Texas Agencies Participate in Disaster Simulation

On February 19-20, Texas state, local and federal agencies will participate in Unified Defense '04 (UD-04), a national exercise conducted by the United States Northern Command. UD-04 involves a series of simulated natural disasters and simulated terrorist attacks taking place in Texas and other U.S. locales. The purpose of the exercise is to assess the communications, coordination and response abilities of and across various entities and levels of government in the event of a large-scale crisis.

UD-04 will involve more than 50 federal, state and local organizations primarily in Texas, Alaska, Colorado, Virginia and the Washington D.C. area. This exercise will also incorporate a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) exercise in a scenario that will pose aerospace defense challenges to exercise participants.

School Finance Committee Meets, Hears Recommendations for School Finance Reform

The House Select Committee on Public Education met Wednesday, February 18, 2004 and heard presentations from Jon Fleming and Tom Burnett of the Texas E-learning Initiative, the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education, and a panel focused on certain constitutional finance issues.

The Texas E-learning Initiative presentation revolved around recommendations to bring the concept of technology immersion to the classroom. Irving ISD, Pleasanton ISD, and North-Hopkins ISD were cited as examples of schools that have provided their students with wireless laptop computers, and presenters discussed the cost benefits and learning gains that those school districts are experiencing as a result.

Professors Caroline Hoxby, Harvard University; Eric Hanushek, Stanford University and Paul Peterson, Harvard University, presented the Koret Task Force's report. They made recommendations for guiding principles of a school finance system, which involved the following measures: financial incentives for teachers coupled with a restructuring of employment contracts, bringing vouchers to low performing urban school districts, restructuring funding for special needs students, improving the charter school process, changing certain elements related to electing members to local school boards, revising state reading tests, and deregulating the textbook selection process.

Chairman Grusendorf indicated that these proposals would be considered during an upcoming special legislative session on school finance. While no official announcement has been made about the special session, most seem to think it will be called on March 29th.

East Austin May Receive $2 Million in Federal Funds

Hoping to spur investment in the burgeoning neighborhood, the federal government has earmarked $2 million for improvements along East Seventh Street on Austin's east side. The funds, which are part of a pending transportation bill, will support the addition of lighting, tree-lined boulevards, and sidewalks along East Seventh. The federal funds will complement local efforts to speed economic development and job creation in the area.

House Committee Meets to discuss Homeland Security

The Committee on Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations' Subcommittee on Homeland Security Strategy met on February 13 to hear invited testimony on Texas homeland security matters.

Jay Kimbrough, Director of the Office of Homeland Security, testified before the committee. Kimbrough explained to the committee Texas A&M's role as the state administrative agency for the department, via the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). Kimbrough said about half of homeland security funds do not come through the Governor's office, but rather travel directly to grantees. As an example, he noted that funding for the Urban Area and Port Security Initiative programs, as well as grants to airports and railways, goes to recipients directly.

Kimbrough stressed to the committee the importance of viewing homeland security in terms of regions, rather than cities and towns, and explained the Regional Councils of Government's (COG) role in the process. He updated the committee on the status of the state's new Department of Public Safety (DPS) operations center, and assured the committee that the state is now better prepared to handle emergencies than it was following the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Colonel Tommy Davis, Director of the DPS, also testified before the committee. Davis stated that the areas in Texas most vulnerable to terroris attack are refineries along the coast, nuclear power plants, and the porous border with Mexico.

Davis' testimony could shed some light on why, for the first time since 9/11, private companies received more than $88 million in federal homeland security funds last December. These funds were designed to help commercial enterprises, such as energy firms and oil and gas companies upgrade their security and surveillance systems in order to protect the nation's critical infrastructure.

The Texas Government Insider will continue to bring you coverage of Homeland Security hearings as they occur.

Texas earns $19 Million in Federal Mineral Revenue

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced on Tuesday that 36 states earned over $1 billion dollars in federal mineral revenue this past year, a 43 percent increase over 2002 revenues. Texas was eighth on the list, taking $19 million as its share of the earnings collected by the Minerals Management Service (MMS). The states' revenue is a result of fees and royalties on mineral production within a state's borders and off its coastline. States receive 50 percent of the onshore royalties, and 27 percent of the offshore. Wyoming accumulated the most revenue this year, bringing in over $503 million.

Austin to Reimburse Downtown Landowners for Property Improvements

Under a new program called "Great Streets," the City of Austin has allocated over $1 million for the improvement of sidewalks and building facades in the downtown area. The funds are to act as an incentive for businesses to improve or add sidewalks, plant trees, or establish sidewalk cafes on their property. Both the Downtown Austin Alliance and the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association have expressed their support of the program, which aims to make Austin's urban center more accessible to pedestrians and more aesthetically pleasing as well.

