Latest news with #DepartmentofStateHealthServices
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Down to the wire: Texas Legislature OKs school funding, water, animal-friendly bills
With the end of the 2025 Texas legislative session approaching Monday's finish line, the House and Senate are engaging in legislative ping pong across the rotunda with bills approved by both chambers. In this version of ping pong, each chamber decides whether to accept the changes made by the other or escalate the debate by settling differences via a conference committee. Here are some of the highlights from Thursday's floor sessions. Sweeping legislation to boost funding for public schools was sent to the governor's desk Thursday, completing the "Texas Two Step" designed to change the face of K-12 education in Texas. Step one fulfilled Gov. Greg Abbott's wish for a school voucher-like program through Senate Bill 2, which will make public money available to help pay for private education. He signed it into law in an elaborate ceremony earlier this month. House Bill 2 is step two. It provides $4.2 billion for teacher pay raises, expands the merit-based pay program known as the Teacher Incentive Allotment, invests in teacher preparation and certification programs, and creates a new $1.3 billion fixed cost fund for districts to pay overhead expenses. It also rewrites the way the state's special education system works, setting aside $850 million more for such programs, and provides $430 million more for school safety. More: Would school vouchers help Texas students with special needs? House to weigh 'school choice' Abbott has signed legislation to expand the list of slogans available for license plates. Senate Bill 1568 allows the Department of State Health Services to diversify plate design options to boost public interest and increase funding. The first redesign, 'Spay. Neuter. Adopt.', will offer Texans an easy way to support pets. The Animal-Friendly License Plate Program, originally established in 1997, provides money for free and low-cost spay and neuter initiatives. One part of the major legislative package to address the need for a reliable water supply in Texas made it across the finish line Thursday when the House agreed to the Senate's changes to a proposed constitutional amendment. House Joint Resolution 7 is a referendum that would start the allocation of $1 billion annually to the Texas Water Fund for up to 10 years by redirecting a portion of state sales tax collections. The money will help pay for more water and to repair aging infrastructure for local entities. Texas voters will have final approval on the plan in November. The other part of the package, Senate Bill 7, was still awaiting final approval Thursday. This is the legislation that would put the law on the books. The constitutional amendment would authorize the legislation. More: Texas infrastructure fares better than U.S. average but needs major investment: report Legislation to restrict land ownership from people "domiciled" in nations hostile to the United States was sent to the governor's desk Thursday. Senate Bill 17, authored by Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and sponsored by Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, in the House, seeks to bar individuals and companies from "adversarial nations" as identified by the U.S. national intelligence director — currently, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — from owning land or real estate in Texas. It also gives the governor authority to add or remove countries from the list. Each chamber offered its own version of the legislation, and the proposal sent to the governor was the work of a conference committee, which reconciled the differences. The measure would grant the attorney general jurisdiction to investigate "land law" violations and would make it a state jail felony to knowingly purchase property despite the restrictions. The conference committee report passed largely along party lines. Democratic Rep. Gene Wu of Houston said it would have the unintended consequence of hindering some members of the Asian community with legal standing to be in the United States from being able to purchase homes and businesses. More: Some Texans, civil rights groups alarmed by bill to ban certain migrants from owning land This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Legislation on school funding, water, land ownership advances in Texas
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Reasons given for cancellation of Greenville tattoo event
Greenville City Attorney Daniel Ray recently shed some light on why the inaugural Ink Slingers Tattoo Expo – originally scheduled for this month – was canceled. The main reason centered around the fact that the planned location for the expo was Fletcher Warren Civic Center, which is surrounded by land zoned for single-family residences. And since the event would include actual tattooing on the premises and the sale of tattoo-related supplies, it would require a zoning of industrial or light industrial. At last week's city council meeting, Ray also said that he checked with the Department of State Health Services to see if the city could apply for some kind of temporary permit to allow tattooing at the civic center and was told the state would not grant such a permit. Therefore, the only way the venue could be used for the event would be if there was a change to the zoning. Additionally, a zoning change to industrial or light industrial would likely result in a reduction in property values, which would leave the city vulnerable to spot zoning lawsuits. Ray also noted that even if an alternative location is proposed for a tattoo convention in the future, the city would have to make sure everything is in compliance with zoning and licensing before it can go further with the event planning – a process that could take several months.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Growing measles outbreak in Texas pushes U.S. cases above 520
