Saturday, July 29, 2023
Terminology for GOVT 2306 Module 4
Three chapters to choose from:
- Chapter Seven: Texas Sized Justice.
- Chapter Thirteen: Lone Star Politics - Energy, Environment, Transportation, and Trade Policies: Transforming Texas.
- Chapter Fourteen: Lone Star Politics - Social Policy: Education, Health, and Immigration.
Friday, July 28, 2023
Campaign Stories - 2024.
I'm stashing these here until I know where they might best fit.
- DeSantis sheds staff amid money troubles for his White House bid.
- Ballotpedia: Defining noteworthy presidential candidates (2024).
Thursday, July 27, 2023
From the New York Times: Facebook’s Algorithm Is ‘Influential’ but Doesn’t Necessarily Change Beliefs, Researchers Say
In 2305 we discuss the development of public opinion along with a topic called "agents of political socialization." These are the various influences on individuals that impact how they process political information. One of these is the media, and increasingly this means social media.
But saying that social media has an impact on its users and proving it are not the same. This article narrows the question down to the algorithm Facebook uses to determine what people see on their feed. Researchers are finding mixed results, suggesting we should temper what we think we know about social media's impact.
- Click here for it.
The algorithms powering Facebook and Instagram, which drive what billions of people see on the social networks, have been in the cross hairs of lawmakers, activists and regulators for years. Many have called for the algorithms to be abolished to stem the spread of viral misinformation and to prevent the inflammation of political divisions.
But four new studies published on Thursday — including one that examined the data of 208 million Americans who used Facebook in the 2020 presidential election — complicate that narrative.
In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of political news declined when their ability to re-share posts was removed, the researchers said.
At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to another study. Ninety-seven percent of the people who read links to “untrustworthy” news stories on the apps during the 2020 election identified as conservative and largely engaged with right-wing content, the research found.
The studies, which were published in the journals Science and Nature, provide a contradictory and nuanced picture of how Americans have been using — and have been affected by — two of the world’s biggest social platforms. The conflicting results suggested that understanding social media’s role in shaping discourse may take years to unwind.
The papers also stood out for the large numbers of Facebook and Instagram users who were included and because the researchers obtained data and formulated and ran experiments with collaboration from Meta, which owns the apps. The studies are the first in a series of 16 peer-reviewed papers. Previous social media studies have relied mostly on publicly available information or were based on small numbers of users with information that was “scraped,” or downloaded, from the internet.
A list of the boards appointed by the governor
Texas Governor: Appointed Positions.
Texas Governor: Budget and Policy Division.
Texas State Budget: Budget process for the 2024-2025 biennium.
Senate Research Center: Budget 101.
Center for Media Engagement.
Texas Governor: Budget and Policy Division.
Texas State Budget: Budget process for the 2024-2025 biennium.
Senate Research Center: Budget 101.
Center for Media Engagement.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Relevant Links: 7/25/23
These are all from the Texas Tribune.
1 - Gov. Greg Abbott signs $18 billion tax cut package for Texas property owners.
Here is an example of the governor's legislative power: bill signage. Bills become laws unless he actually vetoes them, click here for a list of vetoed bills over history. Sometimes he wants to demonstrate support, or take credit for, certain bills so he makes a ceremony out of it.
2 - Justice Department threatens Texas with legal action over floating barrier in Rio Grande.
Here is another chapter in the ongoing battle over border security policy between the national government and the states - with Texas leading the charge. Texas is unique among other southern border states since a river defines the border. Crossings over the river have been a problem, Texas wants to implement a solution that the national government disagrees with.
Constitutionally - U.S. Constitution anyway - this is a power delegated to Congress and prohibited to the states. The supremacy clause also could be used to justify the national government's priority in dealing with this issue.
Texas claims that border crossings qualify as an "invasion" which means that Texas can act on it as it sees fit. In addition, once in Texas, those who cross can be handled under state penal code by both state and local officials.
The story focuses on the national government using the national courts to push back against Texas about the legality of Texas' decision to use a specific method of interfering with attempts to cross the border. Texas has done so as well many times in the past.
3 - Confusion and stress abound for 500,000 Texans bumped from Medicaid.
Medicaid is a national program that provides medical funding for poor people. Medicare does the same, but for the elderly. Medicaid is paid for by federal income taxes and state sales taxes, Medicare by a dedicated payroll tax. Medicaid is run by the state governments, Medicare by the national government.
- Click here for the Social Security Amendments of 1965.
Government assistance for the poor has always been controversial. As a result, states negotiated to have control over who was eligible. Texas is one of the states that likes to limit access. This story is an example of it.
4 - EPA will decide if the state is doing enough to reduce pollution in two East Texas counties.
Here is another lawsuit filed against Texas by the national government. The previous one had to do with an international border, so it involves an area more commonly controlled by the national government. Environmental policy overlaps both national and state policy jurisdiction, so the fight can be more fierce. And if it involves Texas, it most certainly will be.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/24/biden-goff-legislative-affairs-mccarthy/
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/two-major-elections-bills-two-different-visions-for-voters/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/25/asylum-ruling-biden-migrants/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/07/25/ralph-nader-and-congress/
Monday, July 24, 2023
From the New York Times: Pressured by Biden, A.I. Companies Agree to Guardrails on New Tools
A look at how regulatory policies develop and evolve.
- Click here for the article.
Seven leading A.I. companies in the United States have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology’s development, the White House announced on Friday, pledging to manage the risks of the new tools even as they compete over the potential of artificial intelligence.
The seven companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — formally made their commitment to new standards for safety, security and trust at a meeting with President Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon.
. . . The voluntary safeguards are only an early, tentative step as Washington and governments across the world seek to put in place legal and regulatory frameworks for the development of artificial intelligence. The agreements include testing products for security risks and using watermarks to make sure consumers can spot A.I.-generated material.
But lawmakers have struggled to regulate social media and other technologies in ways that keep up with the rapidly evolving technology.
The White House offered no details of a forthcoming presidential executive order that aims to deal with another problem: how to control the ability of China and other competitors to get ahold of the new artificial intelligence programs, or the components used to develop them.
