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Unpacking the State and Local Tax Toolkit: Sources of State and Local Tax Collections
Jared Walczak
Property taxes remain the primary source of tax collections at the local level, responsible for 72.5 percent of local tax revenue in fiscal year 2014. Once a significant driver of state budgets as well, their share of state collections has dropped to a mere 1.6 percent.
While they feature prominently in public debate, corporate income taxes only generated 3.7 percent of state and local tax revenue in fiscal year 2014. They are also among the more volatile sources of revenue for states.
Individual income taxes are the second largest source of state tax revenue, though nine states forego the taxation of wage income (of these, two tax interest and dividend income). Income taxes are less pro-growth than consumption taxes because they discourage savings and labor force participation.
Sales taxes generated 31.4 percent of state tax revenue in fiscal year 2014, and are a significant source of revenue for all 45 states which impose them. They also constitute a major local government revenue stream in some states, with local governments in three states deriving more than 40 percent of their tax revenue from sales taxes.
Significant regional variations exist in tax reliance, with New England states relying the most heavily on property taxes, while Southeastern and Southwestern states lean on sales taxes for a large share of their state and local tax revenue. Severance taxes have an outsized influence in the more resource-rich Far West.
The mix of tax sources states choose can have important implications for both revenue stability and economic growth, and the many variations across states are indicative of the different ways that states weigh competing policy goals.
Maine has its blueberry tax[1] and the voluminous Alabama constitution specifically provides for mosquito taxes in Mobile County[2]—alas, the tax is levied on property, not mosquitoes—but when state and local governments wish to raise revenue, they generally turn to a traditional canon of tax options, like property taxes, sales taxes, and individual and corporate income taxes. The degree to which states lean on these options, however, and the extent to which they turn to alternatives, varies based on demography, geography, and even ideology.
Oregon derives over two-thirds of state tax revenue from income taxes, while North Dakota raises less than a tenth of its revenue that way. In New England, only 1.4 percent of local government tax revenue comes from sales and gross receipts taxes, compared to 34.0 percent in the Southwest. In "live free or die" New Hampshire, 23.7 percent of state tax revenue is generated by corporate taxes, whereas such taxes are responsible for a mere 2.1 percent of state revenue in Hawaii.[3]
A state with an abundance of natural resources, like North Dakota, might turn predominantly to severance taxes, while one with a high volume of tourists, like Florida, can see value in relying heavily on sales taxes. Some states, particularly in New England, have longstanding traditions of both state and local property taxes, while others, especially in the Southeast, make extensive use of general sales taxes at both levels of government.
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: Census Bureau; Tax Foundation calculations.
General Sales
Individual Income
Corporate Income
Sources of State and Local Tax Collection by State (FY 2014)
U.S. 31.3% 23.3% 22.9% 3.7% 18.9%
Ala. 17.4% 29.7% 22.7% 2.8% 27.4%
Alaska 34.9% 3.9% 0.0% 7.3% 53.8%
Ariz. 29.5% 39.6% 15.4% 2.6% 13.0%
Ark. 18.0% 37.5% 23.4% 3.6% 17.6%
Calif. 25.4% 22.9% 32.2% 4.2% 15.3%
Colo. 31.3% 25.8% 24.2% 3.1% 15.7%
Conn. 38.3% 15.3% 29.8% 2.4% 14.2%
Del. 18.8% 0.0% 26.6% 6.9% 47.7%
Fla. 35.7% 35.3% 0.0% 3.1% 26.0%
Ga. 32.2% 26.0% 26.3% 2.8% 12.7%
Hawaii 17.2% 37.6% 21.5% 1.6% 22.2%
Idaho 28.7% 26.0% 25.3% 3.6% 16.4%
Ill. 36.5% 14.2% 23.5% 6.3% 19.5%
Ind. 25.9% 28.3% 24.4% 3.5% 17.8%
Iowa 34.5% 21.5% 24.1% 2.8% 17.1%
Kans. 32.8% 30.7% 19.8% 2.6% 14.1%
Ky. 20.4% 19.7% 31.3% 5.1% 23.4%
La. 21.6% 38.3% 15.2% 2.7% 22.2%
Maine 39.9% 18.7% 22.1% 2.9% 16.4%
Md. 26.6% 12.5% 37.4% 2.9% 20.5%
Mass. 36.3% 13.6% 32.6% 5.4% 12.1%
Mich. 35.4% 23.3% 22.3% 2.4% 16.7%
Minn. 25.0% 18.3% 31.3% 4.3% 21.1%
Miss. 26.2% 31.5% 15.9% 5.0% 21.4%
Mo. 27.6% 26.4% 27.0% 2.0% 16.9%
Mont. 38.2% 0.0% 27.1% 3.8% 31.0%
Nebr. 36.0% 23.0% 23.1% 3.3% 14.5%
Nev. 24.6% 38.1% 0.0% 0.0% 37.3%
N.H. 66.1% 0.0% 1.6% 9.4% 22.8%
N.J. 47.5% 15.4% 20.8% 4.1% 12.2%
N.M. 18.4% 36.8% 15.7% 2.5% 26.6%
N.Y. 30.7% 16.5% 32.1% 6.9% 13.7%
N.C. 26.3% 22.7% 28.9% 3.8% 18.4%
N.D. 11.5% 21.1% 6.9% 3.5% 57.1%
Ohio 28.6% 25.0% 26.7% 0.6% 19.1%
Okla. 17.5% 33.3% 21.4% 2.9% 24.9%
Ore. 32.9% 0.0% 40.8% 3.4% 22.8%
Pa. 29.8% 16.9% 25.9% 4.6% 22.7%
R.I. 44.6% 16.8% 20.0% 2.2% 16.4%
S.C. 33.5% 24.1% 22.0% 2.1% 18.2%
S.D. 35.3% 40.4% 0.0% 0.8% 23.4%
Tenn. 26.8% 40.9% 1.2% 5.8% 25.3%
Tex. 40.4% 36.0% 0.0% 0.0% 23.6%
Utah 27.7% 24.3% 28.0% 3.0% 17.0%
Vt. 42.2% 10.5% 19.4% 3.0% 24.8%
Va. 34.7% 13.7% 31.1% 2.1% 18.4%
Wash. 29.9% 45.4% 0.0% 0.0% 24.6%
W.Va. 21.5% 16.7% 24.2% 2.8% 34.8%
Wis. 36.2% 18.9% 25.7% 3.7% 15.5%
Wyo. 35.5% 27.4% 0.0% 0.0% 37.1%
D.C. 32.5% 17.8% 26.3% 6.5% 16.9%
Property taxes are a major source of state and local tax revenue, responsible for 31.3 percent of collections across all state and local tax jurisdictions in fiscal year 2014 (the most recent year for which data are available). This is driven almost entirely by the predominance of property taxes in the local revenue toolkit, where they are responsible for 72.5 percent of all tax revenues. Most states have abandoned, or nearly so, any reliance on statewide property taxes, which now account for a mere 1.6 percent of state tax revenue nationwide, down from 52.6 percent in 1902.[4]
This category includes both commercial and residential real estate in addition to tangible personal property taxes levied on business equipment as well as select personal property like cars and boats. Real estate taxes are typically a source of local tax revenue, while personal property taxes may fund state or local governments, or both. States have been moving away from the taxation of personal property, but for now, many such taxes remain in place.[5]
Economists tend to favor taxes on real property and improvements (land and structures), as they conform reasonably well to the benefits test. They help to pay for services tied to property ownership—local road maintenance, law enforcement and emergency services, and the like—and the value of the property is a reasonable, if imperfect, proxy for the value of those services.[6] Many economists also favor property taxes over alternative forms of taxation, like income and sales taxes, because they have a relatively limited impact on economic growth and development.[7] Whereas capital is frequently mobile, and can be shifted to lower tax jurisdictions, real property is immovable. Thus, while its value is affected by taxation, it cannot be moved due to tax costs.
Tax jurisdictions levy property taxes in a variety of ways: some impose a rate or a millage—the amount of tax per thousand dollars of value—on the fair market value of the property, while others impose it on some percentage (the assessment ratio) of the market value, yielding an assessed value. Occasionally, valuations are made on income potential or other metrics.
Some states have equalization requirements, ensuring uniformity across the state. Sometimes caps limit the degree to which one's property taxes can rise in a given year, and sometimes rate adjustments are mandated after assessments to ensure uniformity or maintenance of revenues.[8] Abatements are often available to certain taxpayers, like veterans or senior citizens. Localities frequently offer abatements or other property tax incentives to select companies.[9] And of course, property tax rates are set by political subdivisions at a variety of levels: not only by cities and counties, but often also by school boards, fire departments, and utility commissions.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have no state property tax collections whatsoever, while local governments in all states include levies on property in their tax mix. Property taxes comprise more than 90 percent of local government tax collections in thirteen states, led by Maine at 98.8 percent of local revenue, and under half of local revenue in only three.[10] In New Hampshire, where property taxes are responsible for 16.8 percent of state and 98.7 percent of local tax collections, nearly two-thirds (66.1 percent) of all state and local tax revenue comes from property taxes. At the other end of the spectrum, only 11.5 percent of North Dakota's state and local collections are derived from property taxes.
The New England states rely the most heavily on property taxes (44.6 percent of state and local tax revenue), while the Southeast—where localities frequently turn to local option sales taxes as a significant source of revenue—has the lowest property tax reliance at 26.2 percent.[11]
Table 2. Property Taxes as a Percentage of State and Local Tax Collections by Region (FY 2014)
New England 8.5% 97.2% 44.6%
Mideast 0.7% 65.8% 31.0%
Great Lakes 1.8% 82.8% 32.5%
Plains 0.7% 76.8% 29.0%
Southeast 2.2% 66.4% 26.2%
Southwest 2.0% 63.3% 26.5%
Rocky Mountain 4.7% 80.3% 32.3%
Far West 3.2% 70.9% 27.5%
Sales taxes are a significant source of both state and local government tax revenue. While economists generally draw sharp delineations among general sales taxes, excise taxes, and gross receipts taxes, the U.S. Census Bureau does not distinguish between taxes levied on sales and those imposed on gross receipts. Due to these data limitations, this category includes both general sales taxes and certain gross receipts taxes, though excise taxes are considered separately.
General sales taxes are levied on goods and services generally (subject to a range of exemptions), while selective sales taxes, often called excise taxes, are special taxes or rates on the sale of particular goods or services.[12] They tend to be collected on motor fuels, alcoholic beverages, amusements, insurance, tobacco products, pari-mutuels, and public utilities. Finally, a few states impose, or permit localities to impose, gross receipts taxes. These are business taxes levied on the entire receipts of a firm without deductions for compensation, costs of goods sold, or other expenses. Gross receipts taxes tend to be disfavored by economists, because the taxes fall on all stages of production, yielding "tax pyramiding," whereby the same final transaction is exposed to taxes several times over. Imposed on gross income rather than net income (profit), such taxes also bear no relationship to a firm's ability to pay.[13]
Washington State derives the highest proportion of state and local tax revenues from sales and gross receipts taxes at 45.4 percent of collections, due to its Business & Occupation (B&O) gross receipts tax and the absence of an individual income tax. It is followed by Tennessee at 40.9 percent and South Dakota at 40.4 percent. All three states forego a tax on wage income, though Tennessee does tax interest and dividend income.[14] (That tax, called the Hall income tax, is currently being phased out.)[15] South Dakota and Washington also forego corporate income taxes.[16]
Sales taxes were responsible for 23.3 percent of state and local tax revenue in fiscal year 2014, and tend to feature more prominently in state than in local tax collections, yielding 31.4 percent of state and 12.1 percent of local tax revenue. Forty-five states impose state sales taxes, while local sales taxes are collected in 38 states, typically through local option but occasionally as mandatory local taxes administered by the state. Alaska is unique in foregoing a state sales tax but permitting local option sales taxes.[17]
States which choose not to impose an individual income tax tend to increase reliance on the sales tax, while the states without a sales tax are more likely to look to severance taxes or miscellaneous business taxes for an outsized share of revenue rather than leaning more heavily on income taxes. Six of the ten states with the highest reliance on sales taxes forego at least one major tax, often the income tax. Consumption taxes are less harmful to growth than income taxes because they do not fall on saving, investment, or future consumption.[18]
Local governments in three states—Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma—derive more than 40 percent of their tax revenue from sales taxes. At the state level, six states rely on sales taxes for more than half their tax revenue, led by Florida (which also foregoes an individual income tax) at 60.7 percent. Texas foregoes both individual and corporate income taxes, but does impose both a sales tax and the Margin Tax, a gross receipts tax. Of the 45 states with a state sales tax, Vermont has the lowest reliance at 12.0 percent.
The Southwest leans the most heavily on sales taxes, with 36.4 percent of revenue derived from these sources, while New England turns to sales taxes the least, at 12.5 percent reliance. Local option sales tax collections are a significant source of revenue in the Southwest and Southeast, but play a negligible role in New England's revenue picture.
Table 3. Sales Taxes as a Percentage of State and Local Tax Collections by Region (FY 2014)
New England 20.1% 0.4% 12.5%
Mideast 16.1% 6.2% 13.2%
Great Lakes 32.7% 3.5% 21.9%
Plains 34.3% 14.1% 25.9%
Southeast 34.0% 18.2% 28.0%
Southwest 42.7% 30.4% 36.4%
Rocky Mountain 24.5% 12.4% 20.7%
Far West 31.3% 11.3% 24.7%
Individual income taxes are the second largest source of state tax revenue, accounting for 35.9 percent of state tax collections in fiscal year 2014, but their modest role in local tax collections (4.8 percent) yields a 22.9 percent share of total state and local tax revenue.
Forty-three states tax individual income, including 41 which tax wage income. (Tennessee and New Hampshire only tax interest and dividend income.) At the local level, however, individual income taxes are significantly less common.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports individual income tax collections by local governments in fourteen states and the District of Columbia. Several other states can be argued to feature local income taxes or a near equivalent—for instance, several West Virginia municipalities impose wage taxes of $2 or $3 per week[19]—but this analysis is concerned only with those states where localities report individual income tax collections to the Census Bureau.
Of these, localities in three states and the District of Columbia rely on income taxes for more than 20 percent of their revenue, led by Maryland's local governments at 32.7 percent,[20] while municipal governments in six states with local income taxes generate less than 4 percent of their revenue that way. Most states do not permit localities to levy their own income taxes.
Oregon, which foregoes a sales tax, relies the most heavily on state individual income tax collections (68.7 percent), while among states which tax wage income, North Dakota has the lowest income tax reliance at 8.1 percent following cuts made while the state was flush with oil revenue.[21] Of states imposing all the major tax types, Virginia has the highest individual income tax reliance at 57.4 percent. Total combined state and local reliance in states that tax wage income ranges from 1.6 percent in North Dakota to 40.8 percent in Oregon.
Income taxes discourage growth more per unit of tax revenue than do consumption taxes because they discourage savings and labor force participation.[22] In 2014, states which forego an individual income tax saw a net gain of nearly 113,000 taxpayers and $17.9 billion in GDP inflow, while states which impose all major taxes experienced a net out-migration of 128,000 and an outflow of $12.8 billion.[23] Seven of the nine states that forego a wage income tax grew faster than the national average during the last Census period, and the other two experienced the fastest growth in their regions.[24] Traditional arguments in favor of individual income taxation tend to focus less on state product and more on progressivity and revenue diversification, though consumption taxes are less volatile than taxes on income.
The Mideast and Great Lakes states turn most strongly to individual income taxes, with combined state and local reliance of 28.2 and 24.5 percent respectively, while the Southwest, where income taxes are only responsible for 13.1 percent of revenue, looks to them the least. Regional variations are far more pronounced at the local level than they are at the state level, with all regions but the Southwest and Far West clustering between 30 and 35 percent state reliance.
Table 4. Individual Income Taxes as a Percentage of State and Local Tax Collections by Region (FY 2014)
Mideast 33.6% 15.8% 28.2%
Plains 30.5% 0.8% 18.9%
Southeast 30.9% 2.3% 20.2%
Southwest 20.2% 0.0% 13.1%
Rocky Mountain 34.1% 0.0% 20.9%
Far West 24.5% 0.0% 15.8%
Although they garner a good deal of attention, corporate income taxes contribute relatively little to state and local government coffers, and their revenue tends to be highly volatile. Corporate income taxes are responsible for a mere 3.7 percent of combined state and local tax collections, which consists of 5.4 percent of state revenue and 1.3 percent of local revenue.
Forty-five states tax corporate income. Of the five which forego a corporate income tax, all but one (Wyoming) imposes a gross receipts tax. New Hampshire has the highest reliance on corporate income taxation, at 23.7 percent, though this category includes not only the state's corporate income tax but also its unique value-added tax, which is essentially a consumption tax. Alaska follows at 12.1 percent, and state reliance is under 10 percent in all but four states.
Localities in seven states impose municipal corporate income taxes, led by New York, where corporate income taxes account for 7.5 percent of local revenue. New York is a significant outlier, both in that—alone among states—localities (chiefly New York City) rely more heavily on the corporate income tax than the state itself does, and in that no other state's localities lean on the corporate income tax for more than 3 percent of revenue.
Corporate income taxes are among the most economically disadvantageous revenue options, as they discourage the sort of activities which are most significant for growth, like investment in capital and productivity improvements.[25] States also tend to carve out their corporate income tax base with tax incentives, undermining tax neutrality and raising tax costs for unincentivized businesses.[26]
Corporate income taxes are the most prominent in the Mideast region, where they account for 5.3 percent of combined state and local collections, but they are responsible for the greatest share of state revenue in the New England states, where local governments do not have the power to impose corporate income taxes. The Southwest demonstrates the lowest reliance, at a combined 2.0 percent.
Table 5. Corporate Income Taxes as a Percentage of State and Local Tax Collections by Region (FY 2014)
New England 8.1% 0.0% 4.2%
Mideast 5.8% 2.7% 5.3%
Great Lakes 5.2% 0.3% 3.3%
Plains 4.3% 0.1% 2.8%
Southeast 5.4% 0.2% 3.5%
Southwest 3.1% 0.0% 2.0%
Rocky Mountain 4.4% 0.0% 2.7%
Far West 4.3% 0.2% 2.8%
Although income (corporate and individual), property, and sales (including some gross receipts) taxes are responsible for over 80 percent of state and local tax revenue, a wide variety of other taxes fill out the remainder. Excise taxes on motor fuel, tobacco, alcohol, and other products are responsible for about half of the 18.9 percent of state and local tax revenue not accounted for by individual income, corporate income, sales, and property taxes, and are levied (to varying degrees) in all states. Unlike a general sales tax, these "selective sales taxes," as they are sometimes called, discriminate among different kinds of transactions.
Some of the remaining sources of taxation, like severance taxes, can be highly significant sources of revenue for a select few states. In Alaska, for instance, 84.2 percent of state tax revenue (and 53.8 percent of combined state and local tax revenue) comes from other taxes, chiefly the state's Oil and Gas Production Tax. Other tax revenue sources, like motor vehicle license fees, business licenses, inheritance and estate taxes, recordation fees, and transfer taxes, have more modest revenue implications but are relied upon by states in varying degrees.
North Dakota and Alaska, both resource-intensive states, have the greatest reliance on other forms of taxation, at 57.1 and 53.8 percent respectively, and Delaware, which has an extensive business licensing apparatus, also comes in high at 47.7 percent. Massachusetts and New Jersey have the least reliance, at 12.2 and 12.1 percent respectively. Nationally, other taxes account for 25.7 percent of state tax revenue and 9.4 percent of local tax revenue. Regionally, the highest reliance is in the resource-intensive Far West, while the lowest reliance is found in New England.
Table 6. Other Taxes as a Percentage of State and Local Tax Collections by Region (FY 2014)
Competition in State Tax Structure
State tax structures vary widely. The highest-income states rely more heavily on property taxes, while the lowest-income states lean on sales and gross receipts taxes. This is significantly a product of the sales tax-heavy Southern states disproportionately falling in the bottom quintile while property tax-centric New England states can be found in the top quintile, though the effect persists even neglecting these states. Reliance on individual income taxes does not correlate strongly with a state's average household income.
Table 7. Reliance on Major Taxes Across High- and Low-Income States (FY 2014)
State's Quintile
Bottom Quintile 23.0% 44.3% 20.0% 3.6% 23.5%
Second Quintile 29.9% 38.1% 21.6% 2.7% 19.5%
Third Quintile 34.2% 36.9% 18.2% 2.4% 20.8%
Fourth Quintile 30.4% 29.0% 21.2% 3.9% 27.0%
Top Quintile 35.7% 29.1% 20.7% 4.0% 21.6%
Over the years, income taxes have gained ground as a source of state and local government tax collections, sales tax collections have mostly been flat, and property tax reliance has declined precipitously. Property taxes continue to be the predominant source of revenue for local governments, but they long ago lost their cachet at the state level. Until the 1920s, property taxes yielded over 80 percent of all state and local tax revenue; today, property taxes account for less than one-third of collections (see Table 7).
These shifts have economic consequences. Some states elect to forego certain taxes, often with the intent of spurring greater economic activity. Other states impose all the major taxes, frequently with the aim of diversifying their sources of revenue. Taxes differ on revenue stability, with corporate income taxes typically among the most volatile. They differ, too, in their distributional effects, with income taxes generally seen as more progressive than sales taxes. State and local governments must weigh competing policy goals in creating their tax structures, making important decisions about neutrality, equity, and economic implications.
Each state's tax mix encompasses both the legacies of the past and the ambitions of the present. But this means that each state's tax code also reflects a patchwork of choices made over many decades, often yielding an overall design which is a poor reflection of policymakers' purposes. It may be too much to ask states to adopt tax systems which look like someone designed them on purpose,[27] but a state's tax mix reflects its underlying policy assumptions, a mirror on the implicit aims the code has taken on over the years. Sometimes it pays to have a look in the mirror.
Table 8. Sources of State Tax Collection by State (FY 2014)
Note: Collections for the District of Columbia are included under local tax collections.
U.S. Avg. 1.6% 31.4% 35.9% 5.4% 25.7%
Ala. 3.5% 25.8% 34.5% 4.4% 31.8%
Alaska 3.8% 0.0% 0.0% 12.1% 84.2%
Ariz. 6.1% 47.1% 25.8% 4.3% 16.7%
Calif. 1.6% 27.0% 49.2% 6.4% 15.8%
Colo. 0.0% 22.3% 48.1% 6.1% 23.5%
Conn. 0.0% 25.0% 48.8% 3.9% 22.3%
Del. 0.0% 0.0% 32.8% 8.8% 58.5%
Fla. 0.0% 60.7% 0.0% 5.8% 33.5%
Ga. 4.2% 27.5% 48.1% 5.1% 15.1%
Hawaii 0.0% 46.8% 28.9% 2.1% 22.2%
Idaho 0.0% 37.4% 36.5% 5.2% 20.9%
Ill. 0.1% 21.3% 41.7% 11.1% 25.7%
Ind. 0.0% 41.6% 29.1% 5.1% 24.2%
Iowa 0.0% 32.1% 38.7% 4.7% 24.5%
Kans. 1.1% 40.7% 34.2% 4.5% 19.5%
Ky. 5.1% 28.2% 33.8% 6.1% 26.9%
La. 0.6% 30.2% 28.4% 5.0% 35.9%
Maine 0.9% 31.0% 36.8% 4.8% 26.6%
Md. 3.8% 22.2% 41.1% 5.2% 27.7%
Mass. 0.0% 21.9% 52.5% 8.7% 16.9%
Mich. 7.6% 34.7% 31.4% 3.5% 22.7%
Minn. 3.6% 23.2% 41.4% 5.7% 26.1%
Miss. 0.3% 43.6% 22.0% 6.9% 27.1%
Mo. 0.3% 29.2% 47.7% 3.2% 19.6%
Nebr. 0.0% 36.1% 43.5% 6.3% 14.2%
Nev. 3.6% 53.6% 0.0% 0.0% 42.8%
N.H. 16.8% 0.0% 4.1% 23.7% 55.4%
N.J. 0.0% 29.9% 40.3% 8.0% 21.7%
N.M. 1.8% 36.5% 22.5% 3.6% 35.6%
N.Y. 0.0% 16.5% 55.8% 6.3% 21.4%
N.C. 0.0% 24.9% 44.3% 5.8% 25.0%
N.D. 0.0% 21.6% 8.1% 4.1% 66.1%
Ohio 0.0% 37.8% 31.2% 0.0% 31.0%
Okla. 0.0% 28.6% 32.5% 4.4% 34.5%
Ore. 0.2% 0.0% 68.7% 5.1% 26.0%
Pa. 0.1% 27.8% 31.6% 6.7% 33.7%
R.I. 0.1% 30.9% 36.7% 4.0% 28.3%
S.C. 0.2% 37.7% 38.3% 3.7% 20.0%
S.D. 0.0% 56.9% 0.0% 1.5% 41.6%
Tenn. 0.0% 52.4% 2.0% 10.0% 35.6%
Tex. 0.0% 58.6% 0.0% 0.0% 41.4%
Utah 0.0% 28.9% 45.8% 4.9% 20.5%
Va. 0.2% 18.8% 57.4% 3.9% 19.7%
W.Va. 0.1% 22.7% 32.9% 3.8% 40.5%
Wis. 1.0% 28.3% 41.5% 6.0% 23.2%
Table 9. Sources of Local Tax Collection by State (FY 2014)
U.S. Avg. 72.5% 12.1% 4.8% 1.3% 9.4%
Ala. 41.9% 36.7% 1.9% 0.0% 19.5%
Alaska 83.5% 10.0% 0.0% 0.0% 6.4%
Ariz. 64.0% 28.6% 0.0% 0.0% 7.4%
Ark. 41.9% 47.3% 0.0% 0.0% 10.8%
Calif. 70.3% 15.2% 0.0% 0.0% 14.4%
Colo. 62.9% 29.4% 0.0% 0.0% 7.7%
Conn. 98.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.5%
Del. 81.7% 0.0% 5.9% 0.6% 11.8%
Fla. 76.7% 6.0% 0.0% 0.0% 17.3%
Ga. 65.9% 24.2% 0.0% 0.0% 9.9%
Hawaii 67.2% 10.6% 0.0% 0.0% 22.2%
Idaho 93.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 6.3%
Ill. 83.5% 5.0% 0.0% 0.0% 11.6%
Ind. 81.1% 0.0% 14.6% 0.0% 4.3%
Iowa 86.5% 5.5% 2.1% 0.0% 6.0%
Kans. 76.0% 17.1% 0.0% 0.0% 6.9%
Ky. 55.9% 0.0% 25.7% 3.0% 15.4%
La. 45.8% 47.8% 0.0% 0.0% 6.4%
Maine 98.8% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1%
Md. 56.3% 0.0% 32.7% 0.0% 11.0%
Mass. 95.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.3%
Mich. 91.9% 0.0% 3.7% 0.0% 4.4%
Minn. 91.1% 3.2% 0.0% 0.0% 5.7%
Miss. 93.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 6.5%
Mo. 59.0% 23.2% 3.4% 0.7% 13.7%
Mont. 96.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.4%
Nebr. 77.0% 8.1% 0.0% 0.0% 15.0%
Nev. 63.4% 9.5% 0.0% 0.0% 27.1%
N.H. 98.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.3%
N.J. 98.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.0%
N.M. 56.4% 37.7% 0.0% 0.0% 5.9%
N.Y. 57.2% 16.6% 11.6% 7.5% 7.1%
N.C. 75.4% 18.6% 0.0% 0.0% 6.0%
N.D. 75.7% 18.2% 0.0% 0.0% 6.1%
Ohio 64.1% 9.1% 21.1% 1.3% 4.4%
Okla. 51.1% 42.4% 0.0% 0.0% 6.5%
Ore. 80.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 18.1%
Pa. 68.9% 2.6% 18.5% 1.8% 8.2%
R.I. 97.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.3%
S.C. 78.5% 5.7% 0.0% 0.0% 15.8%
S.D. 72.4% 23.2% 0.0% 0.0% 4.4%
Tex. 81.7% 12.8% 0.0% 0.0% 5.5%
Utah 71.3% 17.1% 0.0% 0.0% 11.7%
Vt. 94.1% 2.2% 0.0% 0.0% 3.7%
Va. 75.3% 7.8% 0.0% 0.0% 16.8%
W.Va. 81.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 18.6%
Wis. 93.5% 3.5% 0.0% 0.0% 3.0%
Wyo. 77.1% 15.4% 0.0% 0.0% 7.5%
D.C. 0.0% 17.8% 0.0% 0.0% 82.2%
Table 10. Historical Sources of State and Local Tax Collections (U.S. average, select years)
Note: Due to historical data limitations, sales, excise, and gross receipts taxes are combined in this table. Excise taxes are classified as "other taxes" elsewhere in this paper.
Sales & Excise Taxes
1902 82.1% 3.3% 0.0% 0.0% 14.7%
1932 72.8% 12.2% 1.2% 1.3% 12.5%
1972 39.1% 34.2% 13.9% 4.0% 8.7%
Table 11. State Regional Classifications
New England Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.
Mideast D.C., Del., Md., N.J., N.Y., Pa.
Great Lakes Ill., Ind., Mich., Ohio, Wis.
Plains Iowa, Kans., Minn., Mo., N.D., Nebr., S.D.
Southeast Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.
Southwest Ariz., N.M., Okla., Tex.
Rocky Mountain Colo., Idaho, Mont., Utah, Wyo.
Alaska, Calif., Hawaii, Nev., Ore., Wash.
[1] 36 M.R.S.A. § 4303, imposed at a rate of 1.5 cents per pound of wild blueberries processed in the state or shipped out of state.
[2] Ala. Const., amend. 351, to be optionally levied at a rate of one mill, with revenues dedicated to the control of "mosquitoes, rodents and other vectors of public health and welfare significance." At 310,296 words, the Alabama State Constitution is 44 times longer than the U.S. Constitution.
[3] U.S. Census Bureau, State and Local Government Finances (FY 2014), https://www.census.gov/govs/local/; Tax Foundation calculations. All reliance statistics in this paper are Tax Foundation calculations from fiscal year 2014 Census data.
[4] The first year for which data are available. By 1922, property taxes had slipped to 36.7 percent of total state collections, and they accounted for less than 6 percent by the end of World War II.
[5] Joyce Errecart, Ed Gerish, & Scott Drenkard, "States Moving Away From Taxes on Tangible Personal Property," Tax Foundation Background Paper No. 63, Oct. 4, 2012, https://taxfoundation.org/states-moving-away-taxes-tangible-personal-property/.
[6] Joan Youngman, A Good Tax: Legal and Policy Issues for the Property Tax in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy) 2016, 13-15.
[7] Jens Arnold, Bert Brys, Christopher Heady, Åsa Johansson, Cyrille Schwellnus, & Laura Vartia, "Tax Policy For Economic Recovery and Growth," 121 Economic Journal F59-F80, 2011.
[8] Id., 91 et. seq. and 193 et seq.
[9] See generally, Tax Foundation, Location Matters: The State Tax Costs of Doing Business, 2015, https://taxfoundation.org/publications/location-matters/.
[10] Less than half of collections in the District of Columbia come from tax collections as well, but as the federal district, its tax revenues represent a hybrid of state and local taxation.
[11] Regional classifications of states follow the Bureau of Economic Activity's classification system. See Table 9.
[12] See, e.g., Thomas Stratmann & William Bruntrager, "Excise Taxes in the States," Mercatus Center Working Paper No. 11-27, June 2011, https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/ExciseTaxesintheStates.Stratmann.Bruntrager_0.pdf.
[13] See generally, Justin Ross, "Gross Receipts Taxes: Theory and Recent Evidence," Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 529, Oct. 6, 2016, https://taxfoundation.org/gross-receipts-taxes-theory-and-recent-evidence/.
[14] Morgan Scarboro, "State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets for 2017," Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 544, Mar. 9, 2017, https://taxfoundation.org/state-individual-income-tax-rates-brackets-2017/.
[15] Scott Drenkard, "Success! Tennesee to Phase out the Hall Tax," Tax Foundation Tax Policy Blog, Apr. 22, 2016, https://taxfoundation.org/success-tennessee-phase-out-hall-tax/.
[16] Morgan Scarboro, "State Corporate Income Tax Rates and Brackets for 2017," Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 542, Feb. 27, 2017, https://taxfoundation.org/state-corporate-income-tax-rates-brackets-2017/.
[17] Jared Walczak & Scott Drenkard, "State and Local Sales Tax Rates in 2017," Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 539, Jan. 31, 2017, https://taxfoundation.org/state-and-local-sales-tax-rates-in-2017/.
[18] William McBride, "What Is the Evidence on Taxes and Growth?" Tax Foundation Special Report No. 207, Dec. 18, 2012, https://taxfoundation.org/what-evidence-taxes-and-growth/, 4.
[19] Joseph Henchman & Jason Sapia, "Local Income Taxes: City- and County-Level Income and Wage Taxes Continue to Wane," Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 280, Aug. 31, 2011, https://taxfoundation.org/local-income-taxes-city-and-county-level-income-and-wage-taxes-continue-wane/.
[20] Localities in Kentucky generate 25.7 percent of their revenue from individual income taxes, and Ohio municipalities collect 21.2 percent that way. The District of Columbia's tax system, which includes many of the standard features of both state and local systems, derives 26.3 percent of its tax revenue from individual income taxation.
[21] Liz Malm, "North Dakota Cuts Income Taxes Again," Tax Foundation Tax Policy Blog, Apr. 27, 2015, https://taxfoundation.org/north-dakota-cuts-income-taxes-again/. The Census Data used in this paper capture reductions through fiscal year 2014.
[22] McBride, 4.
[23] Internal Revenue Service, "Migration Data 2014-2015," https://www.irs.gov/uac/soi-tax-stats-migration-data-2014-2015.
[24] Michael Barone, "Census: Fast Growth in States With No Income Tax," Real Clear Politics, Dec. 23, 2010, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/12/23/census_fast_growth_in_states_with_no_income_tax_108332.html.
[26] Jared Walczak, Scott Drenkard, & Joseph Henchman, 2017 State Business Tax Climate Index, https://taxfoundation.org/publications/state-business-tax-climate-index/, 26-27.
[27] Former Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon, qtd., Blueprints for Basic Tax Reform, Department of the Treasury, Jan. 17, 1977, https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/Documents/Report-Blueprints-1977.pdf, 2.
Banner image attribution: Wikipedia Commons, Lachlan Donald
Tax Data
Vice President of State Projects
Jared Walczak is Vice President of State Projects at the Tax Foundation. He previously served as legislative director to a member of the Senate of Virginia and as political director for a statewide campaign, and consulted on research and policy development for a number of candidates and elected officials. Read more.
Unpacking the State and Local Tax Toolkit: Sources of State and Local Tax Collections (FY 2020)
Federal Capital Gains Tax Collections, Historical Data (1954-2018)
How High Are State and Local Tax Collections in Your State?
How High Are Excise Tax Collections Where You Live?
How High Are Property Tax Collections Where You Live?
How Much Does Your State Collect in Corporate Income Taxes Per Capita?


