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Deanna Frisk, Advocacy Director Brandon Spenrath, EditorDeanna@cscusa.biz bspenrath@lwvtexas.orgWelcome to the second edition of the 2007 Legislative Newsletter. Program chairs are providing information on bills that LWV-TX is tracking, supporting, and opposing. We may also include articles that examine the issues on which we are working. We hope you find the Newsletter informative. If you have questions or comments, or know someone who would like to subscribe to this Newsletter, please let us know.
IN THIS ISSUE: New:
1. CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (C.H.I.P.)Julia Marsden (Austin Area)jmars80278@aol.comTexas has the nation’s highest rate of uninsured children, with one in five kids lacking coverage. The Cure – Cut the number of uninsured Texas kids in half by enrolling every eligible child in CHIP and Medicaid. 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:
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 · Provide adequate reimbursement for Medicaid and CHIP providers · Invest in outreach and education to ensure that all eligible children get the care that they need. The next Legislative Newsletter article will review uninsured children in Texas and will bring you appropriation and proposed bill information. 2. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/INCOME ASSISTANCEJensie Madden (Comal Area)j-dmadden@worldnet.att.netThe priorities for this legislative session are to support policies that improve the economic well-being of families in poverty, to support programs that provide job training for living wage jobs, and to support equal educational opportunities from preschool to higher education. Several bills have been introduced to increase the minimum wage in Texas, which would help low-income Texans become more self-sufficient. In addition, we will be working with other LWV-TX program chairs to increase state funding of Medicaid, CHIP, and subsidized child care, all of which provide necessary supports for working families who do not make a living wage in Texas. SB 168 (Ellis) SUPPORT, would continue a current law which uses fees collected from members of the State Bar of Texas to provide legal services to the indigent.
3. REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE/WOMEN'S HEALTHJulie Lowenberg (Dallas)jmlowenberg@sbcglobal.netIn this program area, LWV-TX will work to promote and protect women’s access to health care, including all aspects of reproductive health, during the 2007 legislative session. Several bills filed so far would move us toward this goal while others represent threats. SUPPORT:
OPPOSE:
4. WATER RESOURCESJulia Marsden (Austin Area)jmars80278@aol.comLWV-TX testified before the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor’s Office of Budget, Planning, & Policy on September 21 in support of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) 2008 and 2009 Legislative Appropriation Request. 20 The testimony supported the following water-related exceptional items requests approved and submitted by the TCEQ Commissioners:
Funding will be the key during the 2007 session for water programs such as the ones just described as well as environmental flows and water conservation. The League believes that efficient and economical government requires among other things adequate financing and that government should promote the conservation and development of natural resources in the public interest. The protection of water supplies and water quality are two of the most important issues facing the state now and into the foreseeable future. Surface and groundwater, our bays and estuaries, planning and water conservation all require our attention. LWV-TX will follow these funding issues as well as legislation that will affect environmental flows and water conservation and legislation that could affect the Edwards Aquifer.
5. LAND USE & FUNDING FOR STATE PARKSDeanna Frisk (Comal Area)deanna@cscusa.bizPriorities are to give counties more authority over land use to help solve water problems and to support more funding for state parks. Bill with new action: HB 6 (Hildebran) SUPPORT: will credit to Parks & Wildlife all revenue, less allowable costs, received from the following sources. Referred to: House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee SB 252 Companion Bill
New Bills: SB 353 (Ellis) The proceeds from the collection of the taxes imposed by this chapter on the sale, storage, or use of sporting goods shall be credited to the Parks and Wildlife Department and deposited as specified in the Parks and Wildlife Code. HB 318 (Miller) Identical SJR 16 (Ellis) Proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the dedication of the revenue received from the sporting goods tax.HB 446 (Flores) SUPPORT: would repeal the law enacted in 1993 which capped the amount of sporting goods taxes given to Parks & Wildlife to $27 million/year.
6. IMMIGRATIONLinda Hanratty (Tarrant County)llswenson@yahoo.comAfter years of legislative inactivity, the 80th Texas Legislative session has a number of bills on this now hot issue. These are all pre-filed bills since the Legislature is just beginning its work. HB 28 (Berman) OPPOSE: Would exclude state services to children born in this state after this law goes into effect whose parents who are not citizens or nationals of the U.S. and who have entered the U.S. without inspection and authorization of an immigration officer ( illegal aliens). This would cover benefits provided by the state or a political subdivision of the state including a grant, contract, load, professional license, or commercial license, employment, retirement, public assistance, health care benefits, public housing, instruction in primary or secondary education, instruction from a public institutional of higher education, and unemployment benefits. The League supports education, housing, and emergency care for immigrants. All children born in this state are given the option of American citizenship with all its benefits. This bill seeks to remove those benefits. New Action: Referred to House State Affairs Committee on 01/29/2007. New: Correction. HB 121 (Delisi) NO POSITION We do not support this proposed legislation as incorrectly reported in the first Legislative Newsletter. This Legislation would require state agencies to report the cost of services and benefits provided by unlawful immigrants. The League supports the mandated compilation of statistics regarding immigrants’ use of state services. 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. New action: SB 151 (Shapleigh) SUPPORT: would prohibit discrimination relating to immigration status or nationality of a person needing or receiving emergency medical care. The League supports state funding for emergency health care (including obstetrical delivery). Referred to Transportation & Homeland Sec. Committee on 1-29-07. New: At his January 25, 2007, annual legislative luncheon, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst clarified his position on immigration. “While border control is a federal obligation, it is up to the state to do what it can to supplement federal support. Still, the Bush Administration is not currently solving problems related to the porous border, drug and people smuggling, and upsets at security checkpoints. Thus, state leaders are working to develop viable solutions within their limited means.”
