Wednesday, May 31, 2017

This is a Proud Moment for the MALC, Our Community, and Democracy

I'm really impressed with our Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) members that have gracefully and righteously weathered the hateful and violent vitriol that Rep. Matt Rinaldi spewed out with his threatening words. If you have any doubts about this, check out the MALC press conference video and listen to them speak, one by one. They share not just what happened, but also how disgusted they were with Rinaldi as, in effect, characterizing all Mexicans as illegal and engaged in illegal activity when all we, as protesters were doing, was exercising our First Amendment right to protest.

So yes, several MALC members reacted strongly, but never to the actual point of violence or fisticuffs. What do you expect when Rinaldi is one of the reasons why the legislative session lacked civility and decorum? A reporter even asked if this means whether the system is "broken." Legislators unflinchingly, if generously, responded that Rinaldi is the one that's "broken" and that most members get along even if they don't always agree.

A better question may be how they exercise such incredible restraint in environments like the legislature where deep-seated racism, sexism, and homophobia permeate with such license and entitlement. It sure isn't easy...

I heard a great NPR interview of Minnesota Senator Al Franken this afternoon where he shared his version of the "Serenity Prayer":

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot legislate, the courage to legislate the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, and the patience to explain that difference to my donors. ... It is exactly true.

Such great wisdom and humor. He has written a book and it's titled, "Al Franken: Giant of the Senate" (Twelve Books). Sounds like a fun read. It's already a New York Times best seller.

My friends, this is a moment to step back and recommit, with intention, to light and faith, rather than to fretting, fear, or fear-mongering. This is a proud moment for the MALC, our community, and democracy. Sí se puede! Yes we can!

Do listen to the MALC press conference video to gain a better sense of what I mean.

We all owe ourselves an applause, a break from the extended, unrelenting beat of harmful, racist rhetoric and behavior, as well as a hard-earned right to a lot of self care.😊

Paz y bendiciones, peace and blessings everyone.

P'alante! Onward!

Angela Valenzuela

c/s

Heated immigration debate led to Texas lawmakers' scuffle

PAUL J. WEBER

Associated PressMay 30, 2017

Monday, May 29, 2017

Texas Republican Called ICE on SB 4 Protesters, Threatened to Shoot Colleague

The incident happened as more than 1,000 immigrant rights supporters flooded the Texas Capitol.

State Representative Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving Sam DeGrave

A Texas Republican threatened to “put a bullet in one of his colleague’s heads” during a scuffle on the House floor over the state’s new anti-‘sanctuary cities’ law on Monday, the final day of the regular legislative session.
Representative Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, made the comment to Representative Poncho Nevárez during a dispute that began when Rinaldi told two Hispanic lawmakers that he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Senate Bill 4 protesters at the Capitol.
“There was a subsequent exchange between my brother Poncho and Representative Rinaldi and there was a threat made from Rinaldi to put a bullet in one of my colleague’s heads,” Representative Justin Rodriguez told reporters after the incident. “That kind of threatening language, he needs to be called out and held accountable for.”

Rinaldi later said on Facebook that he called immigration agents “on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery which said ‘I am illegal and here to stay.'” Rinaldi accused Nevárez of repeatedly threatening him on the House floor during the scuffle.
“I made it clear that if he attempted to, in his words, ‘get me,’ I would shoot him in self defense,” Rinaldi said. “I would shoot him in self defense. I am currently under DPS protection.”
Nevárez responded on Twitter: “He’s a liar and hateful man. Got no use for him. God bless him.”
Nina Pruneda, a spokesperson for ICE, told the Observer she was not immediately sure whether the agency sent immigration agents to the Capitol in response to Rinaldi’s call.
Earlier, at the beginning of the incident, Rinaldi told Romero on the House floor that the hundreds of protesters who were chanting in the gallery were a “disgrace,” Romero told the Observer.

