7-17
I am sure you heard about this yesterday. See this from the Chron:
The Supreme Court of Texas has temporarily blocked Harris County’s new guaranteed income program, Uplift Harris, after two lower courts denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s requests to stop the payments.
Paxton sued Harris County earlier this month, alleging its new income program violates a state law that prohibits the gift of public funds to any individual.
Harris County had selected and notified recipients and was preparing to mail the first $500 monthly checks this week. Paxton sought court action to block that move, but a Harris County district judge and the 14th Court of Appeals rejected his requests.
Here is the entire read: Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks Uplift Harris income program (houstonchronicle.com).
Don’t count on the Texas Supreme Court to end up siding with Harris County over crooked GOP AG Ken Paxton. They fear Paxton.
Somehow, somewhere, Dems need a decisive upset win in an election in Texas this November to get the GOP to stop running roughshod over Dems.
Don’t count on a Dem upset though. I have said it before. The folks running the Democratic Party apparatus in Texas are incompetent.
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My good friend H-Town Mayor John Whitmire has certainly faced some challenges at City Hall. The pay raise deal with the firefighters. An upcoming contract negotiation with the municipal employees. The water bill and water meter mess. Reviewing the proposed street redos. How to implement the Proposition A thing. Here is the latest from the Chron:
Houston City Hall will have to use significantly more tax money to fight flooding with street and drainage projects, after an appeals court sided Tuesday with engineers in a yearslong lawsuit over how much funding the city devotes to that purpose.
The 14th Court of Appeals’ opinion marks a victory for flood advocates who have fought for more projects, while dealing another blow to the city’s growing budget gap.
The city put about $123 million in property taxes into its drainage fund in last year’s budget to pay for street and drainage projects. That money funds an array of projects — from full street overhauls to sewer and ditch maintenance — that help maintain Houston’s drainage system.
One of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs suggested the amount allotted to drainage will have to grow by more than $100 million in this year’s budget, compounding City Hall’s already existing deficit of about $230 million. That $100 million increase is roughly the same amount the city uses to fund garbage and recycling collection for a year, or its entire parks budget.
Mayor John Whitmire said that he agrees the city needs to invest more in drainage, but said he does not believe Houstonians would elect to do so through a court order. He said the city plans to appeal the ruling.
“While I recognize and campaigned on the importance of drainage infrastructure, I don’t believe drainage infrastructure should compete with public safety funding,” Whitmire said in a statement. “This shows again the need for us to have a grown-up discussion about the short- and long-term condition of City finances, which I inherited, and we should not continue to kick this can down the road.”
Here is the entire read: Houston will have to spend more to fight flooding, court rules (houstonchronicle.com).
I agree with the mayor. We ought to set our own priorities through a budget process.
Public safety is a priority. Deserved pay raises for first responders and municipal employees are a priority. Infrastructure repairs are a priority. A water department that folks trust is a priority.
I am confident that Mayor Whitmire will responsibly take on these challenges and if more revenue is needed, he will make the case to the folks of H-Town. I am reminded that former Mayor Bob Lanier made the case to us around 30 years ago. Stay tuned.
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I am not ready to say we are done after 24 games. If we don’t change things after another 24 games, we will pretty much be done. The team is painful to watch. José Abreu went hitless last night and is now batting .065. Alex Bregman is hitting .203. Abreu is looking to go down as the biggest contract bust in Astros history. Painful to watch. 7-17.
The featured photo appears to be a distant goal.
