Craddick issues interim legislative charges
40 House committees to study a multitude of issues for the 2007 session

House Speaker Tom Craddick has outlined a long list of issues for legislative committees to investigate during the next year or so, setting the stage for the hot topics of the 2007 legislative session.

Many of the issues will look familiar to even the casual government spectator. Eminent domain, telecommunication deregulation, limiting lawsuits, school vouchers, property taxes and stem-cell research have been hot legislative topics and they will continue to be subjects for debate in the interim.

Aside from those headline-grabbing topics, House committees will study the following:

• The expenditure of taxpayer money by local governments and school boards to lobby the legislature;
• The implementation of HB 1516, which relates to the procurement of information technology and the management of IT projects, and possible revisions to the automated information systems to streamline the state's planning, budgeting and purchase of IT;
• How elected school officials can have more control over school districts' budgets and make districts' spending more accessible and transparent to the public; and
• New structures to the state budget process and ways to curtail state spending.

A complete list of Craddick's interim agenda can be found online. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is expected to release charges for Senate committees in the coming weeks.

Baxter to resign Texas House seat

State Rep. Todd Baxter of Austin will resign his office Nov. 1, ending three years of service in the House. Baxter's move brings with it the prospect of a special election in coming months that could give the winner the benefit of incumbency heading into the November 2006 election.

Retired Dell executive Ben Bentzin, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos in 2002, has already emerged as a potential candidate to replace Baxter. Baxter, a lawyer, is said to be weighing lucrative offers to work in the private sector, possibly as the lobbyist.

Legislative Budget Board may meet in coming weeks

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he is still committed to convening the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), which still has not considered Gov. Rick Perry's two-month-old proposal to use money he vetoed from the state's $139 billion budget to fund several emergency items.

In August, Gov. Rick Perry proposed using money he vetoed from the state's $139 billion budget to fund several emergency items, including giving $38.5 million to Texas Tech University so it could continue expanding its medical school in El Paso. Lawmakers failed to approve money for the school and other uses during the regular and two special legislative sessions last Summer so the expenditures Perry proposed, which total about $600 million, must be approved by the LBB, which is composed of House Speaker Tom Craddick, Dewhurst, four House members and four senators.

The LBB originally planned to meet in mid-September. Then it was pushed to later that month. That meeting was canceled after hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees flooded into Texas. Craddick and Dewhurst said they needed time to evaluate how that would affect the state financially.

But Dewhurst said Thursday that he planned to recommend to Craddick that a board meeting be scheduled as soon as possible - either later this month or during the first few days of November - to fund some of the larger requests, including the medical school. The smaller expenses on the list, he said, should to be funded during the 2007 fiscal year.

Texans prepare to vote on 9 constitutional amendments

On November 8, Texans will go to the polls to vote on nine proposed amendments to the state's Constitution. Proposition 2, which would ban gay marriage, is expected to draw voters to the polls and be the most popular and controversial of the proposed amendments. Voters also will decide whether to create, with Proposition 1, a Department of Transportation fund to finance deals with railroads to move their tracks out of urban areas. Proposition 9 would change increase the terms for members of regional mobility authorities from two to six. A list, along with details, of the proposed constitutional amendments can be found online.

"This November Texans have the opportunity to vote on nine proposed amendments. Each one fundamentally changes our Constitution in some way," said Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. "I hope every Texan will come to the polls to let us know whether or not they agree with the vision of those changes."

[Editor's Note: For more insight into elections be sure to read Len Riley's Lens on State Government column below]

TxDOT proposes US 281 tollway

The Texas Department of Transportation has unveiled a plan to rebuild US Highway 281 from Stone Oak Parkway in San Antonio to the Comal/Blanco county line as a tollway. TxDOT said the 23-mile tollway will increase capacity, reduce the number of accidents and take care of anticipated growth for the next 20 to 30 years. No toll booths are planned. Electronic toll readers will process the toll, currently proposed at $0.15 per mile.

