SA City Manager Pick Backs Out

Sheryl Sculley, assistant city manager for the City of Phoenix, has withdrawn her name from consideration for the San Antonio City Manager position due to opposition from several San Antonio city council members to her proposed salary of $265,000 plus perks. The salary package would have made Sculley the highest-paid city manager in the country. To view the terms of the proposed agreement between Sculley and the City of San Antonio, click here.

Senate Confirms New Tech Regents

The state Senate has confirmed three nominees to Texas Tech's Board of Regents. Mark Griffin, Larry Anders and Dan Serna were nominated for the seats last month by Gov. Rick Perry. They replace Carin Barth, Brian Newby and E.R. Brooks, whose terms expired Jan. 31. Biographical information on the new regents can be found in the March 24 edition of the Insider.

Tuition Increases Could Cost Texas Universities

Public universities that increase tuition rates too much would see state funding reduced under SB 1484 which was approved Monday by the Senate Finance committee. The bill will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

Under the bill, schools that charge more than the $94 per credit hour in designated tuition, the part of tuition set by regents, would see a decrease in state funding. State appropriations would decrease based on the amount the university charges over the $94 limit. If the bill passes, only the University of Texas at Austin would initially be affected. UT Austin is the only public university that already charges $94 per credit hour. The school's tuition increases have been the highest in the state at 37 percent in two years. Last month UT System regents approved another 4.75 percent increase at the Austin campus.

Feds Give $5.7 Million to Help Provide Healthcare for Low-income Texas Families

Ten Texas communities will receive nearly $5.7 million in federal grants to help provide healthcare services for low-income families, including many that lack insurance. The funds will be used to establish eight new Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and expand two others that will serve thousands of additional needy Texans. For a list of centers receiving grants, click here.

The new federal funding will bring to 171 the number of Texas FQHC sites, which provide preventive and primary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. More than 60 percent of patients treated at these facilities in Texas have no health insurance and many others are under-insured. Fees are based on a patient's income.

Senate Oks UNT Law School Plan

The Senate has approved SB 730 which, if passed by the House, would establish the first public law school in Dallas and North Texas by the end of the decade. The bill calls for the University of North Texas (UNT) to open a law school in downtown Dallas and begin accepting students by fall 2009. Under the bill, about $600,000 would be appropriated over the next two years for UNT to begin planning for the law school. The project will be developed jointly by the UNT system and the city of Dallas.

Texas has four public law schools - the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University (Lubbock), Texas Southern University (Houston) and the University of Houston. There are five private law schools, including Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.

Houston, Dallas Transit Agencies Awarded $2.13 Million

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded $2.13 million in FY05 transit security grants to Houston and Dallas transit agencies. Island Transit and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County have been allocated $825,000 while the Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Railway Express have been awarded $1.3 million.

NSA to Expand Operations in San Antonio

The National Security Agency (NSA) is expanding its operations in San Antonio and expects to hire at least 1,500 people to work at the former Sony chip plant it has leased. The NSA already employs about 2,000 people at the Medina Annex at Lackland Air Force Base. Its San Antonio office has personnel from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and the civilian Defense Department. NSA handles foreign intelligence gathering, analysis and reporting missions supporting combat commanders and national level decision makers in the United States and abroad.

Legislators Say EP Med School Will Open on Schedule

Texas legislative leaders have said that enough money will be appropriated despite a lack of funding in the state's proposed budget for a medical school in El Paso to open on schedule in the fall of 2008. Texas Tech University administrators have said they need $68 million from the Legislature to open the school on schedule. The Senate budget plan appropriates $13 million, and the House proposal put the project on a wish list with dozens of other programs totaling billions of dollars. A House-Senate conference committee will write the final budget.

UT to Work With Navy on Cybersecurity Project

The Center for Information Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas will work with the United States Navy on a project that will help improve the protection of Navy defense data systems. The center received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Navy to address cybersecurity problems facing Navy submarines. The Center is also expecting to receive additional funding from the Navy for the project in the future. The CIAS was founded at UT as a multi-disciplinary research center focused on developing innovative answers to cybersecurity problems.

