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Spearman EDC Offers Business Coaching
via Spearman Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Corporation’s Facebook Page
The Spearman EDC offers one on one business coaching and consulting at no cost to any member of the Spearman community. These services are offered through a contract with Leading EDG, LLC a provider of economic development services to communities across the Panhandle and South Plains region. In Spearman these services are provided by Spencer McElhannon a serial entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in starting and operating small businesses.
Spencer is in Spearman once a month to meet with clients. He is glad to schedule at the client’s convenience. You can contact the Spearman Chamber of Commerce/Economic Development Corporation office at (806) 659-5555 for an appointment.
Spencer has met with hundreds of clients over the last 11 years, including new startups, existing business owners, and individuals wanting to purchase or sell a business. Support does not end with an initial meeting. Spencer is available to meet with existing clients throughout the growth and operation of the individual’s business. He continues to have a relationship with those who have a business, helping them to reach “the next level” in their venture. Even if a client’s efforts do not result in a business initially, help with a future endeavor is always available.
The Spearman EDC encourages anyone interested in starting a business or improving their existing business to take advantage of Spencer’s services. Again, these services are available at no cost to the client.
Texas Senate News
Review - 8/9/21
SECOND SPECIAL
SESSION OPENS
by Richard Lee, Staff Writer for Texas Senate Media Services
Saturday, just one day after the First ended, the Second Called Session of the 87th Legislature began. Opponents to a controversial elections bill were able to halt consideration of all issues before the Legislature in July by breaking quorum and leaving the state, heading to Washington, D.C. to plead with federal lawmakers to pass national voting reforms. Governor Greg Abbott, who can call as many sessions as often as he likes, followed through on his vow to call session after session until that bill, and others, reach his desk to be signed into law. Saturday began with the full membership of the Senate, save two excused absences, but as of 5 pm Monday, still no quorum in the House. Nevertheless, the Senate pressed forward on the special session agenda over the weekend and into Monday, holding hearings and passing bills that were mostly identical to those passed by the body in the first called session.
All of the items from the first session are back on the agenda, and the Governor added a few more for the second round. One would end the use of quorum breaks by lowering the threshold for a legislative quorum from a supermajority of two-thirds to a simple majority, in line with the practices of Congress and 46 other states. Granbury Senator Brian Birdwell is carrying the proposal to amend the state constitution in the Senate, and he says that the nation's founders were well aware of the problems a supermajority quorum rule could cause. "The Founding Fathers understood the virtue of a simple majority when they enshrined it in our Constitution," he said. His bill, SJR 1, would ask voters next May to approve such a change but it faces a significant obstacle: proposed constitutional amendments must pass each chamber by a two-thirds supermajority. In essence, those who used the parliamentary tactic this year would have to agree to make it impossible to use in the future. The measure passed out of committee on Monday unanimously and will now be considered by the full Senate.
Other new issues for the second special session relate to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Abbott has requested legislation that develops and implements mitigation strategies for public schools, but without mandating masks or vaccines. It would also require that in-person instruction is available for any student whose parent wants it but leaves the door open for the development of virtual education programs. Abbott also authorized legislation that spends more than $10 billion in federal COVID relief funds, calling for bills that address staffing needs, vaccination infrastructure, creation of alternative care sites, nursing home operations, and equipment needs.
Over the weekend, Senate committees advanced bills addressing more than half of the agenda set forth by the governor, and Monday the Senate considered and passed a number of them. Senators unanimously supported SB 7, which authorizes a bonus annuity check to retired educators. The Senate also passed, for the fifth time said author and Houston Senator Joan Huffman, legislation that would seek to reform the state's bail system. The Senate also approved legislation, by Houston Senator Paul Bettencourt, that would allow new home buyers to apply their homestead property tax exemption in the year they purchase their home and to lower tax rates for senior homeowners or those with disabilities.
