Posted on · Benefits for Texas teachers have been a point of contention between educators and lawmakers for years — and often a hot topic at the Legislature. But where does Texas fall nationally when it comes to teacher pay, health care and retirement benefits?
Posted on · Our panel of non-experts weighs in on the stories from this week’s news and decides if they’re good, bad, or ugly.
Posted on · Mayor Sylvester Turner has previously said the pension board is hurting the people it represents.
Posted on · Pres. Donald Trumpâs decision Thursday (June 1, 2017) to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord may have instant geopolitical impact, but what about on the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the climate we have here in Houston today and in the future? On this edition of Houston Matters, we […]
Posted on · There was a lot of hand-wringing last year when the major investment services downgraded the City of Houstonâs credit rating, citing growing unfunded pension liabilities as a major reason for the move. Well, a year later, Mayor Sylvester Turner has secured an agreement with two of the cityâs three classifications of city workers â municipal […]
Posted on · There was a lot of hand-wringing last year when the major investment services downgraded the City of Houstonâs credit rating, citing growing unfunded pension liabilities as a major reason for the move. Well, a year later, Mayor Sylvester Turner has secured an agreement with two of the cityâs three classifications of city workers â municipal […]
Posted on · It's time again for our weekly political roundup and analysis of national, state and local political stories. We discuss everything from the Syria attack and reaction from the global community, the "nuclear option" employed by the Senate to confirmed Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch with just a simple majority, and the shakeup in the National […]
Posted on · A couple of weeks ago (Oct. 26, 2016), the Houston City Council passed a resolution of support for Mayor Sylvester Turner's proposal to reform the city's pensions system. As News 88.7 reported, the deal includes $2.5 billion in benefit reductions, changes to annual cost of living adjustments and increased employee contributions. Mayor Turner says the […]
Posted on · A couple of weeks ago, the Houston City Council passed a resolution of support for Mayor Sylvester Turner's proposal to reform the city's pensions system. As News 88.7 reported, the deal includes $2.5 billion in benefit reductions, changes to annual cost of living adjustments and increased employee contributions. Mayor Turner says the proposal will lower […]
Posted on · A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week's news, we turn to our rotating panel of "non-experts" to parse The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of it all. This week, our panel weighs in […]
Posted on · Only Council Member Mike Knox voted against the plan, which will be submitted to the Texas Legislature.
Posted on · The Houston City Council this morning (Oct. 26, 2016) passed a resolution of support for Mayor Sylvester Turner’s proposal to reform the city's pension system and address an unfunded liability in the billions, paying it off over 30 years. This, after the firefighters’ pension board Monday agreed to the plan which will, among other measures, […]
Posted on · During this fundraising week, Houston Matters is highlighting coverage of a number of important issues and developments that we've felt compelled to revisit a number of times over the course of the last year, like campus carry, the state of the oil and gas industry and efforts to mitigate traffic. Today, though, we turn our […]
Posted on · During this fundraising week, Houston Matters is highlighting coverage of a number of important issues and developments that weâve felt compelled to revisit a number of times over the course of the last year, like campus carry, the state of the oil and gas industry and efforts to mitigate traffic. Today, though, we turn our […]
Posted on · Earlier this month (Sept. 14, 2016), Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a preliminary plan to reform the city's pension system and address an unfunded liability in the billions, paying it off over thirty years. The plan will, among other measures, lower the assumed rate of return on pension investments to seven percent, which Turner says […]