Categories
Health & Social Policy Immigration Policy

Critical links between health care and immigration in Texas

Photo: Callie Richmond Undocumented immigrants are human beings. They work, love, have fun, and — like everyone else —  get sick. Sometimes they get really sick, the kind of sick that requires comprehensive, ongoing treatment and lots of community support. But unlike everyone else, it is nearly impossible for undocumented immigrants to get the medical attention […]

Categories
LBJ School Politics and Governance

The World of the Texas State Capitol

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Representative Gina Hinojosa rushes into the office just as the House is being called to the Floor, but she takes the time to greet everyone in the office and ask how they are before rushing back out again. I’m usually already at my desk, settling in and sorting through the […]

Categories
Education Policy Health & Social Policy LBJ School Politics and Governance

Investing in Homeless Young Texans

Photo: Bionic Teaching Texas’ 85th legislative session kicked off last month. Lawmakers now have until the end of May to balance a state budget three percent smaller than that of the previous session. Having the power of the purse, the legislature must decide which government programs to prioritize and which to trim—or cut. Policymakers have a […]

Categories
LBJ School Multimedia

The Higher Court: Episode 2

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/303973646″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] Photo: Rock, Paper, Scissors Read more about The Higher Court and the LBJ School students behind it at thehighercourt.org  

Categories
Health & Social Policy LBJ School Politics and Governance

Is There Light At The End Of The Foster Care Tunnel?

Photo: PEXELS As I headed into the Texas Union for the first session of the 2016 Texas Tribune Festival I experienced simultaneous feelings of anticipation and dread. My feet dragged slower and slower as I walked into the Santa Rita Room for the session on “Fixing Foster Care.” Foster care, adoption, and how children interact […]

Categories
Politics and Governance

Is Texas Good For Women? A Recap of the Texas Tribune Festival Panel

Photo: Houston Chronicle Two of Texas’ prominent female politicians crossed the aisle to promote discourse about the impact of state policy on women. Wendy Davis, a Democrat and member of the Texas Senate, renowned for her 11-hour filibuster against restrictive abortion regulations, shared that the adversity that she faced shaped her into the person she […]

Categories
Politics and Governance University of Texas at Austin

Latinos on 2016, and 2016 on Latinos

Photo: Cynthia Van Maanen Thanks to their growing influence all over the country, Latino voters will be more important in the 2016 general election than ever before, especially in states like Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. The Texas Tribune Festival panel, “Latinos and the Presidential Election,” presented an opportunity to discuss the Latino […]

Categories
Partner Policy Schools Philanthropy & Non-Profit Organizations Politics and Governance University of Texas at Austin

Why Should We Bother Debating the Business of Giving?

A Partnership Piece from the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy Photo Credit: Andre da Loba from the New York Times On its surface, the nature of philanthropic giving hardly seems to demand the need for public concern. With ISIS causing terror from afar and anti-vaccination parents sowing the seeds of discord from […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy Technology Policy

Climate Change: A non-partisan issue in Texas?

Some interesting recent polling, including work done by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, suggests a narrowing gap between California and Texas over climate change concerns. This may be surprising to many since Texas’s political leaders take a hard line on restricting greenhouse gas emissions compared to public leaders in the Golden State. Governor […]

Categories
Immigration Policy

DREAM Act Means Broken Dreams for Americans

  In response to Allison Ramirez’ feature article titled, “Our Broken (Values) System” published October 26, 2011. President Reagan passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act which granted amnesty to around 2.8 million illegal immigrants in 1986. This legislation was intended to be a “one time only” deal to give legal residency to illegal immigrants already here in the United […]