The Legislative Cocktail Hour

Texas to Feds: Come and take it (our digital data!)

No doubt that if you’ve turned on a computer or flipped through a newspaper this week, you’ve seen something about the privacy protections of Americans. With last week’s revelations that the NSA had obtained the phone records of Verizon customers, the issue of privacy have been just about everywhere.

It comes as no surprise that lack of privacy and government transparency doesn’t sit very well with us Texans. But what is kind of surprising is that a 29-year-old freshman representative may have just set the national standard for privacy.

Rep. Jonathan Strickland began the session vowing to have the most conservative voting record in the House, a promise he’s pretty much kept considering he has voted “no” on spending, well, pretty much anything. But Strickland also managed to tack on a key amendment that would force law enforcement officials to get a warrant for old emails (older than six months) — from an electronic service provider, giving those the same privacy protections as new emails (which already require a warrant).

The bill passed both chambers with accolades coming from both side of the aisle, and is on its way to the Governor.

Abortion finally makes an appearance during the Special Session

Well, it just wouldn’t be a Texas Legislature Special Session without an abortion bill. Governor Rick Perry added it to the agenda and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony on Thursday on a whole bunch of abortion bills.

A breakdown of the proposals:

No more abortions after 20 weeks (Roe v. Wade protects abortions up to 24 weeks)
Abortion providers must have admitting privileges for at least one hospital within 30 miles (tough for rural areas)
Tighter restrictions around abortion drug RU-486
Abortion clinics must be up to surgical clinic standards

Perry: That liberal Grinch won’t steal our Christmas

It is now legal to say, “Merry Christmas!” in Texas public schools - not that it wasn't already, mind you, but our small-government friends in the Capitol decided to pass a law just in case someone felt the need to sue over it. No word if “Feliz Navidad” is protected. My guess would be no.

CruzNews

Ted Cruz came out as “Obamaphobic” this week, ending months of speculation about Cruz’s ability to add the word “phobic” to another word in a subversive way.

In other Cruz news, Ted tweeted pictures of himself in super fun, absolutely crazy Texas flag socks he was rocking under his suit. He’s so wild! (And hey, he probably wasn't trying to copycat Bush Senior's birthday Superman socks publicity AT ALL...)

In “Oh wow, Chris Matthews didn’t just say that, did he?” news, Chris Matthews may or may not have compared Ted Cruz to a Nazi sympathizer. Ted’s not a Nazi sympathizer. He’s just Canadian. Hope he has a birth certificate!

A few more things…

Lawmakers are still dealing with redistricting.

Paul Burka thinks Perry may run for Governor again.

After going after California businesses this Spring, Perry is now clamoring for New Yorkers. (Please bring bagels!)

And, like kids on Christmas morning (legal to say!), all the politics nerds geeked out about 48 hours ago with the release of Texas Monthly’s Best and Worst Legislators list. Mainly because getting on the Best list is something the electeds shamelessly campaign for during every legislative session. Because, you know. That's what's really important.

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Study This

Austin is the No. 7 most educated city in the country, says Forbes

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

UT Austin gets a lot of praise, but this study includes degrees from everywhere — as long as the recipient lives in Texas.

Austin and San Antonio don't get all the same opportunities as the even larger cities in Texas, but in a recent study they prove they're prepared. Both made the top 10 in Forbes Advisor's "Most Educated Cities In The U.S." list: San Antonio was No. 4, and Austin was No. 7.

Other Texas cities made the list of 100, but some fell surprisingly far behind. Dallas made No. 20, followed by Houston at No. 79 and Fort Worth at No. 93. In some even more surprising twists, the smaller city of Garland was the fourth in Texas at No. 26, and El Paso, Corpus Christi, and Laredo all beat Houston.

This study compared the 100 largest cities in the country as of the 2021 census, using metrics like high school dropout rate, percentage of adults age 25 and older with some college, but no degree, undergraduate college completion rate, and percentage of adults age 25 and older with an advanced degree. There were also some lower-weighted metrics about equity, studying racial and gender college completion gaps.

Although many education studies fall into praising the University of Texas, this one considers education as a whole — while still mentioning the university once.

In San Antonio, the bachelor’s completion rate for people 25 and up was 67.30 percent, and 29.56 percent of people in that age group have advanced degrees. The study doesn't have much to say about educational opportunities in the city, focusing instead of its tourist potential. But it did note that the city had one of the smallest racial gaps for higher ed, which was only -5.49 percent. Its gender gap was 0.97 percent, and its high school dropout rate was 4.53 percent.

San Antonio's Trinity University did great in a Niche study that came out in early September. It was the No. 18 best small college in America, and topped the list entirely in Texas. Among bigger fish, it was also the No. 20 best liberal arts college in the country (and again the best in Texas), and made No. 4 in general for best colleges in Texas.

In Austin, 59.89 of people 25 or older completed Bachelor's degrees, and 22.76 percent completed advanced degrees. The racial gap was much worse at -10.87 percent. Its gender gap was a bit less than San Antonio's, at 0.69 percent, and its high school dropout rate was more at 7.56 percent.

Of course, this is where the study mentions UT, which is based in Austin. It made WalletHub's 2024 ranking of the best colleges and universities in Texas and earned the No. 2 spot; clinched the No. 6 spot in Niche's ranking of the best public universities in the country; and earned No. 2 in a list of best undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs by the Princeton Review, among other accolades.

Just breaking into the top 20, Dallas' Bachelor's degree completion rate was 57.05 percent, with 21.37 percent attaining advanced degrees. The racial and gender gaps were −14.99 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively. Much further down the list, Houston's Bachelor's degree completion rate was only 32.99 percent, and only 10.97% achieved advanced degrees. High school dropouts were at 8.90 percent, and the racial and gender gaps were −4.99 and 2.10 percent respectively.

Here are all the Texas cities on the list of 100, in order from most to least educated:

4. San Antonio
7. Austin
20. Dallas
26. Garland
49. El Paso
59. Corpus Christi
76. Laredo
79. Houston
81. Arlington
83. Irving

More information on the study by Forbes advisor, including full city rankings and expanded methodology, is available at forbes.com.

education universities

The Legislative Cocktail Hour

Texas to Feds: Come and take it (our digital data!)

Austin's famous Katz's makes a comeback in the same location

Popular Austin hospitality group stirs up sunny new daytime cafe

Clever passport rewards locals for visiting 10 Old Austin institutions

Study This

Austin is the No. 7 most educated city in the country, says Forbes