Suchergebnisse

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the issuance and enforcement of a subpoena during the course of an investigation of a residential mortgage loan servicer.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the nonsubstantive revision of certain local laws concerning special districts, including conforming amendments.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the operation and administration of, and practice in courts in, the judicial branch of state government and the composition of certain juvenile boards; imposing a fee.

Objectives. Economics, partisanship, and demographics have all been identified as linked to support for environmental protection. The principal objective of this study is to extend the extant literature by using a larger data set and a variety of methods.Methods. We use variety of statistical methods to test measures of party strength, demographics, and economics against county‐level data from 29 environmental initiative elections in 13 states.Results. Democratic partisanship is the most consistent predictor of aggregate support for environmental measures. This trend holds through pooled, individual‐level, and ecological inference analysis. Median family income and income squared are consistently significant, as is education.Conclusion. Based on these data, we reach three general conclusions. First, while several variables are consistently significant, party strength is the most consistent predictor of pro‐environmental voting across states and initiatives. Second, our analyses suggest that limiting analyses to data from a single state or region may have important implications for statistical inferences. Lastly, a preliminary analysis using methods of ecological inference suggests that the aggregate results are robust to ecological problems.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to merger agreements among certain hospitals; authorizing fees.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the creation of a commission to identify future higher education and workforce needs of this state and make related recommendations to address those needs by the state's bicentennial.

Purpose. To measure the concordance of directly and indirectly measured neighborhood attributes and to determine the correlates of the concordance between directly and indirectly measured built environment attributes. Design. Environmental cross-sectional design. Setting. Urban and suburban neighborhoods within Harris County, Houston, and Travis County, Austin, Texas. Subjects. Community-dwelling African-American and Hispanic or Latina women. Measures. Physical activity resource accessibility, path maintenance, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities were measured directly and indirectly. Directly or objectively measured neighborhood attributes were measured by the Physical Activity Resource Assessment and Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan instruments. Indirectly measured or self-reported neighborhood attributes were measured by the International Physical Activity Prevalence Study environmental survey module. Analysis. Logistic regression was used to measure the concordance between directly and indirectly measured neighborhood attributes with ethnicity as a covariate. Residual values were calculated to determine the strength and direction of concordance. Results. Participants' (N = 409) average body mass index (BMI) was classified as obese (MBMI = 34.5 kg/m2, SD = 7.9), and the mean body fat percentage was 42.8% (SD = 7.1). The correlates BMI, body fat percentage, physical activity, and ethnicity were not significantly associated with any built environment attribute or concordance value, and none of our models significantly predicted indirectly measured built environment attributes. Conclusion. Being less familiar with certain built environment attributes may not be associated with weight status or physical activity levels among African-American and Hispanic or Latina women.

Purpose. To determine the effects and mediating factors of a physical activity (PA) or vegetable and fruit (VF) group cohesion intervention. Design. Longitudinal design. Setting. Harris County and Travis County, Texas. Participants. Community-dwelling African-American and Hispanic or Latina women. Intervention. Three hundred ten women were randomized to a PA (n = 204) or VF (n = 106) intervention group. Women met in groups six times over the course of 6 months and were exposed to a group cohesion intervention to promote walking or to increase VF consumption. Measures. Women completed the International PA Questionnaire, National Cancer Institute VF and fat screeners, PA Group Environment Questionnaire, and 7-day accelerometer protocol at baseline and post-intervention. Analyses. The direct and mediated effects of the intervention on outcomes were evaluated using a mediational chain model, controlling for baseline values and covariates using path analysis. Results. Women were middle aged (mean = 44.4 years) and overweight or obese (mean body mass index = 34.0 kg/m2). PA increased and fat consumption decreased for both groups, whereas VF consumption increased for women in VF group only (all p <. 05). Increased task cohesion led to hypothesized increases in psychosocial factors in the PA group but not to behavioral changes. Conclusions. Group cohesion interventions may have psychological and physical health benefits for African-American and Hispanic or Latina women, but refinement of measures and intervention delivery is needed to determine whether hypothesized mediational pathways are valid.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the operation of the Texas Title Insurance Guaranty Association.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to authorizing the sale of certain real property by the Texas Facilities Commission on behalf of the state.

This report describes a policy research project conducted in the 2015-16 academic year with support from the St. David's Foundation and Central Health, and government client the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The study addresses how to care for elderly, vulnerable county residents in the community. As baby boomers approach retirement age nationwide, the share of Austin's elderly population is growing as well. Austin and Travis County are facing new challenges in providing services to a growing share of frail and disabled older residents. The core objective of this project is to offer options for community-based long- term care in an equitable and cost-effective manner. As part of this objective, the project team examined existing community-based, long-term care and social services programs in Texas and California for dually eligible Medicaid and Medicare enrollees, including Texas's managed care option, STAR+PLUS, and the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). PACE provides comprehensive medical care and social services to persons 55 and older who require nursing home care, but prefer to live in the community. The study examines other community-based long-term care alternatives that could be introduced in Austin and the characteristics of what makes PACE and other alternatives work for dual-eligible older persons. The study includes a cost analysis from the perspectives of the state and program provider, an analysis of participant satisfaction in each program, and an in- depth qualitative analysis of the barriers to success for PACE sites in Texas and California. The study also explores ways of leveraging community resources in Austin. ; St. David's Foundation; Central Health; Texas Health and Human Services Commission ; Public Affairs

The 2008 presidential election was historic in many respects. The campaign included the first African American major-party candidate, and neither candidate was an incumbent president or vice president. In addition, one candidate took public funding and the other candidate did not. This latter disparity resulted in an imbalance of resources across the two campaigns, especially in the purchase of political advertising. But did that imbalance matter for who won? Did advertising move voters, and if so, by how much? This article examines patterns of presidential ad buys in 2008 and compares them with presidential ad buys in 2004. It also examines the impact of advertising on county-level vote returns in both years. The results demonstrate some important differences in advertising patterns across years, especially in terms of ad sponsorship and market-level advertising advantages. We also find significant and strong advertising persuasion effects in 2008.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the operation and administration of and practice in and grants provided by courts in the judicial branch of state government; increasing and imposing fees; creating a criminal offense.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to prepaid funeral benefits contracts.

The Appalachian Region has among the highest rates of smoking and smoking-related illness in the United States. Strong smoke-free legislation could help protect nonsmoking residents from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. However, there is a dearth of state, county, city, and subcounty smoke-free law coverage throughout Appalachia. As of July 2016, only 21% of Appalachian residents were covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws (i.e., 100% coverage for workplaces, restaurants, and bars). Only 46% of Appalachians lived in places with 100% smoke-free workplace laws, only 30% lived in places with 100% smoke-free restaurant laws, and only 29% lived in places with 100% smoke-free bar laws. Reasons for this lack of smoke-free law coverage include socioeconomic disadvantage, the historical importance of tobacco in Appalachian economies, and preemptive state legislation. By understanding the contextual issues that have inhibited smoke-free legislation, smoke-free advocates will be better prepared to lead efforts that expand smoke-free coverage in this region.