The order is expected to involve new restrictions on advanced semiconductors and restrictions on the export of the large language models. Those are hard to secure — much of the software can fit, compressed, on a thumb drive.
An executive order could provoke more opposition from the industry than Friday’s voluntary commitments, which experts said were already reflected in the practices of the companies involved. The promises will not restrain the plans of the A.I. companies nor hinder the development of their technologies. And as voluntary commitments, they will not be enforced by government regulators.
. . . As part of the safeguards, the companies agreed to security testing, in part by independent experts; research on bias and privacy concerns; information sharing about risks with governments and other organizations; development of tools to fight societal challenges like climate change; and transparency measures to identify A.I.-generated material.
. . . But the rules on which they agreed are largely the lowest common denominator, and can be interpreted by every company differently. For example, the firms committed to strict cybersecurity measures around the data used to make the language models on which generative A.I. programs are developed. But there is no specificity about what that means, and the companies would have an interest in protecting their intellectual property anyway.
. . . “The voluntary commitments announced today are not enforceable, which is why it’s vital that Congress, together with the White House, promptly crafts legislation requiring transparency, privacy protections, and stepped-up research on the wide range of risks posed by generative A.I.,” Mr. Barrett said in a statement.
. . . Lawmakers have been grappling with how to address the ascent of A.I. technology, with some focused on risks to consumers and others acutely concerned about falling behind adversaries, particularly China, in the race for dominance in the field.
This week, the House committee on competition with China sent bipartisan letters to U.S.-based venture capital firms, demanding a reckoning over investments they had made in Chinese A.I. and semiconductor companies. For months, a variety of House and Senate panels have been questioning the A.I. industry’s most influential entrepreneurs and critics to determine what sort of legislative guardrails and incentives Congress ought to be exploring.
Many of those witnesses, including Sam Altman of OpenAI, have implored lawmakers to regulate the A.I. industry, pointing out the potential for the new technology to cause undue harm. But that regulation has been slow to get underway in Congress, where many lawmakers still struggle to grasp what exactly A.I. technology is.
For more:
- Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights.
- NCSL: Artificial Intelligence 2023 Legislation.
- Texas Standard: Gov. Abbott signs bill to establish an Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council.
- Wikipedia: Regulation of artificial intelligence.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Videos on the expansion of democracy in 1600s Britain
You Tube: What were the Putney Debates? | English Civil War.
- The Putney Debates: The Putney Debates, which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament's victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War. The main participants were senior officers of the New Model Army who favoured retaining Charles within the framework of a Constitutional monarchy, and radicals such as the Levellers who sought more sweeping changes, including one man, one vote and freedom of conscience, particularly in religion.
You Tube: The forgotten radicals of the English Civil War | The Levellers.
- The Levellers: a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as shown by its emphasis on equal natural rights, and their practice of reaching the public through pamphlets, petitions and vocal appeals to the crowd.[1]
The Levellers came to prominence at the end of the First English Civil War (1642–1646) and were most influential before the start of the Second Civil War (1648–49). Leveller views and support were found in the populace of the City of London and in some regiments in the New Model Army. Their ideas were presented in their manifesto "Agreement of the People". In contrast to the Diggers, the Levellers opposed common ownership, except in cases of mutual agreement of the property owners.
Video: The Last Armed Rebellion in Britain | The Newport Rising.
- Chartism: a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, with particular strongholds of support in Northern England, the East Midlands, the Staffordshire Potteries, the Black Country and the South Wales Valleys. The movement was fiercely opposed by government authorities, who finally suppressed it.
Support for the movement was at its highest when petitions signed by millions of working people were presented to the House of Commons. The strategy employed was to use the scale of support which these petitions and the accompanying mass meetings demonstrated to put pressure on politicians to concede manhood suffrage. Chartism thus relied on constitutional methods to secure its aims, though some became involved in insurrectionary activities, notably in South Wales and in Yorkshire.
Friday, July 21, 2023
Thursday, July 20, 2023
From The Houston Chronicle: Zombie Wells - A Series
These three article illustrate an aspect of market failure that has led to the development of executive agencies designed to counter them.
The failure is a negative externality:
the imposition of a cost on a party as an indirect effect of the actions of another party. Negative externalities arise when one party, such as a business, makes another party worse off, yet does not bear the costs from doing so. Externalities, which can be either positive or negative to the affected parties, are a form of market failure resulting in inefficient market outcomes. Negative externalities are an important concept in environmental economics, in which pollution represents a tremendous cost borne by outside parties.
The oil and gas industry creates many such failures. Zombie wells are an example:
A zombie well is a well that is coming unplugged. Each oil and gas well is supposed to get plugged at the end of its useful life. And so a zombie well is a well whose plug is failing. . . . a well that could allow fluids underground to travel to the surface, as we saw in some cases in West Texas. Any unplugged well or a well whose plug is failing can allow the fluids underground to get to the surface.
The political strength of the oil and gas industry prevents the state from requiring them to clean these up. Since no one else seems willing to step up, we have an obvious problem.
Here are the parts of the Chronicle's series:
- Zombie Wells, Part 1: Texas oil wells are leaking toxic waste, and no one wants to pay to clean it.
- Zombie Wells, Part 2: How forsaken oil wells are causing environmental chaos across Texas.
- Zombie Wells, Part 3: Sinkholes near old Texas oil wells may signal issues in climate change fight.
- 5 disturbing takeaways from the Chronicle's investigation into Texas zombie wells.
Political Entrepreneur, Collective Action, the Free Rider Problem and Selective Incentives
While we like to think that Texas and the United States are based on rugged individuals, political strength is a function of group strength. Size matters, but so does group cohesion. Both require that individuals are able to put their needs aside in order to achieve group goals - which may well provide greater benefits for the individual.
But this is difficult to do.
Often individuals are unwilling to work for group goals. The terms below help com to terms with that factor. Later we will discuss how political benefits are more likely to be won by groups that can act collectively, that is whose members can be persuaded to overcome the tendency to freeride.
For now here are some definitions:
Political Entrepreneur
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/the-rise-of-the-political-entrepreneur-and-why-we-need-more-of-them/
What is Collective Action?
Wikipedia: Collective Action.
Springer: Collective Action.
