Latest news with #HouseBill27
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas high school students may need a financial literacy class to graduate
High school students in Texas may be required to take a personal financial literacy course staring in the 2026-2027 school year. The Texas Legislature has approved House Bill 27, which updates the graduation requirement. The bill is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott, who can sign the bill into law or veto it. Requiring the course is a 'no-brainer,' said Rep. Linda Garcia, a Mesquite Democrat, joint author on the bill and the author of a book about the stock market. 'We need money for everything in life, and so why are we not centering that in schools?' Garcia said. According to the legislation, the foundation high school program — the default graduation program for students that outlines what courses must be taken in high school — would be updated to include at least one semester of personal financial literacy. Students would need three social study credits total to graduate, made up of one year of U.S. History, a semester of government, a semester of personal financial literacy and a year of either either economics, world geography or world history. Students could also take an equivalent advanced placement class designed by the State Board of Education for the personal finance credit. 'I hope that they take away confidence in understanding how to navigate money moving forward, as they begin their careers and as they begin earning money,' Garcia said. The legislature passed a bill in 2021 offering the option of a course that combines economics and financial literacy, but students aren't required to take it. Texas also offers a personal financial literacy elective. The bill doesn't outline what the course should entail, but Garcia said she'd like to see it give students an understanding of things like credit scores and tax refunds. She used college students racking up debt after getting a credit card from a predatory credit card company as they begin their higher education as an example of why the class is needed. As of May 23, there are 28 states that require a personal financial literacy course for high school students to graduate, according to Next Gen Personal Finance, a non-profit that advocates across the nation for personal finances in schools and pushed for the course in Texas this legislative session. The group has curriculum available for use for no cost, Garcia said. Some of the lessons are about budgeting, banking, filing taxes, credit cards and loans. The bill passed out of the Texas Senate unanimously, and with near unanimous support in the Texas House. Rep. Ken King, a Republican from Canadian, was the bill's primary author. His office did not immediately return requests for comment. Asked whether Abbott plans to sign the bill, spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said the governor 'will thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk.' The Texas legislative session ends June 2.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers want to make Superman the official state superhero. When it could happen
Will the Man of Steel swap a script-S logo for a Buckeye leaf? Probably not. But House Bill 27 calls on Ohio to make Superman the official superhero of the Buckeye State due to his cultural significance in Ohio. The bill's primary sponsors include representatives Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, and Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland. The bill has just been introduced, so it still has to clear the Ohio House and Senate before going to Gov. Mike DeWine. Lawmakers have until the end of 2026 to pass the bill. The bill states: Beginning on April 18, 2033, in recognition of the cultural significance of "Superman" entering the public domain, the character "Superman" is adopted as the official superhero of the state. The first publication including the character Superman occurred on April 18, 1938. Akron Beacon-Journal, Last summer, filming took place in Cleveland at a Superior Avenue set with Metropolis police cars, boulders and a military tank on the street, according to Shooting also took place in Cincinnati, The Enquirer reported, as filmmakers sought police officers and "a few short people" to be extras in the film. The new Superman movie stars David Corenswet, the latest actor to portray the Man of Steel. He's a Philadelphia native and is known for projects such as "Pearl," "We Own This City" and "The Politician." The film also stars Rachel Brosnahan ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult ("Mad Max: Fury Road," "About a Boy") as Lex Luthor. During the early days of their comics, they created their first known superhero, Superman, on April 18, 1938. The first issue of their comics, called "Action Comics," was released with a picture of Superman lifting a car above his head. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Lawmakers want to make Superman Ohio's official hero. When it could happen
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Agricultural exemption, review bill fails on House floor
