Critics say a House bill proposing $7.5 billion in new funding for public education doesn’t go far enough, The Dallas Morning News reported. House Bill 2 would raise the per-student allotment by $220, to $6,360 a year. It would also invest $750 million in teacher pay...
Dear Rusty: I have two questions. My wife passed away in May of 2015, and I never received any of her benefits. Should I have? Also, I am now 62, turning 63 next month. I am still working and probably won’t quit until age 75 or older. Should I start taking benefits...
Last Wednesday was a day of anxiety for a lot of people - at least, if what I heard on several radio and television stations was accurate. Facebook was down and what a vacuum this caused. OMG, or LOL? During the hours the social media giant was experiencing technical...
This is Sunshine Week, an annual media campaign that highlights the need — and right — to know what our elected officials are doing and how our tax dollars are being spent. The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said it best: “Publicity is justly commended...
It’s your money. You deserve to know how it was spent — and whether you got what was promised. Yet the Texas Supreme Court’s 2015 Boeing decision has been contorted to try to block taxpayers from seeing the details of hundreds of government arrangements with private...
You might recall the films, The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains, and The Invisible Woman, starring Virginia Bruce. These works of fiction entertained audiences in the 1940s. But, it’s the 21st Century and it turns out invisible people really exist. “They live...
Navigating Medicare can be challenging under the best of circumstances. It becomes even more difficult when someone new to Medicare falls victim to the myths, or misconceptions, about the health care program. Let’s take a look at the most common myths in hopes that...
Gov. Greg Abbott named as his emergency priorities education reform, teacher pay, school safety, property tax reform, mental health services and disaster response in his Feb. 5 “State of the State” address to a joint session of the Texas Legislature. The House...
It’s a busy time in Austin for state government. In Texas, an odd numbered year means your state senator and state representative are going to officially spend 140 days at the state capitol shifting through thousands of bills. Governor Abbott has stated property taxes...
