mind wanderings in san antonio

2011 Bexar County Legislator's Bills Awaiting Governor Signature

2011-05-31T07:52:00.006-05:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been working on my magnum opus (hah hah).

Well the state legislature has finally passed the draconian budget bill, but they've been doing other things besides this, the sanctuary cities law, sonograms before abortions and voter ID law. Last year when I was looking through the laws passed by legislators I was frustrated by how tedious it was, so I decided to make it easier for Bexar County residents to see what bills their legislators passed this session by listing each bill with a brief explanation (for more detail click the links). I have the state representatives listed first in order of their district number and then the state senators. If you aren't sure who your representatives are click here. If you don't live in Bexar County you can check this website to see what laws your state representative passed. Just click on you legislators name, then go to the bottom of the page and click bills authored. For your state senator check this website, click on the senator's name and then go to the bottom of the page to click bills authored.

The last day of the Texas legislative regular session was May 30, 2011. Yep, they had to work on Memorial Day. Governor Rick Perry has until August 29, 2011 to sign the bills into law. If he vetoes a bill, it's dead, but if he doesn't sign it, the bill will become law anyway. By not signing a bill the governor shows that he doesn't expressly endorse the bill, but he's also not opposed to its passage. Since the legislature, particularly the House is so Republican this year, bills that are sent to the Governor's Office have a pretty good chance of becoming law.

Bexar County legislators have been hard at work and have filed over 700 bills. About 140 have a pretty good chance of becoming laws. So who was the most prolific? Well in the House it was Ruth McClendon Jones (D) District 120 with 14 bills and in the Senate it was Judith Zaffirini (D) District 21 who far outstripped her colleagues in both the Senate and the House with a whopping 31 bills. It will be a sad day for San Antonio if the Republicans force their will in the redistricting battle and we lose Senator Zaffirini.

This post is pretty long so I've tried to put a brief description of each bill in bold, so you don't have to read the longer description. (I tried to make jump links to go to each legislator but I couldn't make it work.) If you want to know more about the bill click on the link.

Texas House
Trey Martinez Fischer (D) District 116

Joint Author
HB 2973 (passed H and S)
Protection of Citizen's rights to petition, free speech and association without fear of lawsuits

Citizen participation is the heart of our democracy. Whether petitioning the government, writing a traditional news article, or commenting on the quality of a business, involvement of citizens in the exchange of idea benefits our society. Yet frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing those involved in these activities are becoming more common, and are a threat to the growth of our democracy. The Internet age has created a more permanent and searchable record of public participation as citizen participation in democracy grows through self-publishing, citizen journalism, and other forms of speech. Unfortunately, abuses of the legal system, aimed at silencing these citizens, have also grown. These lawsuits are called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or "SLAAP" suits. C.S.H.B. 2973 amends current law relating to encouraging public participation by citizens by protecting a person's right to petition, right of free speech, and right of association from meritless lawsuits arising from actions taken in furtherance of those rights.

HB 1199 (passed H and S)
Higher penalty for intoxication assault with a motor vehicle if the victim is in a persistent vegetative state

Under current law, a person who commits a driving while intoxicated offense and causes serious bodily injury to another individual can be charged with intoxication assault, which is a third degree felony, with certain exceptions. Serious bodily injury is defined as an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. Currently, there is no distinction between a driving while intoxicated offense that causes serious bodily injury and such an offense that leaves a person in a persistent vegetative state.
C.S.H.B. 1199 seeks to address this issue by creating a penalty for an intoxication assault if the commission of the offense leaves a person in a persistent vegetative state.

HB 3727 (passed H and S)
Alternate method for determining market value of temporary production aircraft

The property tax on tangible personal property may be based on the property's market value. Interested parties argue that a temporary production aircraft, or an aircraft being manufactured and assembled in Texas and only temporarily located in the state, is not yet ready for registration or flight by a certified air carrier, so the published list price for a completed aircraft is not an accurate indication of the actual market value of the aircraft while it is still in production.
H.B. 3727 seeks to address this situation by establishing an alternate method for determining the market value of a temporary production aircraft that is reflective of the value of the property in its current state of manufacture.

John V Garza (R) District 117
Author

HB 2144 (passed H and S)
Uniform Election Date Exceptions

In recent years, the Texas Legislature revised the Election Code to provide for uniform election dates. The legislators responsible for these reforms may not have taken into account the unique circumstances for newly incorporated municipalities, some of which may have to wait until the next general election date to elect an initial city council. This can leave a new city without local government for many months. C.S.H.B. 2144 seeks to address the unique election situation of newly incorporated municipalities by exempting the initial election of a newly incorporated city from uniform election date requirements and allowing a city to choose its general election date from among the available general election dates.

HB 2596 (passed H and S)
Allows 25 mile per hour speed limit on one lane roads

Dangerous conditions may exist on one-lane public roads in Texas that are used for two-way traffic. Interested parties observe that current law allows a municipality to lower the speed limit on certain roads to 25 miles per hour but does not include one-lane roads.
C.S.H.B. 2596 amends current law relating to the authority of certain municipalities to lower speed limits on certain highways.

Joint Author
HB 1503 (passed H and S)
Relating to the qualifications to serve as a special peace officer at a polling place

Under current law the presiding judge in an election precinct is responsible for the management and conduct of the election, including selecting the appointment of special peace officers. However, there are no qualifications regarding who can serve as a special peace officer.
H.B. 1503 amends current law relating to the qualifications to serve as a special peace officer at a polling place.

The amendment requires that the person is only qualified to be a special peace officer if they are already a licensed peace officer.

HB 1559 (passed H and S)
Document Preservation

The preservation of scores of written relics of Texas history is being threatened because of the simple need to create space for more recent documents in Texas courthouses. The Texas Supreme Court recently established a court records preservation task force charged with the preservation and appropriate distribution of these irreplaceable documents. Interested parties assert that although there is a moratorium on the shredding of documents before a certain date, other documents after that date remain at risk. C.S.H.B. 1559 seeks to preserve examples of Texas history by making changes relating to the retention, storage, and destruction of certain court documents.

HB 2061 (passed H and S)
Requirement that death notices be sent to the state registrar (probably to keep voting records up-to-date)

Requires a person, including a local registrar, physician, midwife, or funeral director, who has information relating to a birth, death, or fetal death, on the state registrar's demand, to supply the information to the state registrar in person, by mail, or through the local registrar. Requires the person to supply the information on a form provided by the Texas Department of Health or on the original certificate.

HB 3573 (passed H and S)
Limits disclosure for certain charitable organizations

Charitable giving through philanthropic organizations is an effective way to support those citizens who are in need while reducing demand for services provided by the government. Interested parties note that such organizations have a right to self-governance and to direct where donated money is allocated. H.B. 3573 seeks to establish provisions relating to limiting the disclosure of certain information regarding certain charitable organizations, trusts, private foundations, and grant-making organizations in order to encourage giving in the private sector.
H.B. 3573 amends current law relating to limiting the disclosure of certain information regarding certain charitable organizations, trusts, private foundations, and grant-making organizations.

Joe Farias (D) District 118
Author
HB 692 (passed H and S)
PE Waiver for Students with Disabilities

Physical education is a required curriculum element and an essential part of the state's basic educational program. Interested parties assert that every student is entitled to participate in a physical activity program, specially designed if necessary, as a well-planned, sequential program of physical education contributes significantly to the learning experience of all students, particularly students with disabilities. Certain students with extreme disabilities, however, have conditions which preclude them from active participation in general physical education. H.B. 692 seeks to allow a student who is unable to participate in physical activity due to disability or illness to substitute one credit in English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies or one academic elective credit for the physical education credit.

HB 826 (passed H ans S)
Facilitates school transfers for children place in a conservatorship of the state

When a child is placed in the conservatorship of the state, the child may be displaced from his or her school, depending on the location of available foster care. This change can have a detrimental effect on the child's development, particularly given the circumstances that lead to state conservatorship. Currently, there is no designated employee in a school district who monitors the transfer or enrollment of such children within public schools. H.B. 826 seeks to ease the negative effects of school transfers on a child in the conservatorship of the state by appointing at least one school district employee as a liaison officer to facilitate the enrollment in or transfer to a public school of such a child.
H.B. 826 amends current law relating to facilitating the enrollment in or transfer to a public school district of a student in the conservatorship of the state.

HB 1426 (passed H and S)
Collection of Fees and Court Costs by Counties

Legislation enacted several years ago required certain counties to implement a collection improvement program in accordance with the model program developed by the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System. It is noted that current law does not name a commissioners court as an entity authorized to collect certain court costs, fees, and fines associated with the program and that any employee who handles the collected money must be an employee of an entity allowed to collect money under the collection improvement program. These statutory requirements can reportedly cause administrative problems. H.B. 1426 seeks to address these problems by allowing the commissioners court of a county in which the collection improvement program has been implemented to collect applicable court costs, fees, and fines.

HB 1514 (passed H and S)
Veterans Driver's License Designation

Many businesses and organizations provide benefits to veterans, but veterans often must provide proof of military service to qualify for them. Some veterans have pointed out that it is cumbersome to constantly carry discharge paperwork with them. Adding a "veteran" designation to a driver's license issued to a veteran would make it easier for a veteran to provide proof of military service. H.B. 1514 would allow a veteran to present proof of military service to the Department of Public Safety and have a small endorsement added to the veteran's driver's license.

HB 1784 (passed H and S)
Use the Public Assistance Reporting Information System to enroll veterans in Medicaid

Close to a decade ago, the State of Washington began using a United States Department of Health and Human Services national database called the Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) for a pilot program aimed at locating veterans who were on the state's Medicaid system, but were unknowingly eligible for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense. If the federal benefits were of better quality than the ones provided by the state, the veteran could relinquish the Medicaid benefits and enroll in the federal system. The pilot program eventually grew into a statewide program that reportedly saved the state's Medicaid program approximately $18 million in just seven years by enrolling roughly 5,600 veterans and their families in federal benefit programs.
The Legislative Budget Board recently recommended the use of the PARIS system as a way to save state funds by identifying veterans who are in the state Medicaid system but are also entitled to federal benefits. H.B. 1784 seeks to implement this recommendation by authorizing a memorandum of understanding among certain state agencies for the purposes of coordinating and collecting data from PARIS to identify new strategies for state agencies to use that data in ways that generate fiscal savings for the state and maximize the availability of and access to benefits for veterans.

HB 1789 (law)
Allows state funds to be paid directly to counties for elections

Currently, state funds may be used to pay expenses incurred by a political party in connection with a primary election. The secretary of state (SOS) is responsible for reviewing and approving payment of estimated expenses for the primary election to the county chair of each party. The county is reimbursed by the county chair for the costs incurred for the primary elections, which typically are conducted by a county election officer. H.B. 1789 will allow state funds to be paid directly to the county and assist in reducing any delay of payment.
H.B. 1789 amends current law relating to the payment of state funds directly to an entity that conducts a primary election under contract in certain counties.

HB 2928 (passed H and S)
Parking privileges for Silver Star recipients

The Silver Star Medal is awarded to anyone in the armed forces who displays extraordinary heroism in action against an enemy, is engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces is engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
However, Silver Star Medal recipients are not eligible for privileged parking in state-maintained parking lots and at state-maintained parking meters.
H.B. 2928, if adopted, would allow members who have the Silver Star Medal license plate to receive the same privileges under Section 681.008, Transportation Code. This would include free parking at any government-owned parking meter or parking lot other than those owned by the federal government.

Joint Author
HB 74 (law)
Disposition of Remains for Members of the Armed Services

Current law relating to the disposition of human remains does not provide for the accommodation of the express, written wishes of members of the United States armed forces through execution of the federally prescribed DD Form 93, or Record of Emergency Data. H.B. 74 includes this form among the written instruments that can be used to control the disposition of the remains of a service member who dies while on active duty or otherwise meets the criteria described in federal law.H.B. 74 amends current law relating to persons authorized to control the disposition of the remains of certain members of the United States armed forces.

HB 559 (passed H and S)
Special license plates for Bronze Star recipients

Current law provides for specialty license plates to be issued for Purple Heart recipients and Distinguished Flying Cross medal recipients. Bronze Star Medal recipients are considered to have demonstrated extraordinary service in the performance of exceptionally meritorious conduct and achievement.
Such service may warrant recognition in the form of a specialty license plate similar to those provided to Purple Heart recipients and Distinguished Flying Cross medal recipients. However, Bronze Star Medal recipients are not included in the provisions regarding military specialty license plates for extraordinary service.
H.B. 559 recognizes the exemplary service of Bronze Star Medal recipients by providing for the issuance of specialty license plates and other benefits.

