News Roundup: Texas House Bill Would Require More Transparency From Telemarketers

Our daily look at Texas headlines.

By Becky FogelMay 9, 2019 12:53 pm

The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.

A bill that won initial approval in the Texas House Wednesday would ban telemarketers from falsifying their phone numbers. The bill’s author is state Rep. Ben Leman. The Republican from Brenham explained the measure ahead of yesterday’s vote.

House Bill 1992 aims to prevent telemarketers from using predatory and annoying tactics by prohibiting them from replicating numbers and misrepresenting the origin of the call. Mr. Speaker, I move passage,” Leman said.

A final vote on the bill is set for Thursday. If passed, the bill will head to the Texas Senate. There are less than three weeks left in the legislative session.




new report takes a look at the economic status of women in North Texas. As Syeda Hasan with KERA News reports, it finds that the gender wage gap is worse for women in the suburbs than for those who live in Dallas County:

In Dallas County, the gender wage gap is only 5 cents. Women earn about 95 cents for every dollar men do. But there’s a reason for that: there are a lot of lower-paying jobs in the county. Roslyn Dawson Thompson is president and CEO of the Texas Women’s Foundation, which released a report on the state’s gender wage gap.

“Both men and women are, in Dallas County, generally less well-payed than they are in our outlying counties. … It’s not really a good news story when you factor below the surface,” [Dawson Thompson says.]

The gender wage gap is wider in North Texas suburbs. In Denton County, women earn about 75 cents on the dollar compared to men. In Collin County, it’s about 71 cents. The report compares Texas women’s income to that of white men working similar jobs, since that demographic group tends to be the highest paid.

And the research reveals some racial disparities: Asian women in Collin County have a median salary of about $66,000 a year, while Hispanic women in Dallas County have a median salary of about $26,000 a year.

Statewide, for full-time workers, the median salary for women is $40,000 – that’s about 82 cents for every dollar men make.

 




When the Scripps National Spelling Bee kicks off later this month, the state with the most representation will be Texas. Students from the Lone Star State account for 69 of all 565 competitors. Also, last year’s champion hails from McKinney, Texas. Karthik Nemmani’s winning word was “koinonia.”

 That word means “the Christian fellowship or body of believers,” according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

This year’s national spelling bee is scheduled to begin on May 27 in Maryland.