Lampasas is State's Fastest-growing County

Lampasas is the state's fastest-growing county and the nation's sixth-fastest, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The county's growth rate was 7.3 percent from July 2003 to July 2004, up to more than 20,700 residents. County officials say the growth stems mostly from the influx of soldiers and contractors at Fort Hood, which has about 46,000 troops. That includes about 5,000 new soldiers arriving since last year as part of Army restructuring.

Lens on the Legislature: The Appropriations Process

The January 7th and January 21st articles in the Lens on the Legislature series described some of the initial issues related to development of the state budget. This week was an important milestone in that process.

On Monday, Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst appointed Finance Chairman Ogden, Vice Chairman Zaffirini and Senators Averitt, Duncan and Whitmire to the appropriations conference committee. On Wednesday, Speaker Craddick appointed Appropriations Chairman Pitts, Vice Chairman Luna and Representatives Gattis, Kolkhorst and Turner as conferees. The role of conference committees was explained in the March 31st article.

By tradition, the general appropriations bills are numbered HB1 and SB1 in the House and Senate respectively. The basic structure of the two bills is identical and the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) provides expertise and drafting support for both chambers. Next week's article will describe the structure in more detail.

Because of the physical heft of these bills and because the LBB rather than the Texas Legislative Council (TLC) provides the drafting support, the texts of these bills are not accessible by the online inquiries described previously in this column. They are available on the LBB's Web site, however. All of the other previously described inquiries (e.g. actions, votes) can be used for these bills.

Throughout the session, the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee have held hearings nearly daily, reviewing every agency and state university and hearing the views of many experts and advocates. Few would question that these are the busiest committees in their respective chambers. House Appropriations also has six subcommittees to allow more detailed reviews.

By tradition, the chambers alternate whose bill will be the lead bill. Two years ago, HB1 (78th) was the basis for the General Appropriations Act, so the GAA coming out of the 79th session will be based on SB1.

On March 23rd the Senate passed SB1 and sent it to the House. It was referred to House Appropriations the same day. Since Appropriations had already developed their own budget proposal using HB1 as the vehicle, in a single hearing on SB1, they proposed a substitute on March 29th. After many hours of debate involving over two hundred proposed amendments, the full House approved a substitute to SB1 in the wee hours of April 7th. Thus, the stage was set (as is always the case) for a conference committee to be appointed.

Unlike other conference committees which virtually never hold further hearings, this conference committee will likely re-summon every agency for which the House substitute differs from the Senate bill. That is likely to take several weeks with the conference report coming out some time in May. To accomplish that, yesterday (as is customary) Chairman Pitts formally requested a suspension of House rules to allow the five House conferees to meet with the conference committee while the full House is meeting.

Such key issues as money spent on education and pay raises for state employees will be determined in the next few weeks as the ten conferees hammer out the final shape of what will be about a $140 billion biennial budget.

HISD Closing Ten Schools

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) school board voted yesterday to close five elementary schools at the end of the school year and five more soon after. HISD is asking for proposals by June 1 from groups interested in buying the properties, leasing the land or opening charter schools on the sites. Closing the schools will save HISD about $1 million.

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) is a research and consulting firm offering business development and public affairs services. Founded in 1994, SPI has offices in Texas and California. To learn more about SPI services click here or contact Crystal Kuhs at 512-531-3900.

Focus on SPI Consultants

Lynn Nabers has an impressive legislative and legal background. He practiced law for sixteen years and served for fourteen of those years in the Texas Legislature before he began representing corporate clients on governmental matters. Lynn was named to Texas Monthly's Top Ten Legislators and has been honored by Texas Business magazine, State Bar of Texas, Texas Army National Guard, Texas Youth Commission and others. To read Lynn's full bio, click here.

SPI Job Openings: Research Analyst and Research Analyst/Writer

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) is seeking candidates for both a Research Analyst and Research Analyst/Writer.