An irrigation system is shown near Sheridan, MT, in 2019. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung) A bill seeking to change automatic classification of large tracts of land as agricultural land failed in the House on Thursday afternoon. House Bill 27, brought by Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, would have introduced an application process for agricultural classification and a review process for properties already considered agricultural land. The bill targeted properties that claim an agricultural exemption, but aren't actually being used for raising livestock or crops. Currently, agricultural exemptions are automatically granted for properties more than 160 acres. Properties that are less than 160 acres have to apply to the Montana Department of Revenue to receive an agricultural designation. Properties not qualifying for the agricultural exemption would instead be switched to Tax Class Four, which is residential. The bill would have introduced 'sustenance use land' and 'nonproductive forest land' as new tax classifications. The Department of Revenue supported the bill after an off-session working group tried to address the issue following a similar bill that failed during the 2023 session. 'What became crystal clear to the working group was that the current statute of ag classification eligibility is providing preferential classification value to properties that are not engaged in quantified ag use,' Essmann said on the floor Thursday. 'Montana's land is a right, but our ranchers, our farmers and our communities depend on it. But for too long, we've seen speculators buying thousands of acres and take them out of production and turn them into their personal playgrounds.' Properties 640 acres and less would need to show they produced $1,500 or more in income from agricultural use to qualify for the agriculture exemption. Tracts of land receiving the exemption would have to show an additional $6 for every acre over 640. So, if a property was 650 acres, it would have needed to show an income of $1,560. The bill received opposition on the floor and debate only ended with a cloture vote, a procedural move to stop debate. Opponents said it would hurt small farmers, as well as operators of commercial operations like corn mazes, pumpkin patches and dude ranches. All three of those uses, along with agrotourism operations, were not eligible to be considered agricultural land under the bill. Rep. Caleb Hinkle, R-Belgrade, spoke against the bill on the floor Thursday, saying it 'threatens to undermine the very backbone of our state.' He said it would 'punish' small property owners and 'strangle' family farms. 'This bill, if passed, claims to target the fraud agriculture,' Rep. Jed Hinkle, R-Belgrade said on the floor, 'But instead captures good, well-meaning Montanans whose dream was to own some property, raise their livestock, or plant their gardens, orchards and actually be able to afford living and owning the land.' The bill failed 60-40 on the floor.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Librarian protection, rural library bills in limbo with a week left
At the start of this year's legislative session, lawmakers seemed eager to provide more protections for New Mexico's librarians and ban, well, book bans. House Bill 27 — a measure that would effectively bar libraries from banning books based on political objections to them or their authors — advanced relatively quickly during the first half of the session. But after passing through two House committees, HB 27 has sat on the calendar of the state House since Feb. 18. With a week left in the session, Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho, considers the bill effectively dead. 'If it was put on tomorrow, it's not enough time to get it through the Senate,' she said in an interview Friday. Cates said she brought the bill in the wake of an unsuccessful effort in 2023 by conservatives in Rio Rancho to take books dealing with LGBTQ+ issues out of the city's library collection. She said it is a public safety issue for librarians who feel physically unsafe when facing controversies over books, and added that goes hand-in-hand with providing the public a 'clear and diverse access of knowledge.' So, seeing the bill founder once again — Cates introduced the same proposal last year — left the representative 'in the middle of grieving it.' 'I don't know why it is not prioritized to be on the floor, especially during the session of public safety,' she said. In an email, House Democratic spokesperson Camille Ward said the chamber is 'working diligently to advance legislation that will make a difference for New Mexicans.' 'You can expect us to move quickly through the House Floor calendar as we approach the final days of this session,' she wrote. '... We greatly value our public libraries and the librarians who keep them running.' Shel Neymark, director of the New Mexico Rural Library Initiative, said another essential component of protecting libraries is increasing funding for the state's smaller, more rural libraries, who he argued face significant risk from assaults on book collection decisions. Because those libraries tend to operate on shoestring budgets, they often rely on volunteer or part-time, staff, meaning they have little capacity to divert their attention to book challenges. 'Librarians are just overwhelmed and underpaid with the amount of work they do — they do so much in their communities,' he said. '... Putting a lot of energy into a fight like that is not going to be easy for these small libraries if it happens.' Neymark and others have called on lawmakers to set aside $29.5 million for the state's rural library endowment fund, a currently over-$30 million pot of money they hope to grow to $60 million, enough for $1 million for each rural library in the state. However, the measure to make that appropriation, Senate Bill 209, faces an uphill battle. Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, indicated before the session the state's spending plan for the coming fiscal year did not account for rural libraries' request, and SB 209 has sat on the Senate Finance Committee's calendar since Feb. 12. That being said, rural libraries are not necessarily going home empty-handed, should their appropriation to the endowment fund not pass. Ward pointed to the current draft of the state's proposed spending plan, House Bill 2, which calls for $3.5 million for rural libraries, which would provide $50,000 to each library for spending through fiscal year 2027. While that wouldn't be the Christmas morning rural libraries were hoping for — Neymark noted it's challenging to hire library staff with that type of appropriation, since it's unclear if a library would get it again in coming years — former Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, who serves on the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center board, said $50,000 is not nothing. 'It's a bird in the hand, and, you know, prospects of having a bush in the future,' he said in an interview.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Librarian protection, rural library bills in limbo with a week left
At the start of this year's legislative session, lawmakers seemed eager to provide more protections for New Mexico's librarians and ban, well, book bans. House Bill 27 — a measure that would effectively bar libraries from banning books based on political objections to them or their authors — advanced relatively quickly during the first half of the session. But after passing through two House committees, HB 27 has sat on the calendar of the state House since Feb. 18. With a week left in the session, Rep. Kathleen Cates, D-Rio Rancho, considers the bill effectively dead. 'If it was put on tomorrow, it's not enough time to get it through the Senate,' she said in an interview Friday. Cates said she brought the bill in the wake of an unsuccessful effort in 2023 by conservatives in Rio Rancho to take books dealing with LGBTQ+ issues out of the city's library collection. She said it is a public safety issue for librarians who feel physically unsafe when facing controversies over books, and added that goes hand-in-hand with providing the public a 'clear and diverse access of knowledge.' So, seeing the bill founder once again — Cates introduced the same proposal last year — left the representative 'in the middle of grieving it.' 'I don't know why it is not prioritized to be on the floor, especially during the session of public safety,' she said. In an email, House Democratic spokesperson Camille Ward said the chamber is 'working diligently to advance legislation that will make a difference for New Mexicans.' 'You can expect us to move quickly through the House Floor calendar as we approach the final days of this session,' she wrote. '... We greatly value our public libraries and the librarians who keep them running.' Shel Neymark, director of the New Mexico Rural Library Initiative, said another essential component of protecting libraries is increasing funding for the state's smaller, more rural libraries, who he argued face significant risk from assaults on book collection decisions. Because those libraries tend to operate on shoestring budgets, they often rely on volunteer or part-time, staff, meaning they have little capacity to divert their attention to book challenges. 'Librarians are just overwhelmed and underpaid with the amount of work they do — they do so much in their communities,' he said. '... Putting a lot of energy into a fight like that is not going to be easy for these small libraries if it happens.' Neymark and others have called on lawmakers to set aside $29.5 million for the state's rural library endowment fund, a currently over-$30 million pot of money they hope to grow to $60 million, enough for $1 million for each rural library in the state. However, the measure to make that appropriation, Senate Bill 209, faces an uphill battle. Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, indicated before the session the state's spending plan for the coming fiscal year did not account for rural libraries' request, and SB 209 has sat on the Senate Finance Committee's calendar since Feb. 12. That being said, rural libraries are not necessarily going home empty-handed, should their appropriation to the endowment fund not pass. Ward pointed to the current draft of the state's proposed spending plan, House Bill 2, which calls for $3.5 million for rural libraries, which would provide $50,000 to each library for spending through fiscal year 2027. While that wouldn't be the Christmas morning rural libraries were hoping for — Neymark noted it's challenging to hire library staff with that type of appropriation, since it's unclear if a library would get it again in coming years — former Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, who serves on the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center board, said $50,000 is not nothing. 'It's a bird in the hand, and, you know, prospects of having a bush in the future,' he said in an interview.
