Final POLS – Flashcards
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Who pays the greatest portion of their income in property taxes?
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poor homeowners and renters
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Which of the following is not generally considered to be an example of regressive taxes or fees?
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income taxes
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The Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) is commonly known as the
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Rainy Day Fund
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Who prepares the BRE?
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Comptroller
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The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Edgewood ISD v Kirby was that
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undue reliance upon property taxes to fund public education violated the Texas constitution
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The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act of 2007
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required Texas schools to adopt a number of policies that would protect religious speech on campus
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The debate over public education goes back to the
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break with Mexico
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Under the Gilmer-Aiken Laws
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the State Board of Education was established and became the policy-making body for public education in Texas
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The three main issues that have shaped education policy in Texas during the last fifty years are<
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funding, desegregation, and educational excellence
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The legal doctrine in the Plessey v Ferguson case is the
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separate but equal doctrine
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In Brown v Board of Education, segregated school districts were ordered to
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desegregate their schools with all deliberate speed
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Ross Perot was appointed by Governor Mark White to chair a committee on
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education
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In 1965, Congress created the Medicaid program, a state-federal program, to
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provide health care for the poor
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Why are Texas counties important?<
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They provide the main form of government in rural areas.
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In Texas, what official presides over the county commissioners court?<
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county judge
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In large Texas counties, the ______ prepares the county budget.
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auditor
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A home rule charter
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specifies the number of members serving on the city's governing body
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San Antonio operates under which form of city government?<
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council-manager style
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Dallas operates under which form of city government?
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council-manager style
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The chief financial officer for a city is called the
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city controller
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What are the main sources of revenue for special districts in Texas?
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property and user fees
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What are the five categories of the Texas budget?
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General Revenue Funds General Revenue-dedicated funds Federal Funds Other Funds All Funds
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Texas doesn't have a _________ income tax
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state
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Where does Texas rank in terms of sale tax (and what is that sales tax rate)?
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They rank 10th at 6.25%
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Texas pay ___________ taxes compared to people in most other states
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Less
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What is Texas' state taxes per capita rank? What about local taxes? What about overall?
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#48 #13 #32
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What are three areas that Texas gets that cash?
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Taxes (on sales and property) Federal Matching Fund Grants Fees and Investment Earnings
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Taxes were ______ of state revenue in 2011
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41.2%
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What are regressive taxes?
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It's when the poor are wrecked financially by taxes compared to the wealthy
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What are examples of regressive taxes?
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Sales and use taxes (flat taxes on occasion)
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How does matching funds work?
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The federal boy matches what we contribute.
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Okay, since the federal government will match whatever we spend on, we should just spend willy nilly right?
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No, we aren't about that life. The other states do that yo.
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Tell me about some other sources of income (5)?
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Bonds Sales of goods and services Income from public lands The state lottery Tobacco settlements
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According to that stupid pie chart, where does most of our state revenue come from?
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Sales tax
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Hey, tell me about Texas' income tax?
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We don't have one.
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Who has the top state income tax?
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Those monkeys in Hawaii
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The legislature makes a __________ year budget
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Two
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Legislature only meets _____________ days every __________ years
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140, 2 years
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What is the downside for the legislature meeting 140 days every two years?
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That's not a lot of time to come up with ridiculous situations that might happen...
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What is the concept of the pay-as-you-go limit?
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It is the idea that the state budget must always be balanced and the comptroller must verify that there's money available for any bills that might want to be passed.
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What areas does the Texas constitution set limits on yo (and what does it say)?
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The welfare spending limit No more than 1% will be spent on poor children and their caretakers
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According to the 1997 Amendment to Article III, no more than _________% state budget can spent on debt
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5
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Developing a state budgets falls to the _________________________________ (LBB)
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Legislative Budget Board (LBB)
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Who is on the Legislative Budget Board ?
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Lt. Governor Speaker of the House Chairs of House Appropriations and Ways and Means Senate Finance and Sate Affairs committees Two additional members from both house and senate
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What are the function of the Legislative Budget Board?
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1. Analyze agency programs 2. Estimate costs of new legislation 3. Creates a draft budget for the legislature
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What is the first step of creating a budget (2 parts)?
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The LBB review 5-year projections from each department The Comptroller determines Biennial Revenue Estimate
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What is the second step of reading a budget?
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The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees are sent a proposal Committees then hold hearings and draft legislation The final budget is passed Comptroller certifies budget Sent to governor for veto or signature
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How long have we been having this debate on education?