LibreTexts: Collective Action.
What is the Free Rider Problem?
- Free Rider Problem:
- Stanford: Free Rider problem:
- Britannica: Free Rider Problem.
What are Selective Incentives?
- Wiley Online Library: Selective Incentives.
- Britannica:
- W.W. Norton:
But this is difficult to do.
Often individuals are unwilling to work for group goals. The terms below help com to terms with that factor. Later we will discuss how political benefits are more likely to be won by groups that can act collectively, that is whose members can be persuaded to overcome the tendency to freeride.
For now here are some definitions:
Political Entrepreneur
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/the-rise-of-the-political-entrepreneur-and-why-we-need-more-of-them/
What is Collective Action?
Wikipedia: Collective Action.
action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective.
Springer: Collective Action.
Collective action lies at the heart of any vibrant civil society because civic engagement requires individuals to work together as part of a group. In plural societies, political parties, interest organizations, voluntary associations, and religious congregations serve an important role. Putnam et al. (1994) said these associations all help to “make democracy work.” Meyer and Tarrow (1998) characterize contemporary postindustrial societies as “social movement societies” in which interest organizations and protest groups are nearly ubiquitous. Too often, however, collective action is taken for granted by civic activists and prescriptive theorists of civil society alike. It is easy to assume that, because people belong to groups with common interests, the members of that group will act in concert to achieve those interests. These assumptions are challenged by collective action theory.
LibreTexts: Collective Action.
Public education, elections, and lobbying: all of these are connected to collective action. Collective action pervades social and political life, and it is observable across all societies. Collective action is any activity in which coordination by and across individuals has the potential to lead to achievement of a common objective. . . . collective action can also lead to the achievement of narrower objectives, such as when a focused interest group lobbies for tax breaks that benefit a smaller segment of society. Collective action can result in benefits for all or for the few. That it encompasses such a broad range of actors, actions, goals, and outcomes explains the enduring interest that political scientists have in this concept.
What is the Free Rider Problem?
- Free Rider Problem:
It also occurs, if people can get away with making only a token contribution (Something less than their overall benefit) If enough people can enjoy a good without paying for the cost – then there is a danger that, in a free market, the good will be under-provided or not provided at all.
- Stanford: Free Rider problem:
Political science asks: What explains the existence of large-scale political participation, despite the incentives that favor free riding?
- Britannica: Free Rider Problem.
Olson argued that there is little rational incentive for individuals to contribute to the production of a public (or common) good, given the costs they would incur, because they will benefit from the public good whether or not they contribute. (One of the defining characteristics of a public good is that everyone benefits from it.) Olson’s thesis, which suggested that group mobilization to advance a common interest may be difficult, challenged the assumption of the pluralist school in political science, according to which individuals readily mobilize to defend the interests of the groups to which they belong.
What are Selective Incentives?
- Wiley Online Library: Selective Incentives.
Selective incentives are private goods made available to people on the basis of whether they contribute to a collective good. Selective incentives can either reward participants (or contributors) or punish nonparticipants. The concept of selective incentive is important for focusing attention on the factors besides the group goal that affect people's desire to participate in social movements. Selective incentives can be material, solidary, or purposive.
- Britannica:
individuals will not contribute toward a collective good if the extra benefits they accrue through receiving that good are worth less than the costs of their contribution. . . . Selective incentives are Olson’s solution to the collective action problem. Many organizations provide selective incentives on top of the collective good
- W.W. Norton:
The collective-action problem can be overcome through the provision of selective benefits; that is, benefits that are conferred only on those who join the group and contribute to the collective goods.
Types of selective benefits include:
- Informational benefits: Group members are provided with magazines, fliers, and other materials that keep them informed.
- Material benefits: Group members are given discounts and group rates by virtue of being part of the group.
- Solidary benefits: Group members benefit from networking and getting to know other group members with similar interests.
- Purposive benefits: Group members enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that they have contributed to a cause that they value
THE REAL STORY OF THE BOARDWALK EMPIRE - Biography of Enoch "Nucky" Johnson
An useful history about how cities come to be, and how they can be prone to corruption.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
From Capital B: A Black Man Was Elected Mayor in Rural Alabama, but the White Town Leaders Won’t Let Him Serve
Another example of the barriers powerful, established, groups can resist democratic decisions.
Just ignore them.
- Click here for the article.
There’s a power struggle in Newbern, Alabama, and the rural town’s first Black mayor is at war with the previous administration who he says locked him out of Town Hall.
After years of racist harassment and intimidation, Patrick Braxton is fed up, and in a federal civil rights lawsuit he is accusing town officials of conspiring to deny his civil rights and his position because of his race.
“When I first became mayor, [a white woman told me] the town was not ready for a Black mayor,” Braxton recalls.
The town is 85% Black, and 69% of Black people here live below the poverty line.
“What did she mean by the town wasn’t ready for a Black mayor? They, meaning white people?” Capital B asked.
“Yes. No change,” Braxton says.
Decades removed from a seemingly Jim Crow South, white people continue to thwart Black political progress by refusing to allow them to govern themselves or participate in the country’s democracy, several residents told Capital B. While litigation may take months or years to resolve, Braxton and community members are working to organize voter education, registration, and transportation ahead of the 2024 general election.
But the tension has been brewing for years.
From Texas Monthly: Texas Is Now a Majority-Minority State. Why Haven’t Our Politics Changed?
Worth pondering as you red through the material on the political institutions.
This straddles the line between fact and opinion, but it raises interesting questions about what factors might cause a minority in a state to continue to dominate over a majority despite being in a majoritarian democracy.
See if you can understand those factors and their impact.
Sometime in 2004, the United States Census Bureau tells us, Texas became a majority-minority state. Setting aside the somewhat paradoxical nature of the phrase “majority minority,” the numbers were fairly straightforward. Non-Hispanic white residents, who had dominated the state since their first mass migration in the 1830s, now made up a mere 49.8 percent of Texas’s population. Hispanics made up 34.6 percent, African Americans 12.1 percent, and Asian Americans, American Indians, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders another 4.8 percent. Together, those groups added up to a bit more than 50 percent. An exciting turning point for Texas!
