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Special session not just about school financeAlthough the governor called lawmakers back to town to hammer out a funding plan for Texas schools, lawmakers may turn the special session into something more. Only a few days into the special session, lawmakers have filed more than 70 bills - only a couple of which have anything to do with education. For example, SB 21, a major telecommunications reform bill, was filed by Sen. Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay on Wednesday. That bill seeks to deregulate residential phone rates and establish ground rules for phone companies to get into the television business. It also would allow electric companies to deliver high-speed Internet service over power lines. New procurement rules for state agencies and vendors could be a topic of discussion if lawmakers are allowed by the governor to consider SB 14, which was filed Tuesday by Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo. That bill seeks to, in part, bolster ethics by establishing civil penalties for questionable procurement practices. With all the new bills flying about it's easy to lose sight of HB 2 - the House's public education bill. Rep. Kent Grusendorf of Arlington authored the bill and expects it to go to the floor early next week and off to the Senate as soon as possible. 
Ellison tapped to run Emerging Tech FundMark Ellison, director of employer initiatives at the Texas Workforce Commission, has been selected to run the state's new Emerging Technology Fund. The $200 million fund is designed to support technology research and attract promising technology companies to the state. A 17-member board will determine which organizations get funding. Texas IT reorganization bill OK'dIt's official: HB 1516 has been signed by the governor. The bill, which takes effect on September 1, will produce some significant changes in how Texas does IT, with a major change of the Department of Information Resources' (DIR) role in state government. TxDOT sending $51.7M to Austin for toll roads
Austin City Manager Toby Futrell and officials at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have signed three contracts that call for the state to pick up an estimated $51.7 million of costs associated with three Austin toll roads. Prior to the agreements the city was on the hook for the funding. However, the agreements state that if at some point in the future the roads - new lanes on most of Ed Bluestein Boulevard (U.S. 183), Texas 71 near its confluence with U.S. 183, and U.S. 290 and Texas 71 in Oak Hill - were to be built instead as free roads, the city would have to pay the money back. The 23-member Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) board, which includes Austin Mayor Will Wynn and three Austin City Council members, last July approved levying tolls on those three roads and others. DIR hires new division directorKim Weatherford has accepted the position as director for the Statewide Technology Operations Division. He is expected to take his new post at the Department of Information Resources (DIR) on July 5. Weatherford is currently the Information Resources Manager at the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. Governor signs film incentives legislation into lawState lawmakers have given filmmakers an incentive to come to Texas - literally. Gov. Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 1142, which ties grants to filmmakers based on payroll spending. Thirteen other states offer similar film incentives. SB 1142, which calls for $20 million for production incentives and $10 million for marketing, goes into effect on September 1 but there is one big hitch: The funding component was left out of the bill, which means the Texas Film Commission, a department in Perry's office, must come up with a funding source within two years, or Texas' film incentive program won't be able to move forward. According to the legislation, funding can come from grants, gifts, donations or other money, including appropriations. Port Aransas wants to expand ferries, create RMAThe long process to expand the Port Aransas ferry, which could come with the possibility of a toll and a priority lane, will get under way in the fall. Port Aransas Mayor Georgia Neblett said details and a timeline for the plan will be worked out in a series of upcoming public meetings. Legislation passed recently in Austin allows for a regional mobility authority (RMA) to charge a toll and add ferries, but Port Aransas residents must first vote on whether to set up the authority. 
Bush taps agriculture CIO to be next homeland security CIOOn Monday, President Bush announced his intention to appoint Scott Charbo, of Virginia, to be Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security. Charbo (pictured) currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the Department of Agriculture. Prior to that, he served as Director of the Office of Business and Program Integration at USDA. Charbo's appointment comes at a time when Homeland Security could face major adjustments to its structure. Secretary Michael Chertoff, who took office earlier this year, has been conducting an extensive examination of the department's operations and is expected to reveal changes soon in the way the 2-year-old department functions. Baylor gets record $31.25M donationThe Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation is donating more than $31 million to fund biomedical research at the Baylor College of Medicine. Baylor will use some of the money to build a new research tower. The donation, which is the largest in Baylor's history, will be paid out over five years. Vehicle registration goes high-tech in HoustonHouston-area motorists can now print, peel and mount their own vehicle registration stickers by using a new kiosk-based process available at 660 workstations in nearly 400 locations around Harris County. The new sticker printing process was unveiled Tuesday by the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and the Texas Department of Transportation. Previously, drivers looking to renew their annual vehicle registration either had to mail in their renewal forms or visit one of the Harris County tax offices. 
