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Texas Home School Coalition PAC
A statewide political action committee serving home schoolers for more than 20 years
March 22, 2009
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In This Issue
Around Texas
National News
International News
Commentaries
Miscellaneous
Summary of HB 1886 Hearing
Around Texas

 

TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION: Fight Human Trafficking of Children!

by Dennis Mark

Human Trafficking bill HB 639 will be heard on Monday, March 23rd, by the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and we need your support!  HB 639 will launch a number of measures to fight human trafficking, including establishing a state-wide human trafficking task force and requiring training of law enforcement officers who are often the first to come in contact with the victim.

 

Dallas and Tarrant County Citizens Rally Against Daytime Curfews

by Tim Lambert

I have received the following announcement that I share for your information: Citizen activists in Dallas and Tarrant counties will hold rallies Monday, March 23, to show public opposition to the current daytime curfew in Bedford and the proposed daytime curfew in Dallas. The Dallas City Council will hold hearings on the issue on March 25; the Bedford City Council will meet on March 24. Many home schoolers who do not live in those cities recognize that they or their children could be impacted by these ordinances because their teen children may go to jobs and/or educational activities without their parents in those cities.

            

Proposed Law Allows Texas Parents to Opt Out of Storage of Babies' Blood

Texas lawmakers are the latest group to seek changes in the state health department's policy of indefinitely storing, without disclosure or consent, blood samples from virtually all babies born in Texas.

 

Bedford Leaves Daytime Curfew in Place

Almost a dozen employees of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district asked the City Council on Tuesday night to continue its daytime curfew for schoolchildren.

 

Law Puts Home-Schooling Parents on Long Leash

When a child listed on the Wichita Falls Independent School District's rolls as home-schooled was implicated in a drive-by shooting, the incident piqued the concern of WFISD Truancy Director Diann Taylor. She wondered just how much legitimate academic work was going on in that home.

 

Bill Proposes More Exemptions to Texas Business Tax Proposed

Many small Texas businesses would no longer have to pay the state business tax and others would see their tax liability drop under legislation endorsed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and a majority of senators.

 

A Daytime Curfew for Teens

by Michael Tate

I am hopeful that the City of Dallas' daytime curfew plan for teenagers will die a quiet death. It is a clueless and short-sighted idea that won't fix the truancy problem, although I know it has just enough appeal that some people might consider it a plausible solution to daytime crime. It was plausible enough for the city council to schedule two public hearings on it this spring.

 

Texas Ranked Number One in Two Important Categories

This week, Texas earned the number one ranking in two important categories: government transparency and economic climate.

 

Texas' GOP Senators Rule Day on Judges

Texas' Republican senators refused to cede control of judicial nominations, and now the Democratic White House seems to have struck a deal in their favor: The senators will continue screening applicants, though Texas Democrats will get input.

 

Report Says Gambling Interests Bet $7.6 Million on Texas Politicians in 2008 Cycle

A report released by a campaign-finance watchdog group shows border-area lawmakers received more than a quarter million dollars in campaign contributions from the gambling industry in 2008.

 

Proposal Targets State Funding for Planned Parenthood Facilities

A Senate budget proposal threatens to cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood in favor of "comprehensive primary care" facilities - clinics that offer more than reproductive health services.

 

First Hearing Held on Pre-Abortion Sonograms

Emotions ran high Thursday as lawmakers had their first hearing on a bill that would require women seeking abortions to first get a sonogram of the fetus.

 

Take Action to Stop the Abuse of the Texas Medical Board against Physicians!

by Steven F. Hotze, M.D.

Legislation has been introduced in the 2009 Texas Legislature to require transparency of the actions of the Texas Medical Board (TMB) and to protect patients' and physicians' rights. The TMB has for too long cloaked itself in secrecy which allows dishonorable individuals to corrupt the process. This is a free society and the light of day should shine brightly on the actions of all of those in positions of authority.

 

Lawmakers Want More Funds for Regulatory Agencies

Texas regulatory agencies could get as much as $41.2 million more over the next two years to better do their jobs keeping an eye on everything from banks to investment advisers to doctors.

 

Texas Democrats at Crossroads in 2010 Elections

by Jay Root

The once-mighty Texas Democratic Party was essentially broke and flirting with fringe status when wealthy trial lawyer Fred Baron rescued it in 2005.

 

Straus Disagrees with Federal Stimulus Package

House Speaker Joe Straus said Friday that he "strongly disagrees" with the federal economic stimulus package, even though the money expected to flow into Texas will help balance the state budget for the next two years.

