METRO will be offering a free fare weekend for all of our bus and rail service over Labor Day weekend (Saturday, August 31st through Monday, September 2nd) – so take advantage of those Labor Day sales and fun activities taking place all over Houston while riding METRO for free!
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY:STATE SENATOR RODNEY ELLIS
Voter ID: What you need to know
While ongoing litigation sorts out the future of voter ID, it makes sense to plan as if the law will be in effect during the next election. Voter ID requires all voters to present one of the following forms of photo identification in order to be eligible to vote:
•Driver’s license, election identification certificate, personal identification card, or concealed handgun license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety;
•U.S. military identification card containing the person’s photograph;
•U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph; or
•U.S. passport.
With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, all of the forms of identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented at the polling place.
Exceptions
There are very limited exceptions to the photo identification requirement:
•Disabilities: voters with a disability may apply with the county voter registrar for an exemption. Those who obtain a disability exemption will be allowed to vote by presenting a voter registration certificate reflecting the exemption.
•Religious objection or natural disaster: other exemptions include voters who have a consistent religious objection to being photographed and voters who do not have any photo identification as a result of certain natural disasters as declared by the President of the United States or the Texas Governor. These voters may cast a provisional ballot at the polls and, in order for their vote to count, must sign an affidavit attesting to those facts in the presence of the county voter registrar within six days of the election date.
Provisional Ballots
Voters who show up at their polling place and discover they do not have a valid form of photo identification will be able to cast a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot, however,
will not count unless the voter takes additional action after election day to prove they have the proper photo identification. In order for their vote to count, these voters have up to six days after the election to present to the county voter registrar appropriate photo identification.
Election Identification Certificate
If you or a family member do not have one of the forms of photo identification listed above, there is a free option available. The change in law creates a new form of photo identification called an election identification certificate, which the Texas Department of Public Safety will issue. Registered voters or those eligible to register who do not have a required form of photo identification may apply for the election identification certificate at any DPS driver license office. There is no fee for the certificate.
More Information
Visit www.gotIDtexas.org for additional information. You can also contact the Texas Secretary of State’s office or your county’s voter registrar:
•Texas Secretary of State: 1-800-252-VOTE
•Harris County Elections: 713-368-2000
•Fort Bend County Elections: 281-341-8670
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: STATE SENATOR RODNEY ELLIS
Dear Friend,
This month marks the 48th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act, landmark federal legislation aimed at preventing discrimination in voting. The Voting Rights Act was passed in response to an era in which many states, particularly in the south, mandated literacy tests, poll taxes, and other devices to institutionalize the disenfranchisement of African Americans.
One of the key tools of the Act is Section 5, which requires states with a history of discrimination at the ballot box – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia – to receive special preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court prior to changing election and voting laws. For nearly five decades, the Department of Justice and our court system has blocked racially discriminatory voting measures from going into effect in communities across the country.
Friends, do not let the Court’s decision reverse decades of progress we have made to protect our voting rights. The United States Congress must immediately revamp the Voting Rights Act to create a formula which takes into account current and historical discrimination and bias while meeting the requirements the Supreme Court has set out. I urge you to let Congress know that it must act now to protect the voting rights of millions of Texans.
However, this past June, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted this essential protection when it ruled in Shelby County v. Holder that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. Section 4 outlines which states are subject to the extra protections provided by the preclearance requirements of Section 5. So while Section 5 survives, it remains unenforceable until Congress updates the formula for which states and jurisdictions are subject to the preclearance requirements.
Writing for the majority of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problems speaks to current conditions.” I don’t know what America the justices are living in to pretend deliberate and blatant attempts to disenfranchise people of color at the ballot box do not exist. I believe this decision is outrageous and nonsensical, and the fight to protect our right to vote goes on to this day.
Instead of poll taxes and literacy tests of yesteryear, states now use controversial voter ID laws and gerrymandered districts to suppress the vote. The Texas voter ID law, approved in 2011, will make it significantly more difficult for approximately one million eligible Texans to exercise their right to vote. A federal court has already ruled that the law will have a discriminatory impact on minorities and impose “strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor.” When it comes to redistricting, Texas is now 55 percent minority – and still increasing – yet only one-third of Texas legislative seats provide minorities the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice. Shamefully, Texas was the only state in the country which adopted redistricting plans following the 2010 Census that have been ruled to be deliberately discriminatory against African American and Latino voters.