Whether or not the work of the Senate this session will have to be repeated once again isn't clear after the House failed to reach a quorum by Monday evening. Abbott has said he will keep calling legislators back until these bills reach his desk and at least one more special session is sure to be called to draw new political maps after census data delays prevented this during the regular session.
The Senate will reconvene Tuesday, August 10th at 3:00 p.m.
Review - 8/11/21
STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS ISSUE DIRE WARNINGS FOR DELTA COVID SURGE
by Richard Lee, Staff Writer for Texas Senate Media Services
The rate of Texans needing hospitalization for COVID-19 treatment is increasing faster than at any other point in the pandemic, according to testimony offered to a Senate panel on Tuesday. Members of the Health and Human Services Committee were told that this surge is driven by the delta variant, a more contagious form of the virus that has plagued the globe since early 2020. Though current vaccines are still highly effective against infection, and even better against severe disease and death, the variant is rapidly spreading though unvaccinated populations and putting extreme stress on the state's beleaguered health system, according to state health commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt. "It is clear that the delta variant is spreading very fast in our communities, it's quite dangerous, and it is now producing the need for hospitalization in relatively younger age groups," he said.
Hellerstedt expressed deep concern over the rate at which cases and hospitalizations are increasing in Texas. "In previous surges we had gone up to having 14,800 people in the hospital at a time and up to 14,000 staff that we were deploying around the state. We barely squeaked through," he told members. "It's faster now than it ever has been." Hellerstedt was emphatic that widespread vaccination is the only way the state will truly end the COVID pandemic. "There's no doubt in my mind that vaccination is the way to get back to the point where we want to be," he said. For those who cannot get vaccinated, like those Texans under the age of 12, the same tried mitigation strategies of masking, social distancing and hygiene can help blunt the impact, he said.
According to health officials who oversee hospital districts in the state's two largest counties, the vast majority of COVID hospitalizations - and all of the deaths - are among individuals who have not been fully vaccinated against the virus. Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, the CEO for the Harris County hospital district, told members that of the 1,300 COVID admissions at his Houston-area hospitals since January, only 1.7 percent were fully vaccinated and no one who was fully vaccinated died. It's the same in north Texas, said Dr. Joseph Chang, chief medical officer for Parkland Health and Hospital Systems, the hospital district for Dallas County. His facilities have seen around 1,100 COVID admissions over the last six months. Only 27 of those individuals were fully vaccinated, and of those, only seven needed oxygen therapy and none died.
A lack of skilled healthcare workers is only making the problem worse, hospital officials told senators. Dr. Chang said that competition between hospitals over staff have driven pay scales for nurses and technicians sky high. "My chief nursing officer is finding it basically impossible to continue to recruit and staff," he said. It's not any better in Houston, where Dr. Porsa said he's had to shut down ICU capacity because he didn't have enough staff. It's taking a toll on morale as well. "I am faced with a workforce who is tired, overworked, and constantly under siege," he said.
This week, Governor Greg Abbott asked hospitals to postpone elective procedures and directed state health agencies to begin recruiting nurses and other skilled healthcare workers from out of state to address the staffing shortages at Texas hospitals. He also called on the fifty-five percent of Texans who are still unvaccinated to get the shot. "Texans can help bolster our efforts by getting vaccinated against COVID-19," he said in a Monday statement. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and it is our best defense against this virus."
Review - 8/13/21
DESPITE FILIBUSTER, SENATE APPROVES ELECTION BILL
by Richard Lee, Staff Writer for Texas Senate Media Services
Less than one week after it started, the Senate has considered and approved bills relating to nearly all of the topics laid out by Governor Greg Abbott for the Second Called Session of the 87th Legislature - including the controversial elections bill that sparked a walk out by House opponents. While the Senate has passed these measures, in some cases for the third time, they may have to take another stab at them if the House continues to lack members for a quorum. As of Thursday, that chamber had yet to have the 100 members needed to conduct business. Abbott has promised to keep calling sessions until these bills reach his desk, so whether or not the bills passed this week by the Senate will be signed into law remains to be seen.