HB 1300 (law)
Increase Funding Options for Texas Parks and Wildlife

A recent legislative report examining various ways to increase private contributions for state parks noted that, currently, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is limited in its authority to expand development of corporate partnerships and joint promotional campaigns. Consequently, the department is unable to develop a financially beneficial partnership with a private for-profit company. Consistent with the report's recommendations, C.S.H.B. 1300 amends provisions of law to expand the scope of the department's fundraising and partnership development activities to include a private entity.

HB 1301 (passed H and S)
Option to donate to state parks when registering vehicles

The Legislative Budget Board's Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report (January 2011) examines various ways to increase private contributions for state parks. One recommendation in the report is to provide a mechanism for individuals to make a voluntary contribution for state park operations and maintenance when registering vehicles initially or by renewal.
C.S.H.B. 1301 amends current law relating to making a voluntary contribution to the Parks and Wildlife Department when registering a motor vehicle or renewing a motor vehicle registration.

HB 2592 (passed H and S)
Penalizes certain credit services (Pay Day Loan Services) for not meeting non disclosure requirements

C.S.H.B. 2592 amends current law relating to notice and disclosure requirements for certain credit services organizations regarding charges and consumer borrowing and provides an administrative penalty.

HB 2594 (passed H and S)
Regulates Pay Day Loan Services

H.B. 2594 amends current law relating to the licensing and regulation of certain credit services organizations and the regulation of certain extensions of consumer credit obtained by those organizations or with regard to which the organizations provide assistance and provides an administrative penalty.

Roland Gutierrez (D) District 119
Author
HB 1127 (passed H and S)
Notice of relief available to certain members of the military required to be provided in certain real property documentation.

H.B. 1127 amends the Property Code to require a notice in regard to the sale of real property under a deed of trust or other contract lien that is served on a debtor in default under that trust or lien to include a statement to the effect that a tenant or debtor, as applicable, who is serving on active military duty may have special rights or relief related to that notice under federal law, including the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and under state law. The bill requires the notice to a defendant in the citation in a suit filed by a landlord seeking to recover possession of the premises to include a similar statement relative to a tenant's special rights or relief in regard to that suit if the tenant is serving on active military duty. H.B. 1127 adds a requirement for the notice that must be given to a property owner by a propery owners' association before the association is authorized to take certain actions against the owner to inform the owner that the owner may have special rights or relief related to the enforcement action under federal law, including the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, if the owner is serving on active military duty.

HB 1488 (passed H and S)
Exams for hiring in City of San Antonio municipal fire departments

Currently, the City of San Antonio has a procedure in place requiring that a fire recruit's entire eligibility for entrance into the fire academy be based on one high stakes test. This process is vulnerable to overlooking candidates who might possess desirable qualities for the fire academy, but have no ability to stand out amidst the empirical data. H.B. 1488 allows the City of San Antonio to use additional testing mechanisms, including personality-based examinations, integrity-based examinations, and structured oral interviews to be weighted alongside a written test in order to create a more complete profile for each candidate seeking to enter the profession of firefighting.

HB 1486 (passed H and S)
Memorial sign for victims of drunk driving accidents

Currently, a highway sign placed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) near the site of a crash to publicly memorialize the victim of an alcohol or controlled substance-related vehicle accident may be posted for one year, and a private memorial may remain indefinitely. Concerns have been expressed that signs posted by TxDOT are not posted long enough to commemorate the victim or raise awareness about the serious issue of drunk driving.

H.B. 1486 amends the Transportation Code to extend from one year to two years the length of time that a sign posted under the memorial sign program for victims of alcohol or controlled substance-related vehicle accidents may remain posted.

HB 1936 (law)
Raises Alcohol Importation Fees from Mexico

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) staffs tax collection operations at ports of entry along the Texas-Mexico border. TABC collects the tax on alcohol and tobacco coming into Texas from Mexico. Population growth, increased operational costs, and the need to establish operations on new international bridges has led to TABC port operations becoming fiscally non-self sufficient.
Current law authorizes TABC to exact a 50 cents administrative fee on alcoholic beverages. Current law also allows a Texas resident to import a quart of liquor but allows a non-resident to import a gallon.
H.B. 1936 increases the administrative fee leveraged on the importation of alcoholic beverages for personal consumption from 50 cents to $3. The proceeds collected from the increased administrative fee will be used by TABC for the purpose of paying for collection operations.
H.B. 1936 creates a uniform allowance for Texas residents and non residents of 24 twelve-ounce bottles or an equivalent quantity of malt beverages, three gallons of wine, and one gallon of distilled spirits.

Joint Author
HB 2702 (passed H and S)
(with Menedez)
Non Renewal of certain liquor licenses

Currently, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission or a county judge may refuse to issue or renew certain alcoholic beverage permits and licenses if substantial evidence exists that the manner in which the applicant or licensee conducts business does not benefit the general welfare, health, peace, morals, and safety of the local community. To maintain this standard, interested parties believe it is necessary to ensure that individuals with a financial interest are prohibited from assuming control and management of an establishment if the original license or permit is cancelled due to certain unlawful acts.
H.B. 2707 seeks to address this issue by prohibiting the issuance of certain licenses or permit authorizing on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages if a license or permit previously held by the applicant or certain other parties with a business interest in the premises was canceled or not renewed in the three years preceding the date an application is filed as a result of a shooting, stabbing, or other violent act.

Ruth McClendon Jones (D) District 120

Author

HB 118 (passed H and S)
Requires hospitals to advise patients that medical records will be disposed of in 10 years

The Texas hospital licensing law generally allows a licensed hospital to dispose of a medical record on or after the 10th anniversary on which the patient who is the subject of the record was last treated in the hospital. There are statutory exceptions to this 10-year retention requirement for the records of minors, and for records relating to any matter in litigation. Situations have arisen in which patients who may have been unaware of the existing retention law have requested copies of their medical records after the 10-year retention period has passed, and the record already has been lawfully disposed of by the hospital.

HB 577 (passed H and S)
Allowing EMS to do their job without having to read through Do Not Resuscitate orders

Emergency services personnel who are first responders to an emergency outside of a hospital must quickly evaluate whether a patient needs immediate medical attention, life support measures, or rapid transport to the hospital. If such personnel are required to review, evaluate, and interpret written documents other than an out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order, they could be prevented from attending to a patient's emergency medical needs at the scene or while traveling to a hospital.
H.B. 577 allows emergency personnel to focus on the immediate medical needs of a patient when responding to an emergency outside of the hospital environment by establishing that such personnel have no duty to review, examine, interpret, or honor a person's written directive other than certain out-of-hospital DNR orders and by providing for the termination of cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the order of certain physicians or an emergency medical services system's medical director or online physician.

HB 1514 (passed H and S)
Realigns grant funding from the ABTPA to go where car thefts are the most frequent

Crime prevention advocates say that no correlation exists between grants awarded by the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority (ABTPA) and the rate of automobile burglary or theft in the state. In addition, advocates say, grantees determine their own goals and assess their progress in meeting the goals through self-reporting. This bill seeks to remedy this situation by addressing statutory provisions relating to performance measures for grants, allocations of grants, and certain other related matters.
H.B. 1541 would require ABTPA to develop and implement standard performance measures for each category of grants it provides, as well as ensure that grants are used to reduce the rates of automobile theft in Texas, increase the number of arrests for motor vehicle burglary and theft, and increase the recovery rate of stolen motor vehicles. The bill requires ABTPA to allocate grant funds primarily based on the number of motor vehicles stolen in, or the motor vehicle burglary or theft rate across, Texas rather than based on geographic distribution. The bill also authorizes the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas (DPS) to administer the existing statewide motor vehicle registration program developed by ABTPA and requires DPS to collect data regarding theft rates and types of motor vehicles enrolled in the statewide motor vehicle registration program, the recovery rate for stolen motor vehicles enrolled in the program, and the clearance rate of burglaries and thefts of motor vehicles enrolled in the program.

HB 2325 (passed H and S)
Allow mass transportation authorities to raise the dollar limit on small contracts that won't have to go through the competitive bid procedure

Current law allows certain mass transportation authorities to negotiate certain contracts without competitive sealed bids, proposals, or postings if the amount involved in the contract is $25,000 or less. Some transit authorities have expressed an interest in raising the threshold amount to save additional taxpayer dollars on administrative costs and fees associated with posting smaller procurement contracts.
H.B. 2325 increases the mass transportation authority procurement threshold for non-competitive purchasing from $25,000 to $50,000. Cities and counties already have this authority.

HB 2351 (passed H and S)
Allows the Bexar County Hospital District to hire physicians directly

In order to meet its obligations to its community and provide care for the needy and indigent population of South Texas, the Bexar County Hospital District needs greater flexibility with regard to the employment arrangements available to the district.
H.B. 2351 allows the Bexar County Hospital District to employ physicians directly.

HB 2396 (passed H and S)
Allows Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authorities with populations less that 1.3 million to authorize bond issues without an election

Texas law authorizes an advanced transportation district created under provisions of law relating to metropolitan rapid transit authorities to issue bonds at any time and for any amounts the district considers necessary or appropriate for the acquisition, construction, repair, equipping, improvement, or extension of its transit authority system. The district's governing body, by resolution, may authorize the issuance of bonds payable solely from revenue. H.B. 2396 seeks to make changes relating to the pledge of advanced transportation district sales and use taxes to certain bonds.
H.B. 2396 amends current law relating to the pledge of advanced transportation district sales and use taxes to certain bonds.

HB 3030 (passed H and S)
Allows intermunicipal commuter rail districts to make agreements with local governments

Authorizes an intermunicipal commuter rail district (district) to enter into an interlocal contract with one or more local government members for the financing of transportation infrastructure that is constructed or that is to be constructed in the territory of the local government by the districts.
Prohibits the amount that is calculated on the basis of increased ad valorem tax collections that are attributed to increased property values in the zone, except as provided by Subsection (d-1), from exceeding an amount that is equal to 30 percent of the increase in ad valorem tax collections for the specific period.
(d-1) Authorizes a transportation infrastructure zone of a district established before January 1, 2005, to consist of a contiguous or noncontiguous geographic area in the territory of one or more local governments and requires that it include a commuter rail facility or the site of a proposed commuter rail facility. Prohibits the amount paid by a local government under Subsection (d) to a district established before January 1, 2005, from exceeding an amount that is equal to the increase in ad valorem tax collections in the zone for the specified period.

Joint Author
HB 114 (passed H and S)
Designates April as Minority Cancer Awareness Month

This bill is designed to encourage private funding of general education for the public, and to promote earlier, more effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Minority Cancer Awareness Month would be regularly observed by appropriate activities in public locations to increase recognition for minority cancer education, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This awareness will also be promoted by explaining specific evidence-based effects, frequencies, and the impact of cancer on minority populations.

HB 1215 (law)
Making it an offense to capture others personal financial information

Recently, there has been a lot of publicity about tactics used by criminals to obtain personal financial data without the victim being aware at the time that the personal information is being stolen.
The purpose of H.B. 1215 is to protect people from identity theft by prohibiting the use of a device to capture personal information from a person's check or similar financial sight order, credit card, or debit card without that person's permission.

HB 2017 (Passed H and S)
Allows the DMV to implement organizational and functional changes to improve efficiency

During the 81st Legislature, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) was created in order to separate the administrative management of permitting and registration of vehicles and trucks from the infrastructure development functions in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Generally, the purpose of separating the functions of TxDMV and TxDOT was to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of both agencies in the service of Texas' transportation needs.
During its two-year existence, TxDMV has identified several areas of improvement that can be addressed through organizational and functional changes to the agency. Thus, H.B. 2017 is a "clean-up bill" designed to implement an array of changes needed to update the governance, organization, duties, and functions of the current structure of TxDMV.

HB 3324 (passed H and S)
Provides for state oversight of Fusion Centers in Texas

There is currently no oversight at the state level for fusion centers in Texas. The United States Department of Justice has released guidelines for best practices in response to many concerns and obvious issues at some centers nationally, including one specifically in Texas.
C.S.H.B. 3324 codifies a Texas Fusion Center Policy Council (policy council) recently created by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas (DPS). The policy council consists of representatives from the fusion centers and is given responsibility for, among other things, making recommendations to DPS on rules regarding governing the operations of fusion centers in Texas.

HB 2120 (passed H and S)
Allows more retired teachers to be on the board of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Interested parties assert that the number of retiree members on the board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (board; TRS) should be increased because TRS is experiencing an increase in the number of retirees in its membership, many of whom are actively working on issues affecting TRS. In support of that assertion, H.B. 2120 proposes to change the composition of the board to provide an additional opportunity for the appointment of a retiree member.

