Collin County Future Mobility Oct 2023

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.

Collin College Farmersville Fall Registration 2023 250x300

0 Comments

Related News

Pay phones, rotary phones: pieces of the past

Pay phones, rotary phones: pieces of the past

The Jetsons got a lot right. Flying cars are now a reality. Zoom meetings. Robot vacuum cleaners. And video phones. One thing that was absent from that cartoon show was something that’s been around for well over 100 years. Something we still use today, and I think...

read more
Take the fall

Take the fall

One of my most vivid memories of fall happened during junior high. I was standing in the end zone prior to the start of a game. I could barely feel my fingers and toes. It was October, but it was unusually cold (Al Gore had yet to invent global warming). My shoulder...

read more
A product of our generation

A product of our generation

If we’re honest, some products aren’t that different from each other. But during the 50s, 60s, and 70s, our moms were extremely loyal to the ones they liked. And advertising had a lot to do with mom’s loyalty, and ours. Growing up in front of a large, RCA console TV...

read more
The simple life

The simple life

Our grandparents had it figured out. They lived life on their terms. Today, we live life on society’s terms. And the evidence that we regret it is all around. The first bit of proof that my grandfather and grandmother had control of how their day would go is the fact...

read more
Ya’ll come back now

Ya’ll come back now

He left me a message, so I called him back. It’s funny how, even if you haven’t talked to a childhood friend in a long time, the conversation picks up as if you had just spoken earlier in the day. “Remember that location you always said you’d like to buy one...

read more
Food for thought

Food for thought

They were called, “Victory Gardens.” And they were one of the weapons US citizens used to help win World War II. With the bad guys throwing everything at us that they could, in return, we were throwing everything at them that we could. By John Moore To Login to read...

read more
Baskin in the past

Baskin in the past

When our parents would take my sister and me from Ashdown, Arkansas to Texarkana, often they’d succumb to our begging and stop for ice cream. The only destination considered was Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors. By John Moore To Login to read the full story or to subscribe,...

read more
Name that town

Name that town

If you grew up in a town with a unique name, there are likely many stories about how the name came to be. Also, you know the struggles of trying to explain them. If your town is small, few folks have heard of it and they have no idea where it is. “What’s the name of...

read more
Fear itself: spiders, snakes and more

Fear itself: spiders, snakes and more

A granddaddy long legs climbed onto my face while I was out brush hogging on the tractor. I’d like to apologize to the neighbor for his fence, chicken house, doghouse, clothesline, and for leaving the scene of an accident. By John Moore To Login to read the full story...

read more
When boy meets grill

When boy meets grill

Ever have one of those moments where something in your head says you need to do something, but you’re not sure why? Recently, a memory I have of my grandfather cooking on a charcoal grill sparked that little voice to give me a direct order. The instructions were to...

read more
Leaderboard American Heart Association