ACC's President Resigns

Austin Community College (ACC) President Robert Aguero submitted his resignation yesterday. Aguero came to ACC from the Dallas County Community College District, where he was vice chancellor. He started at ACC July 1 and has been on unpaid leave since Feb. 21. At the time, he said he was taking the leave for personal and health-related reasons and would not return until mid-April. In a letter to ACC trustees, Aguero says he is resigning for family and personal reasons. Steve Kinslow, executive vice president of academic, student and campus affairs, has been in charge of ACC since Aguero began the personal leave and will continue in that role.

ACC is a public two-year college with more than 65,000 students, 426 full-time faculty and an operating budget of $130 million for 2004-05.

Hinojosa Named Sole Finalist For DISD Top Job

Dallas Independent School District (DISD) trustees named Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Spring Independent School District, as the lone finalist for the Dallas superintendent job this week. Dr. Hinojosa, president of the Texas Association of School Administrators, was the Texas Association of School Boards' 2002 Superintendent of the Year. He also was recognized in 1996 as a distinguished educator by the Texas Association of Hispanic School Administrators.

Hundreds of Road Projects Delayed

Earlier this month, the Texas Bond Review Board delayed a vote to approve the sale of about $1 billion in bonds that would bankroll the Texas Mobility Fund. The delayed vote has prompted the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to postpone or eliminate hundreds of projects and delay awarding some contracts. The Texas Mobility Fund, established by the 77th Legislature and approved by Texas voters, allows TxDOT to issue bonds secured by future revenue to accelerate mobility projects throughout the state. The board's next meeting is scheduled for May 19.

Travis County Receives $4.6 Million Grant For Voting Equipment

The Travis County Commissioners Court has received a state grant of almost $4.6 million to reimburse the county for money spent on upgrading its voting equipment. The county spent about $5.1 million updating the equipment. The Help America Vote Act mandates that all voting precincts have equipment accessible to people with disabilities by Jan. 1, 2006.

North Texas Group to Seek Road, Rail Funds

A North Texas delegation of mayors, lawmakers and other leaders will make a pitch to the Texas Transportation Commission for a regionwide rail system and request more money for freeways, toll roads and other solutions to help prevent traffic gridlock.

The group, known as Partners in Mobility, will request:

• A high-speed rail line connecting Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to Austin and San Antonio by building the Trans-Texas Corridor through the DFW Metroplex.
• Permission to hold an election in Tarrant, Johnson, Dallas, Collin and Ellis counties asking voters to create, but not fund, a regional commuter rail authority. A subsequent election would determine funding.
• Approval of $4 billion in strategic highway projects, including the expansion of Interstate 30 in Arlington and Airport Freeway in Northeast Tarrant County.

Governor's Latest Appointments

Gov. Rick Perry has made the following appointments:

• Rebecca Simmons: Justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals
• Sue Cleveland, Kathleen Thea Jackson, Steven M. McReynolds and The Honorable Jimmie Ruth Cooley: Lower Neches Valley Authority Board of Directors
• Richard A. Linkenauger: Sabine River Authority of Texas
• The Honorable Robert McKelvey: Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority Board of Directors
• Sharon Venable, Virginia Chandler Dykes, and Lou Halsell Rodenberger: Texas Woman's University Board of Regents
• Jeff Austin, III: North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority

Cutting High School Dropout Rate Could Provide $404 Million Boost For Texas Economy

Reducing Texas' high school dropout rate could generate at least $404 million a year in additional wages, according to a report released by The Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C.-based policy, research and advocacy organization.

Currently, 68 percent of Texas students graduate from high school. The report says that by cutting the dropout rate in half, Texas could realize:

• $404 million a year if those students earned high school diplomas.
• $808 million a year if those students obtained some postsecondary education.
• $1.3 billion a year if those students earned bachelor's degrees.

Feds to Give Houston $2.9 Million For Freeway Cameras

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will provide $2.9 million in funding for a city program aimed at managing traffic on Houston freeways. A network of real-time cameras installed on helicopters, motorcycle police units and "marked incident management vehicles" will monitor traffic along Houston highways. The video projections will allow police officers to re-route motorists to prevent traffic gridlock in the event of a chemical spill, fatality or other major incident. DOT released $1.9 million this week to fund the first phase of the project.

SA Tech Advocacy Group Co-Chair Steps Down

David Spencer, one of the original founders of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI Network), a targeted economic development initiative focused on developing the regional advanced technology economy, has decided to step down as co-chairman of the group. John Dickson, a partner in the high-tech firm the Denim Group, will replace Spencer as interim chairman. For more information on the SATAI Network, click here.

Fort Worth to Provide $50 Million in Incentives For Downtown Hotel

More than two years after a voter petition drive derailed a proposal for a publicly owned convention-center hotel, city leaders on Tuesday approved a contract with Omni Hotels of Irving for a 600-room, $90 million luxury hotel downtown. The plan calls for nearly $50 million in public incentives, including $29.8 million from the city, for a Texas-themed hotel and underground parking garage on two blocks of city-owned land near the Fort Worth Convention Center. City officials said the hotel was needed to complement the $75 million renovation of the convention center. Construction is expected to get underway before the end of the year.

