It takes more than passion to be effective in the Texas Legislature. It also takes experience, a grasp of a broad range of issues, and the ability to anticipate what’s next. In the Texas Senate race to represent northeast Tarrant County, Democrat Gwenn Burud brings a deep passion for education, but incumbent Republican Kelly Hancock offers experience.
For Texas Senate District 9, we recommend Hancock, 54, based on his proven effectiveness. Hancock, who lives in North Richland Hills, is chair of four committees, including the key Senate Business and Commerce committee. He has also been in the fray on a number of important issue, such as transportation, school funding and safety.
Burud, 50, is a deaf education teacher and says her top concern is school funding in Texas and her No. 2 priority is healthcare. But she offers few specific solutions that the Legislature could enact next year. We would be more enthusiastic about Burud, who lives in Colleyville, cutting her teeth in a lower office, where she could serve Texas with her intelligence and enthusiasm.
Hancock does offer specifics. On school funding, he aims to reduce the property tax burden while prioritizing school funding. He says schools don’t necessarily need more money, but to improve student outcomes they should prioritize teacher pay. “I was on the school board for 13 years, and we always seemed to make it work under the existing funding system,” he said.
He also offered an intriguing idea: Collect the property taxes paid by power generation plants into a state school fund, rather than local school funds. Power plants are generally in rural areas where school funding needs are relatively small, and they pay big property taxes out of revenue that comes from all Texans who use electricity.
Hancock’s response to school safety concerns is to arm administrators, and he helped write the school marshal bill that passed the Legislature in 2013. He is also a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, where he has pushed for measures to relieve traffic congestion in North Texas.
Where we differ from Hancock is in his support of the bathroom bill last session and the Texas voter ID law.
But overall, Hancock is the better choice.
Part of a series of Dallas Morning News recommendations in the Nov. 6 general election.
Voter Guide: Compare candidates’ answers to questionnaires tailored to their contest. https://voterguide.dallasnews.com
Recommendations: List of our recommendations to date. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/we-recommend/2018/09/07/dallas-morning-news-editorial-board-recommendations-nov-6-2018-general-election
Early voting starts: Oct. 22
Election Day: Nov. 6
For more information:
Collin County 1-800-687-8546 co.collin.tx.us/elections
Dallas County 214-819-6300 dallascountyvotes.org
Denton County 940-349-3200 votedenton.com
Ellis County 972-825-5195 co.ellis.tx.us/312/Elections
Kaufman County 972-932-0298 kaufmancounty.org/elections
Rockwall County 972-204-6200 rockwallvotes.com
Tarrant County 817-831-8683 access.tarrantcounty.com/en/elections.html
For more help, including how to check your registration status, contact the Texas secretary of state at 800-252-8683 or visit votetexas.gov.
By Wes Rapaport
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — When you pass away, someone takes control of your digital data. You have partial control over who ends up with the keys to your digital castle. Texas lawmakers studied data access for people who have died, reviewing digital privacy laws on the books and exploring additional options.
“Our lives are getting more digitalized, not less so,” estate and business succession attorney Harry Wolff told a panel of Texas state senators on Tuesday.
Ben Bentzin is a marketing lecturer at the McCombs Business School at the University of Texas at Austin. He has designated each of his digital accounts to one of his children for when he passes away. He wants to make sure his affairs are in order.
“Upon my death, one of my children will receive a notification that they have been designated as my successor, and they will be able to take over at that point,” Bentzin said.
“All the stuff that we used to put on paper and store in boxes and filing cabinets is the stuff we put on digital assets now, and your Google account, your Facebook account, your Microsoft account stores lots of important information that your family will need on your passing,” Bentzin said.
Bentzin talks about preserving digital assets with his students.
“If you don’t take care of those assets and they are not going to be available to your family members, and you don’t want them to just go away,” Bentzin said.
At Tuesday’s hearing, state senator Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, recognized that digital privacy needs to be explored further in Texas, calling it “Something we have to learn.”
Last year, lawmakers passed SB 1193, which gives trustees power to manage digital assets just as they would physical ones. It also covers liability for custodians of electronic accounts who make decisions in an effort to honor the wishes of the original user’s privacy.
“There’s so much data and no one really knows… what to do with it at this point,” social media agency executive Kristen Sussman said. She is CEO of Austin-based Social Distillery. Sussman said digital data access has become a global issue that needs regulation.
“There’s no walls on the internet that separate us,” Sussman mentioned.
“We don’t really know if it should be federally mandated, whether it should be at the state level, whether it should be pushed for by Facebook by Google or the companies that own all of this data,” Sussman explained.
Lawmakers also addressed social media privacy in the workforce and for students.
“It’s a huge gray area of the law,” Bentzin stated. “In surveys, over half of employers say they consider social media in the hiring process, and yet it’s a mine field for employers also because in looking at social media they may wind up being exposed to content that may be illegal for them to consider in the hiring process.”
“You have in your digital assets an opportunity to manage who has access while you are living and when you die, and it’s important that you set that matches your wishes,” Bentzin said.
Experts suggested searching within each digital account for information on how to turn it over in case of death. Those who are not as tech-savvy could hire a probate lawyer to assist.