I work in a very interesting open office environment. And you know what one of the benefits of this setup is? Nothing.
It sure keeps us quiet. If that's the idea, it works pretty well. We sit feet from each other and we stare into our "privacy-enhanced" dual monitors and we don't talk. Talking would be rude. And when the younger group of consultants, talks about 50 feet behind me, it IS annoying. This is a huge miss. We'd rather send an email than drop by and say hi. For consideration of our neighbors.
And the millennials are not much happier. Sure, they break out in song and dance every now and then to piss the rest of us off. But for the most part their joy is also muted by the observation of considerate silence.
I was walking around the building today and walking past a very clean and open cube farm. I once thought cube farms were the height of impersonal space. Today, I think a cube farm would be a major upgrade. When I visit my friends on the 5th floor, they've all got their own spaces. Their own walls to hang things. Their own extra chair for people to stop by and chat.
So what's the motivation behind the open office environment? Enforcement? Compliance? Space savings? What ever it is, the research shows the detrimental effects of being in an open environment. I've just mentioned a few.
What they've shown, more than carrots and sticks, workers prefer being given the opportunity to succeed on their own terms. Mastery seems to be its own reward. So if they put us in spaces that respected our human nature the wouldn't need a manager in a desk looking directly over everyone. It's demeaning. It's cruel. It fosters subversion and hiding in conference rooms.
Whatever the open office experiment was, it has failed just like the open classroom idea that came in vogue as I was entering 7th grade. No work got done. In middle school all we did was make eye contact with our friends and goof off. In the corporate environment the exact opposite occurs. We make zero eye contact, we rarely talk, and in the middle of a group of people we can feel more isolated than when we are alone.
I'm not going to change my company anytime soon. But I have to say, I'm really glad I only work with them as a consultant, part-time. If I were there 40+ hours a week, I'd bug out.
That's interesting! I know (from a soldier friend in the first wave) when we stormed into Iraq and took over their government offices the workers in place were kept and configured in an"American style" office set up with plenty of separate space. They literally could not function because they were used to working side by side literally touching shoulders. The change rendered them depressed, unproductive and useless so once we figured it out their desks were moved back together into close groupings and then they rejoined the workforce. Interesting how spacing affects us!