Both the voter ID law and the discriminatory redistricting maps were stopped because of the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Due to the Supreme Court’s decision, however, these types of voting changes will be much more difficult to prevent from taking effect. The legislature has since passed new redistricting maps, and ongoing litigation continues to sort out the future of the voter ID law. In fact, today the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would be filing a new lawsuit against Texas over the law.
The fight to protect our right to vote continues, as there are pending lawsuits filed by citizens attempting to pull Texas back into a preclearance requirement based on a different section of the Voting Rights Act. However, unlike Section 5, this provision shifts the burden of proof to the challenger to prove a voting change is discriminatory rather than the state being required to prove it is not. Once again, it is up to the citizens to fight to preserve their voting rights.
Sincerely,
RE Signature
Rodney Ellis
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Austin’s city manager is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to review the force’s tactics and relationship with the community amid six officer-involved shootings this year.
City Manager Marc Ott told the Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/16xlasM ) that his request is a follow-up to a previous policy review by the DOJ, which brought about 165 recommendations and many changes at the Austin Police Department in 2009.
Three of this year’s officer-involved shootings were fatal, most recently the death last month of Larry Jackson Jr.
Ott’s letter to the Justice Department asks it to interview community leaders and neighborhood forums on ways to improve trust and confidence in police.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond. Austin police officials say they would welcome a review and cooperate.
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, the city’s only African-American city council member, agreed with Adam Loewy, an attorney hired by Jackson’s family, who wants the DOJ to look specifically at Jackson’s death.
“We need to ask the DOJ to investigate whether the actual tactics used in this case were consistent with the policies and procedures of APD,” she said.
Assistant Chief Brian Manley said he thinks the city’s officers are conducting themselves professionally according to training.
“Obviously issues happen at times, and when they do, those are the ones that we take a look at,” he said.
Between 2007 and 2011 the DOJ looked into whether the department was routinely violating federal laws. It made the 165 recommendations but found “no reasonable cause to believe” the department engaged in a “pattern, or practice that violated the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
One of the recommendations was on how officials review use-of-force incidents.
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Legislature approved a mandatory sentence of life in prison with parole possible after 40 years for 17-year-olds who commit capital crimes.
Both the Senate and House passed the bill and it now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.
The Senate also approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would pump billions into road building from the state’s cash reserve fund. That fund is supported by oil and gas severance taxes. If approved by the House, the measure would go to voters statewide in November.
The juvenile justice bill, though, took up most of the time in both chambers, with Democrats calling for an overhaul of juvenile sentencing guidelines.
Seventeen-year-olds are considered adults in Texas, and the previous law mandated that those convicted of killing someone while committing a felony must spend their life in prison.
But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence a minor to life in prison.
Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, said judges and juries should have more flexibility to consider individual circumstances.
“Juveniles offenders because of their brain development and other factors are different from other offenders,” he said. Rodriguez also expressed concerns about statistics that show racial disparities in how teenagers are charged and sentenced, with blacks and Hispanics receiving harsher penalties than whites for the same crimes.
Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said her bill meets the new constitutional requirements and be consistent with sentencing for 14-to-16-year-olds, who also receive a mandatory sentence of life with the possibility of parole in 40 years. She rejected allowing parole after only 25 years.
“In my eyes, 25 years would be too short of a sentence for someone who has committed a capital felony,” Huffman said.
In the House debate, Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, sponsored the bill and said that while she considered including life without parole as a possibility in the bill, she decided ultimately she wanted to treat all juveniles the same.
Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country that houses thousands of foreign citizens and nets about $274 billion in foreign trade annually. On July 31, 2013, Mayor Annise Parker signed an executive order for the city to develop a language access plan for five different languages.
The executive order will be used to breakdown a language barrier that prevents many Houstonians that do not speak English from getting the services they need and to help them receive the essential information they need to survive in such a large city.
“This is not about going around re-doing signs around the city,” said Parker. “This is about different populations having access to information.”
The languages have not yet been chosen but they will look at large populations like the South Asian community that comprises of Indians, Pakistani, and Hindi.
The translations are critical especially during the hurricane seasons when danger can happen within a 24 hour span and communication is vital. There are over a 100 different languages spoken in Houston.