Representatives Ramon Romero Jr. and Cesar Blanco (right) Sam DeGrave

“Fuck them, I called ICE,” Rinaldi said, according to Romero.
Romero said that prompted Representative Cesar Blanco to tell Rinaldi that Italian immigrants “are just like us,” and Rinaldi responded, “Yeah, but we love our country.”
“He saw a bunch of people who look Latino, and he assumed they were undocumented,” Romero told the Observer. “So how can he say SB 4 won’t lead to racial profiling?”
The comments nearly sparked a fight among the three lawmakers before their colleagues broke it up, Romero said.
“I’ve never seen anything like this on the House floor,” Romero said.
To support journalism like this, donate to the Texas Observer. The dispute came as Blanco and Romero were proudly discussing the hundreds of protesters who filled the gallery with banners and chants and were ultimately kicked out, Romero said. House rules prohibit any show of support or opposition from the gallery. Watch video of the entire protest below:

The Monday protest, attended by more than 1,000 immigrant rights supporters, coincided with sine die, the Texas Legislature’s final day at work (barring a special session to take up a bathroom bill).
The dispute is the latest in several contentious moments around Senate Bill 4, the anti-’sanctuary cities’ law that critics say will encourage racial profiling and tear immigrant families apart.
The law, which goes into effect September 1, will allow police to ask people who’ve been detained — not just arrested — about their immigration status. It also threatens to jail law enforcement officials who limit cooperation with federal immigration agents. The law has already prompted at least three Texas cities to take legal action against the state.
At 3 a.m. Sunday, around 50 protesters met in front of the governor’s mansion near the Capitol in Austin for a musically themed protest of Senate Bill 4. The crowd blared mariachi music through a megaphone for about an hour, holding signs that read “no bedtime for bigots,” “goodnight SB 4” and “you’ve disturbed our peace, so we’re disturbing yours.”
Keep up with the ongoing protests at the Capitol below:

One of Their Own: Alternative Racist Conference Welcomes Jews

This is a really interesting, if disturbing, report from a February, 2009, conference in a Baltimore Washington International Airport titled, "Preserving Western Civilization Conference," attended by the likes of David Duke and UT Law Professor Lino Graglia. This will have been a definite touchpoint for what today is known as the "Alt-Right," movement whose ideology tapped into white racial fears and buoyed Donald Trump into power.

The conference was actually convened by Jewish astrophysicist Michael Hart whose book titled, Understanding Human History, addresses "differences" in intelligence between various ethnic and racial groups. It's interesting to see the far right come together—academics together with neo-nazis in order to promote a "new" American Renaissance, the title of a racist publication. At least one proposal that came out was a "new, all-white political party." So I guess the Republican Party wasn't already white enough...

Other notables present were Steve Farron from Johannesburg, South Africa, author of The Affirmative Action Hoax and Philippe Rushton, a psychology professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Farron and Rushton's agendas are to demonstrate IQ differences between whites and blacks.

Graglia commented on the need to get rid of birthright citizenship, an interpretation derived from the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Islam also took some hits, including a proposal to outlaw it. Hart himself compared the Koran to Mein Kampf and Islam to Nazism. Check out the http://www.splcenter.org/ website for more info.

-Angela

Intelligence Report
Summer 2009

One of Their Own: Alternative Racist Conference Welcomes Jews

By Janet Smith

Baltimore, Md. — Seventy people, including a few well-known mainstream academics, joined prominent white nationalists and academic racists gathered in the Four Points Sheraton at the Baltimore/Washington International airport this February for the first-ever "Preserving Western Civilization Conference." Its aim: to defend "America's Judeo-Christian heritage and European identity." But not much civilized was said there. Rather, the discussion centered around claims that blacks are not as intelligent as whites, immigrants are destroying America, and Islam is no religion of peace — it's expansionist, intolerant, militant, and seeks to destroy.

The conference was convened by Jewish astrophysicist Michael Hart, author of the racist book Understanding Human History, which focuses on alleged differences in intelligence between various ethnic and racial groups. In the past, Hart was a regular at the biannual conferences put on by American Renaissance, a racist publication whose editor wrote, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, that "[w]hen blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears." Though few in number, Jewish academic racists were active in American Renaissance right from the start, welcomed by that group's leader, Jared Taylor, who even once arranged for kosher meals. But Taylor has also welcomed as speakers outspoken anti-Semites, including Holocaust denier Sam Dickson and neo-Nazi activist Steven Barry, making for a potentially volatile situation. Read on here.

A Lot of Drama at the Texas State Legislature Today

Happy Memorial Day today, everybody! And what a day to remember!

Check out what happened on the floor of the Texas House while we were peacefully protesting (you can actually view the actual protest in the Statesman video that accompanies this story here). As we availed ourselves of our First Amendment right to protest Senate Bill 4, the so-called "Sanctuary Cities" bill which we all agree is harmful and discriminatory, a fight, together with death threats among legislators, played out. So much drama.