HB 2592 (passed H and S)
With Farias and Menedez
Requires Pay Day Loan Agencies to Conspicuously Post Fees

Requires Loan and Credit agencies to post in a conspicuous location and on websites accessible customers to a schedule of fees for services.

HB 2594 (passed H and S)
Restricts Pay Day Loan Agencies from charging prepayment fees and requires them to extend consumer credit

Requires Loan and Credit agencies to put in their contracts that there is no prepayment penalty and extend consumer credit

HB 2651 (passed H and S)
Allows persons with disabilities visiting in Texas to use special transportation without submitting documents

Currently, public providers of transportation services designed for people with disabilities may require individuals who reside outside of the provider's service area but are visiting in the provider's service area to submit certain documents before services can be rendered. Concerned parties report that, because there is little uniformity in processing such documents, visitors may have to wait days or weeks to obtain access to such transportation services. This can hinder a visiting person's ability to move freely in the state. H.B. 2651 seeks to address this issue by requiring public providers of transportation services designed for people with disabilities to determine a visitor's eligibility to use those services within a specific period.

H.B. 2651 amends current law relating to the eligibility of visitors to use certain public transportation services for people with disabilities.

Lyle Larsen (R) District 122

Author
HB 1499 (passed H and S)
Sets up the Scenic Loop Road--Boerne Stage Road--Toutant Beauregard Road Historic Corridor

Scenic Loop Road, Boerne Stage Road, and Toutant Beauregard Road are each of ancient lineage. These roads were once trails for historic tribes including Comanche and Lipan Apache, as well as stagecoach routes connecting Leon Springs to Boerne. They were also used to connect several early Texas settlements of German immigrants in the 1920s as part of the "Old Spanish Trail." This area is of historic and architectural significance and is considered a place of beauty because of its prehistoric sites, nineteenth century rock structures, historic farms and ranches, and scenic vistas.

HB 3597 (passed H and S)
To give Public Improvement Districts the authority to exclude or annex land to impose taxes

Currently, public improvement districts in certain counties do not have authority to annex or exclude land and are required to obtain certain consents prior to the imposition of a hotel occupancy tax. H.B. 3597 authorizes certain public improvement districts to annex and exclude land and removes a requirement to obtain certain consent prior to the imposition of a hotel occupancy tax under certain circumstances.

Joint Author
HB 1788 (passed H and S)
Lawful collection of reptiles and amphibians along Texas Public Rights-of-Way

Interested parties note that snake collecting along public roadways has been adversely affected by recently passed legislation. These parties contend that snake hunting was permitted and lawfully practiced in many regions of Texas until recently and all of these regions experienced significant economic benefit derived from the tourism associated with individuals, known has herpers, searching for or collecting reptiles and amphibians. Legislation is needed to authorize the nonlethal capture of reptiles and amphibians in public rights-of-way if the person capturing the animals possesses, along with a hunting license, a reptile and amphibian stamp issued by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. By reinstating the right to collect reptiles and amphibians in a safe and regulated manner, enthusiasts will be able to practice this activity and, in doing so, bring dollars back to Texas's rural communities.

Mike Villareal (D) District 123
Author
HB 533 (passed H and S)
Makes it so that a person who is delinquent on property taxes doesn't have to render personal property (Furniture, Fixtures or Equipment) to pay for the taxes

HB 824 (passed H and S)
Fosters Father participation in the Prenatal Period of Pregnany

H.B. 824 seeks to increase a father's participation in the prenatal period of his child's life by requiring the attorney general to develop a publication describing the importance of a father's role during pregnancy for distribution to contractors and clients of the Women, Infants and Children program.

HB 1887 (passed H and S)
Allows affiliates of property owners to make protests about property appraisals

HB 1964 (passed H and S)
Community Service for Juvenile Class C Misdemeanor Offenses

H.B. 1964 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a justice or judge to require a defendant younger than 17 years of age who is assessed a fine or costs for a Class C misdemeanor to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by performing community service. The bill authorizes such a defendant to discharge an obligation to perform community service by paying at any time the fine and costs assessed. The bill requires the justice or judge to specify, in the justice's or judge's order requiring the defendant to perform the community service, the number of hours of service the defendant is required to perform and prohibits the justice or judge from ordering more than 200 hours of service.

HB 3506 (passed H and S)
Authorizes School Districts to use Transportation Funding for Public Transportation

Currently, school districts are not permitted to use a transportation allotment authorized under the Education Code to pay for public transportation methods of transporting students to school. For some districts, it is inefficient to use district transportation methods to transport children, especially when the available public transportation option is less expensive or more efficient.

The purpose of the bill is to allow districts to use transportation funding as efficiently as possible by using available transportation options as one way to transport children to school.

Joint Author
HB 9 (passed H and S)
Allowing higher education funding to help students complete their degrees

Texas has made significant gains toward meeting its higher education goals in student participation set by the Closing the Gaps by 2015 initiative. However, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board reports that Texas must award approximately 46,000 more degrees per year to meet the 2015 goals. Realigning state resources with the goal of improving institutional productivity and promoting student success could bolster the efforts to meet the Closing the Gaps goals in student success.
Currently, formula funding allocations for institutions of higher education generally reward increasing enrollments. H.B. 9 emphasizes a funding model designed to provide incentives and reward a strong focus on helping students complete their degrees.

HB 1090 (passed H and S)
Lowers interest rates for tax refunds

When a property owner engages in litigation with an appraisal district over the value or exemption of the property, the property owner is required to pay the undisputed amount of the taxes at issue, but may pay the full tax bill as originally assessed. Once the litigation is resolved, if the owner ends up owing less taxes than were paid, the property owner gets a refund from the taxing units such as school districts, counties, and cities, with interest. That interest, on most refunds, was fixed in 1997 at eight percent, when eight percent interest was reasonable. Interest on refunds after religious exemption litigation was left, as all refunds had formerly been, to float with the T-bill. Now eight percent is a well above market rate. No taxing unit can hope to invest any money that it might have to refund at anything close to an eight percent return. Thus, litigants are encouraged to pay more than the undisputed amount of taxes, knowing that any resultant refund will earn far better interest than they can expect anywhere else. The taxing units, which do not control the litigation, are faced with large refunds accruing interest for which they cannot adequately account by investment of the disputed taxes. The Federal Reserve Board now refers to the rate in question as the secondary market rate. H.B. 1090 returns the interest rate paid on refunds after any litigation to the amount refunded calculated at an annual rate that is two percent, plus the most recent prime rate quoted and published by the Federal Reserve Board, but no more than eight percent calculated from the delinquency date for the taxes until the date the refund is made.

HB 2403 (passed H and S)
Expands the definition of retail ownership businesses in Texas to include internet businesses to make up for the loss of sales tax revenue

Many businesses are using business models that allow them to exploit a physical presence loophole in the law and consequently to avoid state sales tax responsibilities, despite creating and maintaining markets across state lines through remote sales while having a physical presence in Texas. With the advent of the Internet and the emergence of e-commerce, the number of sellers maintaining a physical presence while making remote sales to customers has exploded, creating a significant and growing loss of sales tax revenue to the states. This loss of revenue is compounded by the fact that traditional retailers with a storefront presence who must collect state and local sales and use taxes are placed at a competitive disadvantage.
H.B. 2403 seeks to address the situation by redefining "seller" and "retailer," defining "ownership" and "substantial ownership interest," and clarifying and expanding the conditions that constitute a retailer's being engaged in business in Texas.

HB 2476 (passed H and S)
Defines a single appraisal standard for heavy equipment dealers

The Texas Tax Code provides for separate treatment of heavy equipment dealers, similar to how car and boat dealers are treated under the Tax Code. However, there is some confusion regarding the applicability, calculation, and uniformity of business property taxes relating to businesses who primarily rent or lease heavy equipment.
While existing law works well for the sales of heavy equipment, the question of how to value rentals of heavy equipment has been the subject of extended litigation and multiple interpretations by different appraisal offices. C.S.H.B. 2476 imposes a single appraisal standard, creating consistent valuation of a dealer's inventory, providing predictability for the business owner and increased compliance for the state.

HB 3470 (passed H and S)
Expands requirements for the Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program

The Texas Armed Services Scholarship Program was created to encourage students to participate in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at institutions of higher education in Texas by providing scholarships to qualified students. The program authorizes the governor, lieutenant governor, and each member of the Senate and House of Representatives to annually appoint applicants to receive up to $15,000. In addition to meeting and sustaining academic requirements, a student must enter into an agreement that includes a four-year commitment as member of the Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air Force National Guard, or a commissioned officer in any branch of the armed services.
H.B. 3470 improves access to the scholarship program. It allows transfer students from community colleges or other colleges to qualify for the scholarship, changes the first year graduation requirement to a six-year graduation requirement, extends eligibility to students who enter in the United States Coast Guard and the United States Merchant Marine, and allows students who are currently under contract with one of the armed services to not be disqualified from consideration for this scholarship.

Joe Menendez (D) District 124
Authored
HB 35 (passed H and S)
Extension of the Bexar Cares youth behavioral health intervention pilot program

The purpose of H.B. 35 is to extend a Bexar County local behavioral health intervention pilot project to September 1, 2013. The program provides for diversion to a system of care including a behavioral health treatment placement for children and youth in Bexar County who are at risk of placement in an alternative setting for behavior management. The behavioral health intervention pilot program, known as Bexar Cares, was implemented to eliminate barriers to allowing the sharing of information and resources in order to provide coordinated and collaborative health care for children and youth. Prior to the program's implementation, children with behavioral health problems were served by many separate local agencies in Bexar County, which resulted in duplication of assessments, treatment modalities, and case management. Bexar Cares addresses this issue by requiring extensive information sharing among state entities and contracted workers. Currently, the program is set to expire on September 1, 2011.

HB 46 (law)
Compensation for Texas Parks and Wildlife personnel

Current law provides that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) law enforcement personnel are compensated in a manner equal to the Department of Public Safety personnel. Prior legislation provided compensatory time for other state communications or dispatch personnel but did not include TPWD personnel in the same category. The purpose of the bill is to equitably compensate those employees for work performed.

HB 308 (passed H and S)
Requires for hire passenger boats to carry one wearable personal flotation device per passenger.

HB 447 (passed H and S)
Defines what types of actions a Defense Base Development Authority may make regarding its holdings

Current law governing a defense base development authority is unclear about whether a local authority can sell, lease, or otherwise engage in financial transactions relative to real estate or property owned or controlled by the authority. C.S.H.B. 447 clarifies existing statutes by detailing the specific actions that a defense base development authority may take regarding the authority's holdings.

HB 1128 (passed H and S)
Medical Treatment Consent for Inmates

In 1993, the legislature passed S.B. 332 creating the Consent to Medical Treatment Act. The bill authorized consent for medical treatment to be made by a surrogate decision maker on behalf of an incapacitated, comatose, or otherwise mentally or physically incapable patient in a nursing facility or hospital. At that time, only a competent adult patient or the patient's temporary or permanent guardian could consent to non-emergency medical or surgical treatment. However, doctors found that incapacitated patients needed immediate treatment for conditions that were important, yet not considered an emergency. As such, the Consent to Medical Treatment Act was created.
H.B. 1128 adds an adult inmate of a county or municipal jail to the Consent to Medical Treatment Act. Amending the statute would allow an additional avenue of relief for individuals in crisis. It would authorize a correctional facility to seek the speedy assistance of a loved one, without the need for a lengthy and expensive court proceeding. H.B. 1128 also provides guidance and protection for county and municipal jails who want to ensure that treatment decisions are made in the patient's best interest.

HB 1622 (passed H and S)
If you can understand what this bill does, more power to you.

H.B. 1622 amends current law relating to suits to enjoin gang activity that constitutes a public nuisance.

HB 2387 (passed H and S)
Moves the authority to hire general counsel from the chief appraiser to the board of directors of an appraisal district

Authorizes the chief appraiser to employ and compensate professional, clerical, and other personnel as provided by the budget, with the exception of a general counsel to the appraisal district. Authorizes the board of directors of an appraisal district to employ a general counsel to the district to serve at the will of the board. Requires the general counsel to provide counsel directly to the board and perform other duties and responsibilities as determined by the board. Entitles the general counsel to compensation as provide by the budget adopted by the board.

Joint Author
HB 8 (passed H and S)
Closes loopholes regarding private transfer fees on real property

The Texas Legislature, in a recent legislative session, enacted legislation to prohibit a real estate practice whereby a private entity could create a real estate transfer fee payable over a long period of time by placing a deed restriction on a property requiring such a fee in connection with a future transfer of the property. The current law includes certain exemptions, creating a situation that has resulted in substantial efforts by certain persons to circumvent the law through creative interpretation of the language. C.S.H.B. 8 seeks to close loopholes in current law by prohibiting future private transfer fees on real property, with certain exemptions, and providing clarity and notice requirements to properties with existing private transfer fees.

