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Deanna Frisk, Advocacy Director
Brandon Spenrath, Editor
www.lwvtexas.org
Texas House
About Us
Texas
Senate
This will be our last
Newsletter of this session. The last day of the session is Monday, May 28th.
We want to thank
everyone who worked on getting articles in each time and all League members
who called, emailed, and wrote their legislators when we had calls for
action. We know it helps when legislators hear from their constituents.
There will be one final wrap up newsletter on June 22nd.
June 19th is the last day Governor Perry can process bills.
Do you know
someone who may have an interest in the Legislative Newsletter? Don't keep
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email
membership@lwvtexas.org.
IN THIS ISSUE:
-
TRANSPORTATION
-
JUVENILE JUSTICE
-
REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE/WOMEN'S HEALTH
-
WATER RESOURCES
-
NUCLEAR WASTE
-
LAND USE & FUNDING FOR TEXAS PARKS
-
IMMIGRATION
-
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
-
AIR QUALITY
-
RECORDED VOTES
-
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
-
ELECTION
LAWS
-
CHILDREN'S
HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (CHIP)
-
CHILD
CARE
-
ENERGY ISSUES
-
REDISTRICTING
 JUVENILE
JUSTICE
- Jayne Krawietz
HB 1
is the House Appropriations bill. We prefer the House version to the
Senate budget bill because the House bill allows money for treatment of
offenders. The Senate bill allows money for treatment and new prisons. We
feel strongly that available funds should go preferentially to treatment
programs. Although this is an adult-prison issue, the League’s position on
prevention over incarceration still holds.
Please call your
Representative to say you want funding to go to treatment and not new
prisons. Also ask for full funding of HB 2807, which reforms the Texas
Youth Commission, as discussed in previous newsletters.
Edie Jones (Tarrant Co.)
New
Information:
HB 1892
(Smith) OPPOSE Moratorium
Bill on Trans Texas Corridor (includes many other toll roads). Bill passed
and has gone to the Governor’s desk. Deadline is May 14 for signature,
veto, or becoming law without the Governor’s signature. Highways 1604 and
281 are included in this moratorium. Some North Texas roads which had been
approved were not in the moratorium. TXDOT and Texas Transportation
disagree with the interpretation of the moratorium for North Texas roads.
The governor is waiting for a
substitute bill to avoid calling a special session. More planning needs to
be accomplished.
Jayne Krawietz (Midland)
HB 2807 (Madden) SUPPORT was passed. This is the companion bill to SB103,
and they are comprehensive reform bills for the Texas Youth Commission.
This house version did specifically exclude misdemeanor offenders from the
TYC facilities. Although judges had wanted discretion to sentence
misdemeanants to TYC, this bill did not allow it. Now the important thing
is for these bills to be fully funded. The state must also not cut funds
from county and city governments who will now be responsible for these
misdemeanor offenders.
Talk of tax cuts is
gaining momentum at a time when these vital state services are in need of
increased funding to prevent the mistreatment of juvenile offenders. These
facilities are also underserved by mental health services. These bills
address the important issues, but will not be effective unless fully
funded.
HB 427 (Madden)
SUPPORT This bill allows a
District Attorney or County Attorney in counties with
Texas Youth Commission (TYC)
facilities to request a special prosecution unit to prosecute crimes
committed on TYC property. One of the reasons given for the inaction at the
Pyote State School was that no one claimed jurisdiction. The bill has
been voted out of committee.
HB 3309 (Bolton) SUPPORT
This bill allows
advocacy groups to provide information and support for sexual assault
victims living in TYC facilities. Voted out of committee and has been sent to the House Local/Consent
calendar.
Julie Lowenberg (Dallas)
HB 1379 (Deshotel) – SUPPORT – has passed both Houses and been sent to the
Governor’s office.
SB 785 (Shapiro) and SB 920 (Patrick) - OPPOSE - two
dangerous anti-choice bills that have passed the Texas Senate have been
scheduled for debate/vote on the House floor. An action alert was sent by
LWV-TX on May 17 with urgent request to call Representatives and urge them
to oppose these measures.
SB 785 would impose onerous, intrusive reporting requirements on abortion
patients and providers. The clear intent of this measure is to
discourage physicians from providing abortion care and intimidate women
seeking an abortion. These reporting mandates are not required for
any other medical procedure and would be made public.
In addition to imposing unnecessary reporting requirements on
abortion patients and providers, this legislation would mandate that judges
who hear judicial bypass cases - in which minors seek judicial permission to
have an abortion, because they cannot talk to a parent to receive parental
consent - file reports as well. This puts the personal safety and
job security of judges who grant judicial bypasses at risk. You
may recall that some slightly positive changes were made to SB 785
before its passage in the Senate; unfortunately, these have all been
stripped away and the bill now consists of its original text.
