From the Dallas Morning News: To Fix CPS, Texas must be willing to pay workers more like it never has before.

Another potential agenda item for the 85th session.

- Click here for the article.

Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily, and their Republican colleagues cautiously, to evidence of another breakdown in Texas Child Protective Services investigations — this time in Harris County.

“This is infuriating,” said Rep. Armando Walle, a Houston Democrat who has filed a flurry of bills over the past five years to try to force the agency to ask for what it needs — higher pay, more bodies — to lower workers’ staggering caseloads. “I’m just angry at this whole situation.”

Through early September, half of children referred to Harris County’s CPS investigators weren’t being seen on time, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday, after analyzing an agency database that tracks initial visits with children mentioned in over 7,300 child abuse cases in the Houston area. In 1 of every 5 open cases there, children weren’t being seen at all.

. . . Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus, all Republicans, reacted to the findings — and accounts of CPS failings last week by The News and other media outlets — by sending agency overseer Henry “Hank” Whitman a letter.

In it, the leaders said not getting out and making timely checks on potentially abused children is “completely unacceptable.” They ordered the protective services department, CPS’ parent, to quickly develop an “innovative plan” to hire and train more child-abuse investigators to address the extreme backlogs. However, with 23 percent annual turnover among all caseworkers — and one-third of all investigators quitting each year — many existing slots are unfilled.

While the state GOP leaders acknowledged “associated financial costs,” they directed Whitman to essentially bolster existing efforts. They were mute about the factor that advocates stress most in improving worker performance and retention: higher wages for caseworkers and child abuse investigators.

House Republicans pass bill cutting food stamps

This story applies to our discussion of several items in the class including Congress, Separated Powers the Bureaucracy, and Social Welfare policy making in 2305. It also touches on federalism as we cover it in both 2305 and 2306.

- From the Washington Post: House passes GOP plan slash food stamp funding.
- From the NYT: House Republicans pass deep cuts in Food Stamps.
- From the Hill: House votes to cut food stamps by $39 billion.

The bill is H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act. Click here for information on the bill from Thomas.You can also find it here - on govtrack.

We reviewed what the Constitution says about the bill making process in Section 7 of Article 1 and noticed that its says little about what happens within Congress. When we discuss the bill making process we will touch on how it has evolved over time as well as the institutions involved in the bill making process that are not mentioned in the Constitution, most notably committees and parties.

Just so you know, the bill now goes to the Senate and if approved there in the exact same language, it goes to the president for a signature. But this is not going to happen due to the dynamics between the political parties and how these exacerbate the checks and balances.

I'll post a few things below that apply this event to various topics in the class.

Texas on the Brink

A liberal leaning caucus in the Texas House (not much to pick from there) has released a report - Texas on the Brink - detailing Texas' rankings on several social factors. The findings are neither positive, nor surprising. Among our rankings:

- Percent of Population Uninsured - 1st
- Percent of Uninsured Children - 1st
- Tax Revenue Raised per Capita - 46th- Percent of Population 25 and Older with a High School Diploma - 50th
- Amount of Recognized Cancer-­‐Causing Carcinogens Released into Air - 1st

There's much more, and the report is especially useful for digging up sources for this data. The Legislative Study Group is composed primarily - if not wholly - of Democrats, so its iffy if they will be able to find support to address these problems in the current political and budgetary environment.