Texas Rural Reporter Weekly Update 4/28
Brining you the News about rural Texas you need to read.
SPOTLIGHT
Opportunity: $350K In Grants To Texas Rural Women Entrepreneurs
The Center for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE), a program of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership at Texas Woman’s University, will begin accepting applications for its Texas Rural Woman Grant on May 15. They will award 35 $10,000 grants for $350,000 to qualified Texas rural women who have been in business for at least three years. It marks the first time they have offered the grant to help women in rural areas who need capital to expand their businesses.
Rains this week in Texas provide some relief in Texas Drought Conditions #prayforrain
TEXAS LEGISLATURE
Texas House OKs $5 billion for broadband, if voters give thumbs up
The Texas House on Thursday moved one step closer toward investing $5 billion to expand internet availability across the state. Filed by Republican state Rep. Trent Ashby of Lufkin, House Bill 9 and the accompanying House Joint Resolution 125 would ask Texas voters in November whether the state can spend that historic amount and create the Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund. The House approved Ashby’s bill 140-9 on Thursday. It now heads to the Senate.
‘We have to increase teacher quality.’ Texas House advances bill on educator retention
One of Texas’ signature efforts to boost teacher recruitment and retention received initial approval from the House on Wednesday.
Rep. Harold Dutton’s bill would provide free pre-K classes for the children of school teachers, increase stipends for a subset of high-quality educators and waive some certification fees for candidates, among other changes.
HPPR: Texas Senate OKs bill banning foreign governments, including China, from buying agricultural land
The governments of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran would not be allowed to purchase land in Texas under a proposal preliminarily passed by the Texas Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said her legislation is about protecting the state and addressing national security concerns.
(Editor’s Note: Sen Charles Perry of Lubbock who represents rural Texas voted against this bill in the Senate and offered a different solution, based on his belief that private property rights are utterly sacrosanct. Perry is concerned that while today the target is hostile foreign entities, giving the government the right to prohibit the purchase and sale of land for this reason could expand to other reasons in the future. He said his bill, SB 711, tries to balance security concerns with Texans' inalienable property rights. It would require buyers to disclose that they are representatives of hostile foreign countries and allow a seller to break a promise of sale contract on that basis.)
EDUCATION
East Parker County The Community News: Fine Christian gentlemen at it again
I received a text message a couple of days ago from “Bethany” at Texans for School Choice telling me that our state representative, Glenn Rogers, voted to ban school choice in Texas. Aside from the falsity of that statement, back in March, from the same telephone number, I received a text message from “Bethany” at Young Americans for Liberty, telling me to call our state senator, Phil King, because senators had introduced Senate Bill 8, “which blocks ONE MILLION homeschool and private school students from School Choice opportunities.”
In Rural Texas, Spending Taxpayer Money on Private Schools Is a Hard Sell
“If you will bow with me, please,” said Christopher Moran, superintendent of the Whitehouse Independent School District, after he was invited to pray to open a news conference outside the Tyler Independent School District building last month. Those from both school districts were there to voice local opposition to a school voucher proposal being floated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that would channel taxpayer money to private schools.
Texas school voucher fight is a test of the power of 'anti-woke' rhetoric
Dozens of public school students spend their lunchtime with a guitar-playing Baptist minister, bowing their heads in prayer under a tree by the school playground. English classes read Shakespeare and Steinbeck, avoiding works that might draw them into contemporary controversies. Most parents here consent to corporal punishment for misbehaving children, though the superintendent says he rarely swats kids with the paddle.
Via Twitter @scottbraddock: Poll running to intimate rural Legislators on school vouchers
BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Texas must have an economic development program to compete for jobs and investment
Chairman Todd Hunter’s Texas Jobs & Security Act (CSHB 5) will keep Texas competitive and bolster our state’s economic security by helping to reestablish our global manufacturing dominance, reshore our supply chain, and ensure electric grid reliability. The limited, temporary property tax discounts included in the new economic development program CSHB 5 creates are imperative because we must use economic development tools that other states and countries are using to attract new capital investments and the long-term benefits they bring.
Could Texas lawmakers end the state’s renewable boom?
Texas is a sweet spot for renewable energy deployment, leading the nation in wind energy and second only to California in solar power. But two years after the electric grid nearly collapsed during a severe winter storm, conservative lawmakers in Texas have proposed a slew of policies that could upend the Lone Star State’s status as a clean energy powerhouse and push renewable energy projects elsewhere. Texas state senators backing the policy changes want to double down on natural gas, a move they say would make the state’s isolated power grid more reliable. Critics argue the bills they’ve proposed would do little to keep the lights on — while chilling solar and wind projects despite historic federal support for those technologies.
Lubbock Economic Development Alliance announces creation of nearly 150 jobs, introduction of $52 Million into Lubbock community
The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance (LEDA) announced the expansion of Orbia’s Connectivity Solutions business Dura-Line into the Lubbock community during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. This expansion will drive the creation of 141 new full-time jobs and introduce over $52 million of capital investment.
HEALTHCARE
Anson General Hospital receives federal aid through new rural healthcare program
In the wake of closures for many rural Texas Hospitals, Anson General hospital has become the third in the state to take on a new federal designation as a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). It’s an experimental federal program aimed at keeping rural healthcare available in one form or another.
Diabetes a major factor behind declining life expectancy in rural areas
Over the past two decades, life expectancy in rural areas has declined. One major reason is the prevalence of diabetes. With support from the Pulitzer Center and in collaboration with the Global Health Reporting Center, special correspondent Dr. Alok Patel reports from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas for our series Rural RX.
Analysis: Social Capital Key to Recruiting Healthcare Professionals
Personal and professional relationships, also known as social capital, were crucial to recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals in rural areas of nine states, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
UT Arlington’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation to offer rural health care certificate programs
UTA is planning to offer undergraduate and graduate rural health certification programs by spring 2024 to prepare students for challenges unique to health care professionals in rural settings. The programs are designed to teach students how to work in rural areas lacking resources like staff, internet and transportation. The courses aim to increase collaboration between rural and urban health care and help students become a “jack of all trades” in handling patients’ needs.
WASHINGTON
Reps. Cuellar and Baird Lead Bipartisan Effort to Prioritize Rural Broadband Access
Today, U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) and U.S. Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04) introduced a resolution emphasizing the need to invest in broadband expansion. “High-speed broadband is critical for rural America’s growth and prosperity, yet many of our neighbors are unable to obtain reliable Internet access. I remain committed to improving internet speeds for schools, homes, doctors’ offices, and businesses, which will bring new economic development opportunities to our communities, especially in South Texas,” said Congressman Cuellar. “I thank my colleague, Congressman Baird, for working with me across party lines to close the digital divide between urban and rural America. The Rural Broadband Resolution will enable rural communities to fully participate in the modern economy.”
CULTURE
Movie Premiere: Ten in Texas
When a deadly virus spreads throughout Boquillas, Mexico, ten West Texas women ranchers mastermind a plan to help their neighbors in need. Tenacious Joan (Liz Rogers) and reluctant newcomer Caroline (Abigail Pfiester Rue) take off on a wild adventure traveling across harsh desert terrain in a dilapidated hunting vehicle to smuggle life-saving vaccines across the border. The local sheriff, Joan’s old flame, fears they are in grave danger and will not make it to the Rio Grande river. Ten in Texas is an inspiring tale of determination and friendship.
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