SB 920 would force a woman seeking abortion care to be provided with an
ultrasound image of her fetus before she is allowed to have an abortion.
Although the bill language does not literally "require" the woman to view
the image, the mandate that she "review" it begs the question: How can one
review an image without viewing it? The clear intent of this bill
is to discourage women from choosing an abortion. (Ultrasounds are
already a routine part of abortion care, and patients who want to see the
image can do so.)
As of deadline for this edition (#11) of the Newsletter, the bills
had not been heard on the House floor. If they are not heard by midnight on
Tuesday May 22, they will die, according to House rules.
BREAKING
GOOD NEWS:
Both SB 785 and SB 920 died in
the House on May 22. Just hours before the midnight May 22 deadline for
Senate bills to reach the House floor, Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) raised
a point of order questioning whether the official analysis of SB 785
fully reflected the text of the bill; his objection was sustained by House
Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland). Meanwhile, on that same evening, opponents
of SB 920 had slowed the process on a number of important bills that
were under the same midnight deadline, effectively and successfully
pressuring Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), the House sponsor of SB 920,
to postpone its consideration until June 1, after the session ends. ... All
measures opposed by LWV-TX that would have imposed new and unnecessary
restrictions or burdens on the right to choose an abortion, EXCEPT SB 785
and SB 920, discussed above, are now “dead,” having failed to make it
out of House or Senate Committees before the deadlines for bills to be
scheduled for floor debate/vote.
MORE GOOD NEWS: All of
the other anti-choice bills opposed by LWV-Texas had previously died either
in committees or by failure to meet deadlines. The remaining threat in the
waning days of the session is that anti-choice legislators will attempt to
attach amendments that would restrict access to abortions to other pending
measures.
UPDATES:
·
HB 1098 (Bonnen) OPPOSE has become law, without Governor Perry’s signature. The
Governor declined to veto the bill, knowing that there were more than enough
votes in the Legislature to override. Thus, the executive order issued in
February that sixth grade girls must receive the HPV vaccine before entering
public schools has been reversed by the legislature, with the additional
provision that the vaccine cannot be mandated until at least 2011. At a
press conference announcing his decision not to veto, Perry stated: “A
debate which affects real lives has been hijacked by politics and posturing.
I have never seen so much misinformation spread about a vital public health
issue.”
·
HB 1842 (Strama) SUPPORT,
the Prevention First measure, is
dead. It was set on the House intent calendar but was caught in a backlog of
scheduled bills and did not meet the May 10 midnight deadline for the House
to hear House bills.
Julia Marsden (Austin Area)
GOOD NEWS! MAJOR
WATER LEGISLATION IS MOVING FORWARD!
HB 3 (Puente) SUPPORT
was passed out of Senate Natural
Resources by a vote of 11-0
on April 30 and the
Committee report was printed and distributed. The bill has not as yet been
placed on the Senate Intent Calendar. HB3 is a stand alone bill that
addresses environmental flows. Although state law recognizes the importance
of maintaining the health of the state’s rivers and estuaries, it does not
address environmental flows. The bill would create a basin-by-basin process
for developing recommendations to meet instream needs, would require TCEQ to
adopt recommendations in the form of environmental flow standards, and would
create the Environmental Flows Advisory Group to oversee the process.
HB 4 (Puente)
SUPPORT, passed by the House, was
sent to the Senate, and referred to Senate Natural Resources on May 7.
HB4, a water conservation bill that represents the consensus
recommendations of the state’s Water Conservation Implementation Task force
established by the legislature in 2003, would establish a statewide water
conservation public awareness program to educate Texas residents about water
conservation; would set forth legislative policy regarding the value of
land stewardship for conservation purposes; and create a Water Conservation
Advisory Council to monitor the development and implementation of water
conservation strategies. The bill would also require the submission of
water conservation plans by retail public water utilities that provide
potable water service to 3,300 or more connections and directs that the
Texas Water Development Board’s water assistance fund can be used for grants
for water conservation.
SB3 (Averitt) OPPOSE
was reported favorably by House
Natural Resources on a vote of 7-2 on May 2. CSSB 3 is a heavily
amended version of the original SB3. Opposition and amendments
focused on the designation of unique reservoir sites. Eliminated were
Fastrill, Little River, and Marvin Nichols. Although SB3 was
originally an omnibus bill that addressed environmental flows along with
water conservation it became a reservoir designation bill. Another big
issue in the bill would be protections and/or benefits for landowners whose
land would be part of the reservoir designation.
CSSB1342 (Hegar)
OPPOSE known as the Edwards
Aquifer legislation would establish a stakeholder process to obtain a
consensus to ensure that flows of the Comal Springs and the San Marcos
Springs would be protected during droughts and to encourage conservation and
the development of new supplies of water to meet the increasing demands of
the region’s rapidly growing population.
