Population of Texas 2014
Based on the total number of births, total number of deaths, net migration rate in the state, and the population of 2013, the current population of Texas is estimated to be about 26,623,655, which makes up about 8.28% of the country’s total population. As a result, Texas is the second-most populous state in the country, behind California, but ahead of New York. At the end of 2013, the population of Texas was estimated to be about 26,448,193. Thus, since the start of 2014, the population has grown by 175,462 or by a growth rate of 0.66%. The 2010 Census indicated that the population was 25,145,561. So, since the census, the population has grown by 1,478,094 or 5.88% of the 2010 population count. On average, over the course of the last four years, the population has grown by 369,524 people every year. Based on the total population and the total land area, the population density of Texas is estimated to be about 38.24 people per square kilometer or 99.13 people per square mile.
Government of Texas 2014
The Constitution of Texas was implemented and adopted in 1876 and is considered to be a unitary democratic government. The Constitution establishes the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The executive branch is a plural executive system, which means that, other than the Secretary of State, the officers are elected by the public and thus answer to the public, not the Governor. The main positions in the executive branch are the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. The current Governor is Rick Perry and he has the power to veto bills and call the legislature into special sessions.
The Texas legislature is bicameral, made up of the 150-member House of Representatives and the 31-member Senate. The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives, while the Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate. The legislature has the ability to create and pass laws, subject to veto power of the Governor. The Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals head the judicial branch, which is considered to be one of the most complex systems in the country. The voters of Texas elect the justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. Lastly, the voters have consistently voted for the Republican presidential candidate over the course of the last thirty years.
Language in Texas 2014
The most commonly used or spoken dialect in Texas is Texan English, which is a dialect in Southern American English. In 2010, 65.8% of Texans, of ages five years or older, speak only English. 29.2% of Texans speak Spanish and 0.75% of Texans speak Vietnamese. Some of the languages spoken other than English are Chinese, German, and Tagalog. Also, about 34.2% of the population speaks a language other than English.
Education in Texas 2014
The Texas Education Agency is the supervising body over the public school system and the charter school system. There are over 1,000 public school districts throughout the state, and all but one are independent of their respective municipal governments. StudentsFirst is an organization that evaluates the performance and productivity of education systems throughout the country. On a 4.0 scale, Texas received a 1.23 Grade Point Average and is ranked 31st out of the 50 states. They note that, while there have been attempts to create a much more student-centered environment in the schools, there is still much more room to improve. One major criticism of the education system is the lack of annual evaluations of the teachers to ensure that he or she is doing their jobs correctly and efficiently. However, this is one of the parts of the system that the state has been improving. They also indicate that the schools should expand the high-performing charter schools and empower the students much more. They gave a failing grade to the ability of the school system to empower the parents. They also stated that there should be a greater effort to restore and recover low-performing schools and districts. Lastly, about 69% of the population has a basic or below basic reading level and 62% of the population has basic or below basic mathematical abilities.
Health Care in Texas 2014
According to the Commonwealth Fund, Texas has the third worst health care system in the country. As of 2012, 28.8% of the population did not have health insurance, and out of the total 28.8% uninsured, 17% are uninsured children. One of the main reasons for the high level of uninsured people is due to the high level of immigration that exists in the state due to its proximity to the Mexican border. The major reason that people do not purchase health insurance is due to the rising high costs to obtain health insurance. In 2007, the average family premium for health care was just over $12,000 per year. The vicious cycle continues because the cost of health care plans increase due to the high level of uninsured residents that use the emergency rooms for any medical reasoning, which in turn causes the prices of premiums to rise. Another issue with the health care system is that there is a high shortage of nurses in the state. It is predicted that by 2020, the state will be short by about 71,000 nurses what it would efficiently need to run its medical system. There seem to be a shortage of nursing programs to properly educate nursing students in the state. Lastly, out of the total supply of hospitals, about 44.8% are for-profit institutions, 29.6% are non-profit institutions, and 25.6% are public institutions.
Texas Population Growth Compared to California
Economy of Texas 2014
In 2010, the Gross State Product of Texas was recorded to be about $1.207 trillion, which made it the second-highest GSP in the nation. However, it is also proves to be of the same size as India and Canada, which rank 12th and 11th in national economic rankings. Due to the discovery of oil in the state at Spindletop, the petroleum industry has been one of the largest industries in the state. It is recorded to have about 5 billion barrels in its deposits throughout the state, which totals about 25% of the total deposits in the country. Texas prefers to abide by a system with low taxes and low services. It is one of the few states in the country without a state income tax. However, they do charge property and sales taxes of 6.25%. Texas has consistently been ranked the most business-friendly state in the nation according to Site Selection Magazine. In 2010, the state had the second-largest population of millionaires in the state. Lastly, as of 2013, the unemployment rate of Texas was 6.4% of the total workforce.
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