American Heart Assoc.

Lawmakers plan to file teacher pay legislation in special session

by | Jul 12, 2017 | Opinion

Ed Sterling

Director of member services for the Texas Press Association

AUSTIN — A special session of the Texas Legislature, called by Gov. Greg Abbott, is set to begin on July 18. The agenda is big.

Before adjourning in late May, our 150 state representatives and 31 state senators did the only thing the Texas constitution requires them to do each time they meet for 140 days every two years: they passed a state budget to cover the next two years.

But Abbott decided he wanted them back in Austin to extend the functions of the Texas Medical Board, and to do it with all possible speed. Abbott added a while-you’re-at-it list of 19 other topics for lawmakers to resolve to his satisfaction after they breathe new life into the Texas Medical Board.

Since then, several lawmakers have stepped forward, announcing their intentions to file bills to take care of Abbott’s other topics. For example, Rep. Travis Clardy plans to file legislation to address teacher pay, recruitment and retention. Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, will be joined in the effort by Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, and Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo. “Every Texas student deserves the opportunity for a quality education,” said Clardy. “That means we must have motivated teachers joining the ranks of the many outstanding professionals we have in Texas classrooms today. The first step to accomplishing that goal is providing competitive pay for our teachers while encouraging some of our best and brightest to work where our education needs are greatest. We must also give our school districts the tools they need to retain and reward our best teachers.”

Last week, Abbott applauded Reps. Clardy, Deshotel and Raymond for tackling that topic. Other items Abbott wants addressed in the special session include:

Administrative flexibility in teacher hiring and retention practices; establishing a school finance reform commission; school choice for special needs students; property tax reform; caps on state and local spending; preventing cities from regulating what property owners do with trees on private land; preventing local governments from changing rules midway through construction projects; speeding up local government permitting processes; and municipal annexation reform.

Also, a ban on texting while driving; bathroom and locker room rules for transgender students; prohibition of taxpayer dollars to collect union dues; prohibition of taxpayer funding for abortion providers; pro-life insurance reform; strengthening abortion reporting requirements when health complications arise; strengthening patient protections relating to do-not-resuscitate orders; cracking down on mail-in ballot fraud; and extending the maternal mortality task force.

Abbott issues statewide call

Gov. Abbott on July 6 issued a statewide call for Texans to stand with law enforcement, to mark July 7 as the anniversary of an attack on Dallas law enforcement, and in honor of all peace officers across the Lone Star State.

During a civil rights march in downtown Dallas on July 7, 2016, Michael Xavier Johnson shot and killed five on-duty Dallas police officers and wounded nine others. Johnson was tracked down and killed by an explosive device deployed from a police-controlled robotic unit.

In other news, on July 7, Abbott attended and spoke at the funeral of San Antonio Police Officer Miguel Moreno, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in late June.

Toyota opens headquarters

Toyota Motor North America Inc. on July 6 held a grand opening at its new, $350 million, 2 million-square-foot headquarters in Plano. The headquarters was relocated from Torrance, California.

Gov. Abbott, who attended the opening ceremonies, said Toyota’s move to Plano is “one of the largest economic development deals completed in the state.”

Revenue report comes in

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on July 5 reported that state sales tax revenue totaled $2.4 billion in June, an amount 10.3 percent more than in June 2016.

Increased collections from most sectors of the economy resulted in growth in sales tax revenue, although the gains did not offset weaker-than-expected franchise tax collections in the month of May, Hegar said.

Receipts from the wholesale trade, information and oil-and-gas-related sectors saw significant gains, and total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in June 2017 is up 5.5 percent compared to the same period a year ago, Hegar added.

Wardens busy over holiday

Texas game wardens logged nearly 13,000 patrol hours on state bodies of water over the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department reported July 6.

While on the job over the period, wardens:

– Served as first responders in incidents that included 10 fatalities;

– Conducted boating safety and compliance checks on 17,845 vessels carrying 60,673 boaters;

– Made 55 BWI (boating while intoxicated) arrests and nine DWI (driving while intoxicated) arrests; and

– Made 42 additional arrests on other charges.

For more stories like this subscribe to our print or e-edition.

American Heart Assoc.

0 Comments

Related News

Read this. Build a stronger community.

Read this. Build a stronger community.

Saddened. Embarrassed. Determined. These three words evoke distinct feelings and emotions. In the context of an opinion piece we ran in the paper four and a half years ago, they described the aftermath of a community that lost its newspaper. After 130 years in...

read more
Just like mom used to make

Just like mom used to make

Men have man caves because they want the room they had as a kid back. They also spend the rest of their days trying to find the recipes of their favorite childhood dishes. The ones like their mom used to make. By John Moore For more on this story see the March 7, 2024...

read more
Pet ownership: A lifetime commitment

Pet ownership: A lifetime commitment

He was crossing the road. Over and over. I was surprised someone hadn’t hit him with their car. I was also surprised the coyotes hadn’t gotten him. It was 9 o’clock at night and according to the residents of the small strip of country road, he’d been out there for a...

read more
Hold, please

Hold, please

It appears that telephone landlines may be on their way out. CNN Business reported that recently, AT&T applied for a waiver in the state of California to stop servicing traditional landlines. Both AT&T and Verizon have both said they want to move away from...

read more
Dewey or don’t we

Dewey or don’t we

On Christmas Eve 2008, there were just three of us working in the office. Well, technically, there was one of us working, the other two were there. A couple of the young ladies on staff either didn’t have enough vacation time built up or they were saving it for...

read more
A range of options

A range of options

My great grandparents lived on a homestead. They cooked on a wood stove. Most of us today have no idea how good we’ve got it. For my great grandparents’ generation, remodeling the kitchen meant picking a different place to stack the wood. By John Moore For more on...

read more
A word from our sponsors

A word from our sponsors

Commercials used to be great. They used to be an art form. They used to be fun. Today’s advertising is boring in comparison. Television commercials were something to which I looked forward when I was a kid. Some were better developed and more interesting than the...

read more
On the road again

On the road again

We often hear someone say they just want to leave the world a better place than they found it. That’s a great goal, but rarely is it the case. Unless you were Charles Kuralt. For those of us who grew up during his time on the CBS News segment, On The...

read more
The Walking Dad

The Walking Dad

It's obvious that I have to wait to die until after everyone else in my home goes. Otherwise, every light in the house will be left on for all of eternity. My dad used to say that I could leave on all of the lights whenever I started paying the bills. By John Moore...

read more
Subscribe 300x250 - Love