. . . Yet when you pull back and look at our statewide political leaders and the priorities of the Texas Legislature, it’s hard to remember a time when our government was less responsive to many minority residents’ concerns. Try to forget for a moment whether you’re conservative or liberal or something in between. As a simple matter of empirical observation, it’s clear that the majority of minorities in the state vote Democratic and that a disproportionate number of people of color live in our urban areas. But despite the huge demographic shift, Republicans continue to have a lock on the Lege, where they’re undermining our major cities’ ability to govern by, for instance, taking over Houston’s schools and threatening to turn Austin into a capitol district essentially run by the Legislature. Which is to say, the Lege is taking away many minorities’ ability to make their own political choices.
This is a relatively new development. Through the nineties and the first part of this century, Texas Republicans were fairly solicitous of Latinos. When he was governor, George W. Bush was proud of his outreach to Hispanic voters, many of whom didn’t seem to mind the broken Spanish he employed on the campaign trail. His successor, Rick Perry, came out against some of Arizona’s more stringent anti-immigrant measures, saying he believed “it would not be the right direction for Texas.”
Compare this with Governor Greg Abbott’s eager attempt to prove to his base that he could bus more immigrants to northern states, sometimes in the dead of winter, than Ron DeSantis could. Or numerous Republican politicians’ gleeful willingness to build a costly, environmentally ruinous, and ineffective border wall that is damaging an ancient wilderness and a vital and centuries-old border culture.
. . . So why hasn’t Texas made similar moves? There’s no single reason. Gerrymandering of state and federal legislative districts has made it more difficult for Democrats to win, as has the rising influence of wealthy conservative donors. A turn to the left by members of Gen Z has prompted many Republicans to move even further to the right. And, of course, there’s the complicated matter of some Latinos moving to the right.
All of those explanations would seem to apply to the other majority-
minority states. And yet New Mexico, which has many conservative Hispanics who are centuries removed from the immigrant experience, offers free college tuition to high school graduates and has relatively strong gun-control laws.
No, something else is at work here, and I think our Texas-size sense of state pride is at the heart of it all. Texas identity, as it has been passed down to generations of schoolchildren, is rooted in a pantheon of mythic freedom fighters, rugged individuals, and devout families. These legends were created by Anglos in the nineteenth century and, with few exceptions, gloss over the many people of color who were trampled along the way. The next chapter of Texas history, by contrast, will be dominated by the rise of Hispanic, Black, and Asian Texans, rendering the history of Anglo dominance a historical moment that is receding in the rearview mirror. And that scares the hell out of some people.
. . . But if we’re going to move into our majority-minority present and future together, it might make sense to recast that history as a story that belongs to all of us and rid ourselves of the damaging notion that our forebears were freer than we are. In recent years a number of scholars, such as Monica Muñoz Martinez, have reclaimed the stories of Mexicans and Mexican Americans killed along the border by vigilantes, including many Texas Rangers. Annette Gordon-Reed has brought new attention to Juneteenth’s complicated legacy. Hispanic historians and intellectuals have long challenged the myths constructed about the Alamo’s Anglo combatants, and in response you can now hear a very different version of those stories when you visit the Alamo.
Some random links - 7/19/23
Just cleaning up my tabs.
- The death of responsible party government.
- Important Election Dates 2023-2024.
- Important Dates for the Party Conventions, Primary Elections, and General Election.
- Congress.gov: Glossary of Legislative Terms.
- NCSL: Glossary of Legislative Terms.- Texas Workforce System.
- The Workforce Innovation and OpportunityAct and the One-Stop Delivery System.
- Child Advocates.
- Category: Political movements in the United States.
- The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.
- Nine facts about state and local policy.
- Texas Talent Connection Grant Program.
- Disclosure Requirements.
- What is Public Financing?
The Texas Executive: The Bureaucracy - Relevant Links
- Texas Administrative Code.
- Texas Government Code - Title 4.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 5. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 6. AGENCIES OF EDUCATION.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 8. PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 9. NATURAL RESOURCES.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 10. BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - 11. REGULATORY.
The Texas Judiciary - Relevant Links
- Texas Constitution - Article 5: 1876 version.
- Texas Constitution - Article 5: Current version.
- Texas Government Code - Title 2.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - The Judiciary.
The Texas Executive: Elective Offices - Relevant Links
- Texas Constitution: Article 4 - Original Version.
- Texas Constitution: Article 4 - Current Version.
- Texas Government Code - Title 4.
- Texas Constitution: Article 4 - Current Version.
- Texas Government Code - Title 4.
- Texas Fiscal Size-Up - General Government.
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
From Texas Tribune: Brazosport ISD is training its own teachers. The program might become a model for other Texas schools.
One of the ways lower level governments can influence the ones above them is to experiment with public policy.
This looks like an innovative approach to developing teachers.
- Click here for the article.
The Brazosport Independent School District is always in need of more teachers — and for a long time, it wasn’t able to find enough.
Located about 60 miles south of Houston, the 11,500-student district doesn’t have a big college of education nearby to churn out new teachers. It’s hard to compete with larger districts in the region for talent or convince educators to move to the small town of Clute, where Brazosport ISD is based. Over time, classroom sizes grew as vacancies stayed open.
That’s why the district created its own pipeline. Last August, it launched a unique “teacher apprenticeship” program that allows aspiring teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification — at no cost. In return, the teachers have to work in the district for at least three years. The plan includes a paid residency program in which apprentices are paired with a teacher mentor and work with them in a classroom for a full school year.
“When the first bell rings for Brazosport ISD next [school] year for these folks, they’re going to be considered a rookie, but they’re not a rookie. We say it's not Day 1. It's actually Day 181 for our teacher residents,” said Becky Hampton, a senior education specialist working with the district.
Public education advocates are following the program with high hopes, believing it could become a blueprint for other Texas districts as they look for ways to stem the state’s critical teacher shortage.
Kristi Kirschner, chief human resource officer at Brazosport ISD, said the program started with 67 apprentices ranging from high school students with less than 30 college hours to participants with bachelor’s degrees.
Twenty-five teachers graduated from the program in time for the upcoming school year. Without these homegrown teachers, the district would have had to hire close to 60 teachers — now it needs to find just 35 more.
