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Car Accident Kills One House Member, Injures AnotherTexas House of Representatives member Joe Moreno (D-Houston) was killed last night in a car accident just outside of LaGrange. He and fellow House member Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) and another House member's aid were all returning from a basketball game in Houston when Moreno apparently lost control of the vehicle and the car rolled. Anchia was treated for minor injuries and released, while an aid for Rep. Joe Pickett(D-El Paso) who was in the back seat of the car, remains hospitalized with more serious injuries. Moreno was elected to the Texas House in 1998, representing Houston's east end. He resided in Denver Harbor and also represented Magnolia, Manchester, Jacinto City, Galena Park, and parts of Pasadena and North Shore. Currently serving his fourth term, Rep. Moreno authored 22 bills this session. He served on the Border and International Affairs Committee and the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee. The House adjourned early today, in honor of Representative Moreno. 
Senate Confirms New Adjutant GeneralBrigadier General Charles G. Rodriguez will assume command of the Texas National Guard on June 12, 2005 in a change of command ceremony at Camp Mabry. Gen. Rodriquez, the State's first Hispanic Adjutant General, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the son of Colonel (retired) Joseph C. Rodriguez who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Korean War. The Texas National Guard is a 21,000 member Joint Force, comprised of the Texas Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and the Texas State Guard. Today more than 5,300 Texas National Guard members are deployed around the globe. Of these, 4,800 Texas Guard members are engaged in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. General Rodriguez earned an electrical engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy, a Master of Arts degree in communications research from Wheaton College, a Master of Business Administration degree from Keller Graduate School in Chicago, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Philanthropic Leadership from The Union Institute. General Charles Rodriguez has served in uniform for nearly 30 years, including eight years on active duty, 11 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and 10 years in the Texas Army National Guard. His most recent assignment was Assistant Adjutant General for Homeland Defense of the Joint Forces Headquarters, Texas Military Forces. In his civilian career, Dr. Rodriguez currently serves as Assistant Vice President for University Relations and Deputy Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness and Biomedical Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. General Rodriguez, a San Antonio resident, is married to Cappy Rodriguez, a 20-year commissioned officer veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve. Their two adult children live and attend college in San Antonio. 
Rawson named Director of Service Delivery at DIRBrian Rawson, Chief Information Officer for the Texas Education Agency (TEA), has been named Director of Service Delivery at the Department of Information Resources (DIR). In that post, he will be responsible for implementing IT initiatives for statewide customers and managing the administrative functions of the agency. He’ll be responsible for negotiating and managing a variety of statewide IT contracts focused on serving the needs of state agencies, universities, cities, counties, and public schools. Rawson will assume his new position on June 1. Rawson has more than 20 years of experience in a variety of information technology management, administrative management, and leadership positions, both in the public and private sectors. His state experience includes positions at the Texas Education Agency, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, and the Texas Department of Transportation. He has served as chair of the State Agency Coordinating Committee (SACC) IT Subcommittee, GTC Advisory Board Co-Chair, DIR ex oficio Board Member, and Texas Association of State Systems for Computing and Communications (TASSCC) Board Member. Governor appoints 2 new Aggie RegentsGov. Rick Perry appointed former Aggie football coach Gene Stallings and businessman Lupe Fraga to the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents yesterday. They are both A&M graduates. Their terms expire February 1, 2011 and the appointments are subject to senate confirmation 
Fraga is chairman and CEO of Tejas Office Products, Inc. and resides in Sugar Land. He is chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank Dallas-Houston Branch and is a member of the executive committee of the Greater Houston Partnership and the United Way-Gulf Coast Chapter. Fraga has served as a trustee of St. Thomas University and is chairman emeritus of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 2003, the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University named him an Outstanding Alumnus. 