For the next six months research will ensue to identify the point of contacts that will do the translating and communicate with the target communities. The Office of International Communities (OIC), a division of the Department of Neighborhoods will spearhead this project and they have six months to come up with the language plan.
“It will be simple information such as how to pay a ticket, how to use the municipal courts or how to report an incident with the police,” said Mayor Parker.The goal is to make city services more accessible and give the international community an easier way to connect to the community.
“The OIC will conduct a data-driven language needs assessment, work closely with the City departments, international community leaders and university- based experts to identify the five languages that will be adopted into the plan,” said the OIC representatives.
Mayor Parker sees this as a big move for Houston as it stakes its claim as a premiere international city.
WASHINGTON, DC –
Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for July 2013. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:
The effective (U6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 16.1 percent (NSA).
The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.8 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
The (U3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 11.6 percent (NSA). The (U3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 20.9 percent (NSA); the (U3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 12.4 percent (NSA); and the (U3) unemployment rate for 18–29 year old women is 10.8 percent (NSA).
Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:
“Looks like another bad month for young people. Last week we learned from Gallup that only 43.6% of 18-29 year olds are employed full-time and now we have another Millennial Jobs Report showing roughly 1 in 6 18-29 year olds are out of work entirely.
The CDC of Freedmen’s Town is inviting the public to become a part of an historic discussion taking place right now across America – where citizens like you get to learn about renting, buying and maintaining a home, how to use the credit bureaus to benefit you and how to be a productive consumer.
And your voice does matter. Your opinions will help implement an informed citizens’ action plan that will save you money, make better decisions when making purchases and whether you rent or own a home, you will be in a position to negotiate a better deal with a banker, merchant or anywhere you spend your money.
This is a chance for you to help shape reinvestment into your household and community. It is a chance to get the facts, weigh the tradeoffs, and tell your leadership exactly how you want your economic system to change.
This is a discussion that can’t happen without you. Your voice does matter.
Other Sponsors and Presenters are: CDC of Freedmen’s Town, Affordable Carpets, LLC dba Carpet Depot, BCBO Housing Experts and Presentation by banks, informational handouts and more.
The workshop is FREE and open to the public. Plan to participate in the Housing Workshop, Saturday, August 10, 2013, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., 815 Crosby Street, Houston Housing Authority Center. For more information, call 713 742 6995
WASHINGTON, DC
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, announced that the Houston Airports System has been identified to participate in reimbursable fee agreements through the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP):
“I am pleased to announce that CBP is moving forward with a number of public/private partnerships to help support growth in cross-border trade and travel. Houston Airports System has been identified to participate in one of these partnerships.
As the former Chairwoman of the Transportation Security Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, I want to thank Secretary Janet Napolitano and CBP Acting Commissioner Thomas S. Winkowski for their hard work on seeing this important initiative through. These services are important to the residents of Houston and they are very much a part of the security of the airport and the extra services are needed in these airports. It is important to continue the federal public/private partnership. This is a positive investment in dollars.
“These authorities afford CBP greater flexibility to work together with our stakeholders to support growth in trade and travel. These partnerships will allow CBP to provide new or additional services, maximizing our resources and encouraging the growth of our national economy while addressing the challenges of our complex mission. The reimbursable services proposals were reviewed and based on criteria including: impact on current CBP operations, health and safety issues, community and economic benefits, and the feasibility of instituting the agreements in a timely manner.
These reimbursable services will go to overtime staffing increase at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.”
Enjoy a night of networking, eating, & shopping while supporting a great cause on August 30th from 5 – 8 p.m.
This past year, Jackie Adams, the owner of Melodrama Boutique, celebrated her 10th year in business. As one way to give back to the community, during the summer months she sponsors Happy Hours for nonprofit organizations and other businesses. During her last happy hour of the summer, shoppers can make purchases for themselves or others, all while supporting a great community organization.
During the happy hour light refreshments and drinks will be served as individuals get an opportunity to learn more about the programs that SHAPE offers. SHAPE just recently celebrated its 44th anniversary and this event is an opportunity for us to reach a new generation of supporters.
The public is invited to join them as a great opportunity to support a local small business and a community organization that has been a supporter of the people for over 44 years.
For more information call (713) 523-1608.