“It’s something we smile about often,” Hampton said.
HB 8 - Relating to public higher education, including the public junior college state finance program.
I figure that it would be fair if I also produced an essay on one of the bills signed by the governor recently. I selected one impacting community college finance. The state wants us to switch from attendance to completion.
Here are a few links I've gathered so far. I'll fill in detail as I go.
You are along for the ride - feel free to copy my process.
- Texas Legislature Online: HB8.
What does the bill analysis tell us about it?
- HRO: Bill Analysis.
- House Higher Education Committee: Bill Analysis.
Who were the authors?
- Van Deaver.
- Kuempel.
- Buckley.
- Bonnen.
- Longoria.
Heard in the following committees:
- House Higher Education.
- Senate Education.
The vote in each chamber was unanimous, except for one nay vote in the House - Slayton.
TACC and CCATT: 88th Texas Legislature Priorities.
Report from Texas Commission on Community College Finance.
Monday, July 17, 2023
From ACC: TWC Commissioner visits ACC to Sign Check for New Beginnings Program
Workforce development is promoted by all levels of government in Texas.
This is an example that impacts here at ACC.
It provides an example of fiscal federalism. Funds collected by the national government for workforce development is sent to the states. Texas offers funding in the form of grants. ACC applies for one, along with TDCJ, and gets it.
This is an announcement of an initial distribution of the funds.
- Click here for the press release.
Here's the text:
This is an example that impacts here at ACC.
It provides an example of fiscal federalism. Funds collected by the national government for workforce development is sent to the states. Texas offers funding in the form of grants. ACC applies for one, along with TDCJ, and gets it.
This is an announcement of an initial distribution of the funds.
- Click here for the press release.
Here's the text:
When Andres Nino was close to finishing his time as an inmate with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, it weighed heavily on his mind how he would support himself and his family.
It is difficult for former inmates to find work after incarceration and Nino knew it would be a struggle. He was able to turn his life around through the New Beginnings initiative at Alvin Community College by enrolling in the Welding program
“This program opened so many doors for me,” Nino said. Without New Beginnings, he said, “I would be right back where I came from.”
Nino spoke during a visit by Texas Workforce Commissioner Representing Labor Alberto Trevino III who signed a $350,000 chinal Justice, it weighed heavily on his mind how he would support himself and his family.
“It gives them the hope and the courage to become better,” Trevino said. “I’m excited to see their future and their independence moving forward. I think it’s vital that we equip Texas workers with the skills needed to excel.”
ACC was one of 18 colleges to receive support for New Beginnings from the Texas Talent Connection Grant program in 2021. New Beginnings provides training and education to students recently released from incarceration or are soon to be released.
“This program supported by the Texas Talent Connection has added truck drivers to the roads, line-men to the power grid, counselors to help those with addiction issues, chefs to the restaurants, welders to the construction industry, and educated entrepreneurs to the economic health of the state,” ACC President Dr. Robert J. Exley said.
“Alvin Community College and Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast are making a difference in the lives of people across Texas by ensuring second-chance individuals receive the skills needed to succeed upon reentry,” Trevino said. “This project demonstrates the leadership for groundbreaking programs to ensure every Texan gets a second chance.”
After signing a check during a ceremony, commissioner Trevino and others toured many of the programs and facilities that have been supported by the Texas Workforce Commission including Welding, Process Technology, Nursing and Cybersecurity.
Nino is set to graduate from the program in a year. Programs such as New Beginnings lay the foundation and gives hope for incarcerated students to change their lives and the lives of their families.
“I want this program to continue for other students,” he said. “This program provides opportunities that didn’t previously exist.”
The Texas Talent Connection Grants are awarded by the Texas Workforce Investment Council and administered by the Texas Workforce Commission. They were created to support innovative education and workforce skills training programs that lead to successful job placement, increased wages, and improved job retention, as well as programs serving workforce populations with special needs.
Here's more on the institutions mentioned above:
- Workforce development.
- Human resource management.
- Labor Markets.
- WAGNER-PEYSER ACT OF JUNE 6, 1933.
- Wagner–Peyser Act.
- Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, as amended.
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
- Texas Workforce Commission.
- Texas Workforce Investment Council.
- Texas Talent Connection Grant Program.
- Wagner-Peyser 7(b) Grant Program.
- Alvin Community College Receives $350,000 Workforce Training Grant.
And a bit more on the flow of funds
- coming soon
What is Democracy? What Types Exist? What is Democratization?
Some terminology first:
- Democracy Cambridge:
the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves.
- Democracy Merriam-Webster:
government by the people, especially : rule of the majority
a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
- Democracy Wikipedia:
a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy") or to choose governing officials to do so ("representative democracy"). Who is considered part of "the people" and how authority is shared among or delegated by the people has changed over time and at different rates in different countries.
Features of democracy often include
- freedom of assembly,
- association,
- property rights,
- freedom of religion
- speech,
- citizenship,
- consent of the governed,
- voting rights,
- freedom from unwarranted governmental deprivation of the right to life and liberty,
- minority rights.
- Direct Democracy:
a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are representative democracies.
In direct democracy, the people decide on policies without any intermediary or representative, whereas in a representative democracy people vote for representatives who then enact policy initiatives. Depending on the particular system in use, direct democracy might entail passing executive decisions, the use of sortition, making laws, directly electing or dismissing officials, and conducting trials.
- Representative Democracy:
a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives; as opposed to direct democracy, a form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly.
The American Revolution led to the creation of a new Constitution of the United States in 1787, with a national legislature based partly on direct elections of representatives every two years, and thus responsible to the electorate for continuance in office. Senators were not directly elected by the people until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. Women, men who owned no property, and Black people, and others not originally given voting rights, in most states eventually gained the vote through changes in state and federal law in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. Until it was repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment following the Civil War, the Three-Fifths Compromise gave a disproportionate representation of slave states in the House of Representatives relative to the voters in free states.
- Democratization:
the democratic transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction.
Whether and to what extent democratization occurs can be influenced by various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, civil society, and international processes. Some accounts of democratization emphasize how elites drove democratization, whereas other accounts emphasize grassroots bottom-up processes. How democratization occurs has also been used to explain other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its economy grows.
