Homestate Glory

Texas takes another top business honor, but national mag wonders if the focusmakes education suffer

San Francisco Citizen

Texas has been named — again and again and again and again, almost ad nauseam— a great state for doing business.

And our business savvy has been reconfirmed yet again in Forbes Magazine's 2012 list of "The Best States for Business," which looked at six vital business factors including costs (of labor, energy and taxes), labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

The Lone Star State ranks seventh on this new list (Utah took No. 1, followed by Virginia, North Dakota, North Carolina, Colorado and Nebraska), owing to its appeal as the second best business economy in the United States, with a Gross State Product of $1.3 trillion and high rankings for economic climate and growth prospects.

So we know business — but at what cost?

But there is a darker side to this pro-business climate: As the article notes, "The only thing holding back Texas is the education of its labor supply. Only 80 percent of adults have a high school degree, which is the lowest among any state."

Although our graduation numbers are reportedly looking up, Texas spends at least $19.1 billion per year on incentive programs (easily the highest in the nation), much of which benefits corporations through tax exemptions and credits, while the state budget gets tighter and tighter.

Education seems to suffer most, facing a $5.4 billion cut in the last legislative session. So we know business — but at what cost?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”