Bexar County Seeking Funding For Toll Roads

Bexar County Commissioners have signed-off on a multi-year plan to build 90 miles of new toll roads, toll lanes, and toll intersections across the county. The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority will seek initial funding from the Texas Department of Transportation today. The first toll road is expected to be completed in 2009.

Lens on the Legislature: The Process Following Engrossment

The House has now engrossed over a hundred bills and the Senate has engrossed over sixty. This week's focus is on the remaining legislative process for those bills.

When a bill is engrossed by the originating chamber, it is sent to the second chamber. In the simplest case, the second chamber agrees with the bill and votes to enroll it. [Enrollment was discussed in last week's column.] Enrolled bills are signed by both presiding officers and sent to the governor.

Things are seldom that simple, however. If the second chamber either doesn't take action on the bill or votes disapproval (either of which could occur at the committee level or in the full chamber), the bill dies. If the second house votes to amend the bill, the amended version must go back to the originating house for further consideration. If the originating house then fails to take up the amended bill or votes it down, the bill dies. More typically, the originating house will either vote to accept the amendments or vote to request the appointment of a conference committee.

A conference committee is comprised of five Senators and five Representatives appointed by their chambers' presiding officers. The committee's charge is limited to reconciling differences between the two versions of the bill. Unless authorized by their respective chambers to go "outside the bounds" in specifically enumerated ways, the committee may not alter text that is not in disagreement nor may they add text related to any matter that is not included in either original version.

At least three conferees from each chamber must approve the proposed compromise bill. The committee prepares a report that includes the compromise language, markups comparing it to the two original bills, and the signatures of the approving conferees. Each chamber then takes a yes or no vote on the compromise language, with no amendments permitted.

If the conference committee report is accepted by both chambers, the bill is enrolled. If the report is not acceptable to either chamber, it may be returned to the same conference committee for further deliberation or a new conference committee may be requested. The bill dies if the conference committee can't reach an agreement that is acceptable to both chambers.

All of this process takes time and creates risk. A former parliamentarian who served in both chambers reportedly said there are 27 places in the legislative process where a bill can be killed.

Two key procedural methods used to increase the likelihood of an acceptable bill becoming enrolled are:

• Lining up a key sponsor. A sponsor is a member of the opposite chamber who guides the bill through the legislative process in that chamber. A sponsor who serves on the committee of jurisdiction in the second chamber, for example, can be a great help.
• Filing a companion bill. If identical bills are filed in both chambers, when the first bill to be engrossed is sent to the second chamber, there's a good chance the appropriate committee will have already held hearings on its companion bill. In such cases, it can somewhat summarily propose its version as amendments to the engrossed bill, cutting out a lot of time and additional process. There are also other procedures that can be employed on the floor of the full chamber, such as bringing up a companion in lieu of a bill that is already scheduled thereby allowing the companion to move ahead of its normal place on the calendar.

A future column will focus on the process subsequent to enrollment.

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

Mary Scott Nabers is President & CEO of SPI. Mary has an extensive background in both the public and private sectors. She has served on both the Texas Employment Commission and Texas Railroad Commission. Prior to entering public service, Mary served as President and General Manager of two media corporations. To read Mary's full bio, click here.

New Report

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has issued a 65-page rebuttal to the comptroller's March 9 review of the agency.

SA Awarded $1.8 Million to Improve Infrastructure For New Toyota Plant

The City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) have been awarded a $1.8 million grant by the U.S. Commerce Department to help build up the infrastructure around the site for the planned Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. plant in South San Antonio. Toyota is in the process of building an $800 million truck assembly plant that will employ 2,000 people once the factory opens in 2006.

Nearly Half of Texas Workers Ready For a Job Change, Report Says

Forty-five percent of adult workers in Texas are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, compared to 36 percent in January, according to the monthly Spherion Employment Report, conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. The report also indicates that fewer Texas workers are confident in the strength of the economy: 29 percent of adult Texas workers believe the economy is getting stronger, a 6 percentage point decrease from the previous month.

Connecticut State Employees Use of 411 Comes Under Fire

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, upon learning that more than half a million calls were placed from state government telephones to 411 (directory assistance) over the past 17 months at a cost of nearly $400,000, has ordered a crackdown on such calls, saying in most cases 411 should only be used when a number cannot promptly be found in a phone book or an online directory.

Event Links

2005 Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council NanoBioTech Summit - 4/1/05

Texas Library Association Annual Conference - 4/5/05 - 4/8/05

5th Annual Internet Security Forum for Texas State Government - 4/13/05

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

24th Annual Texas Conference on Aging - 4/24/05 - 4/27/05

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

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

Texas Government Insider Archives

Last Issue - 3/24/05

Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 Archives - 11/7/03 - 3/18/05

Resources

Child Protective Services Reform Overview

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

TxDOT's 2006 Project Selection Process

Resources for Electronic Government

Diagram of Legislative Process

HUB Forms Library

State Contract Management Guide

State Procurement Manual

TBPC Facilities Master Plan

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

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.