The opposite process is known as democratic backsliding or autocratization.
- Waves of Democratization:
major surges of democracy that have occurred in history.
Democratization waves have been linked to sudden shifts in the distribution of power among the great powers, which created openings and incentives to introduce sweeping domestic reforms.
The first wave of democracy (1828–1926) began in the early 19th century when suffrage was granted to the majority of white males in the United States ("Jacksonian democracy"). This was followed by France, Britain, Canada, Australia, Italy, and Argentina, and a few others, before 1900. At its peak, after the breakup of the Russian, German, Austrian, and Ottoman empires in 1918, the first wave saw 29 democracies in the world. Reversal began in 1922, when Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy. The collapse primarily hit newly formed democracies, which could not stand against the aggressive rise of expansionist communist, fascist, and militaristic authoritarian or totalitarian movements that systematically rejected democracy. The nadir of the first wave came in 1942, when the number of democracies in the world dropped to a mere twelve.
The second wave began following the Allied victory in World War II, and crested nearly twenty years later, in 1962, with 36 recognised democracies in the world. The second wave ebbed as well at this point, and the total number dropped to thirty democracies between 1962 and the mid-1970s.
The third wave began with the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal and the late-1970s Spanish transition to democracy. This was followed by the historic democratic transitions in Latin America in the 1980s, Asia-Pacific countries (Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan) from 1986 to 1988, Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and sub-Saharan Africa, beginning in 1989. The expansion of democracy in some regions was stunning. In Latin America, only Colombia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela were democratic by 1978, and only Cuba and Haiti remained authoritarian by 1995, when the wave had swept across twenty countries.
Terminology for GOVT 2306 Module 2
Module 2 focuses on elections and the political institutions that either compete in them, or affiliate with those who do.
Here are links to the terminology in the relevant textbook chapters.
Here are links to the terminology in the relevant textbook chapters.
- Chapter Eight: Campaigns and Elections, Texas Style.
- Chapter Nine: Political Parties.
- Chapter Ten: Organized Interests.
DeSantis sheds staff amid money troubles for his White House bid
This fall my classes will focus heavily on the development of the campaigns of the announced candidates for the presidency. This includes where funding is coming from, how that money is being spent, and which political consultants have lined up to support which candidates.
Here's an early assessment of the campaign of one of the Republican candidates.
Here's an early assessment of the campaign of one of the Republican candidates.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Written Assignment #3 - Due Midnight July 24, 2023
Last week you wrote about the proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. As you know, amendments are not added to the Texas Constitution unless they are approved by a simple majority vote of the "people."
The word "people" refers to the people who are eligible to vote in Texas, are registered to vote in Texas, and actually show up to vote. This is generally about 5-10% of the "people" eligible to vote..
This assignment takes you back to the bill you have been assignment to write about for your 1000 word essay.
I want you to click on the link I've given you - the one that takes you to the the Texas Legislature Online - and I want to see how much information you can gather from it. There's quite a bit. Try to find the following.
- Who wrote the bill?
- Who sponsored it?
- What committees did it go to?
- What can you find out about the committee?
- What were the votes in the committee? How about the House floor.
- Were these party line votes?
- Look up analyses of the bill, what do they say about it?
- Describe the testimony given for against the bill, if there was any.
- Were any interest groups supporting or opposing the bill? What did they say about it?
Provide any other info you think would be useful for your essay.
I'll help, but not immediately. Get as much as you can on your own.
Requirements are the same as for the previous ones. Get on it.
From the New York Times: In the Land of Football, a Cricket Oasis Rises Outside Houston
Cricket might seem out of place in this area, but Houston likes to expand globally. Becoming a cricket center helps with forging relationships with India and Pakistan, among many other nations.
Cricket’s swift rise in Houston has attracted international attention and helped make Texas the launching pad for the sport’s first American professional league, Major League Cricket, whose inaugural season began on Thursday outside Dallas.
“One of the unknown things about Houston is the diversity of the population from many cricket-playing countries,” said Tim Cork, a deputy consul general at the British consulate in Houston. “There are Indians, Pakistanis, there’s obviously a huge number of Brits here, Australian accents wherever you go.”
The number of people of Indian heritage in Texas has doubled over the last decade to a half a million, according to estimates from the Census Bureau’s annual survey, including 73,000 in Harris County, which includes Houston, and 64,000 in suburban Fort Bend County.
“When I came to this country, the only sport I knew was cricket,” said KP George, the county judge in Fort Bend, who immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1993. When he was elected in 2018, none of the county parks had a cricket field, he said. Now there are seven, and each is reserved for play months in advance.
“There’s a huge demand,” he said. “We’re working on a couple more fields.”
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Friday, July 14, 2023
More on the amendments to the Texas Constituton proposed by the 88th Texas Legislature
This info should help you (GOVT 2306 Summer 2) complete your second written assignment.
You might want to consider why these changes had to be done by changing the constitution rather than simply changing statutory law.
__________
HJR 2 - The constitutional amendment authorizing the 88th Legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
HJR 3 - The constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy.
SJR 32 The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County to issue bonds supported by ad valorem taxes to fund the development and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities.
SJR 64 The constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county or municipality of all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility.
SJR 74 The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the centennial parks conservation fund to be used for the creation and improvement of state parks.
SJR 75 The constitutional amendment creating the Texas water fund to assist in financing water projects in this state.
You might want to consider why these changes had to be done by changing the constitution rather than simply changing statutory law.
__________
HJR 2 - The constitutional amendment authorizing the 88th Legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
- Articles affected Article 16 : Adds §67-a
- Analysis:
CSHJR 2 would amend the constitution to allow the Legislature to provide one or more cost-of-living adjustments or supplemental payments as benefit enhancements to annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) who were eligible for the enhancements. The Legislature could provide such a benefit enhancement and direct the comptroller of public accounts to transfer funds to TRS for the payment of the enhancement only if TRS was actuarially sound and the Legislature appropriated money in a sufficient amount to fully pay for the enhancement, as determined by the TRS board of trustees. The resolution would include a temporary provision for the constitution. The temporary provision would require the comptroller of public accounts to transfer $3.45 billion from the general revenue fund to the TRS trust fund as soon as practicable after the amendment’s effective date
HJR 3 - The constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy.
