The State is Gaining Ground

There are 725 new laws about to go into affect on Monday in Texas.

The one getting the most attention affects drunken drivers.

Texas leads the nation in alcohol-related traffic deaths, but starting Monday it is cracking down on drunken drivers like never before.

Three-year surcharges for drunken driving, totaling $3,000 to $6,000 on top of regular fines, are among hundreds of new state laws that take effect Monday, impacting Texans' health care, safety, pocketbooks and perhaps even their social values.

[...]

A first-time DWI already can result in a maximum $2,000 fine, but a new driver responsibility law will now add $3,000 in surcharges to be paid over three years. A repeat offender can pay surcharges up to $6,000 over three years.

Drivers who refuse to pay the surcharge will lose their licenses.

Another new law creates a state jail felony for intoxicated drivers who have a child 15 years or younger in the car. A third law requires an alcohol test for drivers in crashes resulting in serious bodily injury.

"Our hope is those bills will stop drunk driving. They certainly provide strong disincentives to drink and drive," said Bill Lewis, spokesman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "About the only tool we have left to fight drunk driving is increasing the penalties for drunk driving."

I drove home last night after drinking three beers last night in the course of little over an hour. I weight approximately 160 pounds. According to this blood alcohol calculator, my blood alcohol content might have been 0.05%. Ditto for this BAC calculator. I drive fine like this and so do many other people, but it doesn't matter to MADD.

There are some positive changes with the new laws, however.

Low-income children covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program will lose myriad health care benefits through budget cuts in House Bill 1 and policy changes in House Bill 2292.

Starting Monday, they'll lose the following benefits: dental, hearing aids, hospice, mental health, substance abuse treatment, vision and chiropractic care.

Public mental health and mental retardation services are enduring multiple cuts while community care under Medicaid is getting cut as well.

Adults on Medicaid lose mental health services, as well as eyeglasses, hearing aids and podiatry benefits. Maternity care is getting cut and a program helping poor parents with big medical bills will disappear.

[...]

Last week, the department's board adopted mostly lower subsidies for foster and adoptive parents that will go into effect Monday. Foster care subsidies for children with some behavioral needs will drop from $36.33 a day to $35 a day.

New adoptive parents will generally receive monthly subsidies of $400 for the care of troubled children, a sharp drop from the $490 subsidy now in effect, Wool said.

Of course, say what I just said in any public forum and you're likely to get mauled. However, the people who believe these programs shouldn't be touched (most of them believe they should be expanded) are forgetting or choosing not to mention that this money must come from somewhere. And their choice for that source are other people. Until these programs are funded, run, and administered without the government's help, I remain opposed to them.

Meanwhile, the Health and Human Services Commission will develop rules this fall to implement House Bill 2292's provisions allowing the state to seize and sell houses of deceased nursing home residents to pay for Medicaid.

I find this bill utterly repulsive. It's a vicious statist backspin trying to make up for the system's problems. Firstly, we have people getting support from money taken from the public. Then, as reality slowly takes hold on the system and the market distortions take affect, rationing of support must be increased. Eventually, the support begins to threaten the fiancial health of the greater system and must be reformed (or done away with entirely). But by this time, too many people have a deep interest in keeping the system alive. So rather than do the right thing and aggressively cut costs (single-digit percentage budget reductions do not count, folks), new sources of revenue must be found. Usually in the form of higher taxes or fees -which are bed enough- the idea that the state can grant itself the power to seize the assets of the dead in order to pay for the system is outright foul and one of the nastiest things I've heard of in some time.

Let's not forget the Defense of Marriage Act, something I've written about before.

In a high-ranking priority of social conservatives, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 7, known as the Defense of Marriage Act. They say it is necessary to prevent same-sex marriages performed in other states from being recognized in Texas.

"It does prevent Texas from having to recognize marriages performed in another state or jurisdiction," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, House author of the bill.

On the other hand, we have a minor improvement in state drug laws.

With budget woes giving lawmakers an incentive to incarcerate fewer Texans, much of the criminal justice law this session took a markedly progressive turn, said Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

He singled out House Bill 2668, which diverts certain first-time drug offenders from incarceration, as representing a "sea change" in how Texas deals with drug crimes. The law, by Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, calls for probation and possible treatment instead, unless an offender has been convicted previously of a felony.

"It's a huge change," Harrell said. "It has bipartisan support, but the leader was Ray Allen, the very conservative Republican chair of the corrections committee."

Mr. Harrell, a criminal law change that would properly be categorized as "huge" would probably scare the dogshit out of you. Then again, it would also do the same to the majority of the country.

I did learn something new in this article.

Some schools are waiting until Tuesday to begin Senate Bill 83's requirement for students to say pledges of allegiance to the United States and Texas flags and observe one minute of silence.

While the Association of Texas Professional Educators says it worries the bill could violate students' First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, historians say the Texas pledge contains wording that appears to ignore the state's history.

While the pledge ends with the words "Texas, one and indivisible," the Texas Historical Commission confirmed that Texas technically is legally divisible. The state's annexation into the United States included a provision by which the state can be split into five separate states. Voters in both Texas and the United States would have to agree, according to the commission.

Hm. Nuts to the stupid requirement for a one minute silence, but I wasn't aware Texas's annexation had that language.

UPDATE(9/5/2003 6:50am)

More than 750 new laws are on the books in Texas. They went into effect on Labor Day. Traffic fines have gone up, school children must observe a moment of silence in the classroom and fetuses now have legal status in Texas courts. In addition, the fight against spam is getting more fierce in Texas. Companies that flood your e-mail boxes with junk messages will now have to let you know they're sending you an advertisement. You'll start seeing the letters *ADV* for advertisement at the beginning of the header or subject line. The new law won't stop spam but it will help reduce how much you get. Here's a rundown of some of the new laws passed by the legislature. School children are now required to observe a moment of silence each day and also recite the pledge of allegiance to both the U.S. and Texas flags. There will also be state budget cuts including cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program. There are new penalties if specatators threaten or assault sporting officials. And some traffic fines will be increased to provide more money for trauma centers and roads. There are also new rules about child care. Many of those standards hadn't been revised since 1985. One change you'll see is on your child's playground. To reduce injuries the state is now requiring sand, pea gravel wood chips or some softer surface for playgrounds. The goal is to reduce injuries when kids fall. And there is another law that tries to help protect kids. It is now a felony if you drink and drive with a passenger in your car who is under 15.

Via Yahoo!'s KEYE local news.

725, 750, who's counting? The net result is a further diminishment in freedom and responsibility.

Posted by Drizzten at August 31, 2003 02:49 PM