Author: East Texas Review

The National Black Church Initiative Heeds The Call And Will Join The Alzheimer’s Fight With 150,000 Black Churches

The National Black Church Initiative Heeds The Call And Will Join The Alzheimer’s Fight With 150,000 Black Churches

Posted by | Aug 10, 2018 | , |

The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African Americans,  heeds the call of our communities and will join the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. The Alzheimer’s Association has identified an emerging public health crisis among African Americans — the Silent Epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease. Their report brings together for the first time an accumulating body of evidence about the scope and nature of Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans. Each study is important on its own, but only when put together does the magnitude of the crisis become clear....

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New Cornyn Video: Working for Our Vets

Posted by | Aug 10, 2018 | |

‘My dad served 31 years in the United States Air Force, and serving our nation’s veterans is something I feel strongly about.’   ‘The Senate has passed 18 pieces of veterans legislation that have been signed into law by President Trump.’   U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following video highlighting veterans legislation passed by the Senate in the 115th Congress. Background:   The Senate has passed 18 pieces of major veterans legislation which have all been signed into law, including:   VA Mission Act to streamline and strengthen VA community care programs to ensure veterans receive efficient, timely, and quality care. (Public Law 115-182)   American Law Enforcement Heroes Act, introduced by Senator Cornyn, to help veterans transition to civilian life by incentivizing law enforcement agencies to hire veterans to keep our communities safe. (Public Law 115-37)   Jobs for Our Heroes Act, introduced by Senator Cornyn, to streamline the process by which active-duty military, reservists, and veterans apply for Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). (Public Law 115-161)   Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to hold the VA accountable to our veterans and protect the rights of whistleblowers. (Public Law 115-41)   Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to modernize the woefully outdated benefits claims appeals process at the VA. (Public Law 115-55)   Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educations Assistance Act of 2017 to...

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Texas Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend — Aug. 10-12

Texas Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend — Aug. 10-12

Posted by | Aug 10, 2018 | , , |

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds shoppers the annual sales tax holiday is scheduled for this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10-12. The law exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced below $100 from sales tax, saving shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend during the weekend. Lists of apparel and school supplies that may be purchased tax-free can be found on the Comptroller’s website at TexasTaxHoliday.org. This year, shoppers will save an estimated $90.3 million in state and local sales taxes during the sales tax holiday, which has been an annual event since...

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Committee hearings on teacher compensation and charter school expansion

Committee hearings on teacher compensation and charter school expansion

Posted by | Aug 9, 2018 | , |

Louis Malfaro, Texas AFT president, commented on the Texas House Public Education Committee’s hearings on teacher pay and charter schools: Teacher compensation Priority one—raising base pay Average teacher pay in Texas lags more than $6,000 below the national average and about 20 percent below pay in Texas for other jobs demanding comparable education and expertise. Over the past 15 years, teacher pay in Texas has stagnated, and adjusted for inflation, teachers’ average pay actually has declined 2.7 percent since 2010. Meanwhile, pensions have been eroded by inflation, and both active and retired teachers and support personnel are seeing their...

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Sen. Cruz: There Is No State in the Union That Loves and Values Our Active Duty Military and Veterans the Way Texas Does

Posted by | Aug 9, 2018 | , |

On Wednesday U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) participated in a ‘Defend & Reform’ town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) in San Angelo as part of his statewide ‘Texas Defends America’ tour. There, along with Executive Director of CVA Dan Caldwell and CVA Texas Coalitions Director Russ Duerstine, Sen. Cruz answered questions from attendees, and discussed the issues affecting veterans and their families.   When asked about his efforts to bring reform to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Sen. Cruz discussed his V.E.T. Protection Act, which would limit the amount of time VA employees can devote to union activity. “All of us want to see the maximum resources at the VA devoted to caring for veterans,” Sen. Cruz said. “That’s the central mission of the VA. We don’t want to see lots and lots of VA employees spending their time on political activities, on activities that are separate and apart from caring for veterans. […] Each year, VA employees spend over a million hours – each year – on union organizing, union official activity, rather than caring for veterans. That is an enormous amount of time. What this legislation does is it seeks to focus that time and energy and those taxpayer dollars back on caring for veterans. Among other things, what it does is it says you should not be spending official time on the...

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