Stallings is the former head football coach for Texas A&M University, the University of Alabama and the St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals. He resides in Powderly. He also has served as assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Stallings now serves on the board of Tandy Brand Corporation, People’s National Bank of Paris, Paris Regional Medical Center, the Texas Rangers and the Great Southern Wood Corporation. He is a trustee of Abilene Christian University and a board member of the Boys Club of Paris. An inductee into the Alabama and Texas Sports Halls of Fame, Stallings also is a member of the Texas A&M University Hall of Fame, the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame. Bond Review Board authorizes issuance of $4B for TxDOTIn 2001, the Texas legislature established the Texas Mobility Fund, which was approved by voters in November of that year. In 2003, legislators authorized money for the fund. On Sept. 30, 2004, following a lengthy public participation process, the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) approved the Texas Mobility Fund Strategic Plan, which emphasized local control, the need to leverage the fund and the goal to measure success on the ability to reduce congestion, improve safety, expand economic opportunity and enhance statewide connectivity. This week the state Bond Review Board approved issuance of the bonds. Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission said: “ By authorizing a full $4 billion, a strong message is being sent to communities across the state that we are serious about putting transportation dollars to work to relieve congestion and improve safety. Today’s action will help us double in the next ten years what we spent on mobility during the last ten years. We are truly moving forward on transportation in this state.” The TTC expects to issue $1B in bonds in the next 30 days followed by $1B in bonds for each of the next three years. OAG HUB Forum a successAttendees at last week's HUB Forum sponsored by the Office of Attorney General were given an opportunity to receive an in depth briefing on upcoming information technology, service related and other procurement opportunities at the agency for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. The well attended event included presentations from agency purchasing executives, participants in the Mentor Protégé Program and presentations followed by a Q&A session from project managers with oversight of upcoming procurements. Some upcoming procurements (w/estimated release dates) include:
For more information about the upcoming procurements covered at the event, contact Mindy Cohen, HUB Coordinator for the agency at (512) 475-4411. 15 Texas Schools Make Entrepreneur List15 Texas Schools were listed in Entrepreneur Magazine's 3rd Annual Survey of the Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges for 2005. The study identified and ranked 50 schools with Comprehensive entrepreneurship programs at nationally prominent colleges and universities. Another 50 programs were ranked at the regional level. In addition, schools with Entrepreneurship Emphasis programs and schools with Limited Curriculum programs were ranked. Within each category, programs have been ranked into four tiers--programs within the same tier have comparable offerings and resources. Southern Methodist University ranked in the 2nd tier nationally. Baylor, Rice, and TCU ranked in the third tier nationally. UT-Austin was in the 4th tier nationally. University of Houston and University of North Texas were both in the 1st tier regionally. Texas Tech was in the 4th tier regionally. Texas Nanotechnology Initiative (TNI) to Lobby AggressivelyTNI announced this week that is has formed an executive committee to help in promoting the commercialization and growth of the state's nanotechnology sector through aggressively lobbying the Texas Legislature and federal government. Now in its fourth year, TNI is a state-wide consortium of Texas-based universities, industry leaders, investors, and government officials focused on bringing top nanotechnology companies, researchers, funding, business and education entities together to develop the infrastructure necessary to turn Texas into an international player on the nanotechnology stage. More information about the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative is available on their Web site www.texasnano.org . Lens on the Legislature: 4th QuarterAs described in earlier Lens on the Legislature articles, a regular session of the Texas Legislature runs for 140 days and the last day of the current session will be May 30th. Therefore, today is Day 116. The March 11th article noted that humans are often driven by deadlines and described sharp increase in bills filed as Day 60 approached. The same phenomenon will be occurring this month as other deadlines approach. A list of these deadlines and the House Rules and Senate Rules to which they refer are all available online. These deadlines all refer to floor actions. The question often arises about the deadline for a bill to be reported out of committee. Article 3, Section 37 of the Texas Constitution requires that a bill may not pass unless it was referred to and reported by a committee of either house before the final three days of the session. Beyond that, Senate Rule 7.24 precludes the Senate from passing any bill reported from Senate committee during the final three days of the session. The real end of session deadlines, however, are driven by house rules. The house requirement for committee reports to go to the Calendars Committee and for the daily calendar to be distributed 36 hours in advance of floor consideration on second reading means that bills must be reported out of committee at least three days before any of the second reading deadlines. Practically speaking then, these committee deadlines begin kicking in this weekend for various types of bills. The curious reader may wonder how much increase in activity will be seen as these deadlines approach. History may shed some insight. On average for the last four regular sessions 3701 house bills and 1915 senate bills were introduced. Note that resolutions are not included in this count. So far in this session, 3590 house bills and 1883 senate bills have been filed, which means it is a typical session. If we assume that the passage rate would also be typical, then we would expect about 935 house bills and 625 senate bills to pass both chambers and be sent to the governor. To date, only 17 house bills and 42 senate bills have completed that journey. Much remains to be done! Many are struck by the seemingly small percentage of bills that are passed. Such an observation can be misleading, however. Apart from the fact that some bills simply don't pass, other factors that affect this percentage are:
With just slightly more than three weeks remaining in the 79th Regular Session, the success of this session will largely be determined by what occurs between now and May 30th. As more bills become signed into law, the focus of this column will change from an explanation of legislative process to a reporting of new laws. Editor's note: An archive of the Lens on the Legislature series is available online http://www.spartnerships.com/resources/LOL_index.asp . |
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Colin Pope joined SPI after working as a news reporter and public relations expert for nearly a decade. His experience and expertise in the area of communications is a valuable asset to SPI clients. As an award-winning veteran of business journalism, Colin has covered businesses' interaction with federal, state and local governments. The result has been that he has an extremely keen insight into governmental processes from the private sector's perspective. At SPI, Colin serves as a liaison between consultants, clients and the media, and helps position SPI clients with local and national publications. To read Colin's full bio, click here.