text:
Dave Urbanski
Green New Deal architect likens one climate change scenario to '25 Holocausts' — and gets hit with heated backlash
'These people are insane'
Image source: MSNBC video screenshot
Green New Deal architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright invoked the horrors of the Holocaust during an MSNBC interview about climate change, saying a temperature rise of half a degree would be akin to "25 Holocausts" in terms of death toll.
MSNBC host Ali Velshi prefaced his Thursday interview with Gunn-Wright with background on a brewing Democratic Nation Committee controversy that acknowledges the importance of climate change among voters — but that the DNC won't debate and highlight it as a single issue.
When he turned to Gunn-Wright to get her take on the matter, she said climate change "is the issue that's gonna define not only this generation but the foreseeable future" and affect other issues such as the economy and racial justice.
Velshi then asked for her argument that climate change deserved a "separate discussion" from other issues such as gun violence, health care, and immigration.
And that's when she invoked the Holocaust.
'25 Holocausts'
"So, in the issues that you just brought up, climate change is one of the main drivers of our public health. So, the difference between, say, 1.5 degrees of warming — which is the least that folks think that we can get — to 2, you're talking about 150 million deaths," Gunn-Wright replied. "That's 25 Holocausts, right? So how is that not a health issue? How is that not about health care, right?"
Velshi didn't ask follow-up questions on that claim — nor did he do so when Gunn-Wright said climate change will create "hundreds of millions of ... climate refugees" and that "people of color are dying daily from fossil fuel pollution."
"The fact is that we have to start thinking about the cost of inaction because they are mounting, and they are mounting quickly," she also said. "And everyone agrees that they are higher than what we can even estimate right now. And so you cannot talk about the cost of dealing with a problem if you don't talk about the cost of not dealing with that same problem."
How did folks react?
Upon getting an earful and eyeful of Gunn-Right's holocaust reference, a number of Twitter users turned up the heat:
"Surely this kind of obvious hyperbole will alienate more people than it convinces. Apparently it is OK for climate apocalypse crazies to use the word 'Holocaust.'"
"'That's 25 Holocausts, right?' No, it's not. Nor is it (insert # here) slavery deaths. Please young lady, learn proportion in the arguments you make."
"She and her ilk actually believe this stuff. They apparently really believe mankind can warm or cool the earth. Holocaust!!??? And they (lib/dem/progressives) want to be in charge!"
"These people are insane."
Here's the interview:
MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi 6/06/19 | Ali Velshi MSNBC News Today June 06, 2019 youtu.be
(H/T: Louder With Crowder)