The agenda set forth by Abbott for the second special session is much the same as the agenda for the first. The elections bill, passed on Thursday by the Senate, would ban a number of voting strategies employed by Harris County to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic during the November 2020 general election, including bans on drive-through voting, unsolicited applications for voting by mail, and 24-hour voting. It would standardize early voting statewide, increasing early voting hours in 55 counties, said bill author and Mineola Senator Bryan Hughes. It would also give poll watchers more leeway to observe election procedures, a provision that opponents worry could lead to voter intimidation or election disruption.
Senate opponents to the measure used every tool at their disposal to defeat the bill, but with weeks left to go in the special session, time wasn't on their side. Houston Senator Carol Alvarado engaged in a filibuster, speaking through the night, reading testimony from citizens saying that the bill would negatively impact their right to vote. In the Texas Senate, a member filibustering a bill must stay standing, with no relief or refreshment, if they wish to hold the floor. Rules also require them to remain on topic. Ultimately, Alvarado spoke against the bill for fifteen hours, ceding the floor just before 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. The bill passed the Senate shortly thereafter.
A handful of new items were also included on the Governor's agenda. One would create a framework for virtual education. While the vast majority of students do better with in-person instruction, bill author and Friendswood Senator Larry Taylor said that one thing learned from the COVID pandemic is that some students flourish with virtual learning. His bill would allow local school districts to implement virtual learning programs for no more than ten percent of students. It would include provisions for requiring a return to in-person classroom should the student have difficulty with grades, attendance, or behavior. For state funding purposes, virtual students would count the same as in-person students. The bill has a two-year sunset provision, so lawmakers can evaluate the program when they return to Austin in 2023.
Only a few measures remain before the Senate, mostly fiscal ones. Though state leadership was able to extend funding for the Legislature through the end of September, a bill to completely restore the funding vetoed by the governor in response to the House quorum break remains before the Senate Finance Committee. Also in that committee is SB 11, which would pay for the bonus check for retired teachers, cover property tax breaks and other costs from legislation passed earlier in the special session.
The Senate will reconvene Monday, August 16, at 2 p.m.
AgriLife Extension brings back QuickBooks short courses
by Kay Ledbetter, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
The Panhandle District QuickBooks Pro Desktop Short Courses by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will be on Aug. 25 in Amarillo and Sept. 8 in Lubbock.
The one-day trainings will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the respective Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Centers, located at 6500 W. Amarillo Blvd. in Amarillo and 1102 E. Drew St. north of Lubbock.
“COVID prevented us from holding any live classes last summer, so these are the first in-person QuickBooks workshops our agency has scheduled in two years,” said DeDe Jones, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist, Amarillo. Jones and Will Keeling, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist, Lubbock, will conduct the courses.
“We are limiting each session to 12 participants because we want each attendee to be in front of a computer,” Jones said. “If the class fills up, then we will add additional classes on Aug. 26 and Sept. 9.”
Getting your money’s worth
Registration is $75 and includes computer use and teaching materials. Couples are encouraged to attend and will be charged only one registration fee if they share a computer.
Those planning to attend should RSVP by Aug. 20 for Amarillo and by Sept. 3 for Lubbock. Payment is due upon arrival on the first day of the course. For more information or to RSVP for either location, contact Lacrecia Garza at 806-677-5625 or dljones@ag.tamu.edu.
Repeat attendees indicate they’ve seen thousands of dollars in benefit from what they learned during the courses, Jones said.
QuickBooks Pro is a double-entry business accounting program often used by agricultural lenders and producers, she said. It is available in both a desktop and online version, but only the desktop version will be taught.
During the one-day course, participants will learn to enter transactions into the program and analyze costs and profits. No prior computer experience is necessary, she said.