A group of Texas lawmakers announced a snapshot of where the state is headed on issues like healthcare, environmental quality and education.
It’s called Texas on the Brink, which is a collection of statistics on the State of Texas. Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, is the chairman of the group.
"Everything is bigger in Texas, including the number of uninsured residents. Texas ranks first in the number of residents that are uninsured, but Gallup just released a survey that they did and we’ve actually moved in a direction that shows it’s not getting better - it’’s getting worse," Coleman said.
Coleman said in 2012 the number of uninsured Texans hovered at over 28 percent. Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, Texas ranks number one in carbon dioxide emissions for environmental quality.
"Texas gets an 'F' on the environmental issues, but what that really means that it gets an 'F' on healthcare. Not just because we don’t insure our kids, but because we create an environment that is unhealthy for our kids and every other person that breaths the air in this state," Burnam said.
Burnam also pointed out that the state is number one in the amount of hazardous waste generated and is also number one in the nation for the number of executions.
The Legislative Study Group compiles the Texas on the Brink report each legislative session to show where the state ranks among the nation on various issues.