The area around US 281 is projected to experience a 67-percent increase in traffic between 2010 and 2030. Construction estimates for the US 281 tollway are $226 million. TxDOT would like to have the four-lane expansion under contract in three to seven years.

Fort Bend ISD gets $1.25 million gift

An anonymous donor from Saudi Arabia has given portable classroom buildings and educational items valued at $1.25 million to the Fort Bend Independent School District near Houston to help educators there cope with the large number of students relocated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. About 15,000 displaced students from Louisiana ended up in Houston-area school systems, including about 1,200 who are enrolled in the Fort Bend district. Another 140 students arrived in Fort Bend after Hurricane Rita struck, with enrollment eventually swelling to 2,100 before dropping.

Health officials watching for bird flu outbreak

Recent outbreaks of the deadly bird flu in Asia and Europe are prompting health officials in Texas to take the possible threat seriously - especially in the wildlife-rich Rio Grande Valley. Local public health officials there said even though the outbreaks abroad have gotten lots of media attention - bird, or avian flu, has killed 60 people in Asia since 2003 and spread quickly to Europe - local birds and people are not in any immediate danger of becoming infected with the contagious H5N1 flu virus. Still, they said, vigilance is necessary to prevent it from making a mark in Texas.

The Hidalgo County Health Department, for example, taught its bioterrorism team to recognize bird flu symptoms and has faxed and e-mailed information on the flu to about 300 local physicians, veterinarians and hospitals.

"Everybody is monitoring," said Dr. Brian Smith, regional director of Texas Department of State Health Services' Region 11, which includes Hidalgo and Cameron counties. "That's all they can really do right now."

Wentworth: State dollars could lure Saints to San Antonio

Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio is exploring the use of the Texas Enterprise Fund to help San Antonio permanently land the New Orleans Saints football team. The Saints are playing several home games in San Antonio this season due to hurricane damage in New Orleans. About $182 million in the enterprise fund has been appropriated this year, leaving $146 million available for economic development purposes through 2007. The fund was set up to lure businesses and jobs to Texas.

Work has already begun to repair the Superdome in Louisiana, but New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson plans to void his lease agreement for the Louisiana Superdome by declaring the facility unusable, according to a report in today's San Antonio Express-News. If true, that would give the Saints the flexibility they need to move to San Antonio or elsewhere.

Lens on State Government: Elections
By Len Riley, Strategic Partnerships

Early voting begins on Monday for the November 8th election. Today's column will address Texas elections and close with announcement of an important new HR publication that will be of interest to many readers.

The Texas Constitution is quite brief on suffrage (the right to vote) and other election matters, but the 116 chapter Election Code is quite extensive. Those of you with many overdue parking tickets will be happy to know that among the few constitutional provisions on elections is one which provides that "Voters shall, in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning therefrom."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Port Freeport to issue $115M in bonds

Port Freeport's Industrial Development Corp. has approved a resolution to issue $115 million in bonds for two projects that will make Freeport the North American base for a major Spanish food exporter. The first phase of the project, worth $70 million, would bring in as many as 150 jobs. The second phase, valued at $45 million, involves building an olive oil bottling plant.

Texas State University gets grant for law enforcement training

The governor's Criminal Justice Division has awarded $1.5 million to Texas State University - San Marcos for a statewide advanced law enforcement rapid response training program. The grant will provide law enforcement officers across the state with training in the effective and timely response to violent incidents. This training teaches officers to prevent violence from escalating as well as appropriate levels of force.

Grants awarded to expand Amber Alert Network, Clean up Meth Labs

The governor's Criminal Justice Division has awarded $818,535 in grants to help the Texas Department of Public Safety expand the statewide Amber Alert Network and better equip officers to deal with methamphetamine lab seizures. The award includes $629,204 to the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide safety equipment and technical assistance for hazardous chemical removal and disposal to officers across the state who come into contact with illegal methamphetamine laboratories, and $189,331 to the Texas Department of Public Safety so it can continue and expand the Texas Amber Alert Network, which provides 24-hour support to local law enforcement agencies that report and investigate child abduction cases.