Us protesters were indeed very loud and demanding, but we were also peaceful and united. Meanwhile, this story tells of near fisticuffs among legislators on the House floor as we were getting escorted out by authorities. Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) himself admitted that he called ICE (federal immigration authorities) so that they could make arrests of presumably undocumented, immigrant protesters.

Had they come, one must ask how they would have known the difference in who is documented and who is not? Plus, talk about a public relations disaster had they decided to make arrests if they even showed up, to begin with. I certainly didn't see them. Strength in numbers matter.

While we were inside the House gallery, all four floor levels of the rotunda were filling up with protesters clamoring for justice, awaiting our exit from the House so that we could join them in what ultimately became a rally outside on the South steps of the capitol upon getting forced out of the rotunda by state police.

Thousands of folks participated, emanating from all over Texas, but also other states like Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. Mostly Latino/a or Mexican, I would say, but also some Asians, African Americans, Anglos, and Muslims.

The presence of Texas Handmaids lined up, looking down, wearing their signature red cloaks and white bonnets as a sign of protest, on the ground floor of the rotunda, was eye-catching, too. N.B. Read Margaret Atwood's classic and best-seller, Handmaid's Tale, to learn more about the origins of this new feminist movement. Their presence was deeply felt and appreciated.

We chanted for hours. The chant I loved the most is "This is what democracy looks like!" Why? Because this, along with the First Amendment, seems to be an inconvenient truth for folks like Rinaldi.

Check out this news bit from today's Dallas Morning News that lists Rinaldi as one of the worst legislators this legislative session. It would line up for someone like him this way and speaks to the need for our community in Irving to show up in great numbers at the ballot box. In fact, among other things, this is what the protestors were announcing. That they would remember who voted how on SB4 and that legislators will be held to task.

The "Dreamer Movement," in case you don't know, began in Texas and goes back to the 2001 legislature with the passage of House Bill 1403. We now, of course, have many states throughout the country that have similar bills that allow undocumented students to go to college without having to pay the tuition costs of out-of-state, foreign residents. And now we have the federal DREAM Act. By virtually any measure we might fashion, this is an impressive achievement.

That said, the maturing of this movement is palpable to me. In fact, this attack on our undocumented community via SB4 is having the opposite intended effect of making them—and all of us—stronger. These bright, young, committed people are our future, my friends. And we could not be in better hands.

Like it or not, our community is #HereToStay. In the larger scheme of things anyway, we didn't cross the border. The border crossed us. See what happens when settlers invade countries and then dress it all up as "Manifest Destiny" or "American Exceptionalism?" There IS a demographic reality that faces you sooner or later.

And what does that mean anyway? No, it's not to invert logics, with the oppressed becoming the oppressors. I'm saying something different. I'm saying that this psychological, emotional, and ultimately, tactical, relational, and policy shift to genuinely engaging "the other" to address human problems has become a begrudging matter of "survival," for some, and a long-awaited "opportunity," for others.

I'm obviously in the latter camp as I see an enormous opportunity to make our lives richer and deeper through community engagement. It takes us outside of our comfort zones, and we invariably discover that we always still have much to learn at the same time that we realize that we know a lot and have a lot to offer.

Being involved in the community is intellectually stimulating, as well. Kind of like learning a new language. According to research, learning a new language will forestall Alzheimers by a few years (especially see Stephen Krashen's piece, "Keep your brain young: Read, Be Bilingual, Drink Coffee"). I see these similarly—language, culture, and intellectualism, brain and heart development.

Let's honor the indigenous voices in our society, as well as the indigeneity around and within us. Let us honor our elders. Let's have an "abuela (grandmother) epistemology," or way of knowing. After all, I am a mother and a grandmother. The idea here is not to establish a new orthodoxy, but rather to liberate ourselves to diverse ways of knowing and being in the world. What that looks like is democratically negotiated and determined.

If our goal is greater equality, world peace, and frankly, living above sea level, let's re-commit to democracy and democratic processes, and let's build a kind of life and society premised less on competition and individualism, and more on collaboration and compromise—the price of democracy, no less.

As Mexico’s greatest, most beloved president Benito Juarez once expressed,

“Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.” (“Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.”)

Indeed, but this is a praxis, a healthy, green, organic revolution of the heart, mind, and spirit. This is a way of knowing that is nurturing and life giving. We need to love and care for our youth. So many of them are in crisis. They need us. We need them.

Let's join together as communities and work in partnership to engage global issues of individual, group, and societal concern locally, not the least of which is eliminating not just the letter—but perhaps most especially, the spirit—of the law that undergirds this hateful legislation. Same for myriad other social issues, as well.

