Tag Archives: stimulus

Turner to ask feds for some relief

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t hurt to ask. Mayor Sylvester Turner is asking the federal government to let Houston use an estimated $400 million in aid to help close its ballooning budget gap and reduce the number of expected furloughs in the fiscal year … Continue reading →

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Metro will get some stimulus money

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Transit agencies in southeastern Texas are set to receive more than $300 million to stem revenue losses linked to COVID-19, federal officials announced Thursday, most of it coming to Houston. As part of the first round of Congress-approved stimulus … Continue reading →

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The digital divide

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Online learning is great, if you can get online. The lack of access to technology among students — commonly referred to as the “digital divide” — has come into sharper focus in recent weeks as school districts across Houston transition … Continue reading →

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Is it finally going to be Infrastructure Week?

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this: Lawmakers have been talking about striking a deal to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure for years. It might take a pandemic to finally get them to do it, and Texas officials are already … Continue reading →

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The federal stimulus package includes money for elections

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

What we’ll do with it remains unknown at this time. The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package Congress is working to pass this week includes $400 million for election costs states face in wrestling with how to hold high-profile 2020 elections … Continue reading →

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The Republican death wish

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It would be one thing if they were just putting their own lives at risk, but that’s not how viruses work. After Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins became the first to announce a mandatory stay-at-home rule, conservative groups including Empower … Continue reading →

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B-Cycle’s future

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There’s some trouble in San Antonio. San Antonio B-Cycle could be on the verge of following rideshare and disappearing from the San Antonio landscape, multiple sources have told the Rivard Report, unless it can win the local government, corporate and … Continue reading →

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Fixing pipes needs to be part of the state water plan

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The idea of conservation is to use less than you are currently using. When a large part of your water usage is due to leaks and losses, any sensible plan for conservation should start with addressing the underlying issues causing … Continue reading →

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It’s not so easy being green

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For cities, anyway, at this time. College Station, the maroon-hued home of Texas A&M University, is finding it is not easy being green. Four years after launching an ambitious local effort to fight global warming, city leaders say their high … Continue reading →

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Texas’ unemployment rate spikes

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas unemployment rate hits its highest mark since 1987. That’s probably not the kind of headline Rick Perry wants to read right now. As Gov. Rick Perry touts job creation and limited government on the campaign trail, the Texas’ unemployment … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Subsidies for jobs

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s be clear about what this is, shall we? When Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst crisscrossed the state last year touting his program to provide state subsidies to anyone who would hire unemployed workers, Texas employers lined up. To the state’s … Continue reading →

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Federal education funds officially on their way

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s $830 million that the Senate was counting on for education funds that it will now officially have. Just two weeks after a bipartisan federal budget deal ended an eight-month impasse over $830 million in federal education funding, the U.S. … Continue reading →

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Doggett Amendment repealed as part of budget-shutdown deal

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, the things that can happen in the dark of night. In a victory for Gov. Rick Perry, the most recent Congressional budgetary stopgap — passed Friday night to avoid closing the federal government — contains language that repeals the … Continue reading →

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San Antonio bike share

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I love the idea of B-Cycle, San Antonio’s new bike sharing program, I’m just not sure how well it will work. “I think it will encourage faster infrastructure for bike lanes and all the things we need because suddenly it’s … Continue reading →

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House repeals Doggett Amendment

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This may be a partial answer to my earlier question about the status of the $830 million in federal education funds that await Texas if Governor Perry will attest that they will be actually spent on education. In the latest … Continue reading →

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The balanced budget fantasy

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s really only one thing to say about this. One of Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign staples last year was that America would be a far better place if it were more like the Lone Star State — limited government, fewer … Continue reading →

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The national folks notice Texas’ budget situation

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen this by now, but just in case you haven’t, here it is. Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus program to spur … Continue reading →

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Krugman on the Texas budget deficit

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

By now, you’ve probably seen Paul Krugman’s column about the Texas budget deficit. He uses it to make some great points about the failure of the conservative slash-and-burn approach, but he missed a couple of facts that make it all … Continue reading →