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text:
Clifford May
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by Clifford May
http://www.cliffordmay.org/1911/side-show
Give Condoleezza Rice credit for candor. Testifying before the 9/11 Commission today, President Bush's national-security adviser acknowledged that the United States "simply was not on a war footing" at the time the terrorist atrocities of 9/11 were committed.
When should the U.S. government have taken the threat of radical, ideological Islamism seriously? Perhaps as far back as 1979, when our embassy in Tehran was seized by Iranian theocrats; perhaps as far back as 1983 when Hezbollah suicide terrorists slaughtered hundreds of U.S. Marines and diplomats in Beirut; certainly as far back as the attacks over Lockerbie, at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the USS Cole.
But that's not what happened. Instead, one American administration after another, Democratic and Republican alike, made gestures, sent signals, and mobilized lawyers armed with subpoenas. The terrorists and their masters could only have been amused. Yes, it would have been brilliant had President Bush entered the Oval Office, looked at this pattern and quickly concluded: "From this moment on, defeating terrorism and the ideologies driving terrorism should be seen as America's top priority. I want these networks rolled up ASAP. Use whatever means necessary."
Actually, President Bush came close to saying that. He asked for a policy review and a comprehensive strategy. But even had Dr. Rice — or counterterrorism "czar" Richard Clarke — come up with such a plan within 24 hours, President Bush could not have implemented it during his first eight months in office. The U.S. government simply did not have the means at its disposal. Consider:
The FBI's mission and culture stressed solving crimes, not preventing them.
The intelligence community didn't have good enough intelligence — which led, for example, to Clinton bombing a Sudanese aspirin factory a few years earlier, thinking it was a WMD factory.
The Pentagon didn't know much about terrorists — the Defense Department's manual on fighting "small wars" was written in 1940.
The Foreign Service hadn't prepared the ground — Pakistan was still cozy with the Taliban and would not have permitted the U.S. to mount acts of war from their territory. Key foreign-service officers were still supporting what they called "moderate" Taliban elements.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service was too hopeless a muddle to distinguish between tourists eager to see the Statue of Liberty and terrorists eager to mass murder infidels.
And Congress — Democrats, for sure, but also such Republican mandarins as Senators Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar — would have been apoplectic had President Bush attempted to take any of the measures necessary to root out the long-established weeds of terrorism. Imagine the uproar had Bush begun assassinating terrorist leaders around the world or preemptively invaded Afghanistan.
Instead, of course, as Condoleezza Rice made clear today, the new Bush administration did the reasonable thing, the responsible thing, the bipartisan thing: It maintained continuity. It sailed the course set by President Clinton, and it even used key members of the Clinton crew.
George Tenet was retained as director of Central Intelligence. Dick Clarke kept his job as White House terrorism adviser. Others who might have expected to receive pink slips were instead given a pat on the back and told to keep up the good work. A Democrat — Norman Mineta — was named secretary of transportation, the Cabinet position most responsible for airline safety.
President Roosevelt waited until after World War II to put in place a commission to investigate what mistakes led to Pearl Harbor. That was a wise move, but then Roosevelt did not face the kind of hyper-partisanship that plagues America these days. (Washington Post columnist David Broder recently pointed out that when FDR ran for reelection during World War II, he emphasized his record as a war leader. Broder might have added that FDR's Republican opponent, Thomas Dewey, declined to criticize the president in regard to foreign policy during a time of war. It's almost hard to believe that there was a time when Americans knew the difference between their foreign enemies and their political adversaries.)
Increasingly, it seems the 9/11 Commission is losing its way. Its mission is to learn lessons — not to lay blame. Its mission is to come up with recommendations for a more effective antiterrorism strategy.
Its mission is not to stage a reality-TV show, not to hold an inquisition, not to promote books (and, no doubt, movie deals), not to call scold Rice as though she were a student who claimed her dog had eaten her homework.
But that's what the public is seeing out here in TV-land.
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Lillington, N.C. — An inmate stabbed a female correctional officer Tuesday morning at Harnett Correctional Institution, authorities said.
Officer Mary Crosby was stabbed more than once, but the wounds were not considered life-threatening, according to Jerry Higgins, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
The assault occurred at about 10:50 a.m. in a housing unit of the medium-security prison in Lillington.


