May 09, 2011 82Nd Legislaturevolume 14
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May 09, 2011 Volume 14 82nd Legislature INSIDE THIS ISSUE 82nd Legislative Session Update GOVERNOR – Last Tuesday, Governor Rick Perry criticized the Obama Administration for its denial of the state’s April 16th request for a federal Major Disaster Declaration to assist with the ongoing wildfire season, which has burned more than 2.2 million acres. Since the wildfire season began in November 2010, Texas has responded to more than 9,000 fires across the state that have destroyed or damaged more than 400 homes. Governor Perry said, “I am dismayed that this administration has denied Texans the much needed assistance they deserve. It is not only the obligation of the federal government, but its responsibility under law to help its citizens in times of emergency. Our state has become a model for the nation in disaster preparedness and response, but Texas is reaching its capacity to respond to these emergencies. We will immediately look at all of our options, including appealing the denial so Texans can receive the resources and support they need as wildfires continue to threaten life and property across our state.” Rachel Racusen, a FEMA spokesperson, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent 25 local fire management assistance grants to help fight fires. She said, “FEMA has been in close contact with the state since the fires occurred, and based on the information provided, it was determined that there was not a need for additional support at this time. Over the past few months, FEMA has awarded over 20 fire management grants to the state which cover 75% of Texas’ costs for emergency response work, such as evacuations, equipment, field camps and meals for firefighters, police barricading and traffic control.” On Friday, Governor Perry received recommendations from the Task Force on Unfunded Mandates, which he appointed in February to identify burdensome, unfunded mandates that have been passed down from the state to local governments. The governor’s office will review the report and work with lawmakers and state agencies to determine which recommendations should be implemented. Comprised of nine local government officials from across the state, the task force identified mandates in areas including education, public safety, transportation, jails, public health, retirement systems, human resources, public information, state judiciary, environmental regulation, licensing and elections. Governor Perry said, “I sincerely thank the members of this task force for their time and efforts, and I look forward to reviewing the task force’s recommendations. Texas must remain vigilant in the effort to streamline government operations and ensure the most prudent use of taxpayer dollars.” The task force recommended: Public Education – Provide student-teacher ratio flexibility; repeal expenditure restrictions on compensatory education funds; provide block grants for public education instead of telling school districts exactly what they must spend for each type of student and how to spend it; and require a periodic sunset review of the Texas Education Code. Public Safety – Provide flexibility for purchase of firefighting equipment; align firefighting statutes and rules to ensure clear, consistent standards; provide flexibility to ensure basic water supply in emergencies; and county elected representatives should govern county employee compensation. Transportation – Allow local governments to retain proceeds from red light cameras; and allow county governments to recover a higher portion of overweight vehicle costs or repeal the mandate that Texas Department of Transportation overweight permits apply to county roads and state roads. Jails – Align state and county jail standards; shorten duration a county jail must hold inmates; reimburse counties for holding parole violators or allow them to be sent to state facilities; and reimburse counties for housing defendants found incompetent to stand trial or send them to state facilities; and provide staff-offender ratio flexibility for juvenile detention facilities. Public Health – Extend from seven to 30 days the reporting time for public health incidents related to sexually transmitted diseases; and allow local governments to regulate public swimming pools. Retirement Systems – Allow greater flexibility on interest rates and benefit structures; and repeal county employee health insurance mandate. Human Resources – Eliminate mandates for local government health insurance plans; repeal mandated longevity pay for sheriff deputies in counties with a population greater than 150,000; repeal disability compensation mandate; repeal work hours mandate in counties with populations greater than 1 million; repeal Harris County liability insurance mandate and sheriff records mandate; repeal civil service system election mandate; repeal personnel and payroll records mandate; and repeal state health insurance mandate for community supervision employees. Public Information – Allow full cost recovery for public information requests; and change records management rules to guidelines. Judiciary – Repeal indigent defense in child protective services cases mandate, or require state reimbursement; repeal appointed counsel mandate or require state reimbursement; repeal professional services payment mandate; require state payment for administrative judicial regions; repeal longevity pay requirement for probate judges; victims assistance coordinators should be paid by counties who are allowed to utilize money from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund; allow courts to recoup administrative costs of collecting state fees; allow counties to cap their expenditures for visiting judges; repeal court reporter salary increase mandate; repeal county collections program mandate; and repeal the supplemental judicial pay mandate. Licensing – Allow local (rather than state) licensing inspection and maintenance of boilers, refrigeration units, elevators and escalators that they own; and exempt licensure and inspection of government-owned vehicles. Elections – Extend delivery time for voter registration certificates. Miscellaneous – Repeal county auditor budget mandate; repeal county historical commission mandate; and repeal mechanic lien notice mandate. Bills passed both houses and sent to the governor this session: 72 Bills sent to the governor this week: 29 SENATE – Last Monday, the Texas Senate marked the news of the death of Osama bin Laden with a moving speech by Senator Brian Birdwell (R- Granbury), a retired Army Lt. Colonel, who was at the Pentagon when it was struck by one of the hijacked planes on September 11th. He was wounded in the attack and has endured a long recovery with many surgeries to repair the physical damage he suffered. Senator Birdwell remembered his colleagues at the Pentagon who were killed in the attack. He went on to say that the death of bin Laden sends a strong message to those who still wish to do harm to America. He said, “The question isn’t whether we as a nation are making our enemies mad. The question is - what are we doing to make sure that our enemies learn never to make us mad. Last night’s operation answered that question.” Last Monday, the Senate debated HB 15 by Representative Sid Miller (R- Stephenville) and Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) which requires the performance of a sonogram before an abortion. Senator Patrick said, “This is a landmark day in Texas for a woman’s right to know. This bill will restore the physician-patient relationship and provide a high level of informed consent in all abortion facilities. This bill ensures that women will be better informed and have more time to consider their decision after receiving all the facts. I believe this bill will result in the saving of over 10,000 future Texans every year.” It received final approval in the Senate on Tuesday. The House concurred in Senate amendments on Friday and it is on its way to the governor’s desk. Also last week, the Senate passed HB 1555 by Representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) which allows a school district to add locally funded additional days of instruction prior to the uniform school start date. The Senate sponsor, Senator Ellis explained that the bill is an effort to continue the reforms launched by the Houston ISD to improve academic achievement. Last year, HISD established the Apollo 20 initiative, a ground breaking program in partnership with Harvard’s Education Innovation Laboratory to help turn failing schools around by adding additional days at the front of the school year to provide students additional time to prepare for AP and state exams. Last Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) made an attempt to bring up HB 1, the general appropriations bill, but the two- thirds rule to bring it up failed to suspend on a 19-12 party-line vote. Earlier in the day Senator Ogden had indicated that he would take out a provision in the bill reported out of the Senate Finance Committee that would have allowed $3 billion from the Rainy Day fund to be used if necessary to fund the budget. When it became obvious that Senate leadership was going to use the regular order of business rule on Wednesday (since Wednesday is a House bill day and HB 1 was at the top of the calendar) rather than the traditional two-thirds rule to bring up the appropriations bill, Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) said, “One of the Texas Senate’s most important traditions became one of the first victims of this budget. The quick and casual discarding of the Senate’s two-thirds rule is symbolic of this budget’s problems and processes. For years, the legislature has balanced the budget with a toxic mix of debt, diversions, and deception. Those bad habits will become even worse under this budget. It’s ironic and unfortunate that his bad budget will pass in such a way. The Senate rule and process exist to create consensus and care in the Senate’s business. But the proposed budget has neither of those things. And by discarding this tradition on such an important and devastating bill, Texans are losing twice.” Senator Ogden defended the action saying, “We were not sent down here to preserve the two-thirds rule.