We all benefit from Dreamers’ call to a life of dignity. To quote fierce, local immigrant rights lawyer, Virginia Raymond, "We are never as a democracy ever hurt from the expansion of another's rights. And we frequently benefit.”

Please say no to SB4! Now, on to the courts where the constitutionality of SB4 will get challenged—and, I anticipate, successfully.

Sí se puede! Yes we can!

Angela Valenzuela

c/s

Death threats, a call to ICE and a near fistfight on the House floor

By Sean Collins Walsh - American-Statesman Staff

1Updated: 3:16 p.m. Monday, May 29, 2017 | Posted: 11:04 a.m. Monday, May 29, 2017

3 p.m. update: Following his confrontation with Democrats on the Texas House floor, Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, issued a statement confirming that he reported protesters at the Capitol to federal immigration authorities and saying that he is under police protection after being “physically assaulted” and threatened by other legislators.

Rinaldi said that Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagle Pass, said he would “get me on the way to my car, prompting Rinaldi to respond that he “would shoot him in self defense.”

Earlier in the day, Rep. Justin Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, said that he heard Rinaldi make a threat, directed at Nevárez, that he would “put a bullet in one of my colleagues’ heads.”

Rinaldi also said that Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth, assaulted him on the floor but gave no details. Earlier, Rinaldi told reporters that Democrats had pushed and shoved him during the showdown on the floor, which occurred as officers were removing protesters from the galleries.

The protesters were there to oppose the Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 4, which bans so-called sanctuary cities that decline to assist federal immigration enforcement.

1 p.m. update: On the final day of the legislative session, a moment usually reserved for congratulatory speeches, a shoving match broke out on the Texas House floor as Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, tussled with several Democrats.

The incident occurred as protesters opposed to the new law banning so-called sanctuary cities were being ushered out of the House galleries after disrupting the proceedings on the floor by chanting, “Here to stay!”

Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth, said Rinaldi then told several lawmakers that he had called Immigration and Customs Enforcement to report the protesters, prompting the confrontation between Rinaldi and the Democrats.

Asked repeatedly whether he called ICE, Rinaldi declined to say. Rinaldi said he confronted the Democrats because they were encouraging the protesters.

“We were just hawing back and forth they were bragging about inciting the protesters and calling us all racists,” he said.

During the heated exchange, Rinaldi said, the Democrats pushed and shoved him and threatened his life.

Democratic Rep. Philip Cortez of San Antonio, however, said he heard Rinaldi threaten to put a bullet in the head of another Democrat, Rep. Poncho Nevarez of Eagle Pass.

The clash put an exclamation point on the rancorous 85th Legislature, which was marked by intense battles between the parties over the sanctuary cities measure and by battles between GOP factions over controversial proposals like the so-called bathroom bill.

Noon update: As demonstrators protesting a new law banning so-called sanctuary cities were being removed from the gallery, a scuffle broke out on the House floor between Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, and several Democrats.

Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., a Fort Worth Democrat, said Rinaldi told lawmakers that he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the protesters, who were opposing a bill to ban so-called sanctuary cities that decline to assist federal immigration enforcement.

Rinaldi and Democrats then got in each other’s faces and had to be separated.

“This is an exercise of your first amendment rights, your freedom of speech,” Romero said of the protesters. Rinaldi “feels the way to deal with that, instead of letting troopers do what they did, which is exactly what they’re supposed to do, he felt like he needed to call ICE,” Romero said, referring to Texas Department of Public Safety officers that removed the protesters from the galleries.

“I hope that he’s embarrassed,” Romero said. “The price to pay for him right now was the loss of respect. I’ve served with him on committees. He fully lost my respect.”

Asked for comment, Rinaldi said that the Democrats had incited a riot by encouraging the protesters and that they threatened his life during the scuffle on the House floor.

He did not comment on whether he called federal immigration authorities.

Earlier: Chanting, “Here to stay!” protesters opposed to the new law banning so-called sanctuary cities briefly shut down proceedings in the Texas House on Monday, the final day of a legislative session that will be remembered for intense partisan battles.

The protesters wore red shirts and filled the House galleries as the largely ceremonial last day of the Legislature got underway.

House rules forbid spectators from cheering or jeering, and they were soon escorted out by officers from the Department of Public Safety.

Legislators from both parties looked up and took cell phone videos of the demonstrators as they were removed from the galleries.

The Senate, hoping to avoid a similar outburst, locked its gallery doors shortly before the session was to begin at 11 a.m.

