Rice experts available to discuss Texas Legislature end-of-session developments

EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Rice experts available to discuss Texas Legislature end-of-session developments

HOUSTON – (May 21, 2013) – With the Texas Legislature 2013 session about to end May 27, a range of Rice University experts are available to comment on the issues at play.

Politics and policy behind the budget bill negotiations:

• Mark Jones, chair of political science at Rice University and a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
• Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science and a fellow in urban politics at the Baker Institute.
• John Diamond, the Baker Institute’s Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance and an adjunct professor of economics.

Proposed $4 billion budget boost for K-12 schools:

• Linda McSpadden McNeil, director of Rice’s Center for Education and a professor of education.

Issues surrounding the Medicaid expansion in Texas debate:

• Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics and a professor of economics.
• Elena Marks, Baker Institute scholar in health policy.

Rice University and the Baker Institute have radio and television studios available for media who want to schedule an interview with these experts. For more information, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.