Why would LWV-TX oppose
this bill? The bill would raise the cap on pumping from the Aquifer by a
100,000 acre feet in the face of a statement in the author’s statement of
intent that, “there is no scientific evidence available on which the
authority can base decisions regarding caps for groundwater withdrawal
permits, or interruptions of regular permit withdrawals to protect the
spring flows at the Comal and San Marcos Springs and downstream surface
water rights during low aquifer conditions.” It would be much more
reasonable and scientifically sound to assess the impact before the
current cap is raised.
Melanie Barnes (Lubbock)
New Information
SB 1604 Supports relating to responsibilities of certain state
agencies concerning radioactive substances imposing fees and surcharges
providing administrative and civil penalties.
LWV-TX has been working to achieve the goals
of this legislation during the last two legislative sessions. Previously as
of April 18th SB 1604 was engrossed by the Senate (29 ayes
and 1 nay) and received from the Senate by the House. Currently as of May 21st
SB 1604 has passed out of the House Environmental Regulation
committee and is set on the House floor calendar for May 22nd.
Please encourage your representatives to SUPPORT this bill.
LWV-TX lobbies on nuclear waste issues based
on LWVUS positions.
SB 1604 SUPPORT
is relating to responsibilities of certain
state agencies concerning radioactive substances; imposing fees and
surcharges; providing administrative and civil penalties.
Currently, the Texas Department of State
Health Services (DSHS) regulates the recovery of uranium and disposal of
byproduct material as well as the commercial storage and processing of
radioactive waste. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
regulates the disposal of radioactive substances except for byproduct
material and oil and gas naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM)
waste.
SB 1604
consolidates storage, processing, and disposal activities related to uranium
mining and radioactive waste under TCEQ. Most of the language of the bill is
addressing the changes necessary in the Texas Administrative Code to achieve
this objective. Some specifics include:
a)
SB1604
would authorize a separate commercial storage and processing license to be
issued for a site also licensed for disposal. Additionally, the bill
requires an applicant, before a license is issued or renewed by TCEQ, to
demonstrate to TCEQ that the applicant is financially qualified to conduct
the licensed activity, including any required decontamination,
decommissioning, reclamation, and disposal, by posting security acceptable
to TCEQ.
b)
For NEW sites SB 1604 requires TCEQ in adopting rules for the
issuance of licenses under its jurisdiction for new sites for processing or
disposal of radioactive substances from other persons, to adopt criteria for
the designation of certain unsuitable sites. In addition TCEQ is required to
consult with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the State Soil and
Water Conservation Board, the Bureau of Economic Geology, and other
appropriate state agencies in developing proposed rules and to consider site
suitability, geological, hydrological, and meteorological factors, and
natural hazards, and the demonstration of financial qualifications.
c)
For uranium mining SB 1604 authorizes TCEQ to issue a permit
that authorizes the construction and operation of two or more similar
injection wells within a specified area for mining of uranium. Provides that
an application for a new permit, a major amendment of such a permit, or a
renewal of such a permit for mining of uranium is subject to the public
notice requirements and opportunity for contested case hearing.
LWV-TX has been
working to achieve these goals during the last two legislative sessions. As
of April 18th SB 1604 has been engrossed by the Senate and received from the
Senate by the House. SB 1604 passed the Senate with 29 ayes and 1 nay.
Deanna Frisk (Comal Area)
HB 6 (Hilderbran) SUPPORT
Will credit to Parks & Wildlife all revenue,
less allowable costs, received from the following sources.
Referred to: House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee.
Hearing on 2-20. The League signed in as Supporting.
The bill was left pending without objection.
3/22
Sent to House Calendars committee as substituted.
Amends Section 11.035(b) of the Parks and
Wildlife Code by requiring the department to credit the state parks account
with an amount equal to 74 percent of the credits made to the department
under Section 151.801 of the Tax Code, instead of $1,125,000 per month and
40 percent of the credits. Amends Section 11.043(b) of the Parks and
Wildlife Code, by including an allocation to the large municipality
recreation and parks account which will prevent competition between large
and small communities for funding. This substitute adds counties with a
population of 500,000 or more to the recipients of monies from the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department and other grants. It also replaces the word
"city" with "municipality" in the definition of a political subdivision.
Finally, this committee substitute makes minor changes so that the language
is congruent with the rest of the bill.