UTSA names first woman dean of business schoolDr. Lynda de la Vina has been named dean of the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) College of Business. De la Vina is the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as UTSA College of Business dean. De la Vina was named interim dean in September 2004. During that time she developed a strategic plan for the College of Business that included raising the academic profile of the college with the goal of becoming one of the nation's best business schools. She also developed alliances with other nationally and internationally recognized institutions. UTSA scores $200,000 educational grantThe philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Co. will award the University of Texas at San Antonio more than $200,000 over the next two years to help prepare more high school students for careers in math, science and engineering. UTSA's Pre-freshman Engineering Program, along with school districts across San Antonio, will offer students courses on entrepreneurship, marketing, engineering, environmental sustainability and global economics. Lens on the Legislature: It wasn't over long!With the 79th Session having ended and the deadline for the governor's vetoes having passed, we thought this might be the last article in the current Lens on the Legislature series. A funny thing happened while thinking about the contents for the final issue - the governor called the legislature back to town! Since the May 20th LOL described the scope of special sessions and the authority for calling them, the focus today will be on wrapping up the recently ended regular session. The Legislative Reference Library provides a good statistical summary of the session. The governor vetoed 19 bills and vetoed a number of line items in the appropriations bill. Proclamations were issued for each veto to enable the legislature and the public to understand the governor's reasoning. A proclamation was also issued about the vetoes of specific line items within the appropriations bill. 381 bills were effective immediately. Nearly all of the others will be effective September 1st. Previous LOL articles have described how to look up the enrolled versions of these bills. Conference Committee reports are also available online. The final version of the appropriations bill is available online on the Legislative Budget Board site. Three major summaries (typically 200 to 500 pages each) that you can expect to be published by late Summer or the Fall are:
Finally, last week's LOL promised that today's article would cover a third way to research bills on a subject of interest. Most subjects impact certain specific sections of law, so the third way is to determine the law likely to be impacted and search for any enrolled bills (and checking to be sure they weren't vetoed) that impact that law. An example may help… Let's assume your subject of interest is what is commonly called "Open Records" or "Public Information," or "Freedom of Information." If you look at any bill related to that subject or search TexasOnline, you can quickly determine that Section 552 of the Government Code deals with public information. You can then use an online inquiry available through the Legislative Reference Library to say "show me all of the enrolled bills that affected GC Section 552." In this example, 51 records are returned dealing with a half dozen bills. Next week's Lens on the Legislature will deal with the special session. [Editor's Note: Past issues of Lens on the Legislature are available online] |
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Texas universities lobby for Bush libraryA high-powered search committee is already look for the site of President Bush's library. Several universities, along with the City of Arlington, have already penned lengthy proposals to entice the site selectors. Among the top contenders for the $200 million library are:
Bush still has 42 months left in his term, but a decision on the library's site is expected to be made this year. NASCIO looks at data integrationNational Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) officials has released a research brief about challenges facing states' data integration projects. Click here to read the brief. Public Hearings/MeetingsUpcoming Senate Committee Meetings Upcoming House Committee Meetings Event LinksGovernment 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 Recent ABJ articles by Mary Scott NabersFederal officials release $1.3 billion to help fight bioterrorism - 6/10/2005 Opportunities flying for contracts at airports across Texas - 5/30/2005 State's renewed emphasis on education offers possibilities - 5/16/2005 Millions to be spent on connecting Texas' first responders - 4/22/2005 Texas Government Insider ArchivesLast Issue - 6/17/05 Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 Archives - 11/7/03 - 6/17/05 ResourcesDiagram of Legislative Process State Contract Management Guide Who Represents Me? Texas Districts By Address Diagram of Texas' Biennial Budget Cycle 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 our sales department at 512-531-3900. |
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Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) meetingThe BRAC regional hearing for Texas and Arkansas will be in San Antonio on July 11. It is an open meeting and will be held in the Ballroom of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. The address of the Center is 200 East Market Street. 2005 TAC Annual ConferenceOn August 10-12, the Texas Association of Counties will have its annual conference in Austin at the Hilton Hotel downtown (512) 482-8000. For more information contact the TAC education staff at (800) 456-5974. |
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