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Since that break with Mexico
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What is the permanent school fund?
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It specifies funding guidelines
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Tell me about how many people are the state board of education and how long do they stay there?
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15 members, 4 years
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What are the four roles of the state board of education?
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Oversee that permanent school fund Execute the education budget Nominate a commissioner of education Purchase textbooks and shape what is then
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The state board of education sets education __________ for students and schools
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Standards
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What are three issues that have shaped Texas public education policy?
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Desegregation Equity in public school funding Search for education excellence
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What are issues in searching or education excellence?
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how do you measure what is excellent?
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Tell me the Texas constitution and what it said about education and my boys from the hood?
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Black students got fewer school days and one-third less funding
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What is the name of the case that beat down desecration?
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Brown v. Board (1954)
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Many districts are still ______________ segregated by residence patterns
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De Facto
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What case addressed equity in public school funding?
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San Antonio ISD v. Rodriguez
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What was the deciding factor in the San Antonio ISD v. Rodriquez case?
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The 14th amendment equal protection clause was violated and therefore overturned on appeal to the US Supreme Court
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Tell me about the Edgewood ISD v. Kirby case?
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Situation where the public schools are funded by property taxes. All properties are inherently equal yo. How can we say these school are equal then? It's a subway wrap
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Why do we have robin hood funding system for education in place?
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You can thank that Edgewood case (and Kirby too)
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What happens in the robin hood system of funding?
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Rich districts share their local tax revenue with poor districts That's what's up
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How many school districts are there in Texas?
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1265
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How many school districts in Texas are property wealthy?
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374
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What is the SCOPE?
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It's the select committee on public education
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What did the scope do?
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They made some recommendation and put the state in control of education
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Thanks to the NCLB, students in low-performing schools have some ability to move out of them...
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Thanks yo
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After 20 years of reforms, what do we have to show for it?
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Drop outs rate went down and standardized tests scores rose
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Why are the dropout rates declining controversial?
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How did you do the calculations?
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Okay, we made all this education reform progress? We're good right?
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Nope, we cut the education budget in 2011. All that stuff might be wasted
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_____________% of Texas (over 4 million) are in poverty
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18
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What is the national average for poverty?
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15%
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What makes a poor person poor according to the federal poverty guidelines of 2012?
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You got make at most 11,170 for an individual
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__________% of poor households are employed
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58
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What is Medicaid?
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It's medical care for the poor
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what does the TANF deal with?
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Welfare
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What does TANF help out with?
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income assistance, medical and social services
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What is the SNAP program?
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It's the supplemental nutrition assistance program (food stamps
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What are section 7 vouchers used for?
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They are used to pay their rent on the private market
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What does TANF stand for?
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Temporary Aid to Needy Families
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How long does TANF last for?
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3 years (and it can't be used for more than 5 years over a life time)
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How do you qualify for Medicaid?
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Demonstrate a disability or inability to pay for private health insurance
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Compared to our federal buddies, how have we been doing in spending on Medicaid?
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We just beat them every single time
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Who are the major money takers in them medical payments?
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Children and the disabled
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Who are the main receivers of Medicaid?
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Adults not covered by Medicare Disabled Impoverished kids
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How is Medicaid administered? What group is in charge of that?
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The Texas Health and Human Service Commission
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What's the other name for the affordable care act?
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OBAMACARE
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What are the two key provisions that the ACA brought in yo?
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Implement State Health Care Exchanges Expand Medicaid
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Hey, Texas was being an ass and didn't participate in the state health benefit exchanges? Obama care was silenced right?
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No, Obama put Texas on his back and did those exchanges himself
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Why is water important?
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Why would you ask such as stupid question?
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Texas's water consumption is projected to increase by __________% in the next _____ years
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82, 50
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What did proposition six do?
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We're going all in water projects (2 billion)
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Who has the highest rate of uninsured drivers and what is their rate?
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Texas and 24.6%
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What is the trend regarding state taxation and the uninsured?
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There's no correlation yo... If you want to argue, it could like the lesser your taxes the higher your rate of uninsured drivers
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What uses up the most water in Texas? What is second?
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Irrigation Municipal
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Tell me about the Texas Water Development Board?
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These nerds are the primary water planning and financing agency
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Hey, look at this list. - drainage districts - conservation and reclamation districts - river authorities - water and control improvement districts
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Okay thanks bro
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Tell me about the water fight?