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You’re gonna miss it when it’s gone

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So long, stimulus dollars. You were nice while you lasted. Texas’ $16.4 billion share of federal stimulus money winds down next year, a fading boon that will affect Houston jobs and research from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to the … Continue reading →

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Branch makes the case for stimulus spending

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if that’s what he intended, but it sure is what he did. State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, said Thursday that Texas should consider seizing one advantage from hard times, which would be to let universities lock in … Continue reading →

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The deficit debacle

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Think things are bad now? Just you wait. Texas faces a budget crisis of truly daunting proportions, with lawmakers likely to cut sacrosanct programs such as education for the first time in memory and to lay off hundreds if not … Continue reading →

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Privately funded high speed rail?

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From Houston Tomorrow: A possible Houston to Dallas high-speed rail line was the topic of a Monday morning breakfast meeting featuring Yoshiyuki Kasai, the chairman of Central Japan Railway, Japan’s largest rail company and maker of the famed Japanese “bullet … Continue reading →

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Rick Perry loves the stimulus

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

He just hates to admit it. When 47 state and territorial governors sent a letter on Feb. 22 asking for more federal matching dollars for Medicaid, Perry refused to sign. He likes to talk about how he thinks the American … Continue reading →

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Sometimes the headline tells you all you need to know

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Joe Barton celebrates Waxahachie clinic, which is expanding with stimulus he opposed. Actually, this one does have a bit more to it than that: “There were two pieces of legislation that helped bring this about,” Joseph Gallegos, senior vice … Continue reading →

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Congress wants education money spent on education

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It sounds simple, but around here these things never are. State leaders on Thursday threatened to sue the federal government over a restriction Congress is placing on $830 million in education funding for Texas. Texas educators and Democratic congressional allies, … Continue reading →

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Texas 20/20 on the budget

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via First Reading, a group called Texas 20/20 has taken a look at what other states have done to deal with their budget shortfalls, and how that may apply to Texas in next year’s legislative session. The author is former … Continue reading →

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How to really put the unemployed to work

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken has the germ of a good idea here. Unfortunately, he’s incapable of seeing what it is, and so goes off a cliff with it. “Even in good economic times, there were people in Texas who … Continue reading →

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Was there no one in Texas that could tell us about our broadband situation?

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m a little late in picking this up, so bear with me. Last week, the Texas Department of Agriculture published a map detailing where broadband access exists and doesn’t exist in Texas. Democratic candidate for Ag Commish Hank Gilbert, after … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder about Perry’s unemployment tax increase

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg watches some video of Texas Workforce Commission Executive Director Larry Temple testifying before the Senate and reiterates something we knew. Temple acknowledged Thursday to the Senate Committee on Economic Development that Texas’ decision not to take $556 million … Continue reading →

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Stimulus fight

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, HISD is reducing its workforce, including teachers, due to budget shortfalls. The Houston Federation of Teachers says that this is happening while there are a lot of unspent stimulus funds. Houston Federation of Teachers leader Gayle Fallon … Continue reading →

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Green University

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Colleges and universities are on the green wagon. “Green is good business,” said Pedro Alvarez, chairman of the civil and environmental engineering department at Rice University. But it’s also about idealism. “It’s not only a prerequisite to get a job … Continue reading →

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Geothermal energy

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting read about the town of Klamath Falls, Oregon, where they take advantage of an unusual feature to keep things warm. A combination of hot rocks and water like those that created Yellowstone’s geysers have been tapped by the city … Continue reading →

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TxDOT to give a little more focus to rail

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So says Transportation Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi. “Really since the creation of the Texas Department of Transportation, roads were seen as the only solution and we’re learning very quickly that we can’t keep up with enough of the road demand,” … Continue reading →

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D Magazine on John Carona

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting profile, worth a read, on State Sen. John Carona, who’s become somewhat of a radical in his party for actually being old-fashioned enough to try to solve problems and make government work. I think he’s right about this: With … Continue reading →

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