7. AIR QUALITYLaura Blackburn (Houston Area)Laura2blackburn@earthlink.netWe are fortunate to be building on work from the last session with regard to air quality. With the current emphasis on the State Implementation Plan (SIP), particularly in those areas that are not meeting the SIP, I expect air quality to be much more of an issue in the 80th Session. Furthermore, much interest has been generated about the 17 proposed coal-fired power plants in Texas, so I expect several bills (and much grandstanding—by both sides) to deal with that issue. The bills that have been introduced so far are: SB 93 (Gallegos) SUPPORT is essentially the same bill that Senator Gallegos introduced in the 79th Legislative Session. This bill provides for fence-line monitoring, studies of health effects of highly reactive volatile organic compounds, (HRVOCs) setting effects screening levels (ESLs) for air contaminants at a level that does not increase the risk of cancer in a person exposed to the air contaminant by greater than one chance in 100,000 and requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to assemble an independent panel to review the commission’s ESLs and to recommend standards relating thereto. This would be a significant step forward for Texas. HB 547 (Farrar) SUPPORT is the companion bill to SB 93 by Gallegos. HB 440 (Hernandez) SUPPORT is similar to SB 93 by Gallegos except the ESLs are to be set at a level that does not increase the risk of cancer in a person exposed to the air contaminant by greater than one chance in one million. SB 124 (Ellis) SUPPORT requires the state of Texas to adopt “Phase II of the California Low-Emission Vehicle Program” beginning with 2009 models. This bill has the support of many mayors (particularly those in non-attainment areas) and is allowed under the federal Clean Air Act. HB 344 (Strama) SUPPORT is a companion bill to SB 124 by Ellis that requires the TCEQ to adopt the California vehicle standards. HB 548 (Farrar) SUPPORT is the companion bill to SB 124 by Ellis.
8. CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORMMaxine Barkan (Austin Area)MLBarkan@aol.comCampaign Finance Reform is part of five issues called MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK: A Texas Agenda. A group of statewide organizations including LWV-TX, Common Cause, Texans for Public Justice, Public Citizen, Baptist Christian Life Commission, and Gray Panthers have agreed to advocate for these issues. The Campaign Finance Reform part of the Agenda includes:
HB 110 (Strama, Co-Sponsor Villarreal) SUPPORT under the Texas Fairness Act, would limit contributions from an individual in an election cycle to candidates in several categories: (1) for statewide offices including the executive branch, $2,000, state senator, $1,000, state representative $500, State Board of Education, $1,500. Strama’s bill would also prohibit repayment of loans or extensions of credit from campaign funds, an issue the League has advocated for a number of sessions. HB 110 would also address expenditure limits by candidates with voluntary compliance. The U. S. Supreme Court has said that mandatory limits on expenditures are subject to the freedom of speech amendment. HB 111 (Villarreal, Co-Sponsor Strama) SUPPORT referred to as the “Clean Elections Act.” Both Reps. Villarreal and Strama introduced this same bill in the last session that did not make it out of committee. HB 111 would limit individual contributions to a candidate, officeholder, or political committee in an election cycle to $100,000. Recipients of the contributions would be required to return any funds above that amount to the donor. Both bills would restrict minors from making contributions that presumably would have been collected by adults in the name of the minor. Villarreal puts a limit of $5,000 on such contributions. New: SB 250 (Ellis) SUPPORT is the Senate version of HB 111 filed by Rep. Michael Villarreal that was reported in LNL #19.1. Sen. Ellis’s bill would limit in the aggregate up to $100,000 in an election cycle, an election cycle defined as beginning January 1 of an odd-numbered year and ending on December 31 of an even-numbered year. In addition, a contribution from a child younger than 18 years of age, would be considered a contribution by the individual. This provision is to ensure that adults are not using children to circumvent the intent of the legislation. New Bills: HB 647 (McCall) SUPPORT would close a loophole of political contributions during special sessions of the legislature. When the governor calls a special legislative session from the call to final adjournment, an individual may not make a contribution to a statewide officeholder, member of the legislature or a specific-purpose committee to support or oppose the lawmaker. After three sessions in the 79th session, this provision would make eminent sense for regulating contributions that could influence pending legislation. SB 83 (Hinojosa) SUPPORT covers a number of reforms in the areas of communications and campaign advertising, issues that have come before the Legislature many times. In brief, the bill addresses the definition of coordinated expenditures in which expenditures can be made by a candidate, officeholder, or political committee from a contribution that the candidate has agreed to. Candidates would not be able to say they were unaware of these expenditures that usually are made for advertising, mail outs, phone banks and are often negative in tone. The time frame in what constitutes electioneering communications, such as mass mailings or telephone banks would be considered to be on or after the 60th day before the general, special, or run-off election or after the 30th day of the primary and targeted to the candidate’s electorate. HB 602 (D. Howard) SUPPORT would require a two-year period before accepting employment as a lobbyist. The legislature meets every other year, so a one-year period would be ineffective. The bill would require former legislators not be employed or appointed to a department, commission, board, or other agency in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government, or be employed by an entity that is regulated by a department, commission, or board for a two-year period. If passed, this would reduce significantly the influence on former legislators from their former colleagues. This bill addresses the issue of the revolving door in which legislators can immediately become lobbyists after leaving office.