SB 252 SUPPORT
Companion Bill. Referred to
Senate Finance Committee
- grants or operation
of concessions in state parks or fishing piers
- publications on
state parks, state historic sites, or state scientific areas
- fines or penalties
received from violations of regulations
- fees and revenue
collected associated with state park lands
HB 12 (Hilderbran) SUPPORT
Rep. Hilderbran, Chairman of the committee,
has moved this bill out of House Culture, Recreation and Tourism. It is the
bill that transfers all historical sights from Parks & Wildlife Dept. to the
Texas Historical Commission along with giving Parks Dept. more money. The
League has no position on who should take care of historical sights but we
are hoping Parks Dept. gets the increase in funding they need. HB 12
has been passed in the House and received in the Senate. 5-15 Referred to
Senate Finance New Information:
05/19/2007- Voted favorably from
Senate Finance
as substituted. This substitution sets up a task force to determine the
amount of revenue that must be generated to fund the policy decisions made
by the 80th Legislature regarding state parks. Not later than
January 25, 2009, it shall prepare and present to the 81st
Legislature a report that describes the findings and includes
recommendations regarding the specific items that should be included in the
definition of “sporting goods”. The Historical commission and the Parks &
Wildlife Dept. shall assist in a joint interim study of the need for and the
terms and conditions of any transfer of certain state historic sites from
Parks Dept.
HJR 71 (Hilderbran) SUPPORT Proposing
a constitutional amendment relating to the dedication of the revenue
received from the sporting goods tax.
On 2/06/2007-
Referred to House Culture, Recreation and
Tourism Committee. The League signed in as supporting at the hearing.
4-17 voted favorably from committee. Sent to Calendars Committee on
4-24.
HB 3447 (Rose) SUPPORT Filed bill would regulate land development in a county wholly or partly located in a priority
groundwater management area (PGMA) designated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, that contains
territory from seven or more counties. The commissioners court of a county may regulate, by order, the subdivision to use
a water or wastewater system, have a minimum fire suppression system, require improvements to all streets and roads,
require a minimum amount of open space or impose a limit on amount of impervious cover for recharge and runoff
purposes, impose impact fees, prescribe the density or number of residential units that can be built per acre of land,
requiring buffer zones or adopting other measures to minimize conflicts between incompatible land uses or adopt any
other regulation necessary to regulate or manage land development. Referred to House County Affairs. Hearing 4-18,
League sent testimony and signed in. HB 3447 passed favorably from Committee. Sent to House Calendars Committee.
Committee amendments include: A county election must be passed in order to enforce. It needs to be held
on the regular November uniform election date.
The bill authorizes the commissioners' court
of a county to regulate land development in the unincorporated area of the
county by:
(1) requiring a subdivision to use a water or
wastewater system under standards adopted by the county;
(2) requiring improvements to all features of
streets and roads in a platted subdivision;
(3) regulating road
frontage and building set-backs from roads, streets, or alleys in a platted
subdivision; or
(4) regulating the
location, design, construction, extension, size, and installation of
drainage facilities and other required public facilities in a platted
subdivision
All
references to impervious cover on the recharge zone, fire suppression
systems, impact fees and buffer zones have been eliminated!
Linda Hanratty (Tarrant County)
HRC 11 (Solomon)
SUPPORT would direct the Office of
the Attorney General of Texas to pursue all available remedies, including
but not limited to initiating a lawsuit or joining other states in a suit
against the United States Attorney General, to demand the enforcement of all
existing federal immigration laws by the federal government and to recover
any money owed Texas by the federal government for costs incurred by the
state in dealing with illegal immigration. The League supports economic
assistance to those areas of the state disproportionately impacted by
immigration. This funding should come primarily from federal, state, and
private sources. Referred to the House State Affairs Committee.
04/30/2007- Voted favorably from House State Affairs; 5/1/2007 - Sent to
House Calendars committee.
HB 904 (Zedler) OPPOSE
would prohibit the construction or operation
by a local governmental entity of a day labor center used as a facility
for the employment of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.
The League believes the state should support job training and placement for
immigrants. The day labor centers serve for a job placement purpose.
The bill was filed on January 26, 2007, and referred to the House State
Affairs Committee on February 8, 2007.
04/30/2007- Voted
favorably from House State Affairs as substituted; 05/02/2007- Sent to House
Calendars committee; 5/8/2007 - Set on House floor calendar for 05/09/2007
as substituted.
Maxine Barkan (Austin Area)
New Information SB
64 (Zaffirini) SUPPORT has been enrolled after being passed by both
houses with the House amendment. It had substantial legislative support. To
review, the bill would require general-purpose committees to report
contributions over $5,000 from the ninth day before an election until the
second day before an election. The report must include the amount of the
contribution, the full name and address of the contributor, and the dates.
Heretofore, the public has not been aware of large contributions made by
special interests to PACs until after an election. This has been referred to
as “late train” contributions, providing a disclosure loophole big enough to
drive a train though. The League has supported this part of campaign finance
reform for several sessions. The next step is the governor’s signature.
New Information HB
158 (Naishtat, et. al.) SUPPORT requiring an individual to report the
fair market value of a gift of cash or check to be reported that would
identify who the contributor is. The bill passed out of the Elections
Committee and was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee. Rep.
