The Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 57, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 30, 2016 Page: 4 of 16

                                
A4 ►► FORUM
THE PORT LAVACA WAVE
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2016
THE FORUM
Abbott
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DAVE McNEELY
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEETINGS
Memorial Medical Center Board - 4th Tuesday, 4
p.m., MMC Boardroom
Port Lavaca City Council - 2nd Monday, 6:30 p.m.,
City Council Chamber
Point Comfort City Council - 1st Monday, 6:30
p.m., Point Comfort City Hall
Calhoun County ISD - 2nd Monday, 5:30 p.m., CCISD
board room.
Calhoun County Commissioners - 2nd and 4th
Thursday, 10 a.m., Commissioners’ Courtroom
Calhoun Port Authority - 2nd Wednesday, 9 a.m.,
Port Boardroom
Seadrift City Council - 1st Tuesday, 7 p.m.,
Seadrift City Hall
• Meeting days are subject to change. Special meetings
also may be called. Agendas are posted at the meeting
sites.
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aren’t
of a
I
may keep Abbott and Patrick,
and the governors of North
Carolina and Mississippi,
from testing the limits of their
faith supporters versus their
business ones.
On a 2-1 vote, the 4th Court
of Appeals ruled April 19 that
the district judge who upheld
a transgender bathroom
discrimination rule passed by a
Virginia school board shouldn’t
have.
The lower court didn’t pay
enough attention to the federal
government’s interpretation
of Title IX, a federal law that
prohibits sex discrimination
in education, the appeals court
said.
That same district
includes North Carolina. And
the Supreme Court has already
validated gay marriage, and
is unlikely to revisit it. That
would let the appeals court
ruling stand - and maybe
save Abbott and Patrick and
the other two governors from
themselves.
In Charlotte alone, more
than 20 conventions have
canceled or stopped planning
conventions there, causing a
loss of about $2.5 million.
The National Basketball
Association says it won’t
hold its 2017 All-Star game in
Charlotte in February unless
the law is rescinded.
Following the backlash
in North Carolina, Georgia
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal
on March 28 vetoed a “religious
liberty” bill his state’s
legislature had passed.
His veto message said the
bill proposed to fix a problem
that didn’t exist in Georgia.
“Therefore, as I have
examined the protections this
bill seeks to provide to religious
organizations and people of
faith I can find no examples that
any of the things this bill seeks
to protect us against have ever
occurred in Georgia,” Deal said
in announcing his decision.
“I do not think we have to
discriminate against anyone
to protect the faith-based
community in Georgia, which
I and my family have been part
of for generations,” Deal added.
Trump told the Today
Show the law isn’t necessary.
“There have been very
few complaints the way it is,”
Trump said. “People go. They
use the bathroom that they feel
is appropriate.”
Cruz, who has accused
Trump of being a liberal in
conservative camouflage,
slammed Trump in Maryland.
“Gosh, he thought that
men should be able to go into
the girls’ bathroom if they want
to,” Cruz exclaimed. “Have we
gone stark raving nuts?”
proclaims flooding Texas and transgender: bathroom battle
disaster, adds more counties
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg
Abbott on April 18 declared
a state of disaster for Austin,
Bastrop, Colorado, Fort Bend,
Grimes, Harris, Montgomery,
Waller and Wharton counties.
Those counties were
hit with severe storms and
flooding beginning April 17,
requiring the aid of emergency
responders over many days.
Abbott authorized the
use of “all available resources
of state government and of
political subdivisions that
are reasonably necessary to
cope with this disaster” and
suspended any statute that
would prevent, hinder or delay
necessary action in coping with
the disaster, pending written
approval of his office.
On April 22, Abbott added
the counties of Bosque, Fayette,
Liberty, Milam, Palo Pinto,
Parker and San Jacinto to his
April 18 disaster declaration.
The governor’s office said even
more counties could be added
later.
On April 24, Abbott
requested federal “individual
assistance” for Harris, Fayette,
Grimes and Parker counties.
If his request is granted by
President Obama, affected
citizens would be able to apply
for grants of up to $33,000 and
low-interest disaster loans
from the U.S. Small Business
Administration.
“As Texans recover
from the severe flooding that
inundated several areas of
Texas, it is crucial they receive
the financial assistance needed
to restore their communities,”
Abbott said. “In facing these
challenges, Texans have
displayed enormous courage,
with more than 1,000 rescues
from the rising waters.
With much-needed financial
assistance, I am confident
Texans will continue to
overcome the challenges before
them as they begin to rebuild
their lives.”
TEA grants waivers
Texas         Education
Commissioner Mike Morath on
April 20 announced he would
grant two missed instructional
day waivers for school systems
in Houston-area counties that
fall within Gov. Abbott’s April
18 disaster declaration.
Morath said school systems
in disaster counties with more
than two days missed due
to flooding will not have to
make up those two days on the
remaining school calendar, but
they will need to work with
the Texas Education Agency
on options for any additional
missed days beyond two.
