Rep. Coleman Endorses Sen. Barack Obama

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) released the following statement today:

“I believe Barack Obama is the best person to move America forward. He brings balance, maturity and a coalition of Americans, especially young people. I believe that Barack Obama will lead America to its promise.”

Preserving our neighborhoods, needle exchange

• This Saturday Councilmembers Sue Lovell, Wanda Adams and I are co-hosting a community workshop with the City of Houston Planning and Development Department to inform our neighors of a tool that can establish a minimum building line and lot size requirement which can help preserve the character of our neighborhoods against efforts by developers to commercialize and gentrify these areas. It will be held this Saturday, February 2 at the Judson Robinson Jr. Community Center at 2020 Hermann Drive @ Almeda Road from 10am-12pm. I look forward to seeing you there.

• The Houston Chronicle has an editorial this morning on the need for the state of Texas to allow needle exchange programs. In 2005 I authored HB 2005 and this past session I joint-authored HB 1846 with Rep. Solomon Ortiz, Jr., both of which would allow local health authorities or organizations contracting with local health authorities to establish needle exchange programs; I intend to re-file this legislation next session. I also worked closely with Rep. Dianne Delisi, the chair of the Public Health Committee, in crafting an amendment she would accept from Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon that authorized a needle exchange pilot program in Bexar County, about which the Houston Chronicle's editorial opines. I agree with the editorial, which you can read below.

Needled to death

Texas needs to join the 49 states that offer drug addicts clean syringes to stop the spread of disease

This month, three Christian activists were arrested in San Antonio as they handed out clean syringes to, according to police, a group of "known prostitutes and drug addicts" in exchange for their used drug needles. Now, for their efforts to stop the spread of AIDS and hepatitis, the activists, including an elderly man and woman, are facing a year in prison.

The incident makes a a mockery of clear thinking in this state when it comes to containing infectious disease among intravenous drug users, the people who love them and even their babies: Texas is the one state in the union in which it is illegal to run a needle exchange program of any kind, even though such programs have been shown to reduce the spread of HIV infection and hepatitis.

According to information maintained on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control, as of 2004, about one-fifth of all HIV infection and almost all hepatitis C infection are the result of injecting drugs with used needles. These viruses are then transmitted further via unprotected sex and sharing of contaminated needles. Pregnant women can transmit these diseases to their babies at birth or by breast-feeding.

Congress has for the past 20 years prohibited the use of federal funds to support sterile needle distribution programs of any kind — even though the U.S. government spends billions per year on global AIDS prevention. So it is up to the states to take on this important, life-saving work.

Texas has at least started down this road. Last year, lawmakers approved a pilot needle exchange program for Bexar County. Frustratingly, District Attorney Susan Reed is doing her best to thwart the effort. She made it plain to police and public health officials that her office will recognize no protection against criminal liability.

That stopped the pilot program cold. Now the county is awaiting an opinion on the matter from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Meanwhile, Bill Day, 73, Mary Casey, 67, and Melissa Lujan, 39, members of the nonprofit group Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition, first faced possession of drug paraphernalia charges, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 after their Jan. 5 arrest. Reed now says she'll prosecute them for distribution of paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and fines up to $4,000.

That's an abusive use of her prosecutorial office. Reed might not care for needle exchange programs and all the good they can do in a community to reduce the spread of infectious disease. But overzealous prosecution of three people who clearly had no intention of profiting from the sale of drug paraphernalia is a gross misapplication of the law.

"These are enormously decent, charitable people, and what's happening with them smacks of persecution," Neel Lane, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, told the San Antonio Express-News. The prestigious law firm is defending the group at no cost.

Studies show that needle exchange programs are effective at controlling the spread of HIV and other blood-borne illnesses. And the programs provide intravenous drug users with access to HIV/AIDS counseling services and testing, substance abuse treatment and screening for tuberculosis, hepatitis and other infections.

The research also shows that, contrary to public perception, clean needle programs do not encourage drug use or trafficking. They save tax dollars that would otherwise go to treat people who become infected through sharing dirty needles.

Texas lawmakers should revisit this issue in the next legislative session. Texas needs a fully funded, statewide needle exchange program run by local public health officials. While they are at it, legislators should include in the bill clear language that protects clean needle providers from overly aggressive prosecutors.

