Austin American-Statesman Letters to the Editor: Dec. 18, 2022

The Supreme Court failed to account

for health and well-being of the people

Re: Dec. 11 commentary, "Training doctors amid Texas abortion ban requires creativity, travel."

First thing in the morning with my Statesman and coffee, I go to the Metro and State section and read Bridget Grumet’s column.

You can always count on Bridget to ask the hard questions while striving to find those inescapable hard answers.

Another catastrophe in turning the country upside down with the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court — especially disastrous for public health and, particularly, for those in residency programs available in OB-GYN.

The court failed to take into account the overall future health and welfare of its citizenry when this decision was made. It also failed to understand the ongoing, enormous scar it made upon our daily lives, particularly for those who are in the pursuit of providing good medical care, anchored to the Hippocratic Oath, with a mandate to save our lives.

Bess Mitchell, Austin

Restore this tax credit as a tool

to help fight childhood poverty

Congress has a term to describe at-risk areas overseas: fragile states.

There’s more we can do as a country to help families and children flourish across the land. The child tax credit is that far-reaching vehicle. The credit usually comes at tax time as a refund but in 2021, thanks to the pandemic, the IRS sent qualifying families monthly checks instead of a lump sum at tax time. That money helped put food on the table and pay monthly bills like rent and utilities. This method almost halved the childhood poverty rate in our country.

Yet, that monthly method ended in January and the rate of childhood poverty surged again in an era of rising costs.

Sens. Cornyn and Cruz, as constituents we're waving a red flag for this important and necessary approach because fragile states exist in our own communities.

Cathy White and Susan Lamb, Cedar Park and Austin

Blaming pedestrian actions misses

the broader cause of traffic fatalities

Re: Dec. 10 article, "Austin pedestrians at highest risk as traffic deaths hit near-record levels this year."

Walking in Austin is often harrowing, but pedestrians wearing dark clothing and crossing against traffic signals did not cause the broader fatality crisis.

The article doesn’t mention the dramatic increase in the number of large trucks and SUVs on our roads over the past 40 years. Crashes involving these vehicles are more likely to result in death. And large roads encourage speeding. High speeds kill.

Placing the onus on potential victims by asking pedestrians to carry a light means that we don’t need to consider how to make streets safer for everyone not protected by a two-ton steel cage.

Our solutions must address root causes by reducing vehicle weight and enforcing speed limits. Unfortunately, the current Texas Legislature is not likely to support the necessary large-vehicle taxes and red-light cameras, so pedestrians will be left carrying a light and hoping for the best for some time.

Alex Karner, Associate Professor of Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas, Austin

Resurgence of antisemitism and hate

can be traced to the former president

Now, when I leave synagogue, I take off my Star of David necklace. I do not wear it in public. I am afraid.

Antisemitism is on the rise in the U.S. Hatred is on the rise.

I feel this hatred was prompted by a man who once held the highest office in the United States. Stand up against hatred.

Lanie Tobin Hill, Austin

There's a better and cheaper way to run

elections and it's ranked choice voting

Re: Dec. 12 editorial, "Austin voters want to end runoffs. So, why is there one Tuesday for mayor, council seats?"

Rep. Goodwin and Austinites are right. There’s a better way to run elections. Ranked Choice Voting for Texas supports House Bill 259 allowing the use of ranked choice voting in nonpartisan local elections and other ranked choice voting bills.

Why is ranked choice voting a better alternative to our current two-round runoff system (majority voting)? Because ranked choice voting campaigning is issue-focused to attract second- or third-choice votes and is less negative; more candidates compete without fear of splitting the vote among similar candidates; taxpayers save money; and in special elections to fill a vacated seat, constituents go unrepresented for less time because a later runoff is eliminated.

It is high time for the Texas legislature to recognize ranked choice voting as a legitimate way to avoid low-turnout, high-cost runoff elections. Call your state senator and representative to let them know there is a better way to hold elections – the ranked choice voting way.

Joanne Richards, Ranked Choice Voting for Texas Vice Chair, Austin

With its budget surplus, Texas should add

to the Employees Retirement System fund

Editor's note: A letter to the editor published Dec. 11 contained errors made in the editing. The corrected letter is presented here:   

Re: Dec. 2 article, "4 things to know about Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's plans for the Texas Legislature in 2023."

With such a surplus, the State of Texas could/should fully fund or at least make an extra contribution to the state's Employees Retirement System fund.

The Teacher’s Retirement fund received an infusion a while back and actually each retiree got a 13th check, but there has been no commitment that the State of Texas would make an infusion to the ERS out of this excess.

We retirees have not had a significant raise in many years and it is time for the state to step up prioritize this fund.  After all, those state employees were historically paid less than the private sector with our future retirement income being the carrot for many of us to remain in state employment. With the rise in cost of everything, those pensions and/or Social Security don’t go near far enough to meet our senior needs. Take us off the back burner and help us now.

Kay Holliday, Round Rock

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin American-Statesman Letters to the Editor: Dec. 18, 2022