FutureGen project moves forward with Texas ties

Progress continues towards implementing the $1 billion FutureGen project, a Department of Energy initiative to build a zero-emissions power generating plant. The Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas has been tapped to coordinate the site selection process. Texas, led by Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams (pictured), is competing with several other states for FutureGen, which is expected to be an economic engine in addition to a novel power plant.

FEMA sending 2,000 trailers to East Texas hurricane victims

Parts of East Texas ravaged by Hurricane Rita are receiving up to 2,000 trailers for those left homeless. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's trailer housing program - already in place in other states damaged by Hurricane Katrina - will provide the temporary housing during the next five weeks as homes are repaired or rebuilt. FEMA has set aside $24 million to handle costs of housing displaced Texans in the trailers, said FEMA's housing chief Martin McNeese. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas also announced recently that FEMA will give Jefferson County about $33 million to remove Rita-related debris.

"More funds are on the way, but this initial down payment will help get Jefferson County and the surrounding area back on its feet," Cornyn said.

El Paso seeks Army brigade to bolster high-tech sector

A technological transformation of the Army could bring billions of dollars in high-tech business to El Paso if the city can successfully lure a new combat team to Fort Bliss.

City officials have spent the past three years courting the Army's Future Combat Systems team, which would test and develop unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, armed robotic vehicles, smart mortars and cannons and the next generation of communications equipment. The Army has proposed spending $21 billion on the project, and wants to have a combat-ready Future Combat Systems unit by 2014.

El Paso city officials said the program, should it be based at Fort Bliss, would be a boon to the area's high-tech sector. City officials have devoted a significant amount of time lobbying the Army this month as it prepares to make a decision.

Lottery pares candidate list to four

The panel searching for a new director of the Texas lottery has winnowed the list to four applicants, but C. Thomas Clowe (pictured), who is chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission and who put together the search committee, said that more candidates might be added and that some who did not make the cut might merit reconsideration.

The commission is seeking a replacement for Reagan Greer, who resigned in July after acknowledging that the advertised Lotto Texas jackpots had been inflated beyond what ticket sales could support. Candidates who made the search committee's list are:

• Robert Shipe, former executive director of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission;
• Sue McNabb, assistant attorney general in Louisiana, who helped establish a gambling-treatment program there;
• James Loyd, former executive director of Texas Health Care Information Council; and
• Juan Cabezas, vice president of marketing for a graphics company.

TxDOT's STEP program will be a boon for local initiatives, projects!

By Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.

Officials at the Texas Department of Transportation are buzzing with activity as transportation officials prepare to replenish a popular transportation enhancement program with tens of millions of dollars of federal funds. Local organizations throughout Texas may want to compete for grant funds.

The stated mission of the State Transportation Enhancement Program (STEP) is "to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic and environmental aspects of the Nation's intermodal transportation system." This program is administered by TxDOT and funded by federal dollars that are allocated for local initiatives tied to transportation. However, in the past, many projects qualifying for funds have only a very general tie to transportation.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

[Editors note: Mary Scott Nabers' government contracting columns run regularly in the Austin Business Journal, San Antonio Business Journal, Houston Business Journal and Dallas Business Journal]

Members appointed to House groups

House Speaker Tom Craddick has appointed members of the Bi-National Alcohol and Substance Abuse Task Force, the Study Commission on Transportation Financing, the Agriculture Policy Board, the Study Commission on Commercial Motor Vehicles and the Interim Committee on the Power of Eminent Domain. Details can be found on the Speaker's Web site.

New public safety commissioner appointed

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Ernest Angelo Jr. of Midland to the Public Safety Commission. He replaces Colleen McHugh, who recently secured a spot on the UT System's board of regents.

Barbers Hill ISD voters pass bonds

Voters in the Barbers Hill Independent School District near Houston have passed a $43.8 million bond package. The district will use the money to, among other things, build 50 classes at the high school, a new elementary school for 750 students, intermediate campus renovations, administration and warehouse expansions and technology upgrades, including laptop computers for all high school students.