text:
Q: Timing of vectorised string operations in Pandas I'm getting 5x worse performance with the DataFrame str.replace wrapper than the inbuilt function. Does anyone know what's causing this?
df = pd.DataFrame({'word':['bird']*100000})
%timeit df.word.str.replace('bird','theword')
%timeit df.word.map(lambda x: x.replace('bird','theword'))
1 loops, best of 3: 266 ms per loop
10 loops, best of 3: 55.4 ms per loop

A: The reason is that str.replace will be able to handle NaNs, while the custom replace with lambda will error on that:
In [17]: df.iloc[0,0] = np.nan

In [18]: df.word.str.replace('bird','theword').head()
Out[18]:
0        NaN
1    theword
2    theword
3    theword
4    theword
Name: word, dtype: object

In [19]: df.word.map(lambda x: x.replace('bird','theword'))

AttributeError: 'float' object has no attribute 'replace'

Internally, str.replace also uses lambda x: x.replace(pat, repl, n) (if you are not using the case or flags keywords, as then it will use regex).

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text:
Q: Array vs. list data type? I know this has already been asked for Perl.
Does Raku make the same distinction between arrays and lists?

A: Let me just add that in Perl, a list an ephemeral thing; in Raku it's a regular type, and a comma-separated list of literals produces one:
$ raku -e 'say (1, 2, 3).^name'
List

Arrays also support the push, pop, shift, unshift and splice methods that Lists do not have.

A: TL;DR It makes a distinction, but not exactly the same one. In fact, it's very different in detail.
Informal "list" and "array" concepts
There's the general informal concept of a "list" (with a lowercase 'l') which is the notion of one thing, then another, then another.
There are variants of this general notion: lists of arguments (captures), lists of parameters (signatures), lists of values, etc.
At this informal level the words "list" and "array" are largely interchangeable though "list" tends to emphasize immutability, "array" mutability.
Formal types: Positional, Iterable, List, Array, Seq, etc.
More formally, listy things are typically types that "do"  listy roles. The two main listy roles are the Positional and Iterable.
There is a List (capital 'L') type which does the Positional and Iterable roles. There is also an Array type which is a sub-class of List. And there are native arrays which also do the Positional and Iterable roles but are arrays, not Arrays nor Lists:
my int @array;
say @array ~~ Array; # False
say @array ~~ array; # True

The behavioral differences between Lists and arrays (either Arrays or arrays) relate to mutability. A List can easily be constructed so that it is guaranteed immutable. In contrast an array can never be intrinsically guaranteed immutable (though of course code can be written to not mutate it after construction). More specifically:

*

*Adding or subtracting elements. A List's length cannot be changed after its construction. Methods such as .push will fail on a List. In contrast an array only has a fixed length if it's declared as having a fixed length at construction time.

*Assigning and/or binding to elements. A List element is never rebindable, and is only assignable if it's bound to an lvalue at construction time. In contrast an Array element is always rebindable (I'm ignoring the NYI ::=), and is only not assignable when it's bound to an immutable value.
There are several other important listy types, for example:

*

*A Seq is "An iterable, lazy sequence of values".

*A Capture is used for various purposes, most notably for containing argument lists and as the parent type of the regex/grammar Match class.
The "official" docs at doc.raku.org has a Lists, Sequences, and Arrays page that should be helpful.