Naishtat threw his support to SB 129 (West) SUPPORT which was
substantially the same bill with different language. The bill subsequently
passed both houses and is ready for the governor’s signature.
Both these bills are steps refining disclosure laws and
forcing candidates and PACs to be more transparent in letting the public
know who has given money and how much in a timely manner. It is one way to
assure the public to have more confidence in the electoral process.
SB 64 (Zaffirini and Strama) SUPPORT
was heard in the Elections Committee April 25, 2007. The bill would require
general-purpose committees to file additional reports from the ninth day
before an election until the second day before an election if the
contributions exceed $1,000. A substitute was offered to increase the
ceiling to $5,000. The substitute was passed 5-0 and referred to the House
Calendars Committee. This legislation would prevent large contributions
close to an election and that would not be reported until after an election.
The League agreed to the substitute and signed in favor of the bill.
New
Information HB 158 (Naishtat)
SUPPORT was heard in committee on March 14, 2007. The League signed in
favor of the bill at the hearing. The bill has several co-sponsors who had
similar bills to offer. They have been combined into one, CSHB 158
after making sure the language of the bill would accomplish the goal. To
review, last year the Texas Ethics Commission, in an Advisory Opinion which
the League with several other organizations requested, stated that a state
official did not have to report the value of a gift of cash or a check. This
was in response to two checks last summer totaling $100,000 that were
reported to the Ethics Commission as checks with no identifying information.
In the Advisory Opinion, the Commission said they were not required to
request this information. The Commission’s advice was to ask the
legislature to pass legislation that would be specific. CSHB 158
would require an individual to report the fair market value of a gift when
filing a financial statement with the Ethics Commission. No fiscal note is
required. If passed, the financial reporting would be required after January
1, 2008. CSHB 158 was scheduled for debate in the House on April 11,
2007 and was passed to engrossment and sent to the Senate.
Laura Blackburn (Houston Area)
Only two of
the House bills we have been following had been heard by the House Committee
on Environmental Regulation by May 7. However, there has been action on
several of our priorities, as indicated below.
HB 1252 (Bonnen)
SUPPORT requires that
not only should a pre-construction permit be reviewed every ten years, it
must also be reviewed during a permit amendment. HB 1252 was
reported favorably out of the Environmental Regulation Committee on April
12. On May 3 it was replaced in the House on second reading by its
companion bill, SB 1673 (Averitt.) HB 1252 was then “laid on the
table.” SB 1673 was passed on third reading in the House on May 4
and passed to engrossment. The Senate had passed SB 1673 on April
12. This will be a valuable addition to achieving clean air in Texas.
New information:
SB 1673
was sent to Gov. Perry for
signature on May 10.
HB 2475
(Hochberg) SUPPORT had
a similar fate. This is the House version of the “toxic hotspots” bill and,
while it never had a hearing in the House Environmental Regulation
Committee, companion bills SB 1855 (Gallegos) SUPPORT and SB 1906 (Ellis)
SUPPORT still have a chance of passing.
SB 12 (Averitt)
SUPPORT updates the
Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) and the Low-Income Vehicle Repair
Assistance Program (LIRAP.) SB 12 passed the Senate on March 21 and
a hearing was held in the House Committee on Environmental Regulation on
April 10. A committee substitute was offered on May 2 and it was voted
favorably out of the Environmental Regulation Committee.
SB 12
was sent to the House Calendars Committee on May 8.
New information:
SB 12 was passed to
engrossment by the House on May 17!
SB 93
(Gallegos) SUPPORT
Provides for fence-line monitoring and sets up a procedure for setting
ambient air standards for highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs).
This bill was referred to the Natural Resources Committee on January 23, and
no further action has been taken.
SB 124
(Ellis) SUPPORT
requires Texas to adopt the California standards for cars and light trucks.
The bill was left pending in the Senate Natural Resources Committee
after the hearing on April 10, and no further action has been taken.
SB 529
(Watson) SUPPORT is
the commonly-known “clean school bus” bill. It passed the Senate on April
11 and was referred to the House Environmental Regulation Committee on April
12. New information:
SB 529 was voted out of committee on May 11 and was set for the House
floor calendar on May 22.
SB 1855
(Gallegos) SUPPORT
establishes the “toxic hotspots” pilot program and sets ambient air
standards for priority toxic air contaminants: benzene, 1, 3 butadiene,
diesel particulate matter, ethylene dichloride and nickel. SB 1855
was heard in the Natural Resources Committee on April 17 and is still
pending.
B 1906
(Ellis) SUPPORT is
similar to SB 1855 by Gallegos relating to toxic hotspots. It was
referred to the Senate Natural Resources Committee on March 22.
