Daily Archives: April 15, 2017

The Texas House is lagging behind the Senate on some key legislation, said state Rep. Matt Schaefer. And with only seven weeks to go in the session, hopes are dimming that some conservative objectives will be accomplished in this biennium.

From the Senates perspective, the states budget is close in final numbers - but not in just how the states priorities will be funded,said state Sen. Robert Nichols. Working out a final budget with the House will be a major priority.

In other words, its a typical session of the Texas Legislature, a body that was never designed to function very well.

GOALS

I think the major observation at this point is the Senate has passed multiple, major pieces of conservative priority legislation and the House has not moved on any of those yet, said Schaefer, R-Tyler. And that is a source of frustration for conservatives in the House.

Those goals include school choice legislation, outlawing sanctuary cities, banning certain types of abortion, property tax relief and some ethics bills, according to Schaefer.

I think many, many Republicans are really frustrated with just how much time has been wasted, when we could have been moving major pieces of legislation, he said. Most wont say that publicly, but theres a lot of frustration out there on bills that flew out of the Senate. And all the second- and third-tier bills - things important to members home districts - arent moving in the House, either.

School choice legislation - which could include vouchers or education savings accounts - is an example, he said.

School choice is dead in the House, according to the chairman of the House Education Committee, Schaefer said. So although the Senate made it a priority, theres apparently no path forward in the House.

The House is apparently moving forward on sanctuary cities, though. On Wednesday, a tough bill that could put county sheriffs and small-town constables in jail if they refuse to help enforce federal immigration law passed out of committee, setting it up for a floor debate soon.

But a bill regarding abortion - banning dilation and evacuation abortions, in which a fetus is dismembered and removed - seems to be going nowhere in the House. The bill would require doctors to be sure the fetus is no longer alive before the procedure takes place.

The ban on dismemberment abortion is very important to conservatives, said Schaefer. Its one of the most heinous practices imaginable. We believe we can end this in Texas, and we believe it will present a unique question to the U.S. Supreme Court. Even Justice Ginsburg says its a barbaric practice. When youre looking at the body of abortion jurisprudence before the Supreme Court, this would bring an important challenge to the Roe v. Wade framework.

The House also is making little progress on the so-called bathroom bill, which would require transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate.

BUDGET

From the Senate side, its all about the budget now.

If you look at the overall spending levels, were not that far apart, said Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville. But then you look at the methods of how we obtain those funds, and its very different.

The House version of the budget takes money from the states Rainy Day Fund, while the Senate version does not.

Here, Schaefer is in agreement with Nichols and the Senate.

I, along with 15 Republicans in the House, voted against, because it takes money out of the savings account, when there is no revenue shortfall, Schaefer said. Theres no compelling reason to dip into that savings account when we have more overall revenue to spend. Theres no budget crisis.

Nichols, however, is confident a compromise will be reached.

Youd have to go back to the 1960s or so to find a Legislature that wasnt able to get a budget passed, he said. Well get there.

One of Nichols priorities this session was funding for mental health.

Theres a critical shortage of resources out there for the mentally ill, Nichols said. And in Northeast Texas, we have the highest suicide rate in Texas, and the lowest number of mental health professionals per capita. Those are not unrelated.

Hundreds of people are in jail because of mental health issues, he added.

Many havent even broken any laws, he said. Theres just nowhere else to put them. We have to address that.

Nichols helped to amend the Senates budget to add millions for mental health facilities and services.

CPS

But the Senate and the House have made substantial progress on reforming the states foster care program.

Both the House and the Senate are in agreement that we need to fix this, said Nichols.

Added Schaefer, CPS legislation is a very a positive note. Were not finished, but there have been some good things happen. Theres a pay raise for CPS workers who work directly with children. And some significant changes in how the agency is run have been made. But one of the big pieces left to be addressed is the biggest problem - the shortage of child care providers. Faith-based organizations could be a big help here, but they have kept their distance because of the states regulations.

All in all, its an average session. The Texas Legislature - a body of citizen lawmakers who only meet every other year - was never designed to be efficient.

Every so often, a member will put forth a bill to increase the amount of time the Legislature spends in session - by mandating sessions each year, or extending the time limit of a regular session.

In 2013, Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, D-Laredo, offered just such a bill.

As big a budget as we have, as big a state as we are, as diverse of an economy as we have, we really should be looking at annual budgets, Raymond told The New York Times. Theres no business in the private sector that does two-year budgets. Its a very outdated idea.

That bill died ignominiously in committee.

The governor believes we need to limit government in peoples lives, not expand it, said Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for then-Gov. Rick Perry. A part-time Legislature allows lawmakers to come in and complete the business of Texans and then go out and live under the laws that theyve passed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Twitter: @tmt_roy

Read the rest here:

East Texas legislators give progress report on session with seven weeks remaining - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Charles Duell, the United States commissioner of patents from 1898-1901, said whatever inventions followed the 1800s would make 19th century innovations appear "totally insignificant" compared to what was yet to come.

Duell could not have been more correct.