text:
Faculty & Staff /
Shalini Bharat
Prof Shalini Bharat
Vice-Chancellor , Director
Centre for Health and Social Sciences , School of Health Systems Studies
M.A., D.Phil. (Psychology) Allahabad University
Dr. Shalini Bharat is Director / Vice-Chancellor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), and Professor in the Centre for Health and Social Sciences of School of Health Systems Studies, TISS.
She is the Programme Director, Saksham, the Global Fund-supported initiative which implements the TB-HIV Counselling programme in Mumbai in collaboration with the Mumbai District TB Control Society. Prior to this (October 2012 and September 2015), Prof. Bharat headed Saksham, a Global Fund Round-7 grant to TISS, as its National Programme Director.
Prof. Bharat's research has been funded by major national and international funding organisations including Ministry of Health, UNAIDS, National Institutes of Health USA, UNDP, World Bank, DFID, UNIFEM, Gates Foundation, Population Council, among others. In August 2002, she was invited to visit the US under the International Visitor Program of the American Center, State Department of the US Government in recognition of her HIV-related research and advocacy work.
Prof. Bharat has been organising capacity-building workshops for doctoral students and early career faculty on qualitative research methods and scientific writing, for the past several years as part of her Knowledge Network Project with the Population Council, and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
She serves on the Scientific Advisory Committees and Technical Review Groups of many national and international organisations and research studies including ICMR, NACO, NIRRH, NARI, MGM Institute, Alliance India, and Ethics review committees of FMR and TISS. She served as Member, Mission Steering Group of National Rural Health Mission, Government of India (2007-2013) and Member of the NHSRC (NRHM's technical group), Ministry of H&FW, GoI (2007-2012). She was a member of the Independent Review Group for review of national HIV/AIDS programme of Papua New Guinea from 2007 to 2012. Currently, she is Board Member of AIDS Alliance, India.
She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and is the author of the UNAIDS Best Practice Collection/ Key Material titled, "India: HIV and AIDS Related Discrimination, Stigma & Denial" and editor of the 'Family Measurement in India' from Sage. She is on the editorial board of the Journal Culture, Health & Sexuality.
Prof. Bharat joined TISS in September 1984 and was the first Dean of the restructured School of Health Systems Studies (March 2006 to August 2008). Prior to that she was Head of the Research Unit for Family Studies in TISS.
Health equity, access and gender (with focus on reproductive health, women's & adolescent health)
Migration and health-related vulnerabilities
Social and structural drivers of the HIV epidemic and HIV prevention research
HIV-related stigma, discrimination and human rights
Family in the context of social development and change
Demographic transition of minority communities
Ethics and health research
Qualitative and mixed-methods research methodology
2019. Bharat, S., and Sethi, G. (co-eds.). Health and wellbeing of India's young people. New Delhi: Springer.
2017. Desai, A.S., and Bharat, S. (Series co-editors). Parsis of India: Continuing at the Crossroads, Volumes I-IV. New Delhi: Sage
2017. Bharat, S., and Desai, A.S. (Co-Editors). The Indian Parsis: Themes Old and New. Volume 1. New Delhi: Sage
2017. Bharat, S. Contemporary Parsis: Marriage, Family and Community. Volume 2. New Delhi: Sage.
1996. Bharat, S. (Ed.)- Family measurement in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
2014. Bharat, S., & Chakrapani, V. Research compendium: HIV Related Stigma Research in India: Current knowledge, gaps and recommendations. New Delhi: UNDP
2014. Chakrapani, V & Bharat, S. Getting to Zero? A national survey on HIV Related Stigma and Discrimination in urban India. New Delhi: UNDP
2001. Bharat, S. & P. Aggleton. India: HIV and AIDS-related Discrimination, Stigmatisation and Denial. UNAIDS Best Practice Collection, Key Material, Geneva: UNAIDS. (World wide release by UNAIDS, Executive Director, P. Piot at the Durban Conference against Racism, 2001).
Journal Special Issue (Ed./Co-ed.)
2013. (April) - HIV Counseling – Empirical evidence from the field. Indian Journal of Social Work, Special Issue (co-editor). Edited with Shubhada Maitra and Anjula Srivastava, 74(2), 151-320. Mumbai: TISS (published in Feb 2014)
1998. "AIDS in Asia and the Pacific" 2nd Edition, Special Issue for the Journal AIDS. 12(B), Associate Editor with J. Kaldor, T. Brown and R. Chan. London: Lippincott-Raven, Pub.
Journal Articles/Book chapters (only select publications since 2007-).
2018. Ekstrand, M.L. Bharat, S., and Srinivasan, K. HIV stigma is a barrier to achieving 90-90-90 in India. The Lancet, Vol. 5, October 2018.
2018. Chauhan, S., Unisa, S., Joshi, B., Kulkarni, R., Singh, A., Subramaniam, T., Chaudhuri, R.N., Biashya, A.C., Bharat, S., Patil, A., Pasi, A., Agarwal, D. Capacity assessment of district health system in India on services for prevention and management of infertility. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 43(1), 19-23.
2017. Sharma, V., Suryawanshi, D., Saggurti, N., Bharat, S. Correlates of health care utilization under targeted interventions: The case of female sex workers in Andhra Pradesh, India. Health Care for women International, DoI: 10. 1080/07399332.2017.1361423,38(11), 1188-1201.
2017. Bharat, S., and Desai, A.S. Introduction. In Bharat, S., and Desai, A.S. (co-ed.). The Indian Parsis: Themes Old and New. Volume 1, pp. 1-20. New Delhi: Sage
2017. Bharat, S. Lowest-low fertility (LLF) and the Parsis: Commonalities and differences with other LLF countries. In Bharat, S., and Desai, A.S. (ed.). The Indian Parsis: Themes Old and New. Volume 1, Pp. 58-84. New Delhi: Sage
2016. Suryawanshi, D., Patel SK, Sharma V, Adhikary R, Bharat S (2016) Association between Community Collectivization and Mental Depression among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Andhra Pradesh, India. Health Care Current Reviews 4: 176. doi: 10.4172/2375-4273.1000176
2016. Garrido-Hernansaiz, H., Heylen, E., Bharat, S., Ramakrishna, J., & Ekstrand, M. Stigmas, symptom severity and perceived social support predict quality of life for PLHIV in urban Indian context. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 14, 152, doi: 10.1186/s12955-016-0556-x, November 2016
2016. Suryawanshi, D., Patel S.K., Adhikary, S., and Bharat, S. Does mass-media public communication campaign normalise discussion, behaviour and attitude about condom use among married men in India? Journal of AIDS & Clinical Research, 7, 599. doi: 10.4172/2155-6113.1000599, July 2016
2016. Bandewar, S V., Bharat, S., Kongelf, A., Pisal H., Collumbien, M. Considering risk contexts in explaining the paradoxical HIV increase among female sex workers in Mumbai and Thane, India. BMC Public Health, DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-2737-2. Published on 28 Jan 2016. 1-9.
2015. Suryawanshi, D., Sharma, V., Saggurti, N., & Bharat, S. Factors associated with the likelihood of further movement among mobile female sex workers in India: A multinomial logit approach. Journal of Bio-Social Science, doi:10.1017/S0021932015000267
2015. Chakrapani, V., Newman, P.A., Shanmugham, M., Mengie, S., Verghese, V., Nelson, R., Bharat, S. Acceptability of HIV pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and implementation challenges among MSM in India: A qualitative investigation. AIDS Patient Care & STDs, 29(10), 1-9.
2015. Behera, D., Bharat, S., Gawde, N.C. Induced abortion practices in an urban Indian slum: Exploring reasons, pathways and experiences. Journal of Family & Reproductive Health, 9(3), 129-135.
2015. Sinha A., Chandhiok N., Sahay, S., Deb, S., Bharat, S., Gupta, A., et al. Male circumcision for HIV/AIDS in India: Emerging viewpoints and practices of health care providers. AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV. DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2015.1039957
2015. Kongelf, A; Bandewar, S.V.S; Bharat, S., & Collumbien, M. Is scale-up of community mobilisation among sex workers really possible in complex urban environments? The case of Mumbai, India. PLoS One. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121014, March 26, 2015 (open access journal).
2015. Sharma,V., Saggurti, N., & Bharat S. Health care coverage among long distance truck drivers in India: An evaluation based on Tanahashi model. HIV/AIDS Research & Palliative Care (open access journal), 83-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/HIV.S76416.
2015. Sharma,V., Saggurti, N., & Bharat S. Association between system reach and exposure to interventions and characteristics of mobile female sex workers in four high HIV prevalence states of India. Global Journal of Health Science, 7(4), 83-95
2014. Deshpande, S., & Bharat, S. Sexual partner mixing and differentials in consistent condom use among men who have sex with men in Maharashtra, India. Global Public Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2014.972968. 6 Nov 2014
2014. Bharat, S., Ramakrishna, J., Heylen, E., & Ekstrand, M.L. Gender- based attitudes, HIV misconceptions and feelings towards marginalised groups are associated with stigmatisation in Mumbai, India. Journal of Biosocial Science. 10.1017S0021932014000054, 14 Feb 2014
2014. Suryawanshi, D., Mahapatra, B.B., Sharma, V., Anil Kumar, K., Saggurti, N., & Bharat, S. Degree of male mobility as a risk factor for HIV in high In-migration districts of Maharashtra, India. World Journal of AIDS, 2014, 4, 346-355
2014. Sahay S., Nagarajan, K., Mehendale, S., Deb S., Gupta A., Bharat, S., Bhatt, S., Kumar, A.B., Kanthe, V., Sinha, A., & Chnadhiok, N. Community and healthcare providers' perspectives on male circumcision: A multi-centric qualitative study in India. PLoS ONE 9(3):e91213.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091213
2013. Bharat, S., Mahapatra, B.B., Roy, S., & Saggurti, N. (2013). Are female sex workers able to negotiate condom use with male clients? The case of mobile FSWs in four high prevalence states of India. Plos One, 8(6), e68043
2013. Malave, S., Ramakrishna, J., Heylen, E., Bharat, S., & Ekstrand, M.L. Differences in testing, stigma and perceived consequences of stigmatisation among heterosexual men and women living with HIV in Bengaluru, India. AIDS Care. DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2013.819409 (July 2013, 1-9)
Saksham Pravaah – A Global Fund supported Psychosocial counseling intervention for DR TB patients in 4 Indian states (Sub-recipient of Central TB Division, MoH & FW)
Saksham Jan Urja – A Tata Power supported community intervention project for TB prevention and control in M Ward
January, 2012. Understanding the increase in HIV prevalence among FSWs between two rounds of IBBA in Mumbai & Thane: An in-depth exploration. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Completed (with LSHTM, London and others)
September 2012. Access and Utilization of Services for Prevention and Management of Infertility in the Public Health Care Delivery System in India: A multisite study. Co-PI with National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai and others. Funded by UNFPA. Completed.
August, 2011. HIV Related Stigma Research in India: A Research Compendium. UNDP. Completed
August, 2010. Impact assessment of HIV prevention response in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With LSHTM, London & NARI, India. Completed.
July, 2010. Knowledge Network Project for HIV Prevention Programmatic Learnings. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (With Population Council, New Delhi).
2009. Community and the health providers' perspectives on male controlled biological option in India (with focus on male circumcision in the context of HIC prevention): An ICMR task force study. (WITH NARI, India-Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi). Completed.
2009 AIDS stigma, gender and health consequences in India. National Institutes of Health (NIH), US (A collaborative project with University of California at San Francisco, US and National Institute of Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India).
2009 Demographic transition among the Parsi community of India: A study of the familial, marital and socio-psychological dimensions Part II: A Quantitative study. UNESCO/ PARZOR (Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust).
2008 Migration, mobility and HIV: Assessing the patterns and drivers of migration/ mobility of male migrants and examining the links with HIV risk. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Population Council, New Delhi (in collaboration with other TISS faculty)
2007 Demographic transition among the Parsi community of India: A study of the familial, marital and socio-psychological dimensions Part I: A qualitative study. UNESCO/ PARZOR (Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust).
Qualitative Research Methodology (Master's students of Hospital Administration and Public Health (Health Administration; Social Epidemiology; and Health Policy, Planning and Management)
Public Health Ethics & Legislation (MPH) (co-teacher)
Qualitative Research Methodology (M.Phil.)
Health Research Ethics (M.Phil.)
Email: sbharat[at]tiss[dot]edu
sbharat@tiss.edu
director@tiss.edu
Tel (O) 91-22-25525202
Fax 91-22-25525050


A collection of links that have caught the eye of Compose's Technical Content Curator over the past week. This week, MongoDB 3.2 for real, the MongoDB BI Connector's secret, InfluxDB becomes InfluxData, RethinkDB does Java, HTTP status codes, NASA APIs, Nethack and fractal gears.
MongoDB 3.2 – After a bit of a false start or two, MongoDB Inc have released a GA version of MongoDB 3.2. Well done MongoDB Inc, though the line between open source and pay-for Enterprise is as fuzzy as ever. In brief, pay-for items include both the in-memory and encrypted storage engines, the Compass schema and validation explorer and the BI Connector while the community version has the $lookup aggregation operator and document validators.
BI Connector – Talking about the BI Connector, members of the PostgreSQL community have been amused by the discovery that the MongoDB BI Connector is actually, under the covers, PostgreSQL with a foreign data wrapper connecting it to MongoDB. Kudos to MongoDB Inc for discovering that combining different databases can be rather powerful; it's something we've been talking about and practicing at Compose for a while now.
InfluxDB - InfluxDB, the company, has changed its name to InfluxData and is repositioning itself as a company which does the entire time-series stack, not just the database. It's also introduced InfluxDB 0.9.6 with more updates to their own TSM storage engine (but online backups and migration tools are still to come). And if you're expecting a 1.0.0 next, don't - next stop is 0.10.0 at the end of January. They are also busy at work on Kapacitor, Chronograf and Telegraf - the alerting/processing, dashboarding and ingestion components of what they call the TICK stack.
HTTP Status - We all know the 404, page not found, but for many developers which HTTP status to return when something goes wrong is a bit of a mystery or a mesh of folklore. Michaek Kropat at Racksburg sets out to help with his Choosing an HTTP Status Code – Stop Making It Hard which explains how to choose, why you may not care and what you should care about..
NASA APIs – From the APOD (Astronomy Photo Of the Day) to earth imagery, from near earth asteroids to Mars Rover photos, NASA has a lot of APIs to enable developers to dig into their data and if that's the kind of stuff you'd like to dig into, you'll want to start at NASA APIs where you can get your API Key and get going.
NetHack 3.6.0 – Back after a ten year hiatus, a new release of the classic NetHack has been announced. More importantly, there's new team members, a new developer infrastructure and a commitment to automated fuzz testing the game to find those odd infuriating crashes.
Gears – @liabru has created the delicious Fractal Gears webtoy which generates geometric arrangements of fractal gears to whirr around in your browser. You may have to make your own whirring noise.


Boldly-hued, braided strands of fine leather are offset by a sterling silver clasp.
The perfect gift for the sophisticated business man. Dolan Bullock's sleek oval-shaped cuff links feature a unique checkered design in sterling silver. Approximate length: 1-7/8 inches. Approximate width: 5/8 inch.