Greenville ISD looks at privatization

The Greenville Independent School District is discussing the idea of privatizing transportation and custodial services. A request for proposals outlining the differing variables being considered is expected to be advertised soon.

Lubbock spent $2.6M sheltering evacuees

The City of Lubbock said it has spent more than $2.6 million sheltering evacuees from hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Mayor Marc McDougal had authorized the city to spend about $1.3 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it will reimburse all of the funds.

Several Texas entities praised for telemedicine efforts

The Center for Digital Government selected the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. the Texas Department of Agriculture, the City of Denton and the Lower Colorado River Authority, for accolades in telemedicine. UTMB's electronic health delivery system, for example, records more than 50,000 paperless medical documents and performs more than 200 patient examinations by telemedicine each day.

D/FW airport lauded for energy efficiency

The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has been recognized as a "Star of Energy Efficiency" by an environmental advocacy group. The Alliance to Save Energy said D/FW Airport was selected because of its aggressive and corporate commitment to the efficient and environmentally friendly use of energy. D/FW's efforts include a $122 million upgrade and expansion of its 30-year-old heating and cooling plant, which replaced all chillers, boilers and lighting and automated controls with more efficient equipment.

Fort Worth considers charter amendments

The City of Fort Worth is considering several charter amendements. A formal proposal has not been adopted but officials are considering six topics: council pay, term lengths, staggered terms, the number of required council meetings and technical amendments. They could go before voters May 13.

Jourdanton loses 3 of 4 city leaders

The small Texas town of Jourdanton south of San Antonio lost two council members and its mayor within a week. Mayor Tammy Clark and Councilman Joe De La Rosa bowed to public pressure and resigned Monday. Both have been implicated in separate felony cases - the mayor in a murder and De La Rosa in a sexual assault case. Both said they are innocent and no charges have been filed against them. Councilman Darrell Richter abruptly resigned days earlier, saying he was tired of "vicious misinformation" that was being spread about him and his family. A special election to elect new council members could be held in May.

WANT TO DO MORE BUSINESS WITH THE STATE GOVERNMENT?

Contact Reagan Weil, SPI's business development manager, today to ask about SPI's business development and research services. Reach Reagan at (512) 531-3917 or rweil@spartnerships.com

Procurement articles online

Click here to view recent articles on government procurement authored by Mary Scott Nabers, president and CEO of Strategic Partnerships Inc., and published in the Austin Business Journal and Houston Business Journal.

[Editor's note: Mary Scott Nabers' procurement columns run regularly in the Austin Business Journal, Houston Business Journal, San Antonio Business Journal and the Dallas Business Journal]

Event Links

2005 Lawsuit Survival Courses for County Officials - 10/12/05-11/3/05

Texas Municipal League Annual Conference - 10/26/05-10/28/05

Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas' "Policy Changes for the New Millenium" - 11/15/05

OAG's 2005 Open Government Conference - 12/12/05-12/14/05

2006 Courts & Local Government Technology Conference - 1/31/06-2/2/06

Texas Government Insider Archives

Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 Archives - 11/7/03 - 10/14/05

Resources

TBPC Vendor Guide

State Budget Resources

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

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) is a research and consulting firm offering business development and public affairs services. Founded in Texas in 1994 by former government executives and public sector experts, SPI has developed a national reputation as the premier marketing partner dedicated to helping companies secure contracts in the $1.5 trillion state and local government marketplace. To learn more about SPI services click here or contact our sales department at 512-531-3900.

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SH 130 Corridor Summit

Residents, city and county leaders in Central Texas are invited to the SH 130 Corridor Sumit, which is to take place on Saturday Nov. 19. Register online at www.envisioncentraltexas.org or call (512) 916-6037 by Nov. 4.

Health Information Technology Forum

On Dec. 1, the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research will host a forum on health information technology. Contact the institute for more information