Businesses participating in the program, such as the Littlefield Mall, and White Lodging Services Corp., the builder of two new Marriot hotels, will receive reimbursements after their projects are complete and inspected for compliance. The amount available for any given project, $10 to $18 per square foot, is based on the project's size and location within the city's division of low, medium, and high priority areas.

Texas Gains Little in Federal Transportation Bill

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a $318 billion highway funding bill that results in a $700 million loss for Texas. Under the provisions of the Highway Trust Fund, every state contributes transportation fees and gas taxes towards the maintenance of the federal road system. Texas, for the last six years, has received the minimum return, 90.5 cents on every dollar it sends to the national pool. State officials had hoped that this year's legislation would raise the state's return to 95.5 cents, which would result in an additional $700 million dollars for Texas over the next six years. Due to the formula used in the legislation, some smaller states take home well over a dollar for each they contribute. Five other states, like Texas, will contribute more to the federal pool than they receive, referred to as "superdonor" status, if the bill is passed by the U.S. House: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, and Maryland. President Bush has expressed opposition to the bill, which is well above his $256 billion recommendation. Texas will most likely turn its lobbying efforts to the U.S. House, which has yet to act on their $375 billon version of the legislation.

Counties Struggling Under Health Care Costs

Smarting from cuts in state health care funding, 165 cash-strapped Texas counties have passed resolutions opposing what they consider unfunded state mandates, and are calling for a constitutional amendment to ban such measures. Another 10 counties have approved resolutions that call upon the state to slow its massive consolidation of 12 social service agencies, examine the local economic impact of this move, and alleviate some of the counties' fiscal stress by restoring state funds for health care services.

Counties containing large cities are feeling the effects of the funding cuts most severely, with Houston's Harris County facing a $33 million cut alone, leading it to pass the unfunded mandates resolution in December 2003. Travis County, which contains Austin, and Bexar County, which contains San Antonio, both passed resolutions requesting the state to slow the social services overhaul spelled out in HB 2292.

Many of these counties charge that state lawmakers, faced with a budget shortfall of $10 million, merely eliminated the costs at the state level by forcing localities, and more specifically, property owners, to foot the bill. The Texas Association of Counties has led the grass roots effort to oppose unfunded mandates, pointing most specifically to the state's requirement that counties provide attorneys for poor defendants and shoulder more of the burden for indigent health care.

Number of Texans Receiving Employer-sponsored Health-care Drops

Employer-sponsored health-care coverage is becoming increasingly difficult for Texas residents to attain. In 2002, 55 percent of Texans age 65 and younger had employer-sponsored health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents a decline of five percentage points from 2000 and gives Texas a ranking near the bottom nationally in employer-sponsored health-care for residents younger than 65.

The decline in employer-sponsored health-care benefits can be partially blamed on the depressed economy and high unemployment rate. Also to blame is the spiraling rise in health-care costs, which has made it increasingly difficult for businesses to offer their employees benefits.

Hutchison Calls for Mexico to Fulfill Water Debt

Two hundred state and federal leaders met at the inaugural Valley Water Summit on Tuesday. Topping their list of concerns were water conservation methods and funding for such efforts. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison emphasized the need for Mexico and United States to create a working plan for Mexico to pay off its substantial water debt, and that repayment needed to begin immediately, while Mexico has an ample water supply. Even though the country is current on this year's payment, which consists of 350,000 acre-feet of water annually, Mexico still owes the U.S. almost one million acre-feet of water. The Valley Water Summit decided on the following priorities: to work as a region, improve water distribution systems, and heighten public awareness and understanding of the problem.

Congress Not Likely to Pass Bush's Guest Worker Plan in 2004

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith stated publicly that the president's temporary worker visa program had little traction in Congress. The issue has proved contentious within the Republican Party, with some members supporting Pres. Bush's initiative, and others arguing that the measure equates to general amnesty for undocumented immigrants and could compromise national security. Other powerful lawmakers, namely Sens. John Cornyn, of Texas, and John McCain, of Arizona, have authored separate guest worker bills in support of the administration's program, however. Fearing that the plan is too extensive, and could depress national wages, some have offered the idea of a geographically limited worker visa program as a compromise and a means of testing the idea.