English: habitational name, probably from Waldridge in County Durham (probably named with Old English wall 'wall' + hrycg 'ridge'). However, in the British Isles, the surname is most common in Suffolk; it may be that another place similarly named, but lost, is the origin.
Where is the Waldridge family from?
You can see how Waldridge families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Waldridge family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Waldridge families were found in the USA in 1880. In 1840 there was 1 Waldridge family living in Kentucky. This was about 33% of all the recorded Waldridge's in the USA. Kentucky and 2 other states had the highest population of Waldridge families in 1840.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Waldridge surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
What did your Waldridge ancestors do for a living?
In 1880, a less common occupation for the Waldridge family was Furniture Dealer. Farmer, Keeping House and Farm Laborer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Waldridge. The most common Waldridge occupation in the USA was Farmer. 36% of Waldridge's were Farmers.
Census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your Waldridge ancestors, such as occupation. Occupation can tell you about your ancestor's social and economic status.
What Waldridge family records will you find?
There are 3,000 census records available for the last name Waldridge. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Waldridge census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.
There are 642 immigration records available for the last name Waldridge. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.
There are 1,000 military records available for the last name Waldridge. For the veterans among your Waldridge ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.
You've only scratched the surface of Waldridge family history.
What is the average Waldridge lifespan?
Between 1957 and 2004, in the United States, Waldridge life expectancy was at its lowest point in 2003, and highest in 1963. The average life expectancy for Waldridge in 1957 was 55, and 72 in 2004.
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Waldridge ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.


text:
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
Magia Record: Madoka Magica Gaiden Anime Drops First Trailer, Poster
By Megan Peters - September 8, 2019 03:10 pm EDT
Magia Record new anime PV. Airs January 2020 pic.twitter.com/hsyZxjcNKa
— SPY 💫 (@Spytrue) September 8, 2019
It has been more than eight years since fans met the world of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The critically beloved series made its TV debut in 2011 to universal praise, and fans have been asking for more ever since. Now, it seems the team at Studio Shaft is here to deliver on the goods.
After all, a trailer has gone live for the next Madoka Magica anime, and it looks impressive to say the least.
As you can see above, the first clip of Madoka Magica Gaiden: Magia Record has been released. The colorful reel follows a slew of all-new characters as they are taken on a dark journey. And of course, this would not be Madoka Magica without a bit of interference from Kyubey like before.
【第二弾キービジュアル公開!】
PVとともに、第二弾キービジュアルも公開です!! pic.twitter.com/kVSipvFHHn
— マギアレコード公式 (@magireco) September 8, 2019
For those unaware of this new series, Magia Record was created several years back as a mobile game set in the Madoka Magica universe. The story follows a young girl named Iroha Tamaki who agrees to become a magical girl in order to cure her younger sister's illness. When the young girl went missing, Iroha headed to Kamihama City to find her sister, and that is where she meets Kyubey.
The game also follows some familiar faces such as Madoka Kaname. The heroine was the lead of Madoka Magica, and this new series sees the girl arrive in Kamihama City after her partner Homura Akemi suddenly disappears. These characters, along with a few others, unite to uncover a larger mystery that has taken over the city after Kyubey arrived.
A poster was also shared for the anime which fans can see above. Clearly, Magia Record will be just as dark as its predecessor, and fans are eager to see what the anime has in store. The show is slated to debut in January 2020, so fans can look forward to the series' return then.
Are you excited to check out this next phase of Madoka Magica? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Puella Magi Madoka Magica was originally produced as a joint effort between Studio Shaft and Aniplex. Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi, the series follows middle school students named Madoka and Sayaka who happen upon a mysterious creature named Kyubey. It tells them that they can have any wish they want granted in exchange for imbuing them with magical powers meant to fight witches. The series is especially known by fans for twisting common conceptions of the magical girl genre and generally being a dark series contrasting with its art design.
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Business Morning - Get breaking news alerts from around the world
Bitcoin miners sell their holdings amid crypto winter's chill
Return of the superjumbo: A380 makes comeback despite high oil prices
Companies slow hiring as economy sputters
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a lot to celebrate
By Tina Shaw On Jun 30, 2022
WASHINGTON (AP) — Last week, as he marked his 74th birthday, Clarence Thomas achieved two long-sought goals: expanding gun rights and overturning Roe v. Wade 's nationwide protection for abortion.
If he was ready to take a victory lap, Thomas didn't let on. Instead, he called on his colleagues to do more, to revisit the Supreme Court's cases acknowledging rights to same-sex marriage, gay sex and contraception.
After 30 years on the court, Thomas' influence has never been greater, and yet he remains a lightning rod for controversy. That includes recent questions about his wife's role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his decision not to recuse himself from cases that involved it. Thomas has said nothing in response to the criticism, and he could still serve another decade or more, racking up additional victories with a court that has become more conservative.
"If you serve long enough sometimes things go your way eventually," said Ohio Northern University professor Scott Gerber, the author of a book on Thomas. Gerber said that at this point there are people who have moved through the conservative legal movement, studying conservatives like Thomas and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who have now joined Thomas on the court. "They've learned from him and agree," he said.
Thomas is now the senior member of a group of conservative justices with the votes to control the court, not only what cases the court takes on but how broadly it rules. That's a change for Thomas, whose views were for years seen as far out of the mainstream.
"He's always been known as not taking quite the same approach," said George Mason University law professor Jennifer Mascott, who worked for Thomas as a law clerk. But in the guns case, she said: "Everybody joined with him, his approach."
Ralph Rossum, who has also written a book about Thomas, said the justice once compared himself to a marathon runner who has to take the long view. Now, as time has gone on and more conservative justices have joined the court, Thomas is, in a sense, running "faster and faster" and "lengthening his stride," Rossum said.
Thomas declined an interview request from The Associated Press.
On top of the criticism Thomas has faced over the years for his views, he and his wife, conservative activist Virginia Thomas, have faced criticism recently for their actions following former President Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 election. Among other things, Virginia Thomas exchanged messages with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows encouraging him to work to overturn President Joe Biden's victory and urged Republican lawmakers in Arizona, where Biden won, to choose their own slate of electors. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol has asked her for an interview.
As for the justice, there has been criticism that because of his wife's actions he should have recused himself from a case involving the committee's access to presidential documents and lawsuits challenging the election results, challenges the court turned away. Democrats in Congress wrote in a letter that his participation is "exceedingly difficult to reconcile with federal ethics requirements."
In recent days, following the abortion decision, thousands signed a petition saying he should no longer be allowed to teach a class at George Washington University's law school. The university rejected that idea.
More personally, after a draft of the abortion decision leaked, there were protests at his house and the homes of other conservative justices. In an appearance after the leak Thomas drew a contrast between liberals and conservatives in unusual us-versus-them terms. "You would never visit Supreme Court justices' houses when things didn't go our way. We didn't throw temper tantrums," Thomas said.
What many Americans know about Thomas stems largely from his bruising 1991 confirmation hearing, when he was accused of sexual harassment charges by former employee Anita Hill — charges he denied. He wrote a bestselling book in 2007 but for years — partly because he chose not to ask questions during arguments at the court and partly because he is a self-described introvert — Thomas spoke largely through his opinions. Not infrequently, because his views were so conservative compared with the rest of the court, he wrote opinions that spoke only for himself.
That has changed. The court has grown more conservative over the last several years during Trump's administration, particularly after the death of the liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replacement in 2020 by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Conservatives now have a six-justice majority and can lose the vote of Chief Justice John Roberts, who is sometimes less willing to issue sweeping rulings, and still have a majority.
Thomas has also become more vocal in general over the past two years. When the court began hearing arguments by telephone because of the pandemic and changed the arguments' format so justices asked questions one by one, Thomas joined in. He continued asking questions when the justices returned to their courtroom last fall, his colleagues deferring to him for the first questions.
Thomas' influence has been felt in other ways, too. Many of the men and women Thomas mentored as law clerks held political appointments in the Trump administration. That includes John Eastman, the conservative lawyer who aided Trump's efforts to undo the 2020 election results. Ten other former law clerks are now federal judges who hold lifetime appointments. Their ranks include Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, the federal judge in Florida who in April struck down the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit.
Thomas is 74. Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring this year, just before his 84th birthday. Ginsburg served until her death at 87. In 2028, Thomas would surpass Justice William O. Douglas as the longest-serving justice ever.
Gerber, the Ohio professor, said Thomas has always said that becoming a justice is a lifetime job.
Said Gerber: "It's like Queen Elizabeth. She's been in power 70 years and she's going to stay until she's carried out in a box. That's his view also."
Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
Tina Shaw 4094 posts 0 comments
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text:
Letters: Trump should apologize for shutting down government
Free Press readers: Trump got the deal the deal he originally rejected and why a wall won't work
Letters: Trump should apologize for shutting down government Free Press readers: Trump got the deal the deal he originally rejected and why a wall won't work Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/readers/2019/01/26/letters-trump-should-apologize-government-shutdown/2675312002/
Free Press readers Published 7:30 a.m. ET Jan. 26, 2019 | Updated 3:27 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2019
A woman displays her thoughts, written out on a disposable plate, during the 'Occupy Hart' protest against the partial government shutdown sponsored by American Federation of Government Employees at the Hart Senate Office Building at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 23, 2019. (Photo: Erik S. Lesser, EPA-EFE)
In the end, President Donald Trump agreed to essentially the same deal he rejected last December. All the pain that federal workers and their families have been forced to endure by this senseless, selfish act by the president, was all for nothing.
We are right back where we were before Trump shut the government down to try to force the democrats to help him fulfill a promise to his base.
More: When will federal workers get paid? Reopening the government not as easy as flipping a light switch
More: Government shutdown to end. Here's what to know about the deal and what comes next
The Democrats repeatedly told Trump to reopen the government. Then they would be willing to negotiate sensible border security. Finally, his falling poll numbers and the log jams at major airports, caused him to cave to the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi has taught Trump another lesson. Hopefully, he will learn that he just can't do what he wants. Now he must deal with a Democratic Congress and their savvy leader, who is not afraid of him and who knows how Washington works.
Trump's wall doesn't make sense, and the majority of the American people don't want it. Trump owes the American people an apology for his childish act.
Earnest L. Robinson Jr.
Wall is expensive short-term solution
A border wall may work well at stopping people from illegally entering the country when it is first built.
But these people are desperate and have a huge incentive to figure out how to defeat it. Once someone is able to do so, and it probably won't take long, lots of desperate immigrants will soon follow that lead, and the wall will no longer fulfill its intended purpose.
Unlike high tech solutions that can evolve as the immigrants learn and change, a wall by its very nature is fixed. It literally is a concrete idea. A permanent wall is a temporary solution that is expensive to build, makes changing approaches more difficult and expensive, and the expense of tearing it down will be huge.
Jon Kabbe
We can do better than a wall
I believe most U.S. citizens think that the immigration policies in our county are flawed and that immigrants coming here illegally and people from other countries seeking asylum are very real issues that demand our government's immediate attention.
Legal entry to the United States and citizenship for worthy immigrants who uphold the values of our nation are the end goal. In a recent to the editor today, a writer reported that in 2018, Customs and Border Patrol agents seized 2,400 pounds of the drug fentanyl.
Yes, increased funding will be used to help curb the flow of illegal goods over our borders. But illegal drugs are usually seized at legal ports of entry in sophisticated smuggling attempts. Border Patrol has found old tunnels from Mexico to the U.S. that have been used for illegal smuggling.
Democratic leaders are resisting spending billions of taxpayer dollars on an archaic border wall at a time where we have technologies that are more effective, less costly, don't require the seizure of land owned by U.S. citizens along our borders, will not mar the natural landscape of the Southwest and will not affect migration patterns of many wild animals.
Saying no to funding the border wall is not saying yes to illegal immigration. It is asking for our leaders to start working with experts in technology, law enforcement, military, geology and the like to develop advanced methods of tracking on our unsecured borders and policies for dealing with immigrants who enter illegally when they are located. We can do so much better than a wall.
Rhonda Wendell
Editor's note: the city of residence for Rhonda Wendell has been corrected.
Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/readers/2019/01/26/letters-trump-should-apologize-government-shutdown/2675312002/
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Appeal from the 57th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 98-CI-06295. Honorable Michael Peden, Judge Presiding.
Sitting: Phil Hardberger, Chief Justice, Alma L. López, Justice, Karen Angelini, Justice.
This is an accelerated appeal of an interlocutory order denying Dr. Adkins's motion for summary judgment on the grounds of official immunity. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we affirm the order of the trial court.
Christina Furey, an operating room technician at the time of the incident in question, was assisting Dr. Adkins with a cesarean delivery. After closing the incision, Furey alleges, Dr. Adkins pressed the surgical staple gun to Furey's shoulder and shot a staple into her arm. The gun was unsterile, the staple penetrated her skin and tissue and had to be removed with a Kelly clamp.
The incident occurred at Medical Center Hospital, n/k/a University Hospital. Furey was employed by the Bexar County Hospital District. At the time, Dr. Adkins was a second-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) and the issue arose as to whether Dr. Adkins, in performing the cesarean procedure, did so as an employee of UTHSC, which is a state entity, or as an employee of the Bexar County Hospital District (the District).
The Fureys initially sued Adkins and UTHSC for his intentional and negligent conduct. Judge Peeples granted UTHSC's motion for summary judgment on grounds of sovereign immunity. The judgment in favor of UTHSC was severed and assigned a new cause number. Adkins filed a motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' remaining claims against him on the grounds of official immunity. In response, the Fureys filed their second amended original petition alleging that Adkins was employed by the District and that his actions were outside the course and scope of his employment. Adkins responded by filing additional evidence attached to his second amended motion for summary judgment. Judge Peden heard argument and denied the motion. This interlocutory appeal ensued. Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code § 51.014(a)(5).
 Appellees objected to appellant's reliance on the original and first amended pleadings because a second amended original petition was on file, thus, earlier versions had ceased to have any legal effect.
When reviewing a ruling on a motion for summary judgment, we are cognizant of the fact that the movant has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, the evidence favorable to the nonmovant will be taken as true, every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the nonmovant, and any doubts must be resolved in favor of the nonmovant. See American Tobacco Co. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex. 1997) (citing Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex. 1985). A defendant is entitled to summary judgment if he conclusively establishes all of the elements of an affirmative defense. Cathey v. Booth, 900 S.W.2d 339, 341 (Tex. 1995).
To conclude that Adkins is entitled to summary judgment under the sovereign immunity umbrella requires affirmative responses to three questions: (1) Whether Dr. Adkins was an employee of UTHSC? (2) If so, whether his actions fall within the course and scope of his duties? and (3) Whether § 101.106 of the tort claims act applies to an employee that commits an assault?
Appellant admits that the District served as his paymaster but that UTHSC had control over him. Under the Texas Tort Claims Act, "employee" is defined as: a person, including an officer or agent, who is in the paid service of a governmental unit by competent authority, but does not include an independent contractor, or a person who performs tasks the details of which the governmental unit does not have the legal right to control.
Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code § 101.001(2). Adkins relies on Rodriguez v. Department of Health and Mental Retardation, 942 S.W.2d 53, 56 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1997, no writ) for the proposition that to be subject to liability under the tort claims act, the alleged employee must be under the control and direction of the alleged employer. This does not resolve the issue, however, as the statutory definition would seem to require control and paid employment to invoke the Tort Claims Act's waiver of immunity.
A Graduate Medical Training Agreement governs the medial training and employment in question. It is signed by Dr. Adkins, John A. Guest as president and chief executive officer of the District, and by a Dr. Forland on behalf of James J. Young, Ph.D., Dean of the Medical School for UTHSC. The agreement provides that the District does not have a legal right to control the medical resident's tasks performed at the District's hospital. However, the agreement also provides that the District pays the resident an annual stipend and provides such employee benefits as leave time, insurance, workers' compensation, and parking privileges. The agreement also requires the resident to become familiar with and abide by the House Staff Manual, the bylaws of the medical-dental staff, and the policies, rules and regulations of the District.
Jack Park, an attorney who has been employed by UTHSC for nearly 30 years, is the Executive Director for Legal Affairs and Technology Licensing at UTHSC. On the issue of control, his sworn affidavit stated that according to the agreement and as a matter of implementation and practice, the University of Texas Health Science Center controls the details of the work preformed by the House Staff Physicians, like Dr. William Bradford Adkins. The UTHSC recruits, sponsors, trains and makes the decisions as to whether the House Staff Physicians remain in the program. Schedules, rotations, and the details of the practice of medicine are made under the direction of faculty. . . . The Bexar County Hospital District does not assume any right to control the tasks of the House Staff Physicians under the Graduate Medical Training Agreement.
In response to the motion for summary judgment, appellees attached a deposition excerpt wherein Park stated that every physician who has University Hospital privileges and who, therefore, might be in a position to exercise some control over a medical resident, was also a faculty member of the Health Science Center. There are no non-faculty doctors, or outside doctors, at the Hospital. All physicians in private practice who have been granted privileges at University Hospital have been granted nonpaid faculty status. Nevertheless, Park admitted, all physicians, including medical residents like Dr. Adkins, were under some control of the Hospital District. He opined that providing benefits of worker's compensation insurance and withholding federal taxes also demonstrated evidence of employment by the District. In fact, UTHSC provided worker's compensation benefits to all employees except the House Staff Physicians or medical residents. Further, Park was not aware of any UTHSC documents that list Adkins as its employee and he sent a letter to opposing counsel stating that "the incident referred to in your letter does not involve any University employee nor did it occur in any facility owned or operated by the University."
Dr. John A. Guest, president and chief executive officer for the District, testified in deposition that the department heads at UTHSC direct the training activities of the residents, including the medical care to be given, and that none of these activities are controlled by the District. He also stated that the District does assume the right to control activities of residents "to the extent they may engage in behavior that would be outside our rules and regulations, yes." Such conduct was also regulated by UTHSC. He also understood that the resident doctor "is working for both organizations." They are "being funded by the Bexar County Hospital District. They are under the supervision of the Health Science Center. . . . And the control of the Health Science Center." He also stated that liability coverage is provided by UTHSC and funding is provided by the District. They work under the faculty of the medical school.
In deposition excerpts provided by appellees, Guest testified: "I'm not sure that I see any specific language [in the agreement] as to who the house staff physician works for." "I didn't say anything about his employment. I said as a graduate trainee, he would be under [UTHSC] supervision. . . . I don't know whether he's an employee of the UT Health Science Center." We find that Adkins did not conclusively establish that he was an employee of UTHSC. In Lipsett v. University of Puerto Rico, 864 F.2d 881, 887 (1st Cir. 1988), the court found that those particular medical residents are employees of the hospital districts and students of the medical school. We think the issue in this case is one to be resolved by the jury.
On the issue of course and scope of employment, Park stated in his affidavit that on the day of the incident, Adkins, "while in the operating room performing a cesarean surgery, was performing his duties and tasks" under the agreement. Park also testified in deposition that shooting someone with a staple gun would not be in furtherance of the employer's business or an accomplishment of the objective for which the employee was employed. Dr. Guest agreed, "shooting a staple gun at someone is outside the scope of Adkins's employment and in violation of policies, rules, and regulations under the agreement." This is clearly another issue for the jury to decide .
In his motion for summary judgment, Adkins asserts that UTHSC obtained its favorable judgment on the grounds that it was exempt from liability for the intentional torts of its employees under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Tex. Civ. Prac. Rem. Code § 101.057(2) (tort claims act does not apply to claim "arising out of assault . . . or any other intentional tort"). He further asserts that, as an employee of UTHSC, the tort claims act bars an action against the employee when the governmental unit has participated in a judgment or settlement involving the same subject matter. See id. at § 101.106.3 However, Adkins has not established that he was an employee of UTHSC. We do not think that his employment, for purposes of immunity, could be established on the basis of an allegation in the plaintiffs' previous pleadings when UTHSC denied Adkins was its employee. This is particularly true in light of the letter responding to a request for discovery dated September 19, 1994, wherein Jack Park stated "the incident referred to in your letter does not involve any University employee." Bell v. Love, a school discipline case, is distinguishable because the employment of the individual defendants was not in question. Moreover, that case focused on whether the claims were brought under the Tort Claims Act as specifically alleged in live pleadings. See Bell v. Love, 923 S.W.2d 229, 131 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th. Dist.] 1996, no writ). The first summary judgment granted in this case established that the Act was not invoked by the intentional conduct of Dr. Adkins. UTHSC based its motion for summary judgment on Dr. Adkins's deposition testimony that his conduct was intentional.
Appellant's point of error is overruled and the trial court's order denying summary judgment is affirmed.


