Texas Issues

Texas is currently being faced with a lot of issues, which have mainly been attributed to poor budgeting, hence limiting the types of the services offered to the public. The county is currently experiencing a health crisis and an education crisis, which have mainly been attributed to the states poor budgeting. This paper is therefore going to look at the health issues and public school funding issues being experienced in the county.

Health Issues in Texas

The residents of North Texas are at a very high risk of suffering from stroke, heart diseases, cancer and even lower respiratory conditions, as compared to the residents who in other areas within the state. The appropriation of funds within the rural and urban areas in the state has therefore become an issue, which leads to reduced health services. In a recent research conducted between the 2004-2015 periods, it was discovered that while other areas in the state experienced a 10% drop in death rates, the Northeast Texas experienced 3% decrease in the number of deaths (Jessica, n.p). The main cause of the deaths, was mainly attributed to tobacco smoking. In addition, in the year 2016, it was discovered that 47% of expectant women did not have a prenatal visit, during the first three months of their pregnancy. This therefore led to the doubling of pregnancy related deaths in the state.

Half of the total of population of the northeastern region of Texas, are rural dwellers. These areas are therefore affected with factors such as low educational attainment, poverty, and insecurity. These factors have therefore affected the provision of healthcare services in the area, since most people cannot be able to access medical support due to the lack of finances. Moreover, the healthcare providers have been moving in these areas, in order to support the residents while in their homes, but their efforts have not borne fruits, due to the high cost of treatment (Jessica, n.p). The state has therefore been discouraged by such factors and it has therefore been allocating little finances to cater for health services in the region. Different groups of residents are therefore complaining about the issue blaming it on the poor allocation of funds by the state. On the other hand, the state shields itself from such allegations, saying that communities within the northeast region of the state do not want to be involved in healthcare issues and matters.

Public School Financing Issues in Texas

            Public schools are currently experiencing financial crises, and this has mainly been attributed to the $27 billion shortage in the states recent budget. This therefore forced the state to increase taxes, in order to be able to deal with the issue (Collier, 54). Due to the financial shortages in the state, the legislators therefore decided to cut off $5.4 billion from the public schools. In addition, the legislators also went forward to cut very huge financial support on different programs in public schools. The state has therefore blamed the crisis on the reduction of taxes imposed on property by a third, by the state legislators. This has therefore seen the state not being able to cater for the educational needs, due to the increase in the cost of living in the country and the state in general.

            This move therefore saw the state increasing cigarette and business tax, but the taxes collected on these commodities have not been able to cover the shortage of funds currently being experienced in the state. As economists term it, this is a structural deficit, since the economy does not have anything to do with the shortage of funds being experienced in the state. Even though the state may be able to recover the finances through imposing huge taxes on different products, this problem will persist for a very long period of time (Collier, 54). Immigrants in public schools within the state have therefore not been able to receive equal funds as those of the natives. The state has therefore decided to use all means in order to be able to deal with the financial crisis. The public therefore blames the state of poor planning and budgeting, which leads to such issues.

            On the other hand, the state has also dealt with issues of scholarships, where they have been done away with, as a way of making the state stable, hence being able to cater for the issues of public schools. The legislator reduced the finances allocated to immigrant students within the state, as a means of being able to reduce immigration in the state (Collier, 55). Moreover, the legislature blamed the growing numbers of students in public schools to immigration. Hence, in order for the state to be able to cater with the current public school financial crisis, it will need to reduce the number of immigrant students in the state.

            These issues have therefore been able to make their way through the Texas government, through the use of interest groups and the media. Interest groups therefore to the state government, where they air their grievances (Collier, 56). On the other hand, the media which is also the voice of the citizen, has been used as a means of passing the information from the public to the state office. Interests groups and the media have therefore helped in making the state to become accountable hence it has started working on the means of dealing with the issue. This issues have therefore not in any way been affected by post-factual political arguments (Practicing Texas Politics, 36).

Work Cited

Jessica Hamilton. How Texas Ranks in America’s Worst Health Issues. Houston Chronicle. 2016 print.

Practicing Texas Politics 2017-2018. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2017. Print.

Collier, Kenneth E. Lone Star Politics: Tradition and Transformation in Texas. , 2014. Print.