HB 1481 (passed H and S)
Changing mental retardation to intellectual disability in all state documents

Many Texas believe the term "retarded" is hurtful and offensive to persons with intellectual disabilities. Though the term is used as a medical diagnosis, it should not be used to describe a person or a person's character. National efforts are under way to change "mental retardation" to "intellectual disability" in the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (Text Revision) anticipated to occur in May 2013.

Joaquin Castro (D) District 125

Author
HB 399 (passed H and S)
Personal financial literacy training requirement

H.B. 399 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule to require a general academic teaching institution to offer training in personal financial literacy to provide students of the institution with the knowledge and skills necessary as self-supporting adults to make important decisions relating to personal financial matters and to determine the topics to be covered by the training, which may include budgeting, credit cards, spending, saving, loan repayment and consolidation, taxes, retirement planning, and financing of health care and other benefits. The bill authorizes the coordinating board by rule to provide for the training to be offered in an online course. The bill adds a temporary provision, set to expire January 1, 2014, to require the coordinating board to require general academic teaching institutions to offer the training as soon as the coordinating board considers practical, but not later than the 2013 fall semester. The bill defines "coordinating board" and provides for the meaning of "general academic teaching institution" by reference.

HB 650 (passed H and S)
Allow Junior Colleges to deal with abandoned property

H.B. 650 amends the Property Code to apply provisions relating to the report, delivery, and claims process for certain unclaimed property to a junior college that has opted, through a formal action taken by the junior college's governing board, to handle property presumed abandoned and valued at $100 or less in accordance with those provisions.

HB 992 (passed H and S)
Dropped college course requirement

Currently, an institution of higher education may not permit a student to drop more than six courses, including any course a transfer student has dropped at another institution of higher education, under certain circumstances. In addition, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is restricted from including formula funding for an institution of higher education for semester credit hours earned by a resident undergraduate student that exceed the hours necessary to complete that student's degree program by 30 hours or more. H.B. 992 seeks to prohibit a general academic teaching institution from counting a dropped class for purposes of the six-course limit if the student drops the class while enrolled at a public junior college and the student transferred to a general academic teaching institution after earning at least 30 semester credit hours or an associate degree. The bill requires institutions of higher education to provide written notice of the limitations on the number of class drops to an undergraduate student before the end of the student's first semester at the institution. The bill also creates an additional exemption as it relates to the 30-hour cap for semester credit hours earned by a student before receiving an associate degree that has previously been awarded to the student.

HB 994 (law)
Authorization to accept guilty pleas in Bexar County

C.S.H.B. 994 amends the Government Code to include among the criminal case proceedings a judge in Bexar County is authorized to refer to a criminal law magistrate in the county a proceeding involving a plea of nolo contendere from a defendant charged with a felony offense, a misdemeanor offense when charged with both a misdemeanor offense and a felony offense, or a misdemeanor offense. The bill specifies that such authorization applies also to a proceeding involving a plea of guilty from a defendant charged with such an offense, rather than a negotiated plea of guilty before the court. C.S.H.B. 994 authorizes a criminal law magistrate in Bexar County to whom a case is referred, except as limited by an order of referral, to accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere from a defendant charged with a felony offense, a misdemeanor offense when charged with both a misdemeanor offense and a felony offense, or a misdemeanor offense, rather than only a plea of guilty for a misdemeanor from a defendant charged with both misdemeanor and felony offenses.

HB 1244 (passed H and S)
Delivery of remedial college courses to increase student success rates

Developmental education is a sequence of non-credit-bearing higher education courses that are designed to remediate an incoming college student to the point of freshman-level academic competency in the areas of reading, mathematics, and writing. Some observers express concern that a significant percentage of the first-time degree seeking students in Texas who enroll in higher education each fall are required to take at least one developmental education course. Observers also indicate that students who require developmental education graduate at a rate lower than that of other students. H.B. 1244 seeks to reform the way developmental education is delivered at institutions of higher education with the intention of increasing student success.

HB 1666 (passed H and S)
Harassment protection on websites like Craigslist

The purpose of H.B. 1666 is to expand the scope of Section 33.07(a) to include targeted online harassment committed not only on commercial social networking sites, but also on any other Internet website, such as Craigslist.

HB 2935 (passed H and S)
Allows Bexar County criminal law magistrate to appoint an official court reporter

Current law that provides for the appointment of official court reporters does not expressly provide for the appointment of an official court reporter by a criminal law magistrate in Bexar County. H.B. 2935 seeks to respond to this issue by authorizing a full-time Bexar County criminal law magistrate, with the consent of the Bexar County Commissioners Court, to appoint an official court reporter to serve that magistrate.

HB 2936 (law)
Treat all Bexar County District Courts Consistently

Although a provision of law relating to judicial districts in Bexar County applies to most Bexar County district courts, it does not currently apply to all Bexar County district courts. C.S.H.B. 2936 seeks to treat all Bexar County district courts consistently under the Government Code by extending a provision of law relating to judicial districts in Bexar County to apply to the district courts in Bexar County that are not currently included.

Joint Author
HB 33 (passed H and S)
Decrease the Cost of Textbooks through Transparency

C.S.H.B. 33 seeks to decrease the cost of textbooks to students and thereby ensure that students have access to affordable course materials. The bill also seeks to enhance transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials.

Texas Senate
Carlos I Uresti (D) District 19
Author
SB 115 (law)
Limits liability of space flight entities to encourage commercial space industry in Texas

C.S.S.B. 115 sets forth language relating to limiting the liability of space flight entities, which will encourage development of a commercial space launch industry in Texas. This bill uses the terminology found in federal regulations to avoid confusion and to be consistent with warnings given by launch service providers. C.S.S.B. 115 requires that launch service providers inform private citizens of the risks of space flight and prohibits them from being allowed to fly unless they choose to assume those risks. C.S.S.B. 115 clarifies that a person, after being informed of the risk and signing a waiver, assumes the risk of space flight absent gross negligence or wilful behavior by the launch company.

SB 116 (passed S and H)
Allows new partners to apply for protective orders against their significant other's Ex

Currently, in the event of dating violence, only a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend is eligible to apply for a protective order against his or her partner or ex-partner. Moreover, in the event of family violence, only members of a family or household can apply for a protective order against other members of the same family or household.
This bill would allow third parties to apply for a protective order against their current or former significant other's ex-partner. This bill would also allow third parties to apply for a protective order against their current or former significant other's family or household members.

SB 118 (passed S and H)
Allows an individual to have extended involutary outpatient mental health services even if they haven't been in a facility for 60 consecutive days

An individual considered appropriate for extended involuntary outpatient mental health services must have had at least 60 consecutive days of court-ordered inpatient mental health services within the preceding 12 months. With the number of authorized daybeds diminishing as a result of financial and institutional constraints, fewer consumers remain at a mental health facility for court-ordered inpatient mental health services in excess of 60 consecutive days. S.B. 118 seeks to ensure that a judge is able to assign lower-cost extended outpatient mental health services, if appropriate, to a proposed patient who has already been assigned involuntary inpatient or outpatient mental health services.

SB 201 (passed S and H)
Transferability of property tax exemption for disabled veterans

SB 201 allows a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran's property tax exemption to move with the veteran. The bill would allow a qualifying disabled veteran that sells their old home and purchases a new on to continue to use their property tax exemption for the duration of the year. SB 201 would also require that the new owner of the qualifying veteran's former residence pay the property taxes due for that residence for the portion of the year that the owner occupies that home.

SB 271 (passed S and H)
Oversight of Bexar Metropolitan Water District

S.B. 271 would address board governance issues for the district [Bexar Metropolitan Water District]. Elements of the bill include board member term limits, continued oversight by the committee, board candidate qualifications, political contribution limits, board training requirements, ethics provisions, and board member recall provisions.

SB 341 (passed S and H)
Provisions to authorize the dissolution of the Bexar Metropolitan Water District

C.S.S.B. 341 seeks to address these issues by establishing provisions relating to authorizing the dissolution of the district, or perhaps rehabilitation, establishing various management and board reforms, and provides certain penalties.

SB 966 (passed S and H)
High School Diplomas for veterans

Currently, a high school diploma may be awarded to a veteran who was honorably discharged, who was scheduled to graduate from high school after 1940 and before 1975, and who left high school before graduation to serve in the armed forces during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War. S.B. 966 seeks to authorize school districts to issue high school diplomas to certain other veterans.

SB 993 (passed S and H)
Redefines parental child safety placement with a relative

Observers note that the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) will sometimes allow a parent to place the parent's child with a relative or other caregiver willing to temporarily care for the child when the child cannot stay with the parent due to a risk of abuse or neglect. This type of placement is known as a parental child safety placement and is currently governed by DFPS internal policy. There is concern that state law does not adequately address these types of placements. S.B. 993 seeks to address issues relating to certain arrangements to provide care for a child during an investigation of abuse or neglect.
The bill requires a parental child safety placement agreement to include terms that clearly state the respective duties of the person making the placement and the caregiver, including a plan for how the caregiver will access necessary medical treatment for the child and the caregiver's duty to ensure that a school-age child is enrolled in and attending school; conditions under which the person placing the child may have access to the child, including how often the person may visit and the circumstances under which the person's visit may occur; the duties of DFPS; the date on which the agreement will terminate unless terminated sooner or extended to a subsequent date as provided under DFPS policy; and any other term DFPS determines necessary for the safety and welfare of the child.

SB 1154 (passed S and H)
Reestablishes the statewide blue ribbon task force for child welfare

Alarming statistics from national and state child welfare organizations indicate the extent of child abuse and neglect in the United States and in Texas. Recently enacted legislation established a statewide blue ribbon task force to develop a strategy to prevent child abuse and neglect in Texas, which made significant strides in establishing such a strategy, as outlined in an interim report made available to legislators. In order for the important work of the task force to continue, S.B. 1154 reestablishes the task force for the development of a strategy to reduce child abuse and neglect and improve child welfare. The bill's goals include fostering cooperation among state agencies and local governments and ensuring that the agencies responsible for children receive a top-to-bottom review of their policies, procedures, and resources.

SB 1490 (law)
Seeks to prevent parents with dual citizenship from taking their child out of the country during a custody fight

S.B. 1490 is in response to a case which occurred in Bexar County in November of 2009. Jean Philippe Lacombe, the father of a child who was the subject of a custody battle, filed an international child custody determination with allegations of physical harm. Therefore the judge issued a warrant to take physical custody of the child. The child was immediately given to the father and the father was told to appear the next Monday for a hearing in order to make the custody determination. The father—who had dual citizenship— immediately absconded with the child to a foreign country. It took the parent who rightfully had custody of the child a year in order to get her child back.
S.B. 1490 requires a record to be made of all proceedings and hearings when implementing Chapter 152 (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act), Family Code, for only international child custody determinations or proceedings.

SB 1492 (passed S and H)
Regarding the Real-Edwards Conservation and Reclamation District Elections

The Real-Edwards Conservation and Reclamation District (district) was created by H.B. 447 in the 56th Legislature in 1959 to provide for the conservation, preservation, protection, and prevention of waste of the groundwater in the district.
The district's nine-member board of directors (board) is currently elected at large within the boundaries of the district, which is composed of the counties of Edwards and Real. The board as well as the commissioners courts of both counties believe that it is in the best interest of the citizens of both counties to ensure near equal representation on the district board from both counties.
The proposed legislation would restrict candidacy to four seats from Edwards County, four seats from Real County, and one seat elected at large from either county. Although candidacy would be restricted, all voters would vote on all seats.

SB 1493 (passed S and H)
Defense adjustment management authority changes

Municipalities that have created a defense adjustment management authority to counteract the potential negative impact of a military base realignment or closure report that there is a need to update the statutes authorizing such an authority. S.B. 1493 seeks to amend current law relating to the directors of a defense adjustment management authority and to a study on the effectiveness of the authority.

SB 1496 (passed S and H)
Clarification of scope and validity of correction property deeds

A long-standing practice in Texas is for a correction instrument to be filed in order to correct nonsubstantive errors in deeds of record. A Texas court recently considered a case involving foreclosure and the misuse of a correction deed and, in its opinion, seemed to suggest that certain correction instruments may be void, particularly a correction instrument pertaining to additional property. That court decision has created an uncertainty within the real estate industry as to what can be corrected and as to the validity of certain correction documents. S.B. 1496 seeks to address this uncertainty by amending statutory provisions relating to the scope and validity of correction instruments in the conveyance of real property.

