"Bathroom Bill" with no bathroom

The Houston 2015 elections on November 3 put to rest the controversial mandate, H.E.R.O., also known as "Bathroom Bill".

Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (H.E.R.O.) was passed on May 2014 by the City Council but it didn't go into immediate effect due to rising public opposition.

The mandate protected characteristics beyond race, color, sex, national origin and religion from discrimination. All whom are already covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

"the City of Houston seeks to provide an environment that is free of 
any type of discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, 
familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, 
genetic information, gender identity, or pregnancy"

In addition, it would also allow people to use restroom or locker rooms that best fit their gender identity (despite the fact that this section of the ordinance was removed before being passed, it still remained the main focus of the animosity). 

Violation of the ordinance dictated a fine between $250-$500.
Religious institution and organizations were exempted from participation. 

Public figures like 2016 Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, voiced his disapproval on Facebook and encouraged others to petition against it. 

Petitioning required 17,269 valid signatures which were quickly obtained and validated by Secretary of State, Anna Russell. However, a second review of the signatures was made by the City's Attorney, David Feldman, claiming that it fell short 2,000 signatures. He found that some of the signatures were incorrectly notarized and others shared the same handwriting. 

Mayor Annise Parker, guided by Feldman's count stated that the petition didn't have enough valid signatures for a repeal referendum. 

In response, four plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston, Parker and Russell arguing that Feldman had no place in the petition validation process.  

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and H.E.R.O. was put on the November ballot, where it was defeated. 

Classmate's Critique

I will admit, border security isn’t a topic I usually place special attention to. That being said, the post, Texas $800 Million Border Security Bill Inappropriate on the Texas Politics blog, I found myself nodding and agreeing along to its key points over the subject.

 

Providing Governor Gregg's approval of a $800 million bill from the start I believe was a good choice. Exposing the reader to large sums of capital shows to be effective in catching their attention. Also, adding the spending of useless gunboats by Rick Perry was a good illustration of the states misguided notion over efficient border security. Both details do well in supporting the claim of the piece.

"The problem with the security border is not about money but rather a problem of the security system."

Reviving the old school saying that history repeats itself and that one must learn from previous mistakes, proves to be useful in initiating a reasonable solution to the re-occurring border security problem. Most, if not all readers can easily connect to these notions, it also plays a part in linking  the writers recommendation over what should be done in order to advance the issue. Which is, that if Texas only kept an organized record of all their previous attempts and set up an official overseer over the data to advise on the matter, there would be more success seen and less spending done. 

Moreover, I didn't get the sense of priority I would have expected from such a controversial topic as this one. Choosing to use more precised words such as, "reckless" or "thoughtless" in the title would have fused better, I believe, with the whole post. Also, adding evidence of why the government keep. trying to solve this problem with the same tactics over and over again would have been interesting to know. For example answering questions like, "Who benefits from border construction or the consumption of weaponry? Who's really pulling the strings over the issue?". Another thing that the post would have benefited from is the explanation of why this issue is important to the reader. This could be achieved by including the percentage funding takes away from the states budget which is compensated from civilians. 

Overall the post was well organized, flowy and had a solid composition. There wasn't any confusion over identifying the problem and solution. In saying that, covering the questions I proposed in my fourth paragraph would give the post a stronger foundation to support its claim.

     

Texas gains a ranking of average

.

In an annual report card published by Education Week grading states on education, Texas received an overall C-. Similar reports by other agencies have left the state in embarrassment due to its low re-appearing ranking. The revelation didn't sit well with Texans who are commonly known for their extreme nationalism at a state level. The good news is that districts have now put an eminent amount of pressure on legislatures to fix the problem to increase public school funding. 

In 1993, focus was given to the funding system of  districts in Texas, the unequal distribution resulted in legislatures passing a bill known as the "Robin Hood Plan". The law granted the sharing of property taxes from wealthy districts to poorer districts in order to equalize the amount of money schools obtained. The arrangement prevailed, and for a time it seemed that Texas had abandoned its notion of individual self-reliance, and adopted the value of community. But in 2011 there was a $15 billion revenue shortfall in the state's budget that forced cuts to be made wherever possible. Due to education occupying the largest portion of the money, it suffered the greatest lose of $5 billion in funds. Since then the cut has remained, but recent headlines over Texas' low education quality, a demand for the return of the $5 billion has been made.

In addition, only a few years later (2005) the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the "Robin Hood System" claiming it was unconstitutional because it had grown into a broad state property tax. The reverting of the helping hand resulted in 1/3 of the funding provided by property taxes to be cut. An increase in business and cigarette taxes was made in order to compensate for the lost revenue. 

Texas' regressive tax system, means an individuals tax rate decreases as their income increases. Along with being one of 7 states without an income tax, which is in itself progressive, means that the state must find a different way to fund itself. A spike in sales and property taxes generates enough revenue to keep it proficiently running. 84% of the population who are middle class and below are the main contributors of the states budget. People in poverty which make up 17% of the population, lose overall the highest percentage of their income to taxes. They also have the least representation in government which explains why their districts have some of the worse school facilities and test scores.

Now, you may be asking yourself "what do taxes have to do with a student's school performance?". Well, it's no secret that poverty can substantially influence a persons academic turnout. More money in a school can produce new programs and better facilities. Working class parents who may not have either the time or education to help their children benefit the most from the rise of such programs. After school activities and tutoring can fill the gap of an absent parent and keep kids up to pace with the curriculum.

Moreover, only half of Texas' 4 year-olds attend pre-K which is alarming seeing as studies have shown that age 5 is a critical period for learning. Luckily the importance of pre-K attendance has been noted by the Senate who this year approved an additional $130 million into the program. 

Although, steps have been made towards the improvement of the states education system, the urgency of the issue has not been prioritized. Until Texas adopts a progressive tax system along with an income tax, the wage gap between the wealthy and poor will continue to grow. And with it, much of the population will continue to be under represented in political matters that they, as main contributors, are entitled to the most consideration.