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By Bobbie Patray 11 Mar, 2024
Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to create a statewide school voucher program easily cleared its first Senate hurdle Wednesday, but took a split vote and five-plus hours of often contentious debate to pass out of a House committee. The legislation — the most ambitious and controversial education plan of Lee’s five-plus years in office — passed 7-1 out of the Senate Education Committee, with the panel’s lone Democrat casting the dissenting vote. In the House Education Administration Committee, the measure advanced 12-7, including four Republicans voting against it in the GOP-controlled legislature. Passage came even as Maryville City Schools Director Mike Winstead, a 2018 finalist for National Superintendent of the Year, called vouchers “a bitter pill, maybe some would say a poison pill” that he believes will destabilize K-12 education across Tennessee in the long run. “You can coat that with a lot of good things and make it go down a little easier,” Winstead testified before the panel. “But in the end, we’re being asked to ingest a poison pill.” Meanwhile, supporters pounded on the theme of parental choice. “This is about parents finding the best learning environment for their students,” said Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds. Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act must clear more committees in each chamber before it can be voted on by the full House and Senate. The House bill now heads to that chamber’s government operations committee, while the Senate bill will be heard next by its finance panel. Both proposals would start a new voucher program this fall with up to 20,000 students who could use taxpayer funding to attend private schools. Lee wants the program opened up eventually for any K-12 student, regardless of their family income. The pieces of legislation remain vastly different, however, both in cost and scope. The Senate bill, starting this year at $95 million and jumping to $333 million in the program’s second year, requires voucher recipients to take some type of tests that can be used to compare and rank students, but not the same rigorous standards-based tests that public school students have to take under the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, known as TCAP. The legislation also would allow public school students to enroll in any district, even if they’re not zoned for it, provided there’s enough space and teaching staff. The House version, starting at $398 million and growing to $425 million in the program’s second year, has no testing requirement for voucher recipients. It includes a long list of enticements aimed at public school supporters, including reducing testing time for students, increasing the state’s contribution toward health insurance costs for teachers, requiring fewer evaluations for high-performing teachers, and giving districts an extra $75 per student — or about $73 million in all in the first year — to help with building costs. Rep. Chris Hurt, a Halls Republican who voted against the bill, expressed concern that the public school measures could get “stripped out” of the final legislation if Senate and House negotiators head to a conference committee to work out their differences. And Rep. Charlie Baum, a Murfreesboro Republican who sits on the House Finance Committee, worried about the proposal’s high cost. He noted that Tennessee’s government faces a $400 million shortfall in its current budget.  CLICK HERE
By Bobbie Patray 11 Mar, 2024
(The Center Square) – State and local governments far from the border face significant financial challenges when helping migrants, a new report warns.  "State and local governments are shouldering the rapidly growing costs of assisting migrants and asylum seekers as their numbers increase in the U.S," according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings. "If this issue remains significant enough for long enough, the increase in costs and social service requirements could affect states' and local governments' credit quality." As migrants cross the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers, some stay in Texas or other border states. However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's and others' busing programs have taken many to New York, Denver and Chicago. Those big cities – and their corresponding states – have struggled to find money for new arrivals. The mounting financial pressures have created new challenges in all three cities. In December 2023, the immigration court backlog reached 3 million pending cases. That's an increase of 1 million from 2022, with almost 2 million new proceedings filed in 2023. Texas started transporting new arrivals out of the state in 2022. Of the 100,000 migrants and asylum seekers Texas has transported, 83,600 were sent to three cities: New York, Chicago, and Denver. The Democratic-run city of El Paso also has bused tens of thousands of migrants north. "These cities are adjusting their budgets to accommodate rising expenditures, but without state and federal government support, these costs are significant enough to strain budgets and could pressure credit quality," according to the S&P Global Ratings report. "As the number of migrants and asylum seekers rises, the budgetary strain on these cities has become increasingly visible." New York City, which has an AA credit rating, has reported that since April 2022, more than 175,300 migrants and asylum seekers have come through the city's intake system. As of Feb. 8, 2024, New York City had more than 65,800 people in its care. The city's "right to shelter" law requires it to provide shelter to those in need. New York City has revised migrant-related spending to a projected $4.2 billion for fiscal year 2024 and $4.9 billion for fiscal year 2025. And as costs grow, the city has started to adopt measures to control costs. "To accommodate rising program costs, NYC is implementing several cost-saving measures, including provisions for single migrants and asylum seekers to reapply for shelter after 30 days, and for families after 60 days," according to the report. Chicago, which has a BBB+ credit rating, has a "Welcoming City" ordinance that requires it to provide migrants with shelter, food and medical care. The city also has temporary protection laws that allow asylum seekers from certain countries, and people who are facing war or natural disaster, to stay in Chicago. Some of Chicago's suburbs have passed ordinances prohibiting migrant drop-off without advanced approval. Chicago's estimated migrant relocation costs in 2023 totaled about $275 million. In addition to setting up shelters, the city has been working with religious groups and nonprofits to care for migrants. Last month, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson extended the maximum stay time in shelters by 30-60 days for most migrants. "If support from the state and federal governments does not materialize as expected, the impact on Chicago's bottom line could be sizable," according to the S&P report. "How the city manages these pressures, particularly when faced with high costs for its underfunded pension programs, could have a longer-term effect on its credit quality." In Denver, a much smaller city with a AAA credit rating, the challenges are more acute. "Only one month into the 2024 fiscal year, the city has identified significant cost overruns related to its migrant support programs for case management and housing solutions, contributing to a potential year-end operating deficit," according to the S&P report. While the mayors of all three cities have called on the federal government for more help, it remains unclear how much help it will offer. "Given current political dynamics in Washington D.C. and the upcoming presidential election, we do not consider additional federal support likely," the authors of the S&P report wrote. "Therefore, cities on the front line of migrant and asylum seeker inflows will have to face the uncertainty of rising costs without a guarantee of revenues to offset the expenditures."
By Bobbie Patray 19 Feb, 2024
A prominent surgeon stated that the complications from vaginoplastic surgery that aims at removing male genitals and creating a vagina ‘can be pretty bad” and noted that there was “a growing number of programs throughout the world of gender affirmation, probably with a lack of training and not proper training,” according to the video of a presentation that the Daily Caller News Foundation obtained through a public records request. “Complications can be pretty bad for vaginoplasty and the most-dreaded complication is to perforate the rectum while you are dissecting the vaginal cavity,” Dr. Alex Laungani, a Canadian surgeon, who has “ expertise in trans surgical care ,” said at an event sponsored by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). “You are essentially dissecting the vaginal cavity between the prostate and the rectum and there’s literally no space there,” he said. “So, you have to create a new plain in a spot that doesn’t exist. So, you’re very close to the rectum and it’s very hard–it’s very easy to get in there. We don’t, I mean, the more you do it, the less risk you have, of course.”
By Bobbie Patray 19 Feb, 2024
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