SB 1505 (passed S and H)
Changes the method for appraising real property interest in oil or gas for tax reasons

Real property interest in oil and gas in place is currently required to be taxed at current market value, which requires the calculation of an estimate of the prices of oil and gas in the coming tax year. To aid in the appraisal of property interest, the comptroller of public accounts is required to forecast future oil and gas prices using certain methods and calculate a market condition factor for the tax year. Interested parties contend that the frequent volatility of the prices of oil and gas render these estimates nearly impossible to complete with consistent accuracy. S.B. 1505 seeks to remedy this problem by changing the method for appraising a real property interest in oil or gas in place that takes into account the future income from the sale of oil or gas.

SB 1521 (passed S and H)
Allows municipal court warrant officers to use the security fund for work done in the "field"

A warrant officer is considered an officer of the municipal court and, simultaneously, commissioned by the police department. The warrant officer's core duties include searching for and arresting individuals with outstanding warrants issued by the municipal court. Consequently, as an officer of the court, the warrant officer should be allowed to use the municipal court building security fund for expenditures related to his or her personal security when completing primary job duties in the field. In essence, the "field" becomes an extension of the municipal court building for the warrant officer and justifies equal protection.
S.B. 1521 seeks to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to include warrant officers and related equipment in the definition of security personnel, services, and items related to the buildings that house the municipal court.

SB 1751 (passed S and H)
Adds nondiscretionary retirement plans to deductions from income for child support payments

Noncustodial, obligor parents must pay child support in an amount based on the calculation of their net resources. In determining an obligor parent's net resources, current law deducts certain expenses off the top of that parent's gross resources. These include social security payments, federal income tax payments, state income tax payments, union dues, and expenses for the cost of health insurance or cash medical support for the obligor's child ordered by the court under Section 154.182 (Health Care Coverage for Child), Family Code.
Once these deductions have been taken off the top, the court will have some monetary amount that is deemed the obligor parent's net resources. The obligor parent must then pay a percentage of his or her net resources in child support.
S.B. 1751 would add nondiscretionary retirement plan contributions to this list of deductions. Certain professions require workers to pay into mandatory retirement and pension funds that are not currently included in the deductions when calculating net resources. S.B. 1751 would include these required payments in the list of deductions when calculating an obligor parent's net resources.

Joint Author
SB 24 (law)
(with Van De Putte and Zaffirini)
Human Trafficking law

S.B. 24 seeks to enact legislative changes included in the [Texas Human Trafficking Prevention] task force report, such as creating separate definitions for sex trafficking and labor trafficking. The bill extends the civil and criminal statute of limitations for human trafficking crimes, adds human trafficking offenses and compelling prostitution to the list of "3g" offenses, and requires an offender who is convicted of sex trafficking to register in the Sex Offender Registry.

The bill seeks to provide protection mechanisms for child victims in the Texas Family Code. The bill allows a parent or guardian, acting on behalf of a minor who is a victim of human trafficking, to file for a protective order against the trafficker. The bill would also allow child victims in sex trafficking cases certain provisions similar to sexual assault cases under Texas law.

Judith Zaffirini (D) District 21
Author
SB 5 (passed S and H)
Frees up institutions of higher learning from some regulations to help them lower costs

S.B. 5 is designed to facilitate efficient operations, reduce institutional costs, and provide administrative flexibility to institutions of higher education. This is particularly important in the current budget climate in which institutions are being asked to do more with less.

SB 27 (passed S and H)
Provides schools with a policy for dealing with food allergy reactions

There is concern that certain schools are unprepared for a student's food allergy reaction. Interested parties contend that establishing a policy for the care of students with a diagnosed food allergy at risk for anaphylaxis will greatly reduce the possibility of a fatal attack. S.B. 27 seeks to provide for such a policy in school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.

SB 28 (passed S and H)
Priority criteria for the TEXAS grant program for higher education

This bill would establish priority criteria for the TEXAS grant program. Under this proposal, higher education institutions must prioritize students who have met two of four academic criteria: completing the equivalent of 12 semester credit hours of college level programs in high school (dual credit, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate) or completing the Distinguished Achievement Program; satisfaction of the Texas Success Initiative college readiness benchmarks on an approved assessment instrument or through qualification for an authorized exemption; completing high school with a B average on a four point zero scale or graduating in the top one-third of the student's high school class; or successfully completing a mathematics course higher than Algebra II. If a student meets two of these criteria, the student is placed ahead of those students who do not meet the criteria. Once an institution has provided all academically prioritized students with a TEXAS grant, it can then distribute remaining funds to need eligible yet academically ineligible students.

SB 29 (passed S and H)
Extending health insurance to graduate and post graduate students for prestigious fellowships

Observers contend that graduate students who are awarded fellowships cannot obtain health insurance benefits from a university because such students are not university employees. Many students therefore prefer to seek teaching or graduate assistant employment within the university in order to have quality health benefits and either do not apply for or decline fellowship funds. Observers contend that, when a student turns down a fellowship, the university also loses potential research funding that many consider a significant factor in the university's stature and regional and national ranking.
S.B. 29 seeks to improve the number of academic fellowships sought out and accepted by Texas graduate students, bolster research dollars available to Texas colleges and universities, and add to the stature of such institutions by extending university employee health insurance benefits to graduate and postgraduate students who are awarded prestigious fellowships in the same manner as benefits are extended to teaching or graduate assistants.

SB 32 (passed S and H)
Consolidation of tuition exemptions

This bill would consolidate all tuition exemptions and waivers into one chapter of the Texas Education Code.

SB 36 (passed S and H)
Higher education advising standards to help improve student performance

The purpose of this bill is to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, institutions of higher education, and relevant professionals to develop an instrument to assess student academic advising by September 1, 2011.
Currently, there is no formal assessment system for academic advisors. Without a state system for academic advisement assessment, the state is allowing a very important predictor of undergraduate success to potentially go underutilized. Because there is some anecdotal evidence regarding poor advising and no uniform way to measure effective advising, it is important to develop an objective system that can fairly assess and evaluate academic advising. This legislation would provide a first step toward developing such a system.

SB 37 (law)
Continuation or the Promoting Independence Advisory Committee

The Promoting Independence Advisory Committee (PIAC) was established to make recommendations to health and human services agencies on the most appropriate care settings for persons with disabilities. This interagency task force is set to expire this year, which would result in the discontinuation of critical assistance to the health and human services agencies concerned with this issue. S.B. 37 provides for the continuation of the PIAC until 2017.

SB 40 (passed S and H)
Allows the Texas Guaranteed Loan Corporation (TG) to continue to manage their student loans

According to federal law effective July 1, 2010, all Federal Stafford, PLUS, and Consolidation loans must be made under the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP). Students and parents borrow directly from, and repay their loans to, the U.S. Department of Education. Many of the services performed by TG at no charge under the FFELP, such as helping colleges and universities take appropriate steps to prevent loan defaults by their alumni, are still required. The bill would allow TG to continue to manage their existing FFELP portfolio for the life of the loans, as well as operate under the newly established FDLP, thereby allowing the state to continue to utilize the resources and services of TG.

SB 41 (passed S and H)
Limits the use of restraints in facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities

The United States Department of Justice recently investigated and reported on the liberal use of restraints and the types of restraints used in Texas' state-run facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities. Despite earlier documentation of deficiencies in the use of restraints, the use of such devices has reportedly increased in some facilities. Mechanical restraints, which account for a significant percentage of the restraints used in certain health care facilities in Texas, are regarded as the most restrictive type of restraint and have been increasingly forbidden by a growing number of providers. Reports indicate that clients of state supported living centers have suffered broken bones, black eyes, and even death as a result of poor restraint policies.
S.B. 41 seeks to codify the United States Department of Justice recommendations that all facilities stop using prone holds and straitjackets, eliminate as-needed orders or standing orders for the use of restraints, limit the use of mechanical restraints to emergencies only, use only the least restrictive restraint techniques when the use of restraints is necessary, and provide for administrative review after the use of a restraint.

SB 43 (passed S ans H)
Closes loopholes so entities with knowledge of abuses in mental health care system are held accountable

This bill closes a loophole in existing law created by S.B. 210, 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, which was part of a package of eight bills related to the mental health statutes, to ensure that all entities with knowledge of abuses in the mental health care system are held accountable.

SB 49 (passed S and H)
Informs parents of school district requirements regarding disciplinary alternative education

A school district is currently required to offer a student in a disciplinary alternative education program the opportunity to complete coursework before the beginning of the next school year at no cost to the student. It has been suggested, however, that students and parents are not always fully informed of this obligation. C.S.S.B. 49 seeks to remedy this problem by setting out certain school district requirements regarding parental notification and documentation in connection with disciplinary alternative education programs.

SB 54 (passed S and H)
Requires teachers working with visually impaired students to complete all approved course work

A student with a visual impairment is currently required to be taught by a certified teacher. According to interested parties, teachers of students with visual impairments can obtain the supplemental visual impairment certification in several ways, not all of which require the completion of certain approved course work. S.B. 54 seeks to improve the quality of education provided to students with visual impairments by requiring teachers of students with visual impairments to complete all required course work or an approved alternative education certification program before taking the certification test.

SB 58 (passed S and H)
Korean War Veterans Memorial Road

S.B. 58 designates segments of State Highway 359, State Highway 16, and State Highway 285 in South Texas as the Veterans of the Korean War Memorial Highway to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice. Four signs with the designated name would be placed at the following points, in the following cities: on leaving Laredo, on entering Bruni, on entering Hebbronville, and on entering Falfurrias. The designation will honor the living servicemen, the families who lost their loved ones, and the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for the cause of liberty.

SB 61 (passed S and H)
Requirements for juvenile case managers at municipal courts

The juvenile case manager position was created to address the issues associated with the high volume of juveniles sent to municipal and justice courts for truancy, traffic violations, and other fine-only Class C misdemeanors not covered by the juvenile courts. Observers contend that current statute does not establish minimum education and training standards explicitly for a juvenile case manager. Observers further contend that, with minimum training and educational standards similar to those for a juvenile probation officer, juvenile case managers may be better able to fulfill their intended role and improve the outcomes of youth involved in such juvenile cases.
C.S.S.B. 61 seeks to require the governing body of the governmental entity that employs a juvenile case manager to adopt rules for juvenile case managers that provide a code of ethics, appropriate educational requirements, and training standards.

SB 209 (passed S and H)
Requires juvenile case managers to report to judges

Current law allows certain courts to hire juvenile case managers to provide services in juvenile cases. While the use of juvenile case managers has grown since this authorization was granted, some believe the legislative intent behind the creation of these case managers has largely been unrealized. In some courtrooms, juvenile case managers report to clerks rather than the judge of the court and fill an administrative role instead of a problem-solving role. Requiring juvenile case managers to timely report to the appropriate judge may create a more effective management structure that will foster more interaction between the judge and juvenile case manager.
C.S.S.B. 209 seeks to require a juvenile case manager to timely report to the appropriate judge information or recommendations relevant to assist the judge in making certain decisions in the case and requires certain consultation between judges and juvenile case managers.

SB 250 (passed S and H)
Stalking protective orders before arrest

This bill would extend to persons who are victims of stalking the right to a protective order against their stalker without requiring that the alleged stalker first be arrested for the crime.

SB 264 (passed S and H)
Requires local workforce development boards to provide child care information

Local workforce development boards are not currently required to include certain quality child-care indicators for subsidized child-care providers in the materials provided to parents, families, and other caregivers of infants and young children. S.B. 264 seeks to help families and other caregivers make informed choices when placing a child in a program by requiring local workforce development boards to provide such information.

SB 265 (law)
Higher standards for in home child care providers

Interested parties contend that, although employees of certain facilities, homes, and agencies that provide child-care services are required to complete certain training in subject areas such as child growth and development, guidance and discipline, age-appropriate curriculum, or teacher-child interaction, current law does not adequately address who is authorized to provide such training. S.B. 265 seeks to ensure that child-care employees and operators receive training from knowledgeable individuals with relevant expertise by establishing requirements for persons providing that training.

SB 773 (passed S and H)
Extends telecommunications discount

Interested parties are concerned that without the state telecommunications discount for digital services for voice, video, and data to libraries, schools, colleges, hospitals, and telemedicine centers certain anchor institutions might have to cut programs, eliminate positions, and pass on the cost to the public, cities, or counties to cover the costs of broadband services. The parties note that the discount program remains an essential component of the state's information and telecommunications infrastructure but that it is set to expire on January 1, 2012. S.B. 773 seeks to address matters relating to the telecommunications service discounts.