From front left are Ed Man, former PA Fire Commissioner; Joann Herring, President, Ladies Auxiliary; and Joe "Blackie" Kufrovich, former Fire Chief. From back left are George Halcovage, Scuylkill County Commissioner; Fred Holman, trustee; Robert Talko, Years of Service Award; Joe Oliva, Fire Chief; Ronald Malafarina, Fireman of Year Award; Matt Morgan, Captain; and Charles Smulligan, former Fire Chief.
Ryan Township Fire & Rescue in Barnesville celebrated 75 years during an anniversary banquet held Saturday evening at the fire station.
The fire company was established in 1940 after Ryan Township seen an increasing need for fire protection. At that time, township supervisors purchased a 1921 Stutz 750gpm chemical pumper from Phoenixville Fire Company. It was refurbished by Hahn in Hamburg and housed in the Park Crest garage while the station was being built.
Joseph Wyatt chaired the charter committee. 45 members originally signed, but 90 were considered charter members.
The property for the first garage (now the location of the Ryan Township Ambulance) was obtained for $110 from the American Legion.
In June 1951, two used Hahn trucks were purchased from Schuylkill Haven Rainbow Company for $2,750.
During Saturday's banquet, chief engineer Ronald Malafarina was awarded with the 2015 Fireman of the Year Award and Robert Taiko was awarded the Years of Service Award.
Guest speakers included Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage, Ryan Township Supervisor Dave Morgan, former fire commissioner Ed Mann, and former fire chiefs Charlie Smulligan and Joe "Blackie" Kufrovich.
Providing the blessings were Reverend Janet Kline, Reverend Hafer, and Father Joseph Whalen.
The event was followed by a comedy act and music.
Trustee and assistant engineer Mike Price headed the committee for the celebration.