Gov. Perry on Public and Higher Education

The Texas gubernatorial race is heating up, and we’ve got some old and new faces involved.

So far, the Republicans and Democrats have multiple candidates, each vying for their party’s nomination. The plucky Libertarians have two and the lowly independents have one. All have quite a battle on their hands in trying to defeat Gov. Rick Perry, the longest-serving Texas governor.

The main Democrat front runners, former U.S. Ambassador to Australia and Japan Tom Schieffer, 2006 Texas Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert, and musician, humorist and former Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, are all competing for their party’s nomination in the March 2, 2010 primary.

Most people haven’t heard of Schieffer or Gilbert, and Friedman, aside from his music, books and absolutely horrendous cigar line, is still not going to be taken seriously as a candidate.

We all know these candidates, as well as the Libertarians and the lone Independent, don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell to become Texas governor, so this is the last time they’ll be mentioned here.

Republican secessionist Larry Kilgore also is running, the same man who gave a speech at a secession rally in Austin and said, “I hate that flag up there. I hate the United States government. ... The U.S. flag is coming down from over Texas. It will not be part of Texas anymore.”

Despite my disapproval of the current administration’s abominable handling of the country’s business, I have no interest in secession. Since Kilgore’s not electable either, the race is between incumbent Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

In perusing Hutchison’s campaign Web site, it’s quite clear they don’t know what issues the campaign wants to stress. The site has some vague quotes from Hutchison, such as, “On behalf of every Texas taxpayer an effective, transparent and accountable state government should be our first priority. Our elected officials work for the tax payers not the other way around.”

The area also has links to allow visitors to give their feedback on how they feel on the generic issue categories like taxes and education. The Web site’s ambiguity seems to be a way to stay completely non-committal while letting the visitors believe she cares how they feel about issues.

Hutchison has made one stance clearly known. She’s said she believes Perry has been in office too long. Perry was sworn in as Texas’ 47th governor in December of 2000. Hutchison was sworn in as a senator in 1993.

She’s also taken to advocating term limits for Texas governor to two four-year terms. Funny how she didn’t mind staying in the senate for 16 years, but takes umbrage at Perry’s nine years. Hutchison also hasn’t been able to give many reasons as to why she considers Perry’s tenure too lengthy, other than she believes the position should be hers.

Her dedication is also questionable. Just recently, Hutchison missed a vote that’s most likely important to the Republicans she expects to support her as their candidate for governor. She chose to campaign instead of voting to deny funds to the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, otherwise known as ACORN.

While her colleagues were working for their constituents to ensure taxpayer dollars wouldn’t possibly be spent on brothels and the like, she attended a fund-raiser at the home of former Dallas Cowboys football player Roger Staubach.

Perry, however, has worked to promote a low-tax, pro-business state, which has made Texas the best place to weather the economic downturn.

Texas created more jobs than all other 49 states combined in 2008, has been the best exporting state for seven years in a row, and averages more than a thousand new residents moving into the state every day. Texas was named the best state for business and job growth for the fourth consecutive year by Chief Executive Magazine in March 2009, as well as rated among the most free states in the nation by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

Perry has worked to cut millions from the budget to keep the state’s debt load low, bring more opportunities to all of the state’s higher education programs, and he tirelessly has promoted Texas to bring in new businesses and residents. Hutchison can’t even be torn away from a fund-raiser to help ensure her constituents’ dollars won’t be spent on a corrupt organization.

Hutchison’s campaign slogan is “because Texas can do better.” The state is in such fine shape though, that Hutchison’s campaign can’t find many issues to stand up for. We can most certainly do better than Hutchison, and that’s by re-electing Perry.

Gov. Rick Perry ceremonially signed into law, Senate Bill 596 in August, preventing SFA's name from ever being changed.

Perry signed the bill into law on the SFA campus. The bill enrolled in the Senate in late May, and Perry originally signed it into law on June 19. The ceremonial signing was well received by a wide audience on the campus.

Sen. Robert Nichols and Rep. Wayne Christian stood next to Perry during the bill signing. Nichols authored the bill, and Christian, who has worked on similar legislation in the past, worked in conjunction to help pass the bill.

The bill ensures that the University's name can never be changed and prevents the board of regents from ever being able to do so.

Bob Wright, director of public affairs at SFA, attended the signing and said the room overflowed with attendees who came to witness the historic event.

"It was standing room only, and I would say about half the number of people were standing outside the room and peeking through the door," Wright said.

Passage of the bill elicited a sigh of relief from countless alumni and students who feared that one day a name change might occur. Wright mentioned the importance of the name difference between SFA and other Universities in Texas. SFA is linked to a forefather of the state of Texas.

"Unlike most universities, SFA is named after one of the most important historical figures of Texas, the father of Texas," Wright said. "When you carry something that meaningful and important, you should hold on to it for your entire existence."

jpatterson@thepinelog.com

HARLINGEN, TEXAS -- Governor Rick Perry ceremonially signed a bill in Harlingen Tuesday for a 4-year medical school in the Rio Grande Valley.

The next big hurdle is funding the school, which will be called The University of Texas Health Science Center-South Texas.

....

The new health science center would keep students in the Rio Grande Valley for all their schooling, possibly resulting in more doctors staying to practice in the valley.

"Here in the Rio Grande Valley, applications are up 18 percent for physician licenses and about 200 more doctors are practicing here today than were in 2003," said Governor Perry.

As our first lady - or as I often refer to my wife, Anita, our "first nurse" (she received her nursing degree from West Texas State University) - will tell you, nursing is a fantastic and vastly rewarding career that touches almost every family in Texas, and many candidates are eager to undergo the education necessary to join their ranks.

Yet Texas faces a continued shortage of nurses that will get worse without additional, decisive action.

What's the problem? Most pressing is a continuing demand for instructors at nursing schools. In 2008, Texas schools of nursing had to turn away 42 percent of interested, qualified applicants. That's close to 9,000 capable Texans sitting on the sidelines instead of getting the training they need to start easing the burden on strained staffs and ailing patients.

Nursing schools say they'll need 265 full-time and 159 part-time faculty members, along with 93 clinical assistants, to increase enrollment by 20 percent. And all this is unfolding amidst reports that demand for nurses is expected to increase by 86 percent by 2020.

Fortunately, Texas isn't the kind of state that waits around for someone else to solve our problems. Eight years ago we began taking deliberate steps to alleviate the worst of this crisis by creating the Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program and the Nursing Innovation Grant Program. In 2007, the Hospital-Based Nursing Education Partnership Grant Program was established to expand the state's education capacity through partnerships between academic institutions and hospitals.

Over the years, these programs have combined to make a significant difference. In fact, in 2008, Texas nursing schools produced 7,689 new registered nurses, representing a 69.7 percent increase over the number of nurses who graduated in 2001.

We're improving, but we cannot afford to rest on our laurels in the face of an aging population and nursing schools that struggle to find and fund sufficient faculty.