SB 776 (passed S and H)
Seeks to eliminate fraud in rebating state sales taxes for exported goods

Interested parties observe that the United States Constitution prohibits state governments from taxing goods exported to foreign nations. One of the ways Texas may comply with this constitutional constraint is by rebating state sales taxes on a purchases made by foreign shoppers who prove the purchase is bound for export via documentation issued by a licensed customs broker. Unfortunately, the current rebate system is plagued by fraud and a lack of enforcement, despite legislative attempts to address abuse.
Among other provisions, C.S.S.B. 776 seeks to eliminate fraud by requiring the comptroller to authorize the use of hard copy export certificates issued when the online system is down and by expanding the steps taken to ensure that purchases are actually bound for export.

SB 811 (passed S and H)
Clarifies veterinary medicine regulations

The Veterinary Licensing Act (VLA) gives the Texas Board of Veterinary Medicinal Examiners (TBVME) the authority to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine by ensuring that veterinarians are competent, meet established standards, and are held accountable for their actions.
Clear legislative direction in the areas of peer assistance programs, licensing, and confidentiality would better focus TBVME's mission and allow it to better serve its licensees and the public. S.B. 811 amends current law relating to the regulation of the practice of veterinary medicine.

SB 851 (passed S and H)
Single financial aid deadline

This legislation would require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to set a single statewide financial aid deadline for all public four-year universities.

SB 1449 (passed S and H)
Seeks to eliminate duplication of effort in accreditation for licensed health care facilities

Observers note that many licensed health care facilities that receive outside accreditation may forgo state inspections as part of the license renewal process if the facilities provide evidence of accreditation, but that this option is not available to chemical dependency facilities. The observers further note that facilities accredited by organizations such as the Joint Commission or the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, whose standards for accreditation are higher than the state's standards, must currently undergo multiple inspections for license renewal.
Interested parties assert that this duplication of effort can result in unnecessary administrative costs and burdens for facilities, as well as unnecessary expenses for the state, and that such costs and burdens could be avoided if outside accreditation were accepted for license renewal. The parties further assert that such a policy would also provide an incentive for licensed facilities to obtain the heightened accreditation, resulting in increased quality and safety for patients.

C.S.S.B. 1449 seeks to address this issue by addressing matters relating to an alternative method of satisfying certain licensing and program participation requirements for chemical dependency treatment facilities.

SB 1726 (passed S and H)
Requires institutions of higher learning to come up with learning outcomes for certain courses

C.S.S.B. 1726 amends current law relating to the development of measureable learning outcomes for undergraduate courses at public institutions of higher education.

SB 1857 (passed H and S)
Relaxes self administration of meds by people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in institutions

Currently, a client living in certain health care facilities or receiving certain home and community-based services is authorized to self-administer medication under the supervision of an unlicensed person if the client has the physical, rather than cognitive, ability to take the medication. Observers note that, while the determination of whether to delegate medication administration had not historically been based on a client's cognitive ability to administer the client's medications safely, the Texas Board of Nursing and the Department of Aging and Disability Services are on the verge of formalizing a new interpretation of what constitutes self- administration in certain community-based programs that serve clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities that would require a registered nurse to delegate self-administration of medications under all circumstances. Interested parties note that such delegation requires more paperwork and training, and that registered nurses required to delegate those tasks may become overburdened.
S.B. 1857 seeks to address these issues by amending current law relating to the administration of medication for clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

SB 1927 (passed S and H)
Increases the number of sales tax-exempt fundraisers for volunteer fire and EMS departments

Interested parties contend that the current wildfires in Texas are imposing a great financial burden on the volunteer fire and EMS departments that are responding to them. Among the primary sources of revenue for many of these departments are fundraisers. Texas law currently authorizes two sales tax-exempt fundraisers per year for certain nonprofit organizations. S.B. 1927 seeks to assist certain nonprofit volunteer fire departments by increasing the number of authorized sales tax-exempt fundraisers that may be held over the next few years.

Joint Author

SB 639 (passed S and H)
with Van De Putte
Clarifies Hazelwood benefit designation provisions

In 2009, the 81st legislature passed S.B. 93, which included provisions that allow veterans and military members deployed into combat to assign their unused Hazlewood benefits to their children. Since passage and implementation of that Legislation, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has requested that several provisions be clarified.
C.S.S.B. 639 contains those clarifications to provide guidance to institutions of higher education to ensure that veterans receive the benefits intended by the 81st Legislature.

Jeff Wentworth (R) District 25
Author
SB 131 (passed S and H)
Relaxes rules for cemetery placement

According to interested parties, certain municipalities that wish to establish a cemetery, other than a family cemetery, within their boundaries are unable to do so because current law sets forth specific requirements for where a cemetery may be located. S.B. 131 seeks to address this issue by amending current law relating to cemeteries in certain municipalities.

SB 132 (passed S and H)
Requires DPS to send information to the Selective Service when certain people apply for drivers licenses or ID

Currently, Texas provides an applicant for a driver's license or personal identification certificate the opportunity at the time of application to consent or decline to register with the Selective Service System. S.B. 132 seeks to require the Department of Public Safety, at the time of an application for a driver's license or personal identification certificate submitted by certain applicants, to send to the United States Selective Service System the information from the application necessary to register the applicant with the Selective Service System.

SB 914 (law)
Exemptions from certain requirements for regional waste disposal to reduce costs

S.B. 914 clarifies that certain multi-county districts with the powers of a river authority under Chapter 30 (Regional Waste Disposal), Water Code, are exempt from the requirements of Section 49.181. This bill does not waive the requirement for districts to provide engineering plans for proposed projects to TCEQ in permitting, nor does it impact TCEQ's authority to review the technical merits of proposed projects to insure protection of the environment. Bonds issued by such entities are also still subject to approval by the attorney general of Texas. The bill will, however, reduce project costs that must ultimately be paid by consumers and enable services to be delivered more quickly by these regional districts.

SB 917 (passed S and H)
Streamlines creation of emergency service districts

Current law provides for the creation, powers, and duties of emergency services districts to provide firefighting and other emergency services to residents of areas where voters have approved the creation of such districts under certain conditions. As the state's population continues to rapidly grow, particularly in suburban and exurban areas adjacent to established cities, the need for and number of such districts continues to increase. C.S.S.B. 917 intends to allow streamlining of service administration as well as enhanced training and accountability measures for such districts.

SB 918 (law)
Provides immunity from libel or slander for members of organizations that detect, investigate or prosecute insurance fraud

Under Section 701.052 (Immunity for Furnishing Information Relating to a Fraudulent Insurance Act), Insurance Code, as it currently exists, limited immunity from libel or slander in a civil action is provided to persons reporting suspected, anticipated, or completed fraudulent insurance acts if the information is provided to: an authorized government agency or the TDI Fraud Unit; a law enforcement officer or agent of the officer; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; a state or federal agency established to prevent fraudulent insurance acts; or a special investigative unit of an insurer or entity that contracts with an insurer to investigate suspected fraudulent insurance acts. S.B. 918 adds a person who is a member of an organization primarily dedicated to the detection, investigation, and prosecution of insurance fraud as provided in Section 701.051(c) (relating to an organization primarily dedicated to the detection, investigation, and prosecution of insurance fraud), Insurance Code

SB 958 (passed S and H)
Allows certain animal sanctuaries to house dangerous wild animals

The legislature has in the past enacted legislation to regulate dangerous wild animals and to ensure public safety. Interested parties note that animal sanctuaries typically operate under the classification of animal shelters. The parties assert, however, that an animal sanctuary is not, in fact, an animal shelter because the term animal shelter suggests a temporary animal holding and rehabilitation facility rather than a facility that provides long-term housing and care. Observers express concern that, under this reasoning, an accredited animal sanctuary is not permitted to house a dangerous wild animal in a county that has not established a process for registering the animals. The parties further assert that legislation is needed to address these issues by exempting certain accredited animal sanctuary entities from provisions of law relating to the regulation of dangerous wild animals. C.S.S.B. 958 seeks to achieve this goal.

SB 959 (passed S and H)
Allows TxDOT more leeway in billing toll road and parking customers to make the system more efficient

TxDOT currently offers video billing to its customers, which allows customers to drive on a toll road without paying the toll at the time the road is used. A photograph of the vehicle's license plate is captured and a bill is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle at a later date. Under current law, TxDOT is required to mail violation notices to the registered owner of the vehicle at the primary address shown in the Department of Motor Vehicle's registration records; however, many of those addresses are inaccurate and some are the addresses of a previous owner of the vehicle. S.B. 959 amends the Transportation Code to authorize TxDOT to send notices of nonpayment to an alternate address provided by the owner or derived through other reliable means.
Further, TxDOT charges a separate administrative fee for each unpaid toll transaction. During one trip on a toll facility, a customer may pass through multiple tolling points. Even though unpaid toll transactions are ultimately grouped together for collection purposes, TxDOT does not have the authority to charge a single administrative fee that covers multiple events of nonpayment. S.B. 959 expressly authorizes TxDOT to impose one administrative fee that covers multiple events of nonpayment.
In addition, TxDOT has been approached by the City of Austin Department of Aviation with regard to the possibility of using TxTag customer accounts to pay for parking services. S.B. 959 expressly authorizes TxDOT to enter into an agreement with a governmental or private entity regarding the use of a transponder issued by TxDOT and the corresponding electronic toll collection customer account to pay for parking services offered by the entity.
Finally, S.B. 959 expressly authorizes TxDOT to refund to the customer the balance of funds in an electronic toll collection customer account after the closure of the account, as well as provides that automated enforcement technology may also be used for purposes of producing, depicting, photographing or recording an image that depicts the part of a vehicle necessary to establish the classification of the vehicle and the proper toll to be charge, the license plate number, and the state of registration as well as images showing the vehicle dimensions, the presence of a trailer, and the number of axles.

SB 1057 (passed S and H)
Allows car dealers to wait to register a used vehicle when it is sold, so the new owner gets a full year registration

S.B. 1057 seeks to improve and simplify the process for registering these used vehicles. The bill terminates the registration period remaining on the motor vehicle at the time of sale or transfer to the dealer and requires the dealer to register the vehicle for an entire registration year when the vehicle is subsequently resold. As a result, the dealer is not required to calculate a registration period and the new owner obtains a full year on the vehicle registration.

SB 1114 (passed S and H)
Allows the TEA to pass drivers ed certificate printing costs to drivers education schools

SB 1114 recommends that drivers education be moved from Texas Education Agency jurisdiction to another agency. Allows the TEA to sell drivers certificates to authorized driving schools to distribute, instead of TEA distributing them. Allows the driving schools to print the certificates, so those costs aren't covered by TEA. Requires TEA to devise a uniform standard certificate with unique serial numbers for this purpose so they can't be counterfeited.

SB 1159 (passed S and H)
Amends current law regarding divorce filings for members and spouses of the Armed Services

Currently, under Section 6.303 (Absence on Public Service), Family Code, time spent by a Texas domiciliary outside this state or outside the county of residence of the domiciliary while in the service of the armed forces or other service of the United States or this state is considered residence in this state and in that county for purposes of filing for divorce. Problems arise when the spouse of that public servant (particularly military personnel) was a domiciliary of Texas at the time of marriage, but has since moved with his/her spouse under orders to do so, and cannot file divorce in Texas due the provisions of 6.303 not specifically applying to a military spouse.
S.B. 1159 amends current law relating to an exception to the residency requirements for filing a suit for dissolution of a marriage in this state for certain spouses of military personnel.

SB 1269 (law)
Clarifies Texas Ethics Commission standards to allow office holders to accept transportation, lodging and food, if they don't offer political services, so they don't have to be reported as political contributions

Recently, the Texas Ethics Commission adopted Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 484. This opinion stated that expenditures accepted under certain provisions which allow an officeholder to accept transportation, lodging, and meals if the officeholder provides services that are more than merely perfunctory, could be considered a political contribution under certain circumstances. The Ethics Advisory Opinion was recently withdrawn by the Ethics Commission, leaving the current state of the law unclear.
S.B. 1269 clarifies the law such that transportation, lodging, and meals accepted under the statute are not political contributions. It also codifies a longstanding Ethics Commission interpretation that the prohibitions on receiving or providing benefits described in law, do not apply to such benefits.