The world would become an entirely different place. Without the advances of the 20th and early 21st centuries, there would be no computers, air conditioners, televisions, assembly lines, calculators, mobile telephones, Band-Aids, antibiotics, vitamin supplements or chemotherapy.

Don Daake, keynote speaker at the Daily Journal's 2017 Progress Awards, referenced Duell's observations to emphasize how innovation drives the economy and always will drive it. The fourth annual event was held Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn Riverstone Conference Center, and a record crowd in excess of 250 attended.

Daake, a former longtime business professor at Olivet Nazarene University and a Daily Journal business columnist, said Kankakee County is a hot spot for innovation.

"We live in a stunning world of progress," he said, noting so many people are involved even though they might not even be aware of it.

"The small daily improvements we make in our jobs.Those make more of an impact than those once-in-a-lifetime inventions," he said.

Daake said there is a simple rule everyone should follow.

"Some do," he said, "and will grow and prosper. Some don't and they decline and fade away. You have to have the ability to innovate. The Kankakee region has a long history of cultural innovation."

Daake's point was driven home after he spoke. The Daily Journal bestowed 10 awards on groups and individuals who have brought innovation here (see adjacent list). Here were some of the highlights:

The largest crowd to assemble on stage to accept an award represented the "Innovator in Healthcare'' honorees, Riverside Healthcare Healthy Heroes. The program was established after the untimely death of Kankakee County Sheriff's Deputy Zeb Pfeiffer, who suffered a fatal heart attack that resulted from a previously undiagnosed medical condition. Riverside launched the program to provide health screenings for area public safety providers, and it has helped these men and women identify and address their own health risks. About a dozen representatives of Riverside and the Kankakee County sheriff's police were on stage, including Jenny Pfeiffer, Zeb's widow.

The "Innovator in Social Services'' award went to noted local outdoors enthusiast Mike Norman, who has spearheaded the Pheasants Forever "No Child Left Indoors Program,'' which strives to introduce youth to all the outdoors has to offer. In his acceptance speech, he gave Riverside a plug: "I had a stoke a year ago, and my right side was paralyzed. But I went to Riverside for therapy and now look.'' At that point, Norman waved his right arm briskly in the air.

A touching story also was conveyed when Cinderella Shoes owner Matt Nanos accepted the award for "Small Business of the Year.'' His father, Alan, the previous owner, died a year ago. The younger Nanos openly shed tears in the video that preceded his acceptance speech, and he continued to grapple with his emotions as he spoke, expressing how he wished his father could witness what was occurring.

Go here to read the rest:

Progress Awards puts spotlight on local innovation - Kankakee Daily Journal

At the very least, coach Kyle Whittingham felt walking off the field that he has a much clearer sense of his personnel, his new offense and where his team is trending.

"It's challenging, but we feel we've recruited the right way, and we have some pretty good players coming up through the system," he said. "I think we'll end up being a pretty good football team. How soon that is, we'll find that out."

There were limitations to reaching conclusions in the game: The quarterbacks weren't live, and both offenses often had a rough go of moving behind a thin offensive line that had to play for both teams. Between Troy Williams and Tyler Huntley, who played only the first half, they completed a combined 17 for 27 attempts for 138 yards. Neither had a touchdown pass, though Huntley threw an interception.

Huntley, however, had an easier time moving the ball, in part because of who was in his backfield: Henry-Cole.

The sophomore back helped spur two touchdown drives in the first half, getting six touches on the opening drive of the game for 42 of the 65 yards gained. He plunged through the fray on a two-yard touchdown run, then managed another on a second-quarter drive.

In total, Henry-Cole had 44 yards rushing and 23 yards receiving on 15 total touches, wrapping up a spring where he showed coaches he can be a good fit in an offense suited to a multifaceted back.

"I wanted to show that I'm capable of playing in the Pac-12," he said. "I like this offense. It's a speed offense, so that's good for me that's good for my size and everything."

His top counterpart, Zack Moss, had an unfortunate turn when he injured his right arm during a run in the second quarter. He was later spotted walking off the field with his arm wrapped and hanging in a sling. Whittingham said he wasn't yet sure what the injury was, but hoped for a maximum recovery time of six weeks well before fall camp begins.

Receivers mostly had a tough day: On the winning Red team, the top two receivers were running backs. Troy McCormick, a converted running back-turned-receiver, led the White team with five catches for 61 yards.

That meant a productive day for both defenses, which exploited an overmatched offensive line for eight combined sacks. Chris Hart led the Red team with three, and forced one of the three fumbles on the day.

While the second half was played with a running clock, the passing game picked up slightly in the second half albeit against the bottom of the depth chart. Bateman's highlight pass was a 30-yard rope to Jameson Field against absent coverage, but walk-on Drew Lisk managed a longer one to McCormick, who cut inside the marker for the 43-yard score.

The Utes were without 22 players in total, accounting for injuries as well as players the team did not wish to risk.

kgoon@sltrib.com

Twitter: @kylegoon

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Utah football: Utes see progress despite inconclusive spring game - Salt Lake Tribune