Bad news! The House Committee on State Affairs has passed out House Bill 5, the ban on smoking in all workplaces. Considering that Calendars Committee Chairman Brian McCall is a joint author of the bill, it is virtually guaranteed to be placed on the House Calendar for a vote this week.

 Check out the new paper released by the Texas Public Policy Foundation on principles that can reform Texas’ higher education institutions.

http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2009-05-PP16-HE2-ey.pdf 

YCT thinks these ideas are great!

Via the Texas Insider:

The Texas House recently got a first reading of House Bill 130, authored by Reps. Patrick, Eissler, Anchia, Pitts and Thompson.  HB 130 calls for “an enhanced full-day kindergarten program provided by public school districts in conjunction with community providers.”  A companion bill, SB 21, has been filed in the Senate by Zaffirini. 

The Texas Public Policy Foundation blogged this week on how an uninformed democracy could be the downfall of our nation. I enjoyed reading it, and thought you might as well.

The informed participation of citizens is vital to the success of any democracy.

A few weeks ago the Texas Public Policy Foundation released research that exposed the out of control spending by Texas universities who have placed the burden of their irresponsible fiscal habits on the backs of students, parents, and taxpayers.

Now, TPPF has recorded a PolicyCast that recommends several policies university regents and Texas lawmakers could implement to infuse competition into the higher education market that would result in driving costs down and quality up.