SB 1543 (passed S and H)
Allows an independent school district more leeway in its bond investments

SB 1596 (passed S and H)
Clarifies procedures for creating or deleting a "public utility agency"

Chapter 572 (Public Utility Agencies for Provision of Water or Sewer Service), Local Government Code, authorizes two or more public entities to create a "public utility agency" to plan, finance, construct, own, operate, or maintain water supply and/or wastewater treatment facilities. To create an agency, the entities must publish notice of their intent to create the agency, and then they must adopt concurrent ordinances or resolutions approving creation of the agency. If 10 percent or more of the registered voters of an entity submit a referendum petition, the entity's participation in the agency is subject to a confirming election.
Chapter 572 allows a public entity to be added to or deleted from an existing public utility agency only through "re-creation" of the agency, with all of the public entities, providing notice of the "re-creation," allowing for submission of a referendum petition, and then adopting concurrent ordinances or resolutions. The term "re-creation" can cause confusion regarding the rights, obligations, and ongoing nature of a public utility agency.

SB 1831 (passed S and H)
Preservation of El Camino Real de los Tejas

To help preserve this storied piece of ancestry for generations to come, S.B. 1831 provides for the designation of the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail as a historic highway.

SB 1907 (passed S and H)
Changes to the Public Information Act concerning birth and certain medical records (hold drop from 100 years to 75 years)

Under current law, most local government records to which public access is denied under the Public Information Act are, if still in existence, open to public inspection 75 years after originally created or received. Birth records and certain medical records are subject to disclosure only after 100 years.
The 100-year period creates an unnecessary administrative burden for governmental bodies and prevents disclosure of information valuable to genealogists and researchers long after the policy issues favoring non-disclosure have ceased to exist.
C.S.S.B. 1907 amends current law relating to access to certain archaic information.

Joint Author

SB 14 (law)
Voter ID law (see my analysis here)

Ensuring the integrity of the election process by allowing registered voters to vote and preventing ineligible voters from voting is one goal of the Texas election process. Using the voter registration certificate as a way for the voter to indicate, when offering to vote, that the voter is registered is a step forward toward ensuring the integrity of this process. However, relying on this method may provide opportunities for voter fraud as the voter registration certificate does not necessarily verify the identity of the person presenting the certificate. Options are limited for an election judge who, on being presented a voter registration certificate for voting, suspects the voter is not the person identified on the certificate. C.S.S.B. 14 attempts to further ensure the integrity of the election process by addressing requirements to vote, including presenting a form of photo identification.

Leticia Van De Putte (D) District 26
Author
SB 100 (passed S and H)
Provides for electronic transmission of voting ballots to military and overseas voters and a tracking system

The federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act facilitates the voting process for military and overseas voters by requiring ballots to be transmitted within a specified period before a federal election. C.S.S.B. 100 seeks to help implement federal requirements by providing for the electronic transmission of blank ballots for all military and overseas voters and requiring the secretary of state to create a tracking system under which military and overseas voters can determine whether a voted ballot has been received by the early voting clerk. The bill attempts to further facilitate the process for those voters by extending the elections covered to an election in which an office of the federal government appears, an election to fill a vacancy in the legislature, with certain exceptions, or an election held jointly with those elections. The bill also addresses certain election dates and deadlines.

SB 101 (passed S and H)
Assists Servicemembers with housing foreclosures

The federal Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (SCRA) was enacted to protect certain military servicemembers on active duty from foreclosures of mortgages, deeds of trust, and similar security devices under certain conditions. There have been reports that homes have been nonjudicially foreclosed on while an owner is on active military duty or deployed to a foreign country when debt servicers have not been informed of the debtor's active duty military status. While SCRA is well-designed to prevent such occurrences, interested parties believe there is a need to eliminate any breakdown in communication between a property owners' association and a property owner that may result in a home being nonjudicially foreclosed on.
S.B. 101 seeks to address this issue by providing a safeguard in addition to the federal act in an effort to prevent nonjudicial foreclosures from being carried out on homes owned by active duty military servicemembers.

SB 327 (passed S and H)
Helps veterans service organizations to secure better state funding

Some nonprofit veterans service organizations qualify as tax-exempt charitable organizations under provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Such organizations engage primarily in providing housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, case management, and employment training for low-income veterans, disabled veterans, homeless veterans, and, in some cases, the veterans' families. In addition, many veterans service organizations in Texas engage in business endeavors such as manufacturing, packaging, and maintenance services. These business entities not only provide quality products and services for consumers, they create jobs for veterans and help generate revenue to be reinvested into the businesses. However, a veterans service organization is not defined as a small business and consequently is unable to bid on state procurement opportunities under state law as such.
S.B. 327 seeks to address the limitations on a veterans service organization's opportunity to compete for state procurement contracts by providing for the treatment of such an organization as a small business for state contracting purposes.

SB 439 (law)
Exempts employers from paying unemployment insurance for employees that fill in for military servicemembers

Currently, an employer is required to retain the position of an employee who is absent due to a required military obligation. If an employer hires another individual to fill in for the employee on military duty and that individual is terminated when the employee is reinstated upon return from military duty, the employer is liable for the unemployment insurance benefits paid to the terminated individual, if eligibility for such benefits is determined. S.B. 439 would exempt an employer from the chargeback liability for unemployment insurance claims filed by such an individual.

SB 488 (law)
Requires internet dating services to perform criminal background checks and to make disclosures of such

Large numbers of people use Internet dating sites, but it appears that few of these sites perform a criminal history background check on the people who use them. Some states require such a site to disclose whether or not a check is performed on site users so that members can make more informed choices. It has been suggested that it would also benefit the members if Internet dating sites were to publish a description of safety measures reasonably designed to increase awareness of safer online dating practices. S.B. 488 addresses these issues by establishing provisions for Internet dating safety relating to criminal background checks on users of online dating services and for disclosures of online dating safety measures.

SB 510 (passed S and H)
Makes the voluntary statewide diabetes mellitus registry pilot program permanent

Recently enacted legislation created a voluntary statewide diabetes mellitus registry pilot program. S.B. 510 makes the program permanent, limits application to public health districts in certain counties, and expands the program's scope to include the tracking of diagnosis codes of patients who receive laboratory tests to determine glycosylated hemoglobin levels.

SB 540 (passed S and H)
Provides for a reassessment of property values belonging to disabled veterans

A disabled veteran may currently be entitled to receive an exemption from a portion of the appraised value of the veteran's property according to a certain disability rating schedule. It has been observed that, while the average market value of property in Texas has increased, the exemption dollar amount has remained unchanged, resulting in a dramatic loss of value for the exemption levels with regard to the assessed value of a property a veteran owns. Interested parties contend that, in order to maintain the original intent of the exemption, certain information is needed to consider an adjustment of the exemption amount. S.B. 540 seeks to provide for a study of the fiscal impact of adjusting the amount of the property tax exemption to which disabled veterans and the surviving spouses and children of disabled veterans and certain members of the armed forces are entitled.

SB 710 (passed S and H)
Requires seller disclosure of hazards of single blockable main drains for swimming pools, etc

Concerned parties assert that single blockable main drains in swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs can present a hazard by entrapping hair or body parts and causing prolonged submersion under water, which may lead to injury or death.
S.B. 710 proposes to raise awareness of the dangers of suction entrapment by such drains by requiring the seller of a certain residential real property to include in the seller's disclosure notice notification of whether a residential swimming pool, hot tub, or spa contains a single blockable main drain.

SB 1002 (passed S and H)
Sets up a program to assist disabled burn victims with utility payments

Due in part to the presence of specialized burn treatment centers, San Antonio is home to a high number of veterans whose ability to regulate their body's core temperature is significantly impaired because of severe burns received in combat. Interested parties contend that this large population of burned veterans, who have high utility bills resulting from the need to maintain cooler temperatures in their homes, merits a bill payment assistance program in recognition of the extraordinary utility situation resulting from their service to our nation. S.B. 1002 seeks to address these issues by establishing provisions relating to the designation of program costs for providing bill payment assistance to certain military veterans as a necessary operating expense that is a first lien against revenue of certain electric and gas utilities' revenue securing certain public securities or obligations in order to add a new category of utility customers to a bill payment assistance program established by recent legislation.

SB 1438 (passed S and H)
Clarifies regulations regarding impaired pharmacists

While some information relating to disciplinary reports on impaired pharmacists is confidential and not considered public information, interested parties assert that current law may present some ambiguity of this confidentiality under certain circumstances and that it is not clear whether some information may be subject to disclosure requirements, subpoena, or discovery. It is feared that this ambiguity may deter some pharmacists from seeking treatment for personal health issues and impede future career advancement. Additionally, there is concern that the current disciplinary process for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians requires improvements in efficiency, responsiveness, and flexibility to ensure effective disciplinary oversight.
S.B. 1438 seeks to clarify existing statutory language on the confidentiality of certain records related to the program to aid impaired pharmacists and pharmacy students and provide for more efficient disciplinary procedures for impaired pharmacists by amending current law relating to the program for impaired pharmacists and disciplinary proceedings conducted by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

SB 1733 (passed S and H)
Provides for alternative licensing procedures for military spouses

A military spouse faces many challenges because of the military service of the spouse's husband or wife. Such challenges include difficulty obtaining an occupational license, which may impede a military spouse's ability to find employment when he or she relocates to a new state. C.S.S.B. 1733 addresses this problem by providing alternative license procedures for military spouses.

SB 1736 (passed H and S)
Formalizes the initiative to give military veterans college credit for military experience

Countless Texas veterans receive top-level training in the military but have a hard time getting college credit for their knowledge and skills when they return to civilian life. Certain state agencies and community colleges are working on a plan to offer veterans credit for their skills and experience. C.S.S.B. 1736 seeks to formalize this initiative to develop a model for transfer methods that would maximize academic or workforce education credit awarded by institutions of higher education to veterans for military experience by establishing the College Credit for Heroes program.

SB 1737 (passed H and S)
Makes sure that state employees get 15 days of paid leave for absence due to military duty or training

There are concerns that state employees entitled to 15 days of paid leave of absence for military duty or training cannot carry forward unused leave and that state employees called to federal active duty to provide assistance in a declared emergency do not receive a paid leave of absence. S.B. 1737 seeks to address these concerns by amending current law relating to accrual and use of leave of absence for certain training or duty, including military training or duty, by public employees and officers.

SB 1755 (passed H ans S)
Allows disabled veterans license plates to display military decoration emblems

Interested parties assert that certain specialty license plates for disabled veterans should be allowed to display certain emblems from certain military decoration license plates and that there should be a specialty license plate available for recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal. S.B. 1755 addresses matters relating to the issuance of certain specialty license plates.

Joint Author
SB 717 (passed S and H)
Addresses the lack of organization and sharing of information between juvenile service providers

Individuals, state agencies, and local agencies have expressed concern to the legislature regarding the lack of cooperation when it comes to the sharing of juvenile information between juvenile service providers. Interested parties contend that the lack of organization may lead to missed treatment opportunities, insufficient understanding of each youth's specific needs, duplication of services, and discontinuity of care. S.B. 717 seeks to address these issues by establishing provisions relating to the purpose and duties of the Council on Children and Families.

SB 980 (law)
Relaxes requirements for local telecommunication companies

Incumbent local exchange companies in Texas began the process of deregulating telecommunications markets some time ago. Some people assert that many of the regulatory tools and requirements used to ensure competition are no longer needed because technology and competition have proliferated. Incumbent local exchange companies are required to produce certain reports, including earnings reports, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), companies, and customers are authorized to initiate the establishment of extended area service or an expanded local calling plan. It is further noted that a telephone company and its customers can initiate the establishment of an expanded local calling plan through the PUC, that customer-specific contracts are filed with and approved by the PUC, and that public utilities file and maintain tariffs with the PUC. Finally, it is noted that recent federal court and administrative rulings have held that certain Internet Protocol enabled services are not subject to state regulation.
S.B. 980 seeks to address these issues in communications services and markets by changing certain requirements, such as those related to tariffs, extended area services, and Voice over Internet Protocol services, that are considered outdated or unnecessary.

SB 1000 (passed S and H)
Sets aside funding meant for the TREC and the TALC in a dedicated fund instead of the general fund

Interested parties assert that much of the money collected by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board [TALC] through licensing and registration fees has been deposited in the general revenue fund but has not been appropriated to those agencies. The parties further contend that recent budget cuts have hampered the ability of the TREC and the board to carry out their respective missions, even though the fees paid to the agencies have remained largely consistent. C.S.S.B. 1000 seeks to address this problem by making the TREC and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board self-directed and semi-independent.

SB 1739 (passed S and H)
Makes sure funding set aside for the Texas Veterans Commission is only used for that purpose

The Texas Veterans Commission fund for veterans' assistance is a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund and is a program that currently makes grants to certain eligible entities that provide certain services to Texas veterans and their families.
S.B. 1739 seeks to ensure that the money in the veterans' assistance fund is appropriated only to the Texas Veterans Commission for grants that address veterans' needs and for administrative purposes.

Texas House Redistricting Plans, Do you still have the same REP?