SB 1924 (Gallegos) SUPPORT
establishes an Air Pollutant Watch List for various geographic areas of the
state. It was heard by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources on April
17, and passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee on April 19. On May 3
SB 1924
was set on the Senate Intent Calendar for
May 4. :
The Senate passed the
bill on May 8, and it was sent to the House, where it was referred to the
Committee on Environmental Regulation. A hearing was held on for May 15 and
LWV-TX presented written comments in support of the bill.
New information: SB 1924
passed the House Environmental Regulation Committee on May 18 and was sent
to the House Calendars Committee.
Linda Camin (Dallas)
New
Information: It is with the
sincerest regret that we have to report the breakdown in negotiations
between the House and the Senate to reconcile differences in the two
versions of HJR 19 passed. On Friday, HJR 19 (Branch) was
point ordered by Representative Talton. This cut off consideration of
HJR 19 (Carona). Because the caption to the House version stated that
votes were to be recorded on “final passage,” the Senate requirements for
recorded votes on all amendments, preliminary votes and appointments were
deemed to be non-germane. Representative Branch is willing to support a
constitutional amendment for recorded votes on final passage only in the
House and to exclude the Senate. Senator Carona believes that voters should
know how their legislators vote throughout the process and does not want to
include the Senate in a bill that requires less than their current practice.
As quoted in the Dallas Morning News (“Bill on recording of votes causes
clash,” May 19, 2007):
“If the choice is
between not having any progress, and only having progress for the House,
then I’m certainly open to that,” Mr. Branch said. “I applaud them for
making an effort, and I support whatever he does in terms of language that’s
acceptable to the House. Mr. Carona said. “I just don’t want to include the
Senate in a bill that would be inferior to what the Senate already has.
…We’ll just do our own [constitutional] amendment next session.”
HJR 19
(Branch) is now in the
hands of the Senate. Calls (512-463-0001), faxes (512-936-6700) and emails (ltgov.state.tx.us/contact)
to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst requesting his leadership in passing the bill are
in order. Also, contacting your Texas Senator will be helpful as well.
While the
League would prefer Senator Carona’s bill, Representative Branch’s bill is a
start on the road for Texans to know how their legislators are voting.
Passage by citizens of a constitutional amendment to record votes on final
passage would send a message to the representatives. Let’s not let the sun
set on recorded votes this session.
Gloria Suarez-Sasser (San Marcos Area)
HRJ 23 (Naishtat) Support Calls for a moratorium on the execution of persons
convicted of capital offenses. The bill would grant the governor the power
to issue an order to prohibit the Department of Criminal Justice from
performing executions on or after the effective date and until the order is
revoked. This bill was filed in November 13, 2006 and was referred to the
House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on February 6, 2007. The bill was
scheduled for a hearing on April 24, 2007 and was left pending. On April
27, 2007, the bill was voted favorably from the committee and on May 1,
2007 was referred to the House Calendars Committee.
Barbara Weinstein (Dallas)
HB 218 (Brown) OPPOSE Relating
to requiring a voter to present proof of identification. We are waiting for
a vote on HB 218 that has passed the House. The bill has been on the
Senate Intent Calendar every day since May 1 and on the Business Calendar
every day since May 1. It can be pulled for a vote at anytime.
New Information:
So far it would seem at least one good
election bill has passed both houses this session. That would be HB 770
(DUTTON) relating to requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
to provide notice to certain persons of the right to vote.
For all of you nail biters
out there, the opposition appears to be holding on HB 218 and HB
626. We oppose both of these bills and can only hope that the
opposition holds. Remember, HB 218 is the Voter ID bill and HB
626 is the bill that requires additional identification when voters
register.
Julia Marsden (Austin Area)
SB 266 (ZAFFIRINI)
SUPPORT that would, among other
things, increase Medicaid coverage from 6 to 12 months.
The Substitute CSSB
266 (OPPOSE) would lay out a CHIP Compromise and a compromise on
12-month coverage in children’s Medicaid and would provide “fixes” to the
eligibility system in both.
A recent report from the
Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced that 17,078 fewer
children will be covered by CHIP in May than in April. This is the second
largest number of children ever to be disenrolled in one month, second only
to immediately after state budget cuts in 2003.
LWV-TX is
a member of the CHIP Coalition and the Insure Texas Kids Campaign.
As a member we will be working to help bring about The Cure. The
Coalition will work to:
-
Implement 12 months continuous eligibility
for CHIP and Children’s Medicaid
-
Eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks to
encourage personal responsibility and help low income families achieve
self-sufficiency:
a.
Fix problems with the Integrated Eligibility System to prevent
eligible kids from losing CHIP and Medicaid coverage
b.
Eliminate the CHIP asset test
c.
Eliminate the CHIP 90 day waiting period for uninsured children
d.