Paxton warns of scams
Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton on April 20 advised
Texans in disaster-stricken
counties to protect themselves
against scams and be ready to
report possible price gouging.
“Unfortunately, people who
have already been through so
much also need to be wary of
bad actors taking advantage of
their circumstances,” Paxton
said. “To that end, I’d like to
caution everyone in any area
affected by storms and flood
to be extremely careful with
people offering to help you
rebuild or reconstruct.”
Texans in affected counties
who believe they have been
JUDY MAREK
Business Office, ext. 102
CHRISTY AGUILAR
Advertising Dept., ext. 105
ASHLEY KONTNIER
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WE WANT YOUR OPINION
The British government’s
travel agency even warned
about the two states.
“The U.S. is an extremely
diverse society and attitudes
towards LGBT people differ
hugely across the country,”
the warning reads. “LGBT
travellers may be affected by
legislation passed recently in
the states of North Carolina
and Mississippi.”
When President Obama
stopped off in London to
honor Queen Elizabeth’s 90th
birthday, he was asked about
the situation at a joint press
conference with British Prime
Minister David Cameron.
For the first time, he said
that the laws “are wrong and
should be overturned.”
Obama said in a federal
system, with dispersed power,
some governments will “put
forward laws that
necessarily reflective
national consensus.”
But, he said, “I want
everybody here in the United
Kingdom to know that the
people of North Carolina and
Mississippi are wonderful
people,” he said. “... You should
come and enjoy yourselves.”
Several other states are
considering similar laws.
Texas State Rep. Matt
Krause, a far-right Republican
from Fort Worth, says he’ll try
again in 2017 to amend the Texas
constitution to, in the name of
religion, allow discrimination
against the LGBT community.
His proposal, strongly
opposed by the Texas
Association of Business, failed
to receive a House or Senate
hearing in 2015.
But, a federal appeals court
Some Texas leaders may
be itching to join the fight to
shut the bathroom door for
transgender folks.
It will get them lots of
publicity, and appeal to their
Tea Party base.
And now, Republican
presidential hopefuls Donald
Trump and Ted Cruz are
arguing about it, and President
Barack Obama says it’s wrong.
North Carolina and
Mississippi have passed laws
to allow discrimination against
lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and
transgender folks - referred to
in political shorthand as LGBT.
North Carolina’s law was to
override a non-discrimination
law the city of Charlotte passed.
The Charlotte law was to go into
effect April 1.
The new North Carolina
law requires people who have
switched sexes to only use
public bathrooms that match
the gender on their birth
certificates. Republican Gov.
Pat McCrory signed it March
23.
Mississippi’s law, signed
April 5 by Republican Gov Phil
Bryant, protects people’s right
to “religious freedom” from
“government discrimination”
against people who have
“sincerely held religious
beliefs or moral convictions”
that marriage “should be
recognized as the union of one
man and one woman.”
In an interview on NBC’s
Today Show April 21, Trump
said North Carolina was
“paying a big price” due to
businesses, conventions and
others that are canceling
expansion plans there unless
the law is repealed.
scammed or encountered
price gouging may call the
attorney general’s toll-free
complaint line at (800) 621-0508
or file a complaint online at
texasattorneygeneral.gov.
TxDOT advises caution
With more rain and
flooding in the weather
forecast, the Texas Department
of Transportation on April 21
posted a recommendation to
drivers to “Turn Around, Don’t
Drown.”
TxDOT implored drivers
to “heed all warnings and
never drive around barricades
or cross roads that are either
closed or submerged with
water.”
Flash flooding, according
to TxDOT, is the leading cause
of weather-related deaths in
Texas. Highway officials noted
that as little as six inches of
water can float some vehicles.
Budget challenges ahead
Texas House Speaker Joe
Straus last week encouraged
members of the House
Committee on Appropriations
to consider a number of budget
challenges that will face the
Legislature when it convenes
in January.
In an April 19 letter to
the committee, Straus, R-San
Antonio, identified the need to
address the state’s foster care
system and a shortfall within
the state’s health care system
for retired teachers. Straus
also mentioned that the state’s
school finance system is still
under court review. The matter
is pending before the Texas
Supreme Court.
“Any of these issues
individually would pose a
challenge,” Straus wrote. “Yet
they come at a time when our
state continues to grow rapidly,
bringing more children in
our schools, more cars on our
roads and an overall greater
demand for state resources. At
the same time, we do not want
to abandon the commitment to
low taxation and overall fiscal
discipline that has put our
state in such a sound budgetary
position.”
Jobless rate stays same
Texas’ seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate maintained
a 4.3 percent rate in March,
matching the state’s revised 4.3
percent unemployment rate in
February, the Texas Workforce
Commission reported on April
15.
In contrast, the U.S.
Department of Labor Statistics
pegged the national average
unemployment rate at 5.0
ercent for the month of March.