Senate Bill 4 by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, imposes stiff financial penalties on sanctuary cities, which are local governments that decline in some way to assist federal immigration enforcement, and creates a criminal offense for local officials who implement sanctuary-style policies.

When the bill came up in the House, Democrats fought against it for 16 hours in an emotional floor debate before the Republican majority approved it.

About the Author

SEAN COLLINS WALSH Sean Collins Walsh reports on state government and politics for the American-Statesman.

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1 Texas House members make death threats amid shoving match

2 Reversals at Legislature have spelled an unhappy tale for Austin

3 On Sine Die, Jonathan `Kill Bill’ Stickland takes credit for ‘bad bills’ that died | First Reading

March against SB4 is happening today

Happening in a few minutes in Austin.

-Angela
#SB4isHate

How to Join the Fight Against Texas’s Racist Immigration Law

Activists will gather at the Texas State Capitol this Monday—and we’re asking for everyone’s support. Glad to see that The Nation gave this some press.

By NationAction

May 26, 2017

This Monday, activists from Texas and across the country will gather in Austin for day of action to fight a law that promises to make life much more dangerous and difficult for immigrants, people of color, and anyone else likely to be profiled and targeted by police.Scheduled to go into effect September 1, Texas’s Senate Bill 4 would allow local law-enforcement personnel to question the immigration status of anyone that they detain for any reason. It would also punish local officials who seek to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, effectively preventing them from prioritizing the needs of their communities over the federal government’s anti-immigrant agenda. The situation is so dire that the ACLU issued a travel advisory for the state of Texas shortly after the law’s passage. El Paso County, its Sheriff Richard Wiles, and several organizations and Texas cities have sued to prevent SB4’s implementation. Activists have called it the “show me your papers” law and assert that it’s likely to result in rampant racial profiling.
On top of the damage it will do in Texas, this fight has national ramifications. As the organizers of Monday’s action point out, if we don’t loudly denounce racist laws like SB4, emboldened conservative state legislatures across the country could follow Texas’s lead and double down on President Trump’s inhumane policies.
Whether or not you live in Texas, here’s how you can pitch in to Monday’s day of action:
1. If you’re in Texas and you can get to Austin, head to the Texas State Capitol this Monday, May 29. Participants are asked to wear red to show their support. The day of action will begin at 9:30 am and will consist of a full day of activities including teach-ins and rallies. You can find more information and RSVP here.
2. Spread the word on social media. Use the hashtag #SB4isHate and let your friends and family know what’s going on. Organizers have composed some sample tweets in English and Spanish to help you out. Here are a few you can copy and paste:
I pledge my commitment to our Texas community as they RESIST the racist SB4! #SB4isHate #HereToStay http://bit.ly/2rAfXPH
Showing our support for Texas to make sure laws like SB4 don’t come into our state! #SB4isHate #HereToStay http://bit.ly/2rAfXPH
Estamos listos para luchar en contra del racista @Greg_AbbottTX y la SB4! ✊ #HereToStay #SB4isHate Envia STOPSB4 al 877877
3. Donate. Immigrants and allies across the country are traveling to Texas on Monday and they need places to stay, food to eat, and money for travel. Your donation helps ensure a massive show of resistance.
4. Learn about and support the national and local groups on the ground, most of them immigrant-led organizations that work day-in and day-out for dignity and justice for immigrants and others targeted by racist right-wing policies. Here are a few involved in Monday’s action:
United We Dream is the largest immigrant-youth led organization in the country, made up of over 100,000 immigrant youth and allies and 55 affiliate organizations in 26 states.
The Workers Defense Project is a membership-based organization based in Texas that “empowers low-income workers to achieve fair employment through education, direct services, organizing and strategic partnerships.”
Immigrants United is a non-profit based in Austin that empowers new leaders and works for better living conditions in immigrant communities.
Education Austin is the labor union for employees of the Austin Independent School District.
University Leadership Initiative is an undocumented youth-led organization that advocates for the rights of the undocumented community.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Choosing Democracy: Why Do Billionaires Want Charter Schools ?

Why? Harold Meyerson expresses this well in this piece below. The short answer for me is—because a system that socially engineers inequality is profitable to billionaires. Much more profitable, for sure, than the Waltons raising workers' wages, for starters, as Meyerson aptly notes.

Ranked third by Business Insider for family-owned enterprises, they are certainly well poised to be the rising tide that lifts many, many boats out of poverty. Same with all the others listed as The 21 biggest family-owned businesses in the world.