Research Analyst Position: SPI seeks a qualified individual to enhance the research capabilities of the Information Services (IS) Division that serves both California and Texas. This is a Texas-based position, but the individual hired will be responsible for high-level research and analytical services for clients in the state of California as well as assisting in the state of Texas.

Research Analyst/Writer Position: SPI is seeking candidates to perform research services for SPI's Texas clients and Sales Team. The Research Analyst/Writer will also be responsible for editorial content, production and distribution of SPI's newsletters, the Texas Government Insider™ and California Government Insider™. Other job duties include research and assistance with articles on public sector procurement trends in both Texas and California and responsibility for all editorial content of the SPI and SPC websites.

To find out more about these job opportunities, click here.

SAO Releases New Report

The State Auditor's Office (SAO) has released A Review of Construction Project Management at the Texas Building and Procurement Commission.

Event Links

Texas Public Health Association's 80th Annual Education Conference - 04/24/05 - 04/26/05

15th Annual Texas GIS Forum - 4/25/05 - 4/29/05

Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Summer Workshop - 6/8/05 - 6/10/05

Texas State Agency Business Administrators' Association 36th Annual Summer Conference - 6/12/05 - 6/15/05

TASB Summer Leadership Institute - 06/23/05 - 06/24/05

Government Finance Officers Association 99th Annual Conference - 6/26/05 - 6/29/05

8th Annual Texas Transportation Summit - 8/9/05 - 8/12/05

Past ABJ articles by Mary Scott Nabers

Transportation, teacher retirement system among Texas' biggest spenders - 3/11/2005

Tiny radio tags could create plenty of big contract chances - 2/25/2005

Texas Government Insider Archives

Last Issue - 4/8/05

Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 Archives - 11/7/03 - 3/31/05

Resources

Helpful Legislative Links

State Budget Resources

Government Information Sharing: Calls to Action - PERSPECTIVES

Budget and Performance Assessments: State Agencies and Institutions, Fiscal Year 2004

Legislative Budget Board's Contracts Reported by Texas State Agencies and Institutions of Higher Education in 2004

Legislative Workforce Summaries

Diagram of Legislative Process

HUB Forms Library

State Contract Management Guide

State Procurement Manual

Who Represents Me? Texas Districts By Address

Diagram of Texas' Biennial Budget Cycle

Texas Fact Book 2004

Public Hearings/Meetings

Upcoming Senate Committee Meetings

Upcoming House Committee Meetings

Texas Building and Procurement Commission-10:00am, April 20, 1711 San Jacinto Boulevard Central Services Building, Conference Room 402, Austin

Subscribe to the Texas Government Insider™

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OAG Hub Forum

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will hold a Hub Forum on April 26 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. Participants will find out what information technology, service related and other procurement opportunities will be coming up for FY05-06 at the Attorney General's Office. They will also meet the purchasers and new purchasing director and learn about planned projects. The forum will be held at the William Clements Building, 300 W. 15th Street, Austin. For more information, contact Mindy Sue Cohen at 512-475-4411 or mindy.cohen@oag.state.tx.us.

Texas Round-Up

The Texas Round-Up is a statewide effort to encourage Texans of all fitness levels to incorporate daily physical activity and healthy choices into their lives. On Saturday, April 30th, a 10-K Run/Walk and Health & Fitness Expo will be held in downtown Austin. For more information, visit: www.texasroundup.org.

Texas Citizen Corps Conference

The Harris County Citizen Corps is hosting the Texas Citizen Corps Conference May 31 - June 2 at the Hyatt Regency in Houston. The conference is open to anyone interested in the Citizen Corps Program, including regional councils of governments, local, state and federal agencies, volunteers, emergency management professionals, and any other interested parties. For more information or to register, click here.

Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Summer Conference

The Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Summer Conference will take place June 8 - 10 in Austin. Topics to be discussed include: Tools for the Instructional Leader: Managing Data and Leading People and Effective Documentation and Conferencing Skills: What it Takes to Be Successful. For more information, click here.