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Methodology
During the 80th Legislative Session, CHILDREN AT RISK challenged legislators to "Make the Grade." The State of Texas Children 2007 Report Card was developed to hold legislators accountable and to insure that children were represented during the legislative process. Legislators were graded on the following:
- Voting record of significant legislation impacting children
- Leadership of children issues
- Committee outcomes effecting children
CHILDREN AT RISK tracked specific areas that significantly impact the well-being of children. For our Report Card we looked specifically at 40 bills that we believed were the core legislative pieces in regard to a better life for the children of Houston. They break down into:
We held legislators accountable for their role in prioritizing issues such as CHIP and Medicaid, Childhood Obesity, Mental health, Juvenile Justice, Early Childhood Education Graduation/High School Completion, Child Welfare, and Maximization of Federal Funding.
Texas 80th Legislature Grade C+
In addition to individually evaluating each legislator from the Houston delegation, CHILDREN AT RISK also assigned a grade to the Texas 80th Legislature as a whole. We were encouraged by the legislature's prioritizations of certain children's issues such as: CHIP reform, increased funding for early childhood education and dropout prevention programs, and reform of the Texas Youth Commission. However, these victories for children were coupled with a number of defeats. The 80th Legislative Session failed to pass legislation on the following important issues: clear and transparent methodology to calculate high school graduation rates, parity for mental health services, reform of alternative education programs, and environmental reform to improve Texas' air quality.
Houston Delegation Grade B
Although there is much progress to be made regarding children's well-being, there were several leaders in the Houston delegation that prioritized children during the 80th Legislative Session. There were also several Incompletes (I) given to elected officials because their work is incomplete when it comes to children's issues. CHILDREN AT RISK looks forward to working with these elected officials during the interim to strengthen policy impacting the quality of lives of our children.
Who Made the Grade?
SENATE
David Dewhurst (R)
Houston B-
As the Lieutenant Governor, Sen. Dewhurst held great influence over the outcome of the legislative session. His grade reflects our disappointment that the session did not produce more child-focused legislation, coupled with our great excitement that serious CHIP reform was passed.
Rodney Glenn Ellis (D)
Houston B+
Sen. Ellis voted favorably on most child-oriented bills that reached the Senate Floor. However, we were disappointed that certain environmental reform bills died in the committees that Ellis sits on.
Mario Gallegos, Jr. (D)
Galena Park I
Sen. Gallegos receives an incomplete as he was too ill to serve the interests of his constituents during the 80th Session.
Glenn Hegar, Jr. (R)
Katy B+
While Sen. Hegar voted favorably on all the bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK, he was not an outspoken advocate for children's issues. We recognize that he is still at the beginning of his political career and we hope that, in the future, he will seize the opportunity to take on a leadership role in the fight to improve children's quality of life.
Mike Jackson (R)
Pasadena B+
While Sen. Jackson voted favorably on all the bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK, he was not an outspoken advocate for children's issues. We recognize that he is still at the beginning of his political career and we hope that, in the future, he will seize the opportunity to take on a leadership role in the fight to improve children's quality of life.
Kyle Jankek (R)
Houston B+
Sen. Jankek has been a long-time advocate for children. While Jankek was influential in passing a number of education reform bills out of the Education Committee, we were disappointed with his inability to promote SB 1995, which would have brought greater accuracy to calculating our high school graduation rates.
Dan Patrick (R)
Houston B
We were disappointed that Sen. Patrick voted against SB 530 which addresses the ever-growing problem of child obesity by establishing school physical education requirements. However, as he voted favorably on the other bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK, and as it is still early in his political career, we hope that Patrick will make children's issues a priority in the future.
John Whitmire (D)
Houston A
Sen. Whitmire has been a long-time advocate for children. We applaud his hard work on leading the effort to reform the Texas Youth Commission.
Thomas Williams (R)
The Woodlands B-
Sen. Williams voted against SB 530, which addresses the ever-growing problem
of child obesity by establishing school physical education requirements. Although he voted favorably on the other bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK, we are disappointed that, at this point in his political career, he has not yet taken on a leading role in the promotion of children's issues.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Alma Allen (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Allen's votes during this session illustrated her continued commitment to children's issues. Although Allen did not take on a strong leadership role in promoting specific child-oriented legislation this session, her history of dedication to promoting children's issues leaves us confident that she will continue to be a leading figure in the fight to improve children's quality of life.
Kevin Bailey (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Bailey's votes reflected an underlying commitment to promoting children's issues. We hope that, with the aid of his talented staff, Bailey will step out as a leading advocate for children in the coming years.
Dwayne Bohac (R)
Houston B
Rep. Bohac voted favorably on all the bills tracked by CHILDREN AT RISK. However, we are disappointed that he has not yet used his expertise or experience to lead the effort to make children's issues a priority of the state legislature.
Bill Callegari (R)
Houston I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Callegari did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, we are confident that by working closely with him in the future, we can encourage him to extend his interest in education reform to all issues that impact the well-being of children.
Ellen Cohen (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Cohen voted favorably on almost all the bills tracked by CHILDREN AT RISK. We hope that as her political career progresses she will take on an even greater role in the fight to improve children's quality of life.