Texas Educators Focus on Classroom Diversity

As the number of minorities in Texas classrooms continues to rise, Texas educators are putting more emphasis on multicultural education. The majority of the approximately 4.2 million students in Texas classrooms are members of minority groups. In the 2000-03 school year, 39.8 percent of the students were white, 42.7 percent Hispanic, and 14.3 percent African-American, according to the Texas Education Agency. The National Association for Multicultural Education says teachers must be sensitive to cultural differences that affect students' ability to learn and address issues such as racism and relinquish stereotypes that some ethnic groups are naturally smarter.

58th Annual Texas Association of School Business Officials Conference and Expo - 02/23/04-02/27/04

Austin Mobility Roundtable 2004: The Future is Unwired - 3/11/04 - 3/12/04

Wireless Future Conference, Austin - 03/12/04-03/16/04

NASCIO 2004 Midyear Conference - 4/25/04 - 4/27/04

Texas Association of School Administrators/Texas Association of School Boards 44th Annual Convention - 09/17/04-09/20/04

NASCIO 2004 Annual Conference - 9/19/04 - 9/22/04

NEW SPI GOVERNMENT OPPORTUNITY PACKAGE

As a follow up to its successful roll out of The Guide to the Texas State Government Marketplace, and because of repeated requests, SPI is announcing a new procurement information package comprised of:

SPI has a dedicated Information Services (IS) Department that researches governmental entities and analyzes data for future and current business opportunities. IS provides these key services:

• Future Opportunities - email notification of new opportunities as they are discovered and updates to opportunities as new information becomes available



• Bid Notifications - timely email notification of current procurement opportunities for over 500 state agencies, institutions of higher education, cities, counties, school districts, airports, and ports.



• Customized Research - specific intelligence on entities, opportunities, markets, trends, products, competitors, etc.

Please contact SPI's Michael Mojica at mmojica@spartnerships.com for more details.

Past ABJ articles by Mary Scott Nabers

Millions in security funds sailing into Texas - 1/19/2004

Believe It! It Is Possible to Win Government Business Without Having to Bid For It! - 12/4/03

Fingering opportunities in biometric technology - 11/03/2003

It's smart for vendors to watch 'smart card' deals - 10/6/2003

Watch Cap Metro, AISD for vendor opportunities - 9/22/2003

Watch state water board for flow of grant money - 9/8/2003

New state laws open up market at state agencies - 8/25/2003

For details on SPI service offerings call Crystal Kuhs at (512) 531-3900. To see biographical data on members of the SPI team click here.

Texas Government Insider Archives

Volume 2 Issue 6 - 2/13/04

Volume 2 Issue 5 - 2/6/04

Volume 2 Issue 4 - 1/30/04

Volume 2 Issue 3 - 1/23/04

Volume 2 Issue 2 - 1/16/04

Volume 2 Issue 1 - 1/8/04

Volume 1 Archives 11/7/03 - 12/31/03

News from Strategic Partnerships, Inc.

As we here at SPI gear up for next fall's Legislative Communications Conference, we'd like to hear what issues and speakers our readers and colleagues would like to see on the program. Please email us at editor@spartnerships.com with your ideas.

Claire Matheson joins SPI, Inc. after freelancing at the Houston Chronicle. She recently received her Master's in Print Journalism from Boston University. While in Boston, she wrote for a hi-tech business journal, Mass Hi-tech. Claire also holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, in Washington D.C.

Upcoming Event: Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., will address the DFW Homeland Security Alliance on March 25 in Dallas. The DFW Homeland Security Alliance was created to promote economic growth in Texas and support partnerships between universities and industries related to Homeland Security concerns.

Upcoming Event: Business Success Center and Strategic Partnerships, Inc. Networking Luncheon, March 9

The Texas State Government Marketplace: Billions of Dollars of Current Commercial Opportunities Identified!

We are living in historic and evolutionary times. State and local governments are being forced to address critical issues at an alarming pace. That translates into commercial opportunities for private sector companies!

Crystal Kuhs of Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) will talk about the Billions of dollars being spent in the Texas government marketplace, a marketplace where 80% of the decision makers are located in Austin, Texas. Crystal will tell you where immediate opportunities for vendors exist and offer tips on how to successfully maneuver through government bureaucracy to capture new business.

For more information or to RSVP, visit http://www.bscusa.com.

Upcoming Event:The LBJ School of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) have scheduled the next Legislative Communications Conference for October 7, 2004. The day long conference will again be held at the JJ Pickle Center.

Resources

NASBO Fiscal Survey of the States

Fiscal Year 2003 Quality Assurance Team's Annual Report

New Texas Fact Book 2004

Public Hearings

Select Interim Committee on Workers' Compensation-- 10:00am, February 26, 2004, E1.028 --As first reported in the December 18 issue of the Texas Government Insider, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced the creation of this select senate committee to examine Workers' Compensation late last year. This is the inaugural meeting of this committee.