- Articles affected
- - Article 3 : Amends §49-g
- - Article 7 : Amends §20
- Analysis.
CSHJR 3 would amend the Texas Constitution to rename the national research university fund as the Texas University Fund (TUF). The resolution would remove the provision stating that a state university that becomes eligible to receive a portion of the distributions from the national research university fund in a fiscal biennium remains eligible to receive additional distributions from the fund in any subsequent fiscal biennium. The resolution would specify that money in TUF was dedicated by the constitution and an appropriation of state tax revenues for the purpose of depositing money to the credit of the fund would be treated as if it were an appropriation of revenues dedicated by the constitution. The resolution would appropriate $3.5 billion from the general revenue fund on January 1, 2024, to the comptroller of public accounts for the purpose of immediately depositing that amount to the credit of TUF. This provision would expire on February 1, 2024. CSHJR 3 would amend certain provisions of the economic stabilization fund (ESF). The resolution would appropriate an amount from the ESF to the comptroller of public accounts for the purpose of immediate deposit to the credit of TUF.
SJR 32 The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County to issue bonds supported by ad valorem taxes to fund the development and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities.
- Articles affected Article 16 : Amends §59
- Analysis.
In 2003, the Texas Constitution was amended, giving conservation and reclamation districts in certain counties across the state the ability to issue bonds to fund the development and maintenance of parks and recreation facilities. El Paso County was left out of this constitutional amendment and currently does not have this authority, resulting in an underfunded parks system across the county. El Paso County should be included on the list of Texas counties that allow their conservation and reclamation districts to issue bonds to develop recreational facilities. Allowing bonds to be issued for recreational purposes will benefit the health and wellness of El Paso County residents and encourage further economic development and growth for the region.
S.J.R. 32 would propose an amendment to the Texas Constitution to authorize conservation and reclamation districts, all or part of which are located in El Paso County, to issue bonds supported by property taxes to fund recreational purposes. S.B. 938 is the enabling legislation.
S.J.R. 32 proposes a constitutional amendment relating to the authority of the legislature to permit conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County to issue bonds supported by ad valorem taxes to fund the development and maintenance of parks and recreational facilities.
SJR 64 The constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county or municipality of all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility.
- Articles affected Article 8 : Adds §1-r
- Analysis.
SJR 64 would amend the Texas Constitution to allow the governing body of a county or municipality to exempt from property taxation all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility. The governing body could adopt the exemption as a percentage of appraised value, and if so, the percentage could not be less than 50%. The Legislature could define "child-care facility" and provide additional eligibility requirements to implement the exemption. A ballot proposal would be presented to voters at an election on November 7, 2023 and would read: "The constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county or municipality of all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility."
SJR 74 The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the centennial parks conservation fund to be used for the creation and improvement of state parks.
- Articles affected Article 3 : Adds §49-e-1
- Analysis:
CSSJR 74 would amend the Texas Constitution to allow for the establishment of the centennial parks conservation fund as a trust fund outside the treasury. The fund could be used only for the creation and improvement of state parks. The fund would consist of:
• money appropriated to the fund;
• money transferred or deposited to the credit of the fund by general law;
• investment earnings and interest earned on amount credited to the fund; and
• gifts grants and donations received for the fund.
The Legislature could appropriate money from the centennial parks conservation fund to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or the department's successor in function for the purposes prescribed for the fund by this resolution and general law.
SJR 75 The constitutional amendment creating the Texas water fund to assist in financing water projects in this state.
- Articles affected Article 3 : Adds §49-d-16
- Analysis.
- CSSJR would amend the Texas Constitution to create the Texas water fund as a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund. The fund would be administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and could be used only to transfer money to other funds or accounts administered by TWDB. The resolution would authorize TWDB to restore to the fund money transferred from the fund. Legislative appropriation would not be required for TWDB to transfer money from or restore money to the fund.
The fund would consist of:
• money from any source transferred or deposited to the credit of the fund by general law, including legislative appropriations;
• any other revenue that the Legislature by statute dedicated for deposit to the credit of the fund;
• investment earnings and interest earned on amounts credited to the fund;
• money from gifts, grants, or donations to the fund; and
• money returned from any authorized transfer.
Subject to limitations in the resolution, the Legislature would be required to provide for the manner in which money from the fund could be used, and could provide for the costs of investment of the fund to be paid from the fund.
SJR 87 The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation equipment or inventory held by a manufacturer of medical or biomedical products to protect the Texas healthcare network and strengthen our medical supply chain.
SJR 93 The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas energy fund to support the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric generating facilities.
HJR 107 The constitutional amendment to increase the mandatory age of retirement for state justices and judges.
HJR 125 The constitutional amendment creating the broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed broadband access and assist in the financing of connectivity projects.
HJR 126 The constitutional amendment protecting the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.
HJR 132 The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual wealth or net worth tax, including a tax on the difference between the assets and liabilities of an individual or family.
HJR 134 The constitutional amendment providing for the abolition of the office of county treasurer in Galveston County.
- Articles affected Article 8 : Adds §1-x
- Analysis.
- SJR 87 would amend the Texas Constitution to authorize the Legislature to exempt from property tax the tangible personal property held by a manufacturer of medical or biomedical products as a finished good or to be used in the manufacturing or processing of medical or biomedical products.
SJR 93 The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas energy fund to support the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric generating facilities.
- Articles affected Article 3 : Adds §49-q
- Analysis.
- CSSJR 93 would amend the Texas Constitution to create the Texas energy fund as a special fund outside the general revenue fund. Money in the fund could be administered and used, without further appropriation, only by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) or its successor to provide loans and grants to finance or incentivize the construction, maintenance, modernization, and operation of electric generating facilities, including associated infrastructure, necessary to ensure the reliability or adequacy of an electric power grid in the state. PUC would be required to allocate money from the fund for loans and grants to eligible projects for electric generating facilities that served as backup power sources and in each region of the state in proportion to that region’s load share in an electric power grid.