Fueled by the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, cases in the United States this year now exceed 500, according to NBC News' tally of state health department data. The 523 cases recorded in less than three months represent the second-highest annual total the country has seen in a decade. In the only year with more cases, 2019, the United States nearly lost its measles elimination status. Since the Texas outbreak began in late January, 400 cases have been confirmed in the state, the Department of State Health Services said in an update Friday. Forty-one patients have been hospitalized, and a 6-year-old child has died. All but two of Texas' confirmed infections have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. The outbreak has spread to three other states: New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, where the World Health Organization reported on Thursday that a DNA sequence of the virus in one case was identical to those from Texas. The outbreak originated in Gaines County, Texas, which has recorded 226 cases, according to the state health department. The county has one of the state's highest school vaccine exemption rates at nearly 18%, according to health department data. Katherine Wells, director of public health for nearby Lubbock County, told NBC News last week that efforts to increase vaccination there have gotten a lukewarm response and suggested that it could be a year until the outbreak is controlled. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 92.7% of kindergarteners have had two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The two-shot regimen is 97% effective at preventing measles. However, the rate may be lower among children younger than 5, who are not fully captured in surveillance data. A study last month calculated, based on a survey, that the share could be as low as 72%. In large part thanks to the success of the MMR vaccine, measles has been considered eliminated in the U.S. since 2000, meaning the virus is not continuously spreading, though there are occasional outbreaks. Infants usually get their first measles shot at 12 to 15 months, followed by the second when they are 4 to 6 years old. But the Texas Health Department said earlier this month that it may consider vaccinating babies as young as 6 months. The CDC says health departments can offer earlier vaccinations in areas experiencing outbreaks. Measles is highly contagious — the virus spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a space, according to the CDC. Up to 90% of people without immunity from a vaccine or prior infection can contract the illness if they come into contact with an infected person. Symptoms of an infection include a high fever, cough, pink eye, runny nose, white spots inside the mouth and a rash. Severe complications can lead to death — roughly 1 to 3 out of 1,000 children who contract measles die, according to the CDC. This article was originally published on
NBC News
28-03-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Growing measles outbreak in Texas pushes U.S. cases above 520
Fueled by the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, cases in the United States this year now exceed 500, according to NBC News' tally of state health department data. The 523 cases recorded in less than three months represent the second-highest annual total the country has seen in a decade. In the only year with more cases, 2019, the United States nearly lost its measles elimination status. Since the Texas outbreak began in late January, 400 cases have been confirmed in the state, the Department of State Health Services said in an update Friday. Forty-one patients have been hospitalized, and a 6-year-old child has died. All but two of Texas' confirmed infections have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. The outbreak has spread to three other states: New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, where the World Health Organization reported on Thursday that a DNA sequence of the virus in one case was identical to those from Texas. The outbreak originated in Gaines County, Texas, which has recorded 226 cases, according to the state health department. The county has one of the state's highest school vaccine exemption rates at nearly 18%, according to health department data. Katherine Wells, director of public health for nearby Lubbock County, told NBC News last week that efforts to increase vaccination there have gotten a lukewarm response and suggested that it could be a year until the outbreak is controlled. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 92.7% of kindergarteners have had two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The two-shot regimen is 97% effective at preventing measles. However, the rate may be lower among children younger than 5, who are not fully captured in surveillance data. A study last month calculated, based on a survey, that the share could be as low as 72%. In large part thanks to the success of the MMR vaccine, measles has been considered eliminated in the U.S. since 2000, meaning the virus is not continuously spreading, though there are occasional outbreaks. Infants usually get their first measles shot at 12 to 15 months, followed by the second when they are 4 to 6 years old. But the Texas Health Department said earlier this month that it may consider vaccinating babies as young as 6 months. The CDC says health departments can offer earlier vaccinations in areas experiencing outbreaks. Measles is highly contagious — the virus spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a space, according to the CDC. Up to 90% of people without immunity from a vaccine or prior infection can contract the illness if they come into contact with an infected person. Symptoms of an infection include a high fever, cough, pink eye, runny nose, white spots inside the mouth and a rash. Severe complications can lead to death — roughly 1 to 3 out of 1,000 children who contract measles die, according to the CDC.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill focused on making Texans healthy unanimously passes
AUSTIN, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Senate Bill 25, Make Texas Healthy Again, introduced by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, unanimously passed, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today: 'Texas is the gold standard of American exceptionalism. With a rapidly expanding population, and with companies moving to Texas at a rate never seen before, our economy has never been stronger. It is more important than ever that Texans are fit and healthy to power our state forward. 'I named SB 25 as a priority of mine because making Texas healthy again is the perfect way to ensure Texans can capitalize on our bright future. The commonsense reforms included in SB 25 highlight how important nutrition and exercise are in maintaining overall health. By promoting exercise and educating the public about how damaging ultra-processed foods can be, we can make a positive difference in Texans' lives. I thank Sen. Kolkhorst for her leadership on this critical issue.' Senate Bill 25, requires food labels to warn Texas consumers which ingredients are banned in other countries starting in 2027. SB 25 also requires daily physical education for students from kindergarten to eighth grade and prohibits the removal of recess, physical education, and sports practice for disciplinary reasons. Additionally, the bill requires nutrition education for students in Texas high schools and institutions of higher learning, along with updated nutrition training for all Texas physicians, medical residents, nurses, physician assistants, and medical students. SB 25 also establishes a nutrition advisory council at the Department of State Health Services with a focus on metabolic health, functional medicine, and chronic disease. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