9. CAPITAL PUNISHMENTGloria Sasser (San Marcos Area)gloriasasser@sbcglobal.netNEW: The bills filed this past month deal with a range of capital punishment issues from abolition to clemency. The Legislature has the opportunity to comply with the United States Supreme Court in the issue of mental retardation and capital punishment. A bill calling for abolition the death penalty, allows us to use our national position. The bill concerning the Board of Pardons and Parole is also welcomed, as it will provide accountability in clemency cases. SB249 (Ellis) Support relates to the restriction of the execution of the mentally retarded convicted of a capital offense and establishes pretrial determination of mental retardation. If either the judge or jury finds the defendant to be mentally retarded at the time of the offense and is convicted of the offense the sentencing option would be life without parole. A jury would not be informed that a judge or jury had determined that a defendant was not a person with mental retardation. The bill also calls for an appeal process to be given priority to review the appeal under this article over other cases before the court. Bill filed on January 19, 2007 SB208 (Ellis) Support relates to the hearing of the Board of Pardons and Parole regarding clemency matters. The bill calls for the presiding officer of the board to publicly announce each member’s decision regarding whether to recommend clemency and that each member shall sign the member’s name with the member’s written recommendation and reasons, if any for the recommendation. Bill filed on January 11, 2007. HB745 (Dutton) Support calls for the abolition of the death penalty. The change in law would only apply to an offense committed on or after the effective date of the Act. Any offense committed prior to the effective date would be subjected to the law in effect when the offense was committed. Bill filed on January 24, 2007. HRJ23 (Naishtat) Support calls for a moratorium on the execution of persons convicted of a capital offense. 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. In addition we would like to see added to this bill a study of the capital punishment system conducted by the state. Bill was filed on November 23, 2006.
10. CHILD CAREMarlene Lobberecht (Houston Area)marlene@lobberecht.comThe following Child Care Priorities vary in priority order from the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC): 1. Support Early Childhood Education Professional Development- Improve the recruitment, retention, training and quality of early childhood professionals. Professional development would indirectly impact the fundamental education foundation and improve quality care to all children in state licensed or regulated programs. The quality of the program is directly correlated to the quality of the child care provider/professional teaching and caring for the children. 2. SB 50 (Zaffirini) SUPPORT it addresses the issue completely. 3. Expand Access to Voluntary High Quality Pre-kindergarten. 4. Improve Safety and Quality of Care for Infants and Toddlers through Workforce Development Provider Reimbursements. Research demonstrates a strong relationship between the education, experience, and compensation of early childhood education (ECE) teachers and the quality of teaching and care in early learning programs. Despite this evidence, ECE teachers and aides remain poorly paid, lack incentives, face barriers to pursuing professional development and higher education opportunities. Child care centers are often staffed by inadequately trained individuals and experience high turnover rates undermining quality care. The ECE industry is the eighth largest employer in Texas. Support Early Childhood Education Professional Development legislation.
11. HEALTH CARE FOR OLDER TEXANSMaria Johnson (Austin Area)mmjohnson6@hotmail.comThe legislative priority for this session is for increased and adequate funding in programs that provide health care for the elderly. Increased funding should reduce waiting lists for services as well as take into account the increase in the number of older adults who will be eligible for services because of the growth of the number in the elderly population. Adequate funding should provide adequate provider rates to support a high quality of health care for older adults. Many health care programs for older Texans are closely tied to federal programs. Medicaid provides federal matching dollars when state dollars are spent. The budget for health care programs will be closely watched throughout the session to ensure funding.
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