State Auditor ReportAdministration of Nursing Facility Contracts at the Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Health and Human Services Commission, SAO Report No. 05-033 California Government InsiderThe California Government Insider™ is SPI's bi-monthly publication detailing the important happenings in the state and summarizing current political issues relevant to those doing business with the California government. To read the latest issue or sign-up for the newsletter, click here. Recent Gubernatorial Appointments Andy L. Sheppard - Other states dealing with "Texas Problem"Legislators in 14 other states have introduced legislation dealing with Internet sites that allow hunters to fire remotely at real animals. For example, the California Government Insider™ recently reported that the California Senate has approved a bill that would ban such activity. The bill is in response to an Internet hunting site in Texas, according to its author, California Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach). Texas lawmakers are also considering legislation, Texas HB391 Event LinksFocus Group regarding the State’s Information Resources Strategic Plan - 5/13/2005 Computer Security for the Small Organization - 5/26/05 Texas Citizen Corps Conference - 5/31/2005 - 6/2/2005 Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Summer Workshop - 6/8/05 - 6/10/05 Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Summer Conference - 6/8/2005 - 6/10/2005 Western Governors' Annual Meeting - 6/12/2005 - 6/14/2005 Texas State Agency Business Administrators' Association 36th Annual Summer Conference - 6/12/05 - 6/15/05 DIR / TASSCC Government Portals seminar - 6/17/05 TASB Summer Leadership Institute - 06/23/05 - 06/24/05 Government Finance Officers Association 99th Annual Conference - 6/26/05 - 6/29/05 Western States Land Commissioners Association Summer Conference- 7/24/2005-7/28/2005 8th Annual Texas Transportation Summit - 8/9/05 - 8/12/05 Texas Association of Counties 2005 Post Legislative Session Conference - 8/10/05 - 8/12/05 4th Annual San Antonio Transportation Leadership Forum - 9/7/05 - 9/8/05 Past ABJ articles by Mary Scott NabersMillions to be spent on connecting Texas' first responders - 4/22/2005 Population growth leaves local, state governments dealing with water issues - 4/8/2005 Texas Government Insider ArchivesLast Issue - 4/29/05 Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 Archives - 11/7/03 - 4/22/05 ResourcesBudget and Performance Assessments: State Agencies and Institutions, Fiscal Year 2004 Legislative Workforce Summaries Diagram of Legislative Process State Contract Management Guide Who Represents Me? Texas Districts By Address Diagram of Texas' Biennial Budget Cycle Public Hearings/MeetingsUpcoming Senate Committee Meetings Upcoming House Committee Meetings Telecommunications Planning and Oversight Council Texas Health and Human Services Commission Texas Public Finance Authority Public Utility Commission of Texas Texas Bond Review Board Texas Department of Transportation Subscribe to the Texas Government Insider™We welcome you to add your friends and co-workers to the Texas Government Insider™ distribution. Simply click the Sign up for our mailing list icon near the top of this issue. Occasionally, we learn about people who signed up, but didn’t get the Texas Government Insider™. In nearly all cases, the problem turned out to be spam filtering on the receiving end. We strongly support the elimination of undesired email and applaud the use of technology to filter it. Occasionally, however, such filters prevent email that the recipient wanted to receive. If you have been unable to receive the Texas Government Insider™ or suddenly stop receiving it, we urge you to contact your information technology department to see if this was the cause. |
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TASSCC 2005 Annual ConferenceThe annual conference of the Texas Association for State Systems for Computing and Communications (TASSCC) will be held at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Dallas. It will begin with a 6:00 P.M. reception on Sunday evening, August 7, 2005, and will conclude at noon on Wednesday, August 10, 2005. The award nominations deadline is June 10th. Further information about the conference is available online. Coming Together to Make a DifferenceThe Southern Women in Public Service: Coming Together to Make a Difference conference is coming to Texas for the first time. The conference, now in its 15th year, will be May 15-17, 2005, at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio. The sponsor expects approximately 200 women political leaders – legislators, statewide elected officials, mayors, judges, state cabinet officers, civil servants and others – from 13 Southern states. The conference is sponsored by the Stennis Center for Public Service. For more information, visit their web site at www.stennis.gov or call (662) 325-8409. Computer Security for the Small OrganizationThe Department of Information Resources will host Computer Security for the Small Organization on May 26 from 8:30am - 12pm. The interactive discussion will focus on those information security risks facing all small organizations and how those risks can be identified and managed. This free educational program is intended for managers and staff of small organizations - specifically those with limited in-house resources to understand and implement IT security. The primary target audience is city, county, and state government entities, but registration will not be restricted - small business may also attend. For more information click here. Texas State Agency Business Administrator's Association ConferenceThe Texas State Agency Business Administrators’ Association is holding their 36th annual summer conference on June 12 to 15 at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi. The agenda and registration information are on their website http://www.tsabaa.com/ The deadline for vendor sponsorships and booth reservations is May 20th. Vendor questions may be addressed to: Lori.Trank@hhsc.state.tx.us. Free Intellectual Property SeminarThe United States Patent and Trademark Office has announced a free seminar to be held in Austin September 12-13. The sessions are designed to help promote and educate the American small business community about intellectual property and the realities of piracy and counterfeiting. In each seminar lawyers and other professionals from the USPTO will provide attendees with specific details and useful tips about how to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights in the United States and internationally. Further information is available on the USPTO Web site http://www.uspto.gov/ . |
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