Sims Bayou Project in the News

Early last year, Sen. Mario Gallegos and I were proud to help secure a $400,000 grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife to acquire, develop and improve land around Sims Woods Park, Sims Wood Conservation Area, and the Harris County Flood Control District along Sims Bayou. This week the Houston Parks Board announced it was using those funds to purchase "a 27.2-acre site on Sims Bayou for a public park that will be a key link in a chain of parks connected by a 14-mile hike-and-bike trail." Below is an article from the Houston Chronicle on the purchase, along with a press release Sen. Gallegos' and my office on the funds.

Houston buys 27.2 acres for Sims Bayou project

It'll be the center park of a 14-mile chain of seven

By MIKE SNYDER

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

The Houston Parks Board has purchased a 27.2-acre site on Sims Bayou for a public park that will be a key link in a chain of parks connected by a 14-mile hike-and-bike trail.

The acquisition, announced this week, reflects a strategy by local park advocates of developing parks on flood-prone land along bayous and linking them with trails.

The new Robert C. Stuart Park in south-central Houston will be flanked by three existing city parks upstream and three others downstream.

The city of Houston and private organizations are working on plans for a trail linking all seven parks, mostly on right of way controlled by the Harris County Flood Control District.

Using a state grant and private funds, the Parks Board purchased the property for about $950,000, said its executive director, Roksan Okan-Vick. The seller, Francita Stuart Ulmer, donated about half the property's value in exchange for naming the park in honor of her father, the late Robert C. Stuart.

The land will be transferred to Houston's Parks and Recreation Department in the next few months, Okan-Vick said.

The city has received a $400,000 state grant to help pay for improvements including trails and recreation facilities and eventually a canoe and kayak-launching area.

The park also will serve as an outdoor classroom for nearby Hartman Middle School and other schools, Okan-Vick said.

The Stuart Park acquisition is particularly significant because the tract is one of the few remaining streamside forests in Houston, with an abundance of plants and wildlife, said Evelyn Merz, a co-founder of the Sims Bayou Coalition.

SENATOR MARIO GALLEGOS AND REP. GARNET COLEMAN ANNOUNCE AWARDING OF $400,000 FOR SIMS WOOD PARK

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

(Austin)-- State Senator Mario Gallegos, Jr. (Houston) and State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (Houston) announced the awarding of $400,000 for Sims Woods Park in southeast Houston. The funds, granted by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, will assist the City of Houston to acquire, develop, and improve land around Sims Woods Park, Sims Woods Conservation Area, and the Harris County Flood Control District along Sims Bayou.

"This park is essential for the people in the Southeast area of Houston," State Senator Gallegos said. "It will provide families with opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in first-class amenities while preserving the environment that is unique to Houston."

The $400,000 in matching funds will help develop nature trails, benches and picnic tables throughout the park, native landscaping, and numerous wildlife stations.

"These funds will help improve the quality of life for our community," Rep. Coleman said. "Increasing the green space in Houston gives our families an opportunity to come together to enjoy the outdoors."

The awarding of matching funds comes as a result of years of effort and work done by advocates for Houston's parks.

"These dollars will make a tremendous difference towards education the students in the area," Evelyn Merz, President of Sims Bayou Coalition. "There are ten elementary and middle schools within three miles of Sims Woods, and these parks will give those students in the community an opportunity to study in a natural area in their own neighborhood. This will be a wonderful natural area for the community."

Senator Gallegos Contact: Ruben Longoria (512) 463-0106

Rep. Coleman Contact: Ryan Goodland (713) 520-5355

MLK Day at Children’s Museum, Texas Lottery

Yesterday the Children's Museum of Houston and I hosted the 12th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. It was a great event, with musical performances from the choir of Lockhardt Elementary and Perri Jones of Dodson Elementary, along with MC duties from Harvey Pittman II from Lockhardt. There's an interactive slideshow with photos from the event which you can find below.

Children's Museum of Houston 2008 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration

This weekend the Houston Chronicle ran an editorial joining criticism of the Texas Lottery's growing reliance on addictive, high-priced scratch off tickets to increase revenue. The New York Times recently editorialized against these high-priced scratch off tickets (which you can read by clicking here), and both the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times have written articles about Texans who spend literally thousands of dollars every year on the lottery, many of whom are those who can least afford to do so. I am including the entire editorial below (which you can read at the Houston Chronicle's website by clicking here).