HJR 107 The constitutional amendment to increase the mandatory age of retirement for state justices and judges.
- Articles affected Article 5 : Amends §1-a
- Analysis.
- HJR 107 would amend Tex. Const. Art 5, sec 1-a(1) to change the mandatory retirement age for a justice or judge to 79 or an earlier age, not less than 75, as the Legislature may prescribe. The bill also would remove a provision stating that judges may serve until December 31 of their fourth year in office if they reach the age of 75 in the first four years of their term.
HJR 125 The constitutional amendment creating the broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed broadband access and assist in the financing of connectivity projects.
- Articles affected Article 3 : Adds §49-d-16
- Analysis.
- CSHJR 125 would amend the Texas Constitution to create the Broadband Infrastructure Fund as a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund, consisting of:
• appropriations from the Legislature;
• money transferred or deposited to the credit of the fund by the constitution or general law;
• revenue that the Legislature by general law dedicated to the fund;
• investment earnings and interest earned on money in the fund; and
• gifts, grants, and donations.
Money in the fund would be administered by the comptroller, and without further appropriations, could be used only for the expansion of access to and the adoption of broadband and telecommunications services, including the development and operation of infrastructure. The Legislature would be required to provide for the manner in which fund assets could be used by general law.
CSHJR 125 would require the comptroller to transfer $5 billion from the economic stabilization fund (ESF) to the broadband infrastructure fund no HJR 125 House Research Organization page 3 later than January 15, 2024. Money in the fund would be considered constitutionally dedicated, and an appropriation from the ESF to the fund would be treated as if it were constitutionally dedicated.
HJR 126 The constitutional amendment protecting the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.
- Articles affected Article 1 : Adds §36
- Analysis.
- CSHJR 126 would amend the Texas Constitution to establish the right of the people to engage in generally accepted farm, ranch, timber production, horticulture, or wildlife management practices on real property they owned or leased.
The resolution would not affect the authority of the Legislature to authorize regulation of these practices by:
• a state agency or local authority when there was clear and convincing evidence that the regulation was necessary to protect public health from imminent danger;
• a state agency to prevent a danger to animal health or crop production; or
• a state agency or local authority to conserve natural resources of the state.
The resolution would not affect the authority of the Legislature to authorize the use or acquisition of property for a public use, including the development of natural resources of the state.
HJR 132 The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual wealth or net worth tax, including a tax on the difference between the assets and liabilities of an individual or family.
- Articles affected Article 8 : Adds §25
- Analysis.
- CSHJR 132 would amend the Texas Constitution to prohibit the Legislature from imposing a tax on the net worth of individuals or business entities. The resolution would define the net worth of individuals or businesses as the amount computed by subtracting from the value of an individual's or entity's assets the value of the individual's or entity’s liabilities
The resolution would not be construed as prohibiting the imposition of:
• an ad valorem tax on property; or
• a general business tax measured by business activity.
HJR 134 The constitutional amendment providing for the abolition of the office of county treasurer in Galveston County.
- Articles affected Article 16 : Amends §44
- Analysis.
- HJR 134 would abolish the office of County Treasurer in Galveston County. The resolution would authorize the Commissioners Court of Galveston County to employ or contract with a qualified person or to designate another county officer to perform any of the functions that would have been performed by the County Treasurer.
Terminology for GOVT 2306 Module 1
This is optional, but if you'd like, check it out, I listed the major terms for each of the first four chapter I like to cover and I've provided a bit more information than you get in the textbook.
- Chapter One: Lone Star Politics - Introduction.
- Chapter Two: Lone Star Politics - Constitutions.
- Chapter Eleven: Lone Star Politics - Local Government in Texas.
- Chapter Twelve: Lone Star Politics - Fiscal Policy.
These chapters (especially 2, 11, and 12) share a common them, they are all about the basic rules that underlie the activities of state and local government, which also includes an understanding of the roles state and local governments play in the federal system. I've included a look at finance here since an understanding of the flow of revenue helps us understand the flow of power and influence across the different levels and branches of government.
What does the state of Texas want kids to learn about government in K-12? Where can I find the TEKS for social studies?
The answer to this question can be found in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Social Studies, contained in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC). The TAC "is a compilation of all state agency rules in Texas."
- Here is a direct link to the page.
At different points in class we discuss administrative law, which is another term for the rules agencies pass in order to clarify how the laws passed by the legislature are to be implemented that has jurisdiction over that implementation.
The Texas Secretary of State's office is responsible for, among other things, providing "a repository for official and business and commercial records required to be filed with the Office. The Secretary publishes government rules and regulations and commissions notaries public."
It does so by publishing the Texas Register, which contains administrative rules proposed by agencies, and allowing a opportunity for feedback by the public.
Once adopted, these rules are incorporated into the TAC. This includes the TEKS.
Here is how you find it by clicking through.
- Go the homepage of the Texas Secretary of State, click here.
- Scroll over "Rules and Meetings" and look for "Texas Administrative Code," click on it.
- Under quick links look for "View the current Texas Administrative Code," click on it.
- Familiarize yourself with the various titles. This where the rules for all state agencies can be found. Find Title 19, Education. Click on it here.
- Familiarize yourself with the various parts. These are rules concerning all aspects of education in the state. Look for Part 2 Texas Education Agency, click on it.
- Familiarize yourself with the various chapters, they cover all state rules concerning K-12 in the state. Not that some decisions have been delegated to the independent school districts. Look for Chapter 113, TEKS for Social Studies. Click on it.
- From there you can click on each grade level and find the specific content students - including you if you went to public schools in Texas - were supposed to learn about government in each grade.
I will post these separately, but for now you can get an idea about what information you are assumed to already have learned prior to taking this class. I will outline that info later.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Video: Annexation History - Planning and Development Department - City of Houston
Related info:
Texas Municipal League: MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION IN TEXAS.
Texas Local Government Code: Chapter 43 - Municipal Annexation.
Texas Attorney General Opinions: Annexation, Disannexation And Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.
City of Houston - Planning and Development: Annexation.
American Planning Association - Texas Chapter: Annexation and the ETJ.
Texas City Attorneys: Municipal Annexation - The New Reality.
86(R); HB 347.
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