Insights from Government Insiders:

"Water availability is a critical component of all future economic health and economic development. We are just beginning to implement the state water plan and must use every tool, from water conservation to developing new supplies. We must also ensure adequate freshwater inflows to maintain our fisheries and the ecological health of our coastal systems. -- Margaret Hoffman, Executive Director TCEQ (volume 1 issue 5)

"LCRA is unlike most organizations because it is a governmental agency that must function as a business. It funds the services it provides to the public with revenues from the sales of energy, water and other operations. We are like a business in that we don't receive legislative appropriations and we have no authority to tax anyone. That means we have to be efficient -- conducting ourselves like a business and earning our own way." -- Joe Beal, General Manager LCRA (volume 2 issue 2)

No Privatization of State Mental Health Facilities: Lone Proposal Rejected

The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation's (MHMR) invitation to privatize state mental facilities drew only one offer by last week's deadline. Liberty Healthcare Corp. of Pennsylvania submitted a cost-savings plan to operate a state school in Corpus Christi, Mexia, or San Angelo. MHMR rejected this lone bid on Wednesday, however, citing a lack of required documentation and the plan's failure to meet specific requirements of the agency's request.

Last year, the Legislature, interested in producing cost savings for the state, decided to explore the option of opening management of state mental health facilities up to private sector competition. When the privatization of state schools and state hospitals was discussed last month at MHMR, eight private companies expressed interest in the opportunity. The Legislature's criteria, however, of maintaining services while reducing costs by at least 25 percent, proved too stringent for all but one of the interested parties.

The Health and Human Services Commission, which has final say on all MHMR bids, agreed with the agency's appraisal. Because the Legislature cannot take up the issue until the next regular session, in January 2005, privatization of the facilities is stalled for the time being.

Wireless & Mobile Summit 2004

Sponsored by Gartner, in Chicago, IL on March 8-10. Wireless computing is everywhere in the business world. Users demand - not just expect - to use mobile and wireless technologies in their daily jobs. At this summit, you'll learn about the immense total cost of ownership (TCO) , choosing devices, platforms and applications, and how to better understand the latest wireless "rules" and regulations. For more information, visit http://www3.gartner.com/Events.

NCLS Annual Meeting and Exhibition: The New Legislative Reality

Sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, at the Salt Palace Convention Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah, July 19-23. NCSL's annual meeting will offer issue discussion, seminars, and expert analysts to help legislators from around the nation forge new solutions for state problems. For more information, visit http://www.ncsl.org/annualmeeting/index.htm.

TSABAA 24th Annual Conference

Texas State Agency Business Administrator's Association's 24th Annual Conference will be held in Galveston, TX on June 7-9. For more information, watch http://www.tsabaa.com/04summer.htm.

Texas Police Chiefs Association: Mid-Year Conference 2004

Texas Police Chiefs Association will hold its Mid-Year Conferenc at the Omni Corpus Christi Hotel, Corpus Christi, on April 13-16, 2004. For more information, visit http://www.texaspolicechiefs.org/events.html.

2004 Texas Fire Officers Conference and Exhibition

The Texas Fire Officers will hold their annual Officers Conference and Exhibition at the Sheraton South Padre Island Beach Hotel, South Padre,on April 20-23. For more information, visit http://www.texasfirechiefs.org/conf04.html.

Gov. Perry Appoints Cascos, Reappoints McHugh To Texas Public Safety Commission

Governor Rick Perry has announced the appointment of Carlos Cascos of Brownsville and reappointment of Colleen McHugh of Corpus Christi to the Texas Public Safety Commission. The commission is responsible for formulating and overseeing policies for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the state's chief law enforcement agency.

McHugh has served on the commission since 1998, and was named Chair of the commission in 2001. A partner with the law firm of Bracewell & Patterson L.L.P., she is a past president of the State Bar of Texas. McHugh received her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio. McHugh's term will expire Dec. 31, 2005. She will continue to serve as Chair at the pleasure of the Governor.

Cascos is a partner at the accounting firm of Pattillo, Brown & Hill L.L.P. Cascos, who served as a Cameron County commissioner from 1991-2002, is a member of the American Institute, Texas Society and Rio Grande Valley Chapter of Certified Accountants. He is also a member of the Association of Government Accountants and the American College of Forensic Examiners. Cascos earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. His term will expire Dec. 31, 2009.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Approves Texas Plan

The Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan has been approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Integral to the plan is a comprehensive emergency response network that will allow authorities to activate numerous statewide alert systems from a single location. The networks will give first responders, key officials, and the general public the information they need as quickly as possible in the event of a tragedy.