Deduct childcare and child support expenses when calculating income
for CHIP
e. Provide adequate
reimbursement for Medicaid and CHIP providers
f. Invest in outreach and
education to ensure that all eligible children get the care that they need.
HB 109
by (Turner and Davis)
joined forces to submit a committee substitute for the 30 CHIP bills that
were heard in the Human Services committee. CSHB 109
passed 8-1 and achieves much of the CHIP Coalition Agenda.
·
Children would renew coverage
annually instead of every six months. Income eligibility would allow
child-care expenses to be deducted when calculating income. The current 90
day waiting period for uninsured children would be eliminated, and Texas
CHIP’s original crowd-out policy would be reinstated.
·
The asset test was modified:
Families would now be limited to $10,000 in assets (up from $5,000), and the
vehicle allowance was increased from $15,000 to $18,000 for the first
vehicle and $4,650 to $7,500 for the second vehicle.
Although the coalition
had wanted the asset test to be eliminated and sought additional income
deductions, we are pleased to see the bi-partisan support for the bill. The
House voted overwhelmingly to pass CSHB. Thanks for all your help
with the action alert.
The Texas house
overwhelmingly passed HB 109 (Turner, Davis, J, Dukes, England and Pena)
SUPPORT which was engrossed on 4-4 and received in the Senate 4/10.
Additionally the bill has a long list of coauthors.
The CHIP program is not
for slackers. CHIP insures the children of working parents who earn too
little to afford private health insurance but make too much to be eligible
for Medicaid. To quote the Austin American Statesman, “this
is the best deal in town”. For every dollar CHIP spends in Texas, the
federal government pays 72 cents and the state pays 28 cents.
The battle now moves to
the Senate where it faces a real uphill battle! Lt. Governor Dewhurst
opposes allowing children to enroll for 12 months. (The CHIP Coalition has
included the re-enrollment form in material given to legislators and
believes that this is a complicated process, not the easy two-page form
described by some.)
In addition to this
hurdle the State is faced with the settlement costs of Frew v. Hawkins, a 14
year old dispute over the state’s obligations to children on Medicaid.
Legislators want to complete the agreement before the end of the session on
May 28 because it is estimated that this will cost the state over $700
million over the next two years. It is not known how this will affect the
House budget and the money that will be needed to restore CHIP to pre-2003
levels.
Marlene Lobberecht (Houston Area)
HB 332 (Rep. Chisum,
Rep. Swinford) OPPOSE Child
Care Legislation: Exemptions from childcare licensing requirements.
This bill describes characteristics of organizations and entities that
childcare licensing exemptions DO NOT apply to. Examples include any state
operated facility, an agency foster home, a youth camp, and a facility
operated in or connected with a shopping center, business, religious
organization or establishment where children are cared for during short
periods when parents are engaged in other activities.
New Information:
Voted favorably from
House Public Health
as substituted 04/26/2007 and sent to House Calendars committee 05/01/2007.
HB 406 (Rep. Hartnet)
OPPOSE Relates to license
requirements for preschool and after-school programs operated by public or
private schools. This bill, similar to HB 332, describes
characteristics of organizations and entities that childcare licensing
exemptions DO NOT apply to. Examples include any state operated facility, an
agency foster home, a youth camp, and a facility operated in or connected
with a shopping center, business, religious organization or establishment
where children are cared for during short periods when parents are engaged
in other activities. New Information:
Voted favorably from
House Human Services
as substituted 05/03/2007.
HB 482 (Rep.Villarreal)
SUPPORT Would allow children to
remain in public pre-kindergarten after they have been adopted from foster
care. New Information:
The House passed HB 482 and it is awaiting a
hearing in the Senate. Referred
to
Senate Education
4/03/2007.
SB 50 (Zaffirini) SUPPORT
Early Childhood Professional
Development Partnership. The initiative will support the professional
development of early care and education professionals by establishing a
training partnership and career path within the profession, expand annual
training required of caregivers from qualified trainers and accountability
within licensed child care programs. This addresses the number one and two
child care program priorities of the LWV-TX. SB 50 is also the
number three priority of the Texas Early Care and Education Coalition (TECEC).
Update: SB 50 voted favorably from the Senate Education Committee as
substituted. LWV-TX testimony supporting Early Care & Education provided to
Senate Education Committee and voted favorably out of Committee. Received
in the House April 24; sent to the House Education Committee April 27 and
hearing set for 05/08/2007.
New Information:
Appropriations Committee
approved $ 20 million for SB 50 Thursday, May 17th contingent upon passage
of bill in the House. Set on House floor calendar for May 22, 2007.