School boards, such as in the recent LAUSD School Board battle, are the battleground for this fight against the billionaires, as this story tells. So please be aware of this deliberate campaign to erode the public good and how this is bad for democracy.

Finally, remember that which may be good for the individual (or individual family) is not necessarily that which is good for the collective.

Thanks to Duane Campbell for sharing.

Angela Valenzuela

Choosing Democracy: Why Do Billionaires Want Charter Schools ?

by Harold Meyerson

The billionaires, apparently, we shall always have with us — even when
we decide how to run the state-funded schools where they rarely send
their own kids.

In the Los Angeles school board elections earlier this month, a number of billionaires,
including Eli Broad, Netflix founder Reed Hastings and two Walton family siblings,
poured millions into the campaigns of two charter-school advocates. These
billionaire-sponsored candidates defeated two badly outspent opponents
who took a more cautionary stance on expanding charters, lest they
decimate the school district’s budget. In total, pro-charter groups
outspent teacher unions, $9.7 million to $5.2 million. (In the 2016
state legislative campaigns, the charterizers outspent the unions by a
far larger margin, $20.5 million to $1.2 million.)

Though a number of the billionaires who’ve involved themselves in the charter cause are conservatives and Republicans, the actual election battles they join almost always pit Democrat
against Democrat — in part because nearly all big cities are now
overwhelmingly Democratic. In California, where Republicans’ numbers
have ebbed past the point of power, the lion’s share of billionaires’
legislative campaign contributions have gone to more centrist Democrats,
who not only are reliable votes on charter issues but also often oppose
environmental and other measures advanced by their more progressive
colleagues.

Charter billionaires have settled on a diagnosis, and a cure, that
focuses on the deficiencies of the system’s victims, not the system
itself.

Of all the issues billionaires could choose, why charters, and why now?
One reason commonly adduced is that they’ve noticed something troubling:
Public school graduates lack the skills necessary for employment. Many
of those needed skills, however, are the kind that students acquire in
vocational educational programs, not at charter schools.

That there are huge problems in the education of low-income students is
beyond dispute — but this is hardly a recent development. The real
recent development is the rising share of such students as the middle
class has waned.

If the Waltons, say, decided to redirect more of their fortune to
raising Wal-Mart workers’ wages, that in turn might enable hundreds of
thousands of families to have more economically secure and stable lives,
which could have a greater effect on student performance than
charterization.

It’s hardly fair, of course, to tar all billionaire charterizers with
that kind of brush. But the fact is that they have emerged as a force at
a time when our staggering levels of economic inequality have become a
widely acknowledged problem. That’s not just a coincidence.

Indeed, we have to go back to the economic polarization of pre-New Deal
America to find a time when the super-rich felt so compelled to better
the lot of the poor, as they understood it. Andrew Carnegie, who grew
mightily rich by building the American steel industry, famously
established libraries in thousands of cities and towns. Though, unlike
today’s charter backers, he wasn’t draining off funds that could go to
public libraries in the process.

What Carnegie and today’s pro-charter rich have in common is a belief in
individual betterment — but not only that. They also share a fierce
opposition to collective betterment, manifested in their respective
battles against unions and, in many cases, against governmentally
established standards and services.

Living in separate eras when the middle class was — and is — embattled
and the gap between rich and poor was — and is — immense, billionaires
have largely shunned the fights that might truly narrow that gap:
raising the minimum wage, making public colleges and universities free,
funding sufficient public investment to create genuine full employment,
reviving collective bargaining and raising progressive taxes to pay for
all of that.

As the billionaires see it, it’s the lack of skills, not the
dysfunctions of the larger economic system that they (or their parents)
mastered, that is the cause of our national woes. Pure of heart though
some of them may be, the charter billionaires have settled on a
diagnosis, and a cure, that focuses on the deficiencies of the system’s
victims, not the system itself. How very comforting for them.

Harold Meyerson is executive editor of the American Prospect. He is a contributing
writer to Opinion.

Texas Senate passes bill overhauling Houston's troubled pension systems

This piece illuminates the very serious implications of SB2190 that is currently on the governor's desk awaiting his signature. It primarily affects Houston where the city is currently facing shortfalls to the tune of $8 billion with respect to its police, firefighter and municipal employee pension funds.

A crisis indeed, but the policy "remedy" that SB2190 represents is a slippery slope for other cities that may decide to take this route, and a portent of bad things to come, specifically, for Houston firefighters. I heard through the grape vine that they'll file suit, though, so that's a good thing. It nevertheless concerns us all as a state.

