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June 2009
More KVUE Blogs
Political Blogroll
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Recently in Healthcare CategoryWhat should Texas students learn about sex in schools? It's a thorny issue lawmakers may be forced to vote on on Wednesday. A technical bill dealing with state health advisory councils is likely to be amended Wednesday by lawmakers whose standalone sex-ed reform bills were stalled in committee. The amendments are watered-down versions of their original bills and will require "medically-accurate" information be taught in sex-ed classes and that parents be informed of what their kids are learning in school. >> Continue reading: Sex Ed Showdown Set for Wednesday How does it go? If at first you don't succeed, try try again, right? State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, is taking the saying seriously. He says he will try to bring his statewide smoking ban bill up for a Senate floor vote again on Tuesday, after failing to secure the necessary votes on Monday. It was a gallant effort. Various tactics were tried to bring people over so Ellis could get to the necessary 21 to suspend and bring the bill to the floor, including having fellow Houston member, state Rep. Carol Alvarado, come over from the House to literally get down on one knee to beg state Sen. Mario Gallegos, ...
Seliger ar... There appears to be some strange shenanigans surrounding the efforts to pass a statewide smoking ban out of the Texas Senate. The measure, which is championed by hometown cycling champ Lance Armstrong, is still stuck in the Senate Health and Human Services committee, with no sign of getting a vote. When the AP pressed HHS Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Grapevine, she said only that there was an "agreement" that kept her from holding the vote to get the bill out of committee. Nelson said she still supports the bill and that there's... State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, successfully passed SB 182, a bill offering women a voluntary ultrasound before getting an abortion. It won final passage on a 20-10 vote. Anti-abortion advocates point out that the "mandatory" part is now on the doctor; he/she will be required to offer the ultrasound. This compromise was offered after Patrick was unable to bring the tougher standard to the floor for a vote. Senate Democrats and two Republicans had used Senate r... (I've noticed an effort to change the nomenclature of the virus in our grips from "swine" flu back to its scientific name, the "H1N1" virus. Haven't decided what to settle on so you'll see various monikers for it here.) Governor Rick Perry is in San Antonio this afternoon with emergency management, health and education officials. Not sure what's going to come of it yet so I'll put up the updates as we go along... - 26 confirmed cases as of Thursday morning - Texas has practiced 28 times for a pandemic event - "This state is as prepared and has the best professionals overseeing our r...
11:35am: Presser concludes 35 minutes after it started, with Scott continuing to take a few questions regarding school closings in a smaller gaggle of the press corps. 11:34am: The additional concern about this virus is that it's a strain unseen in the US before (a hybrid strain of avian, swine and traditional influenza). Since our... As the outbreak of swine flu spreads and doctors don't have specific answers on its severity, most readers don't seem to be panicking. I asked for your questions about swine flu we could pass along to Mayor Will Wynn, who is briefing the press right now about local response. Here's a sampling. --If I oink when I sneeze, do I need to go to the emergency room? --When pigs fly will there be a mutant Avian Swine Super Flu Virus? --How do they feel about changing the name of the epidemic to "pig rickets" or perhaps "Porky's revenge"? --Is it safe to breathe?... how about now? ...State Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, doesn't want teenagers in tanning beds. He's totally okay with Mystic Tan, where you go into a booth and get sprayed with some fake color. But he doesn't want teens under the simulated UV rays. His HB 1310 originally bans all Texans under the age of 18 from tanning beds unless they had written doctor's consent.
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