Scratch to lose

Texas should not be in the business of separating the poor from so much of their money.

For $1, any adult so inclined can buy one of this state's colorful scratch-off games and thrill to the chance of winning thousands. It's almost always a waste of a dollar, but if played only once in a while, it's an affordable pastime for even the poorest Texan.

That's not true of the Texas Lottery's $50 scratch-off game. It's inconceivable that this expensive card delivers 50 times the enjoyment of the cheaper ticket, even though the potential prizes are bigger. But the suffering that results from this much money thrown away is bound to be acute for families of limited means. And let's face it, the odds of winning anything at all are stacked profoundly against the player.

So why is the state of Texas, first in the nation to introduce a $50 game, in the business of selling such easy misery? Simple: $50 scratch-offs are an unusually efficient cash cow. They, along with games that sell for $10 or more, are extremely popular. The $50 game by itself has generated $137 million since its debut in May.

"The $50 ticket salvaged our entire fiscal year last year," Robert Tirloni, projects manager for the Texas Lottery Commission, told the Chronicle recently. It and other higher-priced games helped close a $93 million revenue gap at the agency between 2006 and 2007.

Now a Chronicle study comparing six months' worth of top-dollar scratch-off game sales by ZIP code to census data on household income shows that in Texas, the very poor are much more likely than the well-to-do to buy these scratch-offs — $50 tickets to missed utility payments and misspent rent money.

According to the analysis, $50 tickets are very popular in ZIP codes with incomes of just over $30,000 and in those with earnings upwards of $50,000-$60,000. What's really troubling is that the game's per capita sales were 22 percent higher in the state's poorest ZIP codes — those with median incomes of $20,000 or less — than they were in areas where the wealthiest Texans, with incomes of $90,000 or more, reside.

(Chronicle writers Lisa Sandberg and Chase Davis were quick to point out that it was impossible to derive a perfect correlation between income levels and lottery sale locations because people can buy lottery tickets in ZIP codes where they don't live.)

Lottery games, especially scratch-to-win games, draw in disproportionate numbers of minorities and the less-educated, exacerbating the financial woes faced by some people in these demographic groups. That's bad for Texas, home to higher-than-average poverty rates and residents suffering from a host of problems associated with having too little: communities of dense poverty, high rates of hunger, low educational attainment and far too many going without health insurance.

A lottery that preys upon those least able to afford it poses the question of why Texas is in the business of separating so many of its impoverished residents from what little cash they have. Lottery games that promise huge windfalls at astronomical odds for hefty up-front prices lure the desperate. Yet the state is notoriously stingy when it comes to providing aid to the vulnerable poor in the form of publicly funded mental health care, programs for the elderly impoverished and medical services for uninsured children.

Texas Lottery Commission spokesman Robert Heith defended the games as voluntary, noting they are meant to entertain. Whether they cause harm is not the lottery's concern, Heith added. The agency's single-minded mission is generating revenue, including more than $1 billion (out of $3.8 billion raised from lottery sales) for public education.

Heith is right. His job is to figure out how to keep Texans interested in throwing their money away on lottery tickets of all kinds, including Lotto Texas and Mega Millions games. That's been a challenge in some years in which interest in the games has fallen sharply. The $50 game is merely the latest in a series of moves to stoke the public's fickle, wavering interest.

Lottery agencies constantly have to raise the stakes to maintain interest each time residents realize that the latest twist on the premise still leads only to lost bets. Last year, the state conducted a study to test the viability of a $100 instant-win game.

The money impoverished players squander on overpriced lottery games could be better spent on necessities or saved. Instead, high-priced scratch-offs tend to stoke gambling addictions. But though the state spends $33 million a year promoting these reckless diversions, the state dropped funding for programs to help problem gamblers.

That's why state lawmakers should look more closely at the petty gambling behemoth voters approved in 1991.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, whose district The New York Times reported has the highest rate of lottery spending in the Houston area, has the right take on the matter. He says Texas should get rid of the highest-price lures for instant gratification.

"If people want to play," Coleman told The Times, "they're better off buying a dollar ticket and calling it a day."