Susan Barrick (Lubbock)
HB 1214 (Christian et
al.) SUPPORT Texas' 79th
Legislature set 500 MW of “non-wind” renewable generation as a target for
the year 2015 to encourage renewable energy technology based on biomass,
geothermal, solar, hydropower and other novel sources. Implementation of
this goal has lagged because legislation did not state if the 500 MW
non-wind goal was mandatory or voluntary. This bill would clear up the
intent of the Legislature that 500 MW of non-wind renewable generation
installed by 2015 is mandatory. New Information:
Reported favorably without amendment out of the Senate Business and
Finance Committee.
HB 1415
(Leibowitz) SUPPORT Recommended for Local
& Consent calendar. This bill would
amend the Utilities Code to require the Public Utility Commission by rule to
ensure that credits for electricity produced by a public school building's
solar panels correspond to the value of the electricity at the time of day
it is provided by the school to the electric transmission grid and
distribution center. New Information: Referred to
the Senate Business and Finance Committees.
SB 1612 (Van de
Putte) COMPANION
SB 658 SUPPORT
Would set up a program to accredit buildings as energy efficient, with
standards updated bi-annually and an energy efficiency scorecard system to
enable home-buyers to compare houses and qualify for energy-efficient
mortgages under the National Housing Act. This program may also help
communities qualify for emissions reduction credits if they adopt codes to
meet or exceed energy-efficient building or energy performance standards.
Passed out of the Senate onto the House on 4/19. Referred to the House
Government Reform Committee, 4/24.
CSSB 663 (Hegar) SUPPORT Producer incentives for fuel ethanol and
biodiesel plants established in 2003 to use definitions and guidelines that
exclude second and third generation biofuels. This bill would add a
definition for "renewable diesel" to encourage production of renewable
diesel fuel through the producer incentive program. New
Information: Placed on the General State Calendar.
CSHB 1000 (Burnam)
SUPPORT This bill would give sales
tax exemptions on Energy Star appliances (as designated by the EPA and Dept.
of Energy) for home and personal use two weekends each year in order to
bring about energy conservation and mitigate the need for new electric
generation capacity in Texas. Passed out of the House and referred to
the Senate Finance committee 4/17.
CSHB 1415 (Leibowitz,
Strama, Anchia) SUPPORT This bill
would amend the Utilities Code to require the Public Utility Commission by
rule to ensure that credits for electricity produced by a public school
building's solar panels correspond to the value of the electricity at the
time of day it is provided by the school to the electric transmission grid
and distribution center. New Information:
Referred to the Senate Business and Finance Committee.
CSHB 2713 (Bonnen &
Hancock) SUPPORT This bill was
filed March 6. It would establish an interim special committee on electric
energy generation capacity and the environmental impact of electrical
generation. It would be composed of chairs of the House Environmental
Regulation, Energy Resources and Regulated Industries committees, chairs of
Senate Natural Resources and Business and Commerce committees, four
additional house members appointed by the speaker and 5 additional members
of the senate appointed by the Lt. Governor. This committee would inventory
existing electrical generation facilities and study demand for generation
capacity and availability of infrastructure technology to plan for and meet
demand for the next 25 years. New Information:
Placed on the Senate Local and Uncontested Calendar.
CSHB 3693 (Straus)
SUPPORT Electric utilities in
Texas are required to achieve energy efficiency and conservation. This bill
would reduce electrical consumption and demand and thereby protect ERCOT's
reserve generating margin and prevent crises during peak load demand times.
CSHB 3693 would improve and expand existing energy efficiency
measures, allow better management of customer demand, update building energy
codes, and require state agencies to utilize equipment and appliances that
are more energy efficient. The resulting reductions in electricity use
should prevent short-term peak demand shortfalls and help avoid costly new
power plants and transmission lines. Referred to Senate Natural Resources
Committee 5/11.
Nancy Wilson (Richardson)
New
Information:
The
rumor that it was the intent of Rep. Joe Crabb, chairman of the House
Redistricting Committee, to take a pass this session on Redistricting
legislation prompted the League to strongly support passage of the bills NOW
during this session in invited testimony at the May 2 hearing where we
supported SB 1068 (Wentworth)/HB 3777 (Rose).
The
League also supported HJR
31 (Ritter.
The rumor proved true.
All redistricting bills died in the House committee. The following 5/19/07
Dallas Morning News editorial bears repeating.
“The Texas Senate
favored letting an independent commission draw congressional boundaries, but
the House weasled out. Big time. The reform died there yesterday, when the
House Redistricting Committee failed to report out GOP Sen. Jeff Wentworth's
proposal to strip some of the politicking out of redistricting. Never mind
that numerous top House Republicans wanted the proposal to go to the House
floor for a vote. Republican Rep. Joe Crabb, the redistricting committee's
chair, kept it wrapped up, which means the bill is dead until the 2009
session. Guess he must like partisan brawls like we had in 2003. Go figure.”
#####
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