This May 1, 2017 piece by Brandon Formby of the Texas Tribune provides important detail to SB2190 that you can read about here below. You can also get important additional detail on shifts from defined to contribution (401K or 401K-like) plans in other areas of the country from my April 13, 2017 blog post titled,

SB 2190 Could Be Bad News for Public Education: This Would KILL our already injured, hobbling profession...

This new title reflects the current information I have (formerly, it was "SB 2190 is Bad News for Public Education: This will KILL our already injured, hobbling profession...").

So while this struggle is specific to Houston fire fighters and their pension plans, it has potentially profound implications for other areas of state government, including education. These neoliberal, greedy, and individualistic privatizers are powerful and relentless.

A highly knowledgeable person I know who works in pensions and prefers to remain anonymous shared with me that a 401K-like, contribution benefit plan (described as an "alternative" to time-honored, defined benefit plans) are very much in the works for education as we speak. Our public schools make these vultures hungry. Never mind that these our hard-earned, taxpayer dollars that they are after.

In fact, Sen. Joan Huffman (R-District 17) is calling for pensions as an interim legislative charge. How convenient, especially now that—over Sen. Royce West's objection who was absent on the day when the action happened—none other than Josh B. McGee, former vice president of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, squeaked through to top-government post to now chair the Texas Pension Review Board. You can't make this stuff up!

While this story is not going in the right direction for Texas right now, we still do have a vote. I would hope that all state employees in Huffman's district make this their cause celebré and get her voted out in favor of a leader that truly represents not just "their interests," but most particularly their right to a decent retirement after a career of serving the public. Even if you're not a state employee, you are still a tax payer. And defined benefit plans are beneficial and fair not just for the individuals directly impacted, but also the public at large.

I'll take the liberty of quoting myself here from my updated April 13, 2017 blog post piece, too:

A longer-term agenda for our community and organizations is to upgrade our civic capacity in this arcane policy realm of pension plans. I know less than a handful of people and organizations that advocate in this area. Civil rights groups and the nonprofit sector, educational advocacy organizations, etc. need to step up to the plate. Thankfully, one such organization is Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS): http://www.texpers.org/

Not sure who in academia is keeping track of these things either. Of all the volumes of education research and policy analysis that I read and come across, I simply do not see much at all on pension plans. Perhaps folks in public management are on top of this....

In any case, we all need to up our game on this. Myself, included. I'll of course continue sharing what I learn.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick himself said: "I cannot think of a more challenging bill in my 11 years in the Senate."

Read why below—and then do something about it.

Angela Valenzuela

Texas Senate passes bill overhauling Houston's troubled pension systems

On a 25-5 vote, the Texas Senate passed a bill aimed at overhauling Houston's troubled pension funds. The bill's author also added a provision that could shift future employees to new retirement system if shortfalls worsen or persist.

by Brandon Formby May 1, 2017 4 PM

State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, during a meeting of the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 27, 2017.
Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune

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^{Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.}

Texas Senators overwhelmingly passed a bill Monday that aims to overhaul Houston’s troubled pension funds, but not before including a last-minute amendment that could switch future first responders and City Hall employees to a new kind of retirement system.

The Senate passed Senate Bill 2190 in a 25-5 vote. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praised the work of the bill's author, State Sen. Joan Huffman. The Houston Republican spent months working with Houston city officials, police officers, firefighters and city employees in an effort to rewrite the statute that governs the city’s severely underfunded pension systems. Her bill was at least loosely based on a plan that Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner worked on with the three employee groups.

"I cannot think of a more challenging bill in my 11 years in the Senate," Patrick said.

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But the city’s firefighters opposed the legislation because, they said, it required too many cuts to features of their benefits even though their fund is not in nearly as bad a shape as the police and municipal funds. Huffman said from the Senate floor Monday that she made tweaks in the bill that aims to at least partially appease firefighters.

“Although progress was made, it is my understanding the firefighters do not support this bill,” Huffman said.

Houston fire pension chairman David Keller said in a prepared statement Monday afternoon that the benefit features cut from that fund to help the city afford its contributions to all three pension systems could prompt firefighters to leave the department. He also said that could exacerbate existing problems in the firefighters' fund in the same way that Dallas’ pension fund has been bombarded by asset losses.
“There, the anticipation of future benefit cuts caused waves of early retirements, forced liquidations of immature assets, and a spiraling decline of pension fund balances,” Keller said.

