Texas Wealth/Income Gap Growing
AUSTIN, Texas – A new study based on census figures shows the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow quickly. The most recent figures say Texas has the seventh-highest inequality of any state. Analysts say it’s becoming a serious issue for the economy as a whole.
According to Elizabeth McNichol, a senior fellow with the state fiscal project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., the gap has grown nationally for three decades, but has become worse in the last 10 years.
“When the economy has grown, the lion’s share of that has gone to households at the top. What we’ve seen in the last decade is that the incomes of the households at the bottom are actually declining.”
Economists stress that rising inequality is not inevitable, noting that the gap between rich and poor actually fell between World War II and 1970. It also fell for a brief period during the economic growth of the late 1990s, they add, partly due to Clinton-era tax policies and a rise in the minimum wage.
McNichol calls inequality bad because it makes the economy less flexible. People who work hard and play by the rules should be rewarded, she says.
“There’s a question of fairness. Economic growth comes from the contributions of people in all walks of life. When your place on the income scale determines whether you get rewards for that work, then that’s a problem.”
Education, job training and tax policies at the state level can make a big difference, she adds.
“Assistance in child care, job training, transportation and health insurance can help families get jobs and move up the income scale.”
Texas also ranks seventh among the states for income inequality between high- and middle-income
households.
Fiscal Cliff Could Cost Texas 160,000 Jobs
AUSTIN, Texas – A looming budget battle in Washington could cost 160,000 jobs in Texas. Lawmakers last year gave themselves until the end of this year to reduce the federal deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next decade. If Congress can’t agree on a plan, automatic cuts will kick in. Known as “sequestration,” the cuts were designed to be unpopular and painful to all sides, as an incentive to compromise.
But tax-policy analyst Ali Mickelson fears partisan politics this election season could prevent a more productive solution.
“That’s sort of the reason that this sequestration is looming. It’s because of that partisan divide. Nobody’s been able to agree, and that may continue to be the case.”
Republicans accuse Democrats of being willing to gut the defense department, while Democrats say the GOP is trying to protect tax breaks for the wealthy. If lawmakers can’t avoid the “fiscal cliff,” Texas is likely to lose more jobs than any other state except California and Virginia. That’s according to a recent George Mason University report, which also calculated that the reduced federal funding would remove about $16 billion from the state’s economy.
More than half of the Texas job losses would come from defense cuts. Much of the rest, Mickelson says, would affect education. But as tough as that sounds, she thinks sequestration might actually be preferable to some alternatives.
“If we have, in response to avoiding sequestration, sort of a rushed one-sided budget that goes through, that could potentially cost more jobs, more services, that could be bigger cuts.”
The automatic cuts were a provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011. They would go into effect in January, and could send the country back into recession during the first half of next year, according to the George Mason University study, with 2.14 million job losses nationwide.
See report at www.aia-aerospace.org.
Secret Chemicals Revealed In Common Household Cleaners
SPECIAL TO THE ICONOCLAST
AUSTIN, Texas – There could be a dirty secret lurking in your favorite household cleaning product, according to new independent lab testing on 20 popular products that found nearly all contained undisclosed toxic chemicals.
Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research for Women’s Voices for the Earth, says people deserve to know to what chemicals they’re being exposed so they can avoid products that may cause allergic reactions or serious long-term health problems – such as cancer, birth defects or pregnancy complications.
“Currently, there are no requirements for them to label or disclose any ingredient. Some of the companies are doing this voluntarily, but they’re still keeping some chemicals hidden. So, we do think there needs to be mandatory ingredient disclosure laws, so that people know what they’re being exposed to.”
Some of the products tested in the report include Tide Free & Gentle detergent, which is marketed to people with sensitive skin but was found to contain a probable human carcinogen. The line called Simple Green Naturals was found to contain phthalates, a chemical associated with reproductive disorders and birth defects. Allergens were found in several products marketed as “fragrance-free.”
The report coincides with national legislation called the Cleaning Product Right-to-Know Act, which is being introduced today in Congress, Scranton says.
“This is a bill, very simply, that will require cleaning-product companies to put on the label of all their cleaning products all the ingredients that they include.”
