LETTERS: Thoughts on editorial cartoons, nursing homes and sacred bonds

Fake nursing news

A recent letter from Douglas Herridge made the claim that pending legislation could result in a new tax on nursing-home residents. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is an example of fake facts that could wind up hurting real senior Texans if left unrefuted.

SB 1130/HB 2766 will allow nursing-home owners to use their own money to draw down additional federal dollars for Texas nursing homes. It won't cost nursing-home residents a penny. It also wouldn't increase state spending. The legislation expressly prohibits nursing homes from passing on the allowance to their patients either directly or indirectly.

It's needed because the state hasn't met the cost of care for a Medicaid resident for the past two decades. When additional federal dollars are returned, nursing homes would have the opportunity to earn additional reimbursement if they meet certain quality metrics that enhance care.

I hope fake facts like that cited don't end up hurting the very people this bill is trying to help.

Maureen Collins, LNFA, The Brazos of Waco

Breaking the trust

There are some relationships where the nuances matter more, where understanding creates boldness, where exceptions apply and where conflicting goals are weighed and leveraged. Might I add the relationships of law enforcement-to-victim and law enforcement-to-community to the time-honored relationships of mother and child, husband and wife, doctor and patient and teacher and student?

Might I suggest, too, that if the relationships of law enforcement and victim and the relationship of law enforcement to the immigrant community is changed through sanctuary city legislation, any essential trust could well be eroded and organized criminal gangs may fill the enforcement void thus created? This should not be allowed to happen. Law enforcement needs the relationship tools and flexibility that their training and vetting of character allows and demands.

Making law enforcement the criminals in order to enforce a political party's agenda is unconscionable and a detriment to the goals of effective law enforcement and to the goals of a viable community. Such will bring us closer to a rigid system of laws where our best human attributes of trust, collaboration and good judgment are ignored.

Joyce Nobis, Waco

Perfect as a picture

Ray Perryman's April 28 Trib column was apparently intended to inform Texans of the tourism revenue our state could lose regarding the "bathroom bill" being considered by the Texas Legislature. However, the cartoon associated with that column was worth a thousand words. If legislators don't stick to their guns on this one, that guy could be in the ladies' restroom. Thank you for helping me get a clearer picture.

Kaye Speed, Waco