Garnet F. Coleman (D)
Houston A
Rep. Coleman continues to prove himself an uncompromising advocate for children. During this session, Coleman's leadership was pivotal in the passage of the CHIP reform bill.
Joe Crabb (R)
Kingwood I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Crabb did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, most notably the CHIP reform bill, we are confident that by working more closely with him in the future we can encourage Crabb to become a stronger advocate for children.
John Davis (R)
Houston A
Rep. Davis has been a true champion of children's issues throughout his career. Demonstrating Republican leadership when he voted yay on the CHIP reform bill, Davis was instrumental in creating the bipartisan momentum that lead to the bill’s success.
Harold V. Dutton, Jr. (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Dutton voted favorably on the majority of the bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK. We hope that he will take on an even greater role in promoting a variety of issues that affect children in the future.
Rob Eissler (R)
The Woodlands B
As chair of the Public Education Committee, Rep. Eissler had a large role in deciding which education reform bills reached the floor of the House for debate. Although many positive bills did pass out of the committee, a number of important bills – such as those addressing the school-prison pipeline and the manner in which we calculate graduation rates – died in his committee. We are disappointed that Eissler was not able to use his position to ensure that such important bills reached the floor.
Gary Elkins (R)
Houston I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Elkins did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, most notably the CHIP reform bill, we are confident that by working with him in the future we can encourage Elkins to become a strong advocate for children.
Jessica Farrar (D)
Houston B
Rep. Farrar voted favorably on all the bills tracked by CHILDREN AT RISK. However, we are disappointed that she has not yet used her expertise or experience to lead the effort to make children's issues a priority of the state legislature.
Patricia Harless (R)
Spring I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Harless did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, most notably the CHIP reform bill, we are confident that by working with her in the future we can encourage Harless to become a strong advocate for children.
Ana E. Hernandez (D)
Houston B+
We were pleased to see Hernandez take a leadership role on environmental issues during her first legislative session. We hope that she will not only continue to fight for the environment, but that she will take on an even greater role in promoting a variety of issues that affect children in the future.
Scott Hochberg (D)
Houston A
Rep. Hochberg's role as a leader on education reform clearly establishes him as a champion of children's issues. We are excited to see how Hochberg will continue his fight to improve the quality of children's lives in the years to come.
Charlie Howard (R)
Sugarland I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Howard did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, most notably the CHIP reform bill, we are confident that we can encourage Howard to become a stronger advocate for children in the future.
Borris Miles (D)
Houston A-
We are grateful to Rep. Miles for his promotion of TYC reform. In the future, we hope that he will continue to speak out as a strong advocate for children.
Jim Murphy (R)
Houston B
Rep. Murphy has a good record of promoting child-oriented legislation. In the future,
we hope that he will be able to adopt a more active role in calling on the legislature to prioritize children's issues.
Richard Noriega (D)
Houston A
Rep. Noriega has consistently proved himself a leading advocate for children. His commitment to child welfare was best seen this session in his authorship of a bill calling for greater accuracy in calculating our high school graduation rates.
Dora Olivo (D)
Missouri City B+
Rep. Olivo's votes reflected her commitment to improving the quality of children's lives. We hope that she will be able to exert a greater influence in making children's issues a priority of the legislature in the years to come.
Debbie Riddle (R)
Houston B
Rep. Riddle shows great potential to be a leader in education reform. We were grateful for her support on our human trafficking legislation, and we found her staff helpful in promoting our agenda. We were, however, disappointed that she voted against establishing a daycare program for the newborns of incarcerated mothers.
Wayne Smith (R)
Baytown B
Rep. Smith's voted favorably on many of the bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK. But, we were disappointed that he was absent from the votes on a number of key bills.
Robert E. Talton (R)
Pasadena I
CHILDREN AT RISK does not believe that anyone would intentionally ignore the needs of our children. Although Rep. Talton did not vote favorably on all the bills we prioritized, most notably the CHIP reform bill, we are confident that by working more closely with him in the future we can encourage Talton to become a strong advocate for children.
Senfronia Thompson (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Thompson has a good history of promoting child-oriented policies. During this session, we greatly appreciated her support for human trafficking legislation. We hope that she will use her expertise and experience in the field of education to promote serious reform in the future.
Sylvester Turner (D)
Houston A
Rep. Turner proved himself a strong advocate for children during this session. We applaud his dedication to CHIP reform and to ensuring that the budget provided the funding necessary to support many programs that impact children.
Corbin Van Arsdale (R)
Houston B
Rep. Van Arsdale voted favorably on the majority of bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK. However, we were disappointed that he did not make children more of a priority by passing more child-oriented bills out of the House Calendar Committee.
Hubert Vo (D)
Houston B+
Rep. Vo's votes reflected his commitment to improving the quality of children's lives. We hope that he will be able to exert a greater influence in making children's issues a priority of the legislature in the years to come.
Beverly Woolley (R)
Houston I
Rep. Woolley voted favorably on the majority of bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK. However, we were disappointed that she did not pass more child-oriented bills out of the House Calendar Committee, of which she is the chair. We look forward to working with her in the future to prioritize children’s issues.
John Zerwas (R)
Houston B
Rep. Zerwas voted favorably on the majority of bills prioritized by CHILDREN AT RISK. However, we were disappointed that he was absent during key votes on education and physical health bills.
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