Huffman amended her bill so that if the police or fire systems have less than 65 percent of the money they will need to cover future retirement costs after 2021, new employees will have to go on a different kind of retirement plan called a cash balance plan. If the municipal fund isn’t funded at 60 percent after 2027, those city employees will also have to shift future employees to the new retirement plan.

Currently, the city's police system is funded at 62 percent, the firefighter fund at 81 percent and the municipal fund at 48 percent, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

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A cash balance plan can be similar to a pension, but instead of money being pooled into one large fund, each employee has their own separate account. But it was unclear Monday if such plans would be pooled or not if Houston is eventually required to use them.

"We did leave some flexibility for the city and the pensions to develop the fine details," Huffman said after Monday's vote.

Houston leaders last week said no such plan was offered to police, firefighters or municipal employees while they were negotiating a pension reform plan with city officials. They said they didn’t know enough about the idea to support it so late in the legislative session. But Turner on Monday praised passage of the bill in a prepared statement.

“Studies are still out on whether they will work in the long run,” Huffman said Monday of cash balance plans. “The beauty is there's certainty in the cost to the city and the taxpayers.”

The idea for the cash balance plan came from some Houston business leaders worried that Turner’s plan would not adequately shore up the shortfalls and would lead to cuts in city services or employee layoffs.

“It only kicks in if his plan doesn't work,” said Houston investment manager Chris Zook.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, had wanted to amend the bill to let Houston voters decide whether the city should send all future employees to defined contribution plans, like 401(k)s. That’s a highly controversial idea among first responders who say that the promise of dependable pensions is something cities have long used to keep from paying them higher salaries.

Bettencourt said Monday that he liked the cash balance plan idea because it would end the use of costly pension funds if the current financial crisis doesn’t ebb.

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“It’s a recognition of the obvious,” he said.

Missed payments and growing debt

Houston faces more than $8 billion in shortfalls in its police, firefighter and municipal employee pension funds. But credit ratings agency Moody’s estimates the unfunded liabilities exceed $10 billion. That firm ranked Houston as having the nation’s fourth worst pension shortfall when unfunded liabilities were compared to the annual operating revenues.

Those shortfalls are far worse in the police and municipal employee funds than in the firefighter retirement fund. The unfunded liabilities in the police and municipal systems stem from years in which those respective board agreed to let the city underfund its pension contributions. City officials estimate they now owe the police fund $750 million and the municipal employee fund $250 million.

To repay those underfunded amounts, the city plans to issue $1 billion in pension obligation bonds. But the Senate in March passed a bill that could complicate that plan because it would require voters to approve a city’s attempt to take on bond debt to fill pension funds. Huffman's bill also includes a provision saying that if voters reject pension obligation bonds, the benefit cuts that employees agreed to will not go into effect.

Budget woes ahead

Houston is already facing a $90 to $100 million shortfall in its budget that has to be approved by the end of next month. In July, when Houston's 2018 fiscal year begins, the city will have to pay $130 million into the police retirement fund. If pension reform legislation goes through, the city plans to quickly issue its $1 billion in planned bonds to avoid draining $130 million from its general fund. If the city has to use its the general fund for that payment, it will create a $220 to $240 million budget shortfall that will lead to layoffs for city employees, including police officers and firefighters, according to Turner.

“No group of employees is going to go unscathed in this process,” Turner said at a press conference last week.

Houston officials have warned that a shortage in first responders will lead to higher crime rates and lower response times throughout the city. Houston fire chief Samuel Peña said at a press conference last week that his department wouldn’t be able to respond as quickly to car wrecks, house fires or medical emergency.
“We are already strained to the max as far as being able to provide the service that this community has come to expect,” he said.

Read related coverage:

Hundreds of Dallas police officers stood at City Hall last week to oppose Mayor Mike Rawlings' calls for residents to oppose a legislative fix to the rapidly failing first responder pension fund.
As the Texas Legislature considers bills aimed at fixing the Houston and Dallas pension problems, several of its members have personal or business ties to those cities' pension systems.

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This new title reflects the current information I have (formerly, it was "SB 2190 is Bad News for Public Education: This will KILL our already injured, hobbling profession...").

So while this struggle is specific to Houston fire fighters and their pension plans, it has potentially profound implications for other areas of state government, including education. These neoliberal, greedy, and individualistic privatizers are powerful and relentless.

I'll take the liberty of quoting myself here from my updated April 13, 2017 blog post piece, too:

Missed payments and growing debt

Budget woes ahead

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