasize career and vocational training.

GUNS: Texas would require its residents to acquire concealed handgun licences in Texas under a bill authored by State Senator Juan Hinojosa, Democrat of McAllen. Texas currently recognizes other states' handgun licenses.

RICK PERRY: Governor Goodhair called the Obama administration's decision to award a competitively bid grant directly to a Texas coalition of women's clinics, instead of Texas' Department of State Health Services, "a clear attempt to circumvent the will of the Texas taxpayers and impose their own values on the people of Texas." The coalition of clinics will serve more than 160,000 women.

WELFARE DRUG-TESTING: Texas' Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved a bill that would strip welfare recipients of benefits for one year if they fail a drug test this week.

EAGLE FORD SHALE: South Texas' Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling operation had an estimated $61 billion impact on South Texas last year, according to an ongoing University of Texas at San Antonio study released at the Capitol on Tuesday. The study is being paid for by America's Natural Gas Alliance.

WHITMIRE SAFE: A prison investigator says that a death threat against Texas Senator John Whitmire from the Mexican Mafia was an unusual scam by a confidential informant. The death threat, which the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday, was the bright idea of confidential informant who hoped that recruiting and then reporting the conspirators would earn him cash or a reduced prison sentence.

FLASHBACK ON DOMA: Not a single Texas Democrat voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Top Texas Lunch Links

by: Nick Hudson

Tue Mar 26, 2013 at 00:53 PM CDT

The San Antonio Express Editorial Board came out swinging today against Texas Senator John Carona and his payday loan compromise bill. They write, "He is not doing consumers any favors."

With oral arguments about California's Proposition 8 going on today, and arguments for the Defense of Marriage Act scheduled for tomorrow, Chuck Lindell of the Austin American Statesman looks at the potential impact the Supreme Court's decisions on the cases could have on Texas.

Austin Independent School District plans to extend health insurance benefits to domestic partners months after the Pflugerville school district made history by becoming the first in the Texas to do so.

The Senate unanimously passed a Medicaid reform bill on Monday that would allow around 12,000 disabled Texans qualify for long-term disability.

The Mexican Mafia, unhappy with Texas Senator John Whitmire's successful move to block cell phone calls from prison, has apparently made a death threat against him. Whitmire told the Houston Chronicle, "I'm taking it very serious because it's the only smart thing to do." This is the second death threat Whitmire has received from an inmate. The first threat, in 2008, was the catalyst for his cell phone jamming crusade.

A Texas House panel on Monday considered a constitutional amendment that would reinforce the Open Beaches Act. The Open Beaches Act was weakened by two contentious state Supreme Court rulings last year.

With the help of on of its architects, Texas' Driver Responsibility Program may get the axe. The Driver Responsibility program was intended to make a range of driving violations, such as drunken driving and driving without insurance, more expensive; its funds were supposed to be earmarked for trauma care at hospitals and state highways. But 1.3 million Texans who couldn't or wouldn't keep up with the charges, and they had their licenses revoked from from 2003-2011.