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Oklahoma wants us to die of thirst (they won't sell us water) Kema (East Texas) won't give a dam (see what I did there) about what happens in North Texas
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How long do you think this drought will last?
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I would say 15 years
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Tell me about how many counties we have today?
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254
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In 1836, the republic of Texas changed the name from _______________to ________________
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Municipalities, Counties
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Local officials should be easily _________ to the public
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accountable
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How are local officials conditioned?
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With the public and media attention
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Thanks to the media, what do we know about public offices?
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It's easier to be informed about the do they do thanks to all the media outlets
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Tell me about the county commissioners court (2)?
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It is the main governing unit of the county It sets the budget and country tax rate
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Who makes up the composition?
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Just one county judge and four country commissioners
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Texas has more than ____________ local governments
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4835
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How many county units are there?
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254
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How many municipal cities are there?
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1209
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How many school districts are there
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1082
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How many special districts are there?
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2291
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What are the types of special districts?
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Water, utility, community college, hospital
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The county judge presides over the ___________ court
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commissioners
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How many participate in the election for the county judge?
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All of the people in the county
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How many people participate in the election for a commissioner?
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Just one quarter of the population
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What are the responsibilities of the county government (5)?
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Maintain them roads, bridges and county jails Cover some of those health care costs for the indigent (what?) Maintain public facilities Assist with natural disaster logistics and costs Administer all elections in the county
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No matter the offices on the ballot, counties are _________________ for election administration
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responsible
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How is a counties law enforcement structured?
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You got your sheriff, some deputies and jails
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What is a sheriff?
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He's the chief law enforcement officer
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Hey, tell me about the possible choices for district courts?
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You got your DA (handles serious crimes) You got your country prosecutors who take those less serious crimes
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What are the two types of courts in counties?
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Counties and District Courts
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The responsibilities of a county depend on _______________ and _____________
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Population and land size differences
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Compare loving county and harris county?
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Loving is small and harris is ridiculous
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How are medium and small counties vulnerable?
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Natural disasters can destroy that budget they have
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Who keeps the records for counties?
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County clerks
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What kind of record do the clerks keep (4)?
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They do vital stats for county (births, deaths, marriages) Issue licenses (driving, marriage) Maintain court records Record property transactions
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What is a dispute revolution?
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It's where the justice of the peace, county and district courts resolve civil disputes
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What are the five main functions of county government?
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1. Road and bridge construction and maintenance 2. Law enforcement 3. Dispute Resolution 4. Record Keeping 5. Social Services
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What are some of the services a county might provide?
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Nutrition and housing assistance Health care Public health monitoring Public parks Fire and sanitation
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What is meant by municipalities being state creations ?
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States can create, merge, or disband them
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Towns with more than 5000 residents may apply for ____________________ status
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Home-rule
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What is the mayor-council form of city government?
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It's where the city has a mayor and city council and that mayor is elected d from the city at-large The council is elected either at large or single-member districts
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In the mayor-council form of city government, the council acts as a __________ ___________
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City legislature
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Tell me about the differences between a strong and weak mayor?
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A strong mayor has the personnel to hire them and also them fire department heads They also got that budget authority You also have to notice that poor distribution yo
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Tell me about the municipal governments in Texas... How many have more than 100,000 people? How many governments have fewer than 5000?
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28, 891
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Tell me about the council-manager government (like how common is it)?
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It is the most common form of city government with 250 of 291 in it
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How does the council-manager government work?
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The city council may select the mayor or he might be selected by the people A city manager might be hired to run the city
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Hey, the city manager does lots of campaigning right?
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No, he applies for the job and gets it yo
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What are the largest at home-rule cities
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Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin
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What is the definition of a special district?
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It's where local governments perform a single service within a limited geographical area
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Tell me about the school board of trustees and all the stuff my buddies do?
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Oh, my buddies on the board adopt a budget and set that tax rate They also hire a superintendent Select textbooks Sets school calendar
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Tell me about MUDS (btw, what does it stand for)?
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It's the municipal utility district - they provide services to certain areas outside of cities
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Besides MUDS, what are the other forms of nonschool districts?
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Flood control Community College Hospital Water
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What is a COG and what do they do?
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It stands for council of governments It's where regional planning boards try to coordinate the efforts of local government
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A COG(Council of governments) is primarily made up of ____________ __________
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Elected officials
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What kind of issues do COGS deal with?
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They deal with issues relevant to several local governments (for efficiencies sake)
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Who makes ballots long?
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The cogs
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Why are long ballots bad?
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I'm not filling out all that junk
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