Some manufacturers have maintained that the ingredients in their products are proprietary.
A fact sheet with a list of products tested and results is online at <womensvoices.org>.
Texas School Districts May Owe Oil Companies Millions
TEXAS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTIN, Texas – Already hard-hit by more than $4 billion of state cuts, Texas school districts may have to pony up millions more to some of the nation’s largest oil refineries.
So far, 16 companies, including Valero Energy, have requested $135 million in property-tax rebates they say are owed to them for installing pollution-control devices covered by a state incentive program.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, spokesman for Public Citizen of Texas, says the controversy comes at a pivotal time for Gov. Rick Perry, who has announced he would slash both the federal Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency if elected president.
“At a time when the refining industry is making near-record profits, this is a real critical question for Gov. Perry. Are you going to stand up for the school kids, or are you going to stand up for corporate welfare for the biggest polluters in the state?”
Perry has said he trusts the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to evaluate the refund requests, but Smith says TCEQ’s members – all appointed by the governor – have a pro-corporate history. Unless there’s a public outcry, Smith fears, they will side with an industry which has donated heavily to past Perry campaigns.
“The tendency of the TCEQ is to bend over backwards and give these large corporate polluters everything they want at the expense, in this case, of the schoolchildren of Texas and the taxpayers of the state.”
Disagreement remains about whether the equipment Valero installed in 2007 meets eligibility requirements for tax incentives. Environmentalists contend it makes no sense to give state tax incentives for technology that already is required by the feds.
Some of the counties that might have to pay for the rebates include Harris, Howard, El Paso, Jefferson, and Nueces. Many of the school districts which depend on refinery property taxes already have been struggling because of multiple corporate tax breaks.
“These aren’t like rich suburban school districts that have lots of wealthy homeowners to tax. These are amongst the poorest in the country.”
Linda Bridges, president of Texas’ American Federation of Teachers, says some schools would find it impossible to take additional revenue losses after staff layoffs, larger class sizes and program cuts.
“There’s a tremendous amount of money that has been cut that directly impacts kids. And then you add in rebates to Valero and other oil companies. It certainly makes a bad situation worse.”
It’s not clear when the TCEQ will decide the matter, but school advocates are expected to voice concern at the commission’s next meeting Nov. 2. Meanwhile, community-based opposition to the tax refund has been growing, with some parents planning bake sales to demonstrate their need for more – not less – state aid.
Texas Lawns Going Native During Drought
TEXAS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTIN, Texas – Facing the state’s worst drought, many communities have doubled down on water restrictions, leaving homeowners wondering what to do about their yellow lawns – which are getting crispier by the day.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has been fielding an unusually high volume of calls and e-mails on the subject. Mark Simmons, director of the center’s Ecosystem Design Group, has been conducting research on native grasses for several years.
“The species that are largely used throughout the Southwest are often non-native species, like St. Augustine grass – they’re not very drought tolerant. So, we’re suggesting that this might be an opportunity to replace lawns with something more native.”
Native grasses requiring significantly less water include buffalo grass and blue grama, Simmons says, as well as a commercial mix called Habiturf – all available in stores. Some homeowners, he adds, are foregoing lawns altogether, replacing them with native plant landscaping.
One strategy Simmons recommends for people wanting to transition away from perpetually thirsty lawns is to let the non-native grasses die off now, and then get ready for planting in the spring.
“We should be thinking about soil preparation, because soil preparation is the key to a healthy lawn. If you do that now or over winter, and get the seed in by March-April, you’ll be in good stead for next year.”
Simmons cautions that even native grasses require a lot of water at first, so it’s best to plant when there are no watering restrictions.
Most climate scientists say drought in Texas will be increasingly common in the foreseeable future, and Simmons says even skeptics of climate change might want to consider native plant options.
“The availability of water is always going to be an increasing issue. There’s a limited amount of water which can go around. So, we see this trend of looking for options continuing.”
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website has a Drought Resource Center at wildflower.org/drought-resource-center with a variety of tips, guides, and articles about converting to native plants and grasses.