 

Continue Allowing Strengths and Weaknesses of Theories

by Ken Mercer

For twenty years, Texas teachers have been required by the Texas Education Code to teach both the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories.

 
Read more State News....
National News
 

The Republican Civil War

by Thomas Sowell

As if it is not enough that they have been decimated by the Democrats in the past couple of elections, the Republican survivors are now turning their guns on each other.

 

Hutchison: No on Bill, Yes on Pork

by Lisa Falkenberg

If only we could "export the good, old Texas common sense to the United States Congress." That was U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's wishful sentiment in a press release last week. But maybe our senior senator in Washington could use a dose of that good old Texas common sense herself.

 

Legislatures May Not Be Able to Override Governors on Stimulus Money

by James Rosen

A nonpartisan congressional report released Wednesday concludes that it would likely be unconstitutional for a legislature to supplant a governor in accepting and using economic stimulus money - a finding that could have major implications in Texas.

 

Baby Boomlet: U.S. Births in 2007 Break 1950s Record

A record-setting number of babies were born in the United States in 2007, and it may prove to be just another reminder of prosperity lost.

 

Congress Moves to Slap Heavy Tax on Bonuses

Congress moved yesterday to levy punitive taxes on bonuses paid by financial firms receiving government aid, threatening to undermine federal efforts to rescue the financial system by driving away participants in the programs.

 

Bishop to Shun Steele's Address

A Roman Catholic bishop in Indiana will shun a pro-life banquet if Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele addresses the sold-out event, The Washington Times has learned.

 

Senate Race Could Mirror 1961 Upset When LBJ's Seat Vacated

by Carlos Guerra

Could the impending U.S. Senate race reprise the historic 1961 contest that gave Texas its first Republican senator since Reconstruction - and made a shadow party viable?

 
International News
 

Mexico Expected to Put Tariffs on U.S. Goods

Mexico apparently plans to retaliate for a decision to block its trucks from U.S. highways by aiming tariffs at states with powerful Democratic leaders.

 

Commentaries
 

Glenn Beck Re-Energizes the Conservative Movement

by Mark Skousen

Since moving from CNN to Fox News, the Glenn Beck phenomenon has become the hottest topic today among conservatives. To demonstrate his influence, he recommended an obscure book called The 5,000 Year Leap on his radio and TV show, and today it is #1 on Amazon.

 
 
Miscellaneous
 

Homeschool-Denying Judge Sets Case on Mom's Sabbath

The judge who ordered a North Carolina homeschooling mother to place her children in public school demanded all objections to his order to be filed today - the day the mom in the case observes the Sabbath.

 

Judge Rips Homeschool Mom's Choice of Churches

A North Carolina judge under fire for ruling in a divorce dispute that three children must attend public schools against their mother's wishes has cited critics of the mother's choice of churches in his ruling, calling their condemnation "credible."

 

Homeschool Play Has Elevated

When most people picture a homeschool basketball league, thoughts of two pick-up teams running up and down the court in mismatched jerseys come to mind.

 
 
Articles in THSC PAC's weekly E-Newsletter are included because of their potential interest to the home school community of Texas.  Inclusion does not signify an endorsement. We encourage parents to oversee any Internet usage by students.  THSC is not responsible for any material or ads that may be encountered when clicking on links that take the reader away from the THSC PAC web site.
 
Summary of HB 1886 Hearing
 

tim06 

Tim Lambert

House Urban Affairs Committee hears bill that would allow county officers to enforce city daytime curfews...

I left Lubbock on Thursday morning at 6:30AM and was at the Capitol by 8AM. As a courtesy I stopped by the office of Representative Miklos (author of HB 1886) at 8:30 to explain our concerns with his bill. His legislative director was on the phone, and as I waited, I heard him tell someone that they had been receiving lots of calls that started the night before. I found out later that he was speaking with the mayor of Balch Springs who had asked Representative Miklos to carry the bill. I expressed our concerns and left.

Although the Urban Affairs Committee hearing was set to begin at 10:30AM, the House did not adjourn until after noon. The hearing began about 12:30, and HB 1886 was not heard until just after 2PM. Representative Miklos explained that the purpose of the bill was to allow county law enforcement officers to enforce the juvenile curfew in cities who had such curfews in place and did not have enough police officers to do so. He said that the bill had nothing to do with home schooling and would not expand daytime curfews and that the calls from "home school interest groups" were misled. He introduced the mayor of Balch Springs who was the only witness in favor of the bill.
 
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