Is Even the Government Bigger in Texas?

Mack and Steve tackle the home state of Texas after a listener asked, what the heck is going on here? Spoilers: it’s vouchers.

References

Our capital is taller:

Texas State Preservation Board. “Capitol Myths and Legends.” https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tc/tc-history/myths-legends/index.html

Back to the constitution of 1876:

Ericson, Joe E. & Wallace, Ernest. “Constitution of 1876.” Updated March 23, 2021. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/constitution-of-1876

Learn about the Reconstruction period in Texas (a very racist time):

Moneyhon, Carl H. “Reconstruction.” August 25, 2023. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/reconstruction

Learn about how often the Texas Legislature meets and for how long:

Legislative Reference Library of Texas. “Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the Texas Legislature." https://lrl.texas.gov/geninfo/faq.cfm

Some of the state isn’t in Central:

TimeTemperature.com “Texas Time Zone – Texas Current Local Time – Daylight Saving Time.” https://www.timetemperature.com/tzus/texas_time_zone.shtml

Learn about special sessions:

Legislative Reference Library of Texas. “Frequently asked questions about special sessions.” https://lrl.texas.gov/sessions/specialsessions/FAQ.cfm

How Texas legislators are paid:

Ramsey, Ross. “Life of a Texas Lawmaker: Lousy Pay, Great Benefits.” April 13, 2012. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2012/04/13/lousy-pay-great-benefits/

It stands for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness:

Texas Education Agency. “STAAR.” https://www.texasassessment.gov/staar.html

Learn about when the STAAR went to 15 end-of-course assessments and back again:

Texas Education Agency. “Historical Overview of Assessment in Texas [PDF].” https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/reports-and-studies/2012-tech-digest-chapter-1.pdf

The really, really big freeze in February ‘21:

National Centers for Environmental Information. “The Great Texas Freeze: February 11–20, 2021.” February 24, 2023. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/great-texas-freeze-february-2021

Information about water facilities being required to operate in the event of a power outage:

Generator Source. “Texas Water Facilities Required to Have Backup Power.” May 11, 2022. https://www.generatorsource.com/blog/May-2022/Texas-Water-Facilities-Requiring-BackUp-Power.aspx

How Texas education ranks in the country:

Heckler, Amber. “Texas Flunks Out in New Ranking of America’s Best School Systems.” July 31, 2024. InnovationMap. https://houston.innovationmap.com/houston-business-networking-events-february-2671105140.html

Not all committee meetings are transcribed, but if they are, the transcriptions are now posted online:

Legislative Reference Library of Texas. “HB 2811, 77th R.S. additional sources.” https://lrl.texas.gov/legis/billsearch/JournalsEtc.cfm?legSession=77-0&billtypeDetail=HB&billNumberDetail=2811&billSuffixDetail=

Get to know the plural executive:

Regalado, Daniel M. “The Texas Plural Executive.” OER Commons. https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/26306/overview

Mack said ’76, but the constitutional convention was in 1974:

Barras, Mary Lucia & Houston, Daniel. “Constitutional Convention of 1974.” Updated September 11, 2019. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/constitutional-convention-of-1974

Get to know Rick Perry:

Tikkanen, Amy & Pallardy, Richard. “Rick Per