2011-05-06T07:49:00.002-05:00

Well, as I talked about in my post, Gerrymandering: What is it and What can YOU do about it, it's Redistricting Season. The Texas House just passed a redistricting plan for new state house districts.
Check out the redistricting maps to see the difference between current districts and district boundaries for the next legislative election, select the current state house districts map for the base plan and the HB 150 second reading and passed map for the overlay plan.

The district with the biggest boundary change is Speaker of the House Joe Straus' (R) District 121. As I compared the boundary lines I first noticed that Trinity University is cut out of Joe Straus' District 121 and dropped down into Dem district 120 (Ruth McClendon Jones (D)) but then moves east to include Incarnate Word, a catholic university that is likely more conservative, also a lot of retired nuns and clergy live on the campus. East Terrill Hills was also dropped into District 120 and pretty much everything east of the Austin Hwy north of Rittiman Rd, and everything east of Randolph Blvd.

The weirdest new line drawn for District 121 sort of splits Devout Rd. then travels north through flood plain to Stahl Rd. What's really bizarre about this line is some on the houses on Devout could potentially be split in half, thus not following any kind of boundary that makes sense. Also, St. Helena's Catholic Church and the Archbishop's Chancery, just off Devout, didn't quite make it into the 121 boundary, HUH?? The line then continues on and cuts out everything south of Stahl and east of Judson, until it reaches Loop 1604 to capture the existing district until it reaches the railroad tracks that run from 1604 up to Wagon Rd and cuts out everything south of the tracks, I guess it was the wrong side.

The northern part of District 121 is pretty much the same until it gets to Cibolo Vista and cuts into the previous District 122, another Republican stronghold held by Lyle Larson. Another odd boundary change has the northern boundary of 121 going along the TPC Pkwy until it hits Waterhole Ln in Cibolo Canyon, grabbing 2 houses and three vacant lots and then curving up to Marshall Rd, again I say, HUH?? Why not just continue on TPC Pkwy, turn right on Bulverde Rd and then left on Marshall, and avoid this oddity? The abutting district is 122, such a solid Republican bastion that the new boundaries for 117 (John V Garza) and 121, the only other two Republican districts in Bexar County, cut into it, supposedly to take advantage of all those conservative voters. District 121 then continues to take a pretty big chunk out of 122 as it travels south down US 281 to about Sandau Rd, where it starts to take over part of Democratic district 123 (Mike Villareal), encompassing the Airport and the Broadway area north of Loop 410.

Lyle Larson's District 122 seems to be the district to lose the most territory, only gaining a small portion of Republican district 117 north of Loop 1604. This actually makes geographical sense, because before 117 sort of jutted up slightly into otherwise 122 territory.

Republican District 117 ceded territory inside Loop 1604 to Democratic Districts 116 (Trey Martinez Fischer), 125 (Joaquin Castro) and 124 (Joe Menendez) and territory inside Loop 410 to Dem District 118 (Joe Farias). But then in south Bexar County, 117 takes over large swaths of the rural area of District 118. Most rural areas tend to be more conservative.

Most of the Democrat districts remain about the same size territorially, but shift to the west and south to make room for Republican District 121. By doing this, Republican lawmakers have made their existing districts more conservative, thus ensuring reelection. Actually, making District 121 stronger is good for San Antonio, as long as Joe Straus remains Speaker of the House. This gives San Antonio a lot more power in regional decisions.

Early Voting Starts Monday!

2011-04-28T07:35:00.003-05:00

Election day for city councils and school district boards across the State of Texas are set for May 14, 2011. Early voting begins May 2, 2011 and runs through May 10. Click here for a list of Early Voting venues in Bexar County.

Unfortunately it's too late to register to vote for this election (voter registration cards become effective 30 days after you have received it), but if you're not sure if you are registered you can find out here.

To find out who's running outside Bexar County, do a web search for a May 14, 2011 sample ballot for your county. Here's a link to the Bexar County ballot.

Here are the candidates for the City Council of San Antonio.

District 1	District 2	District 3
Chris Forbrich Carolyn Kelley Diego Bernal Lauro A. Bustamante Ralph Medina	Ivy R. Taylor Darrell Boyce	Jennifer V. Ramos Elizabeth “Liz” Campos Ernest Zamora, Jr.

District 4	District 5	District 6
Rey Saldaña Leticia Cantu Kathy Luna	Raymond Zavala Andro Mendoza David Medina Lourdes Galvan	Pete Galaviz Ray Lopez Steve Shamblen

District 7	District 8	District 9
Ruben A. Cortez Cris Medina Fred A. Rangel Gloria Rodriguez Elena Guajardo	Caron West Reed Williams	Elisa Chan Jose Valdez, Jr.

District 10	Mayor
Isy Perez Laura Thompson Bud Little Carlton Soules	James Rodriguez Will McLeod Michael “Commander” Idrogo Julián Castro Rhett R. Smith

For news about each of these races click on your district below.

District 1                                          District 7
District 2                                          District 8
District 3                                          District 9
District 4                                          District 10
District 5                                          Mayor
District 6

If you're not sure what district you live in here's a map.

Here is a link to the Express-News Voters guide for all the races in San Antonio.

Remember, your vote counts a lot more in local elections, so get out there and VOTE!!!

Would electing members of the Public Utility Commission make them more accoutable?

2011-04-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

In Lyle Larson's latest weekly recap he lays out his latest bill in committee:

HB 1302: Our own intuition and numerous studies tell us that elected representatives are more accountable and far more likely to do what we, the voters, want because they risk being thrown out of office if they don’t. In Texas, most industries are regulated by different state agencies, many of which are lead by a board or commission appointed by the governor. For some agencies, this process seems to be sufficient, but for other agencies, especially those that oversee our basic needs, such as energy, water and transportation infrastructure, voters should choose the regulators. HB 1302 would abolish the Public Utility Commission (PUC), transfer its duties to the Railroad Commission (RRC) and rename the RRC the Texas Energy and Communications Commission (TECC). Many people have long questioned the Public Utility Commission's lack of transparency and lack of accountability to Texans. Since 1991, there have been several legislative efforts to consolidate and streamline the PUC and Railroad Commission (RRC). With the PUC slated for Sunset review this session and as Texas faces a daunting $27 billion shortfall, the 82nd Legislative Session is the optimal time to pursue and achieve this change.

But would adding more responsibility to an elected commission actually have this desired effect?

Voter turnout in Texas is abysmal. Here is a chart from the Texas Secretary of State's website. VAP stands for Voter Age Population. As you can see the historic election of Barack Obama had the highest voter turnout at 59.9% of registered voters.

I point out this out because everyone was excited about this election,

yet the turnout was only a little more than half of the registered voters and

only 45.5% the the VAP voted.

When you get to what are perceived as less important races, like the Constitutional Amendment elections, the turnout is a joke, 8% of Registered Voters and 5.77% of VAP.

So how many of y'all out there know what the Public Utilities Commission does? How many know what the Railroad Commission does? I'd guess most of you don't have a clue. (Don't worry, I'm going to write some posts about these later.)

There's another problem with relying on the voters to choose members for this important commission. Even though people turn out to vote, they don't check all the boxes. I know I'm guilty of this, there are so many elected officials, it's not only hard to keep all of them straight, sometimes there just isn't any information out there about them. For most people, they can't be bothered with taking the time to learn about candidates other than the President and the Governor, and most of this information comes from political advertising, a very poor way to get the real dope.

Adding more duties to the Railroad Commission is a bad idea. Even the Sunset Advisory Commission doesn't agree with this.

Recommendations

Change in Statute
S 1.1 Continue the Public Utility Commission for 12 years.
The Sunset staff report on PUC, published in July 2010, concluded in Issue 3 that Texas has a continuing need to regulate the electric and telecommunications industries and oversee evolving competition in the industries. The report left pending the question of whether these regulatory functions should be continued at PUC or in other agencies until completion of the Sunset staff reports on TCEQ and the
Railroad Commission. Now that these other reviews have been completed, staff recommends that PUC be continued for 12 years, with additional functions as indicated in the recommendations below.

S 1.2 Transfer gas utility regulation from the Railroad Commission to the Public Utility Commission.
This recommendation would transfer the responsibility that resides at the Railroad Commission for gas utilities to PUC. Under the recommendation, PUC would administer these regulations under the same original and appellate jurisdiction over rates as currently exists at the Railroad Commission. The transfer would include the Railroad Commission’s existing efforts regarding utility rates and services,
consumer complaints, reports, and audits. Generally, the same regulatory approaches that exist now in gas utilities statutes would continue to apply at PUC, including provisions for interim rate adjustments, cost-of-service adjustments, and cost-recovery surcharges. Collection of the Gas Utility Tax would also
transfer to PUC. The recommendation would provide for the transfer to be completed by March 1, 2012, and would provide for planning and coordination to occur between the Railroad Commission and PUC to implement the transfer. A transition team would be established with high-level employees of both agencies to develop plans regarding the transfer to PUC of obligations, property, personnel, powers, and duties for gas utility functions and sharing of records and information. The team would develop ways to coordinate on areas of interrelated responsibilities, such as the impact of the Railroad Commission’s pipeline safety requirements on the rates of gas utilities. The recommendation would also require the agencies to develop memoranda of understanding, as needed, to implement the plans developed by the transition team. Statute would require the memoranda to be completed by February 1, 2012.

Perhaps commissioners will be accountable to the people who elect them, but so few voters actually choose these officials, their focus will be much narrower than implied by Larson's bill.

Can Texas Thwart the EPA?

2011-04-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

Each week State Rep. Lyle Larson, (R) San Antonio, sends out an update on bills being heard in committee in his Weekly Recap. One of the bills Larson is sponsoring is HB 3188.

HB 3188 This legislation would allow Texas agencies like the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to refuse to administer federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greenhouse gas regulatory programs. We believe environmental management is the sole responsibility of the states, as evidenced by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. This bill would put the power back in our hands.

Meanwhile, in the US House of Representatives, the budget debate is being slowed down by five policy issues, one of which is the EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases and EPA: Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, pushed through an amendment to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Poe's proposal passed 249-177, with 13 Democrats backing his effort. Obama and Democrats in the Senate aren't budging. "Neither the White House nor the Senate leaders are going to accept any EPA riders they have in their bill," Reid told reporters recently.
So if Larson's bill becomes law, will it stand up in court? How much power does the EPA have over the states?

First a brief history of the EPA. The EPA was created in 1970 by Richard M Nixon by executive order to comprehensively regulate environmental pollutants. Since the EPA is an executive agency, its policies change as presidential administrations change. The agency is charged with administering over 30 environmental laws and executive orders.

In 2007, another Texan tried to temper the EPA's control of greenhouse gases, George W. Bush.

The Bush administration contended that

the EPA has discretion to decide when and how to best respond to international environmental threats.

However, in the Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v the Environmental Protection Agency

The petitioners claimed that human-influenced global climate change was causing adverse effects, such as sea-level rise, to the state of Massachusetts. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled in favor of Massachusetts et al, finding that EPA has the authority to regulate CO₂ and other greenhouse gases.

The EPA [under the Bush Administration] argued that it was not given the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate CO₂ or other greenhouse gases. The Court challenged the EPA’s refusal to regulate CO₂ as an air pollutant under the statute. The Court found that CO₂ fits within the statute’s broad definition of an air pollutant. Further, the Court stated that “EPA identifies nothing suggesting that Congress meant to curtail EPA’s power to treat greenhouse gases as air pollutants.” In its case, the EPA argued that regulating CO₂ would require regulating fuel economy standards, which – according to the EPA – is under the purview of the Department of Transportation. The Court countered the EPA by recognizing that multi-agency efforts can indeed overlap when addressing an issue as important as global climate change: “The fact that DOT’s mandate to promote energy efficiency by setting mileage standards may overlap with EPA’s environmental responsibilities in no way licenses EPA to shirk its duty to protect the public health and welfare.” Protecting public health and welfare is a duty mandated by the Clean Air Act.

When the Obama Administration took over the Oval Office, the EPA began to move on regulating green house gasses. In December 2010, the EPA tried to force Texas into compliance by overstepping the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to enforce the new regulations after the state agency refused to comply.

Last month, when Texas did not implement the new rules, EPA released a plan to seize control of greenhouse permitting in the state. But the agency must wait at least a week so judges can make a decision on Texas' legal bid to stave off federal intervention, the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday.
The temporary delay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of the state's lawsuit, the order (pdf) said.
It is a small setback for EPA, which has promised a smooth transition as Texas and more than a dozen other states challenge the new climate regulations in court. But while the other challengers are going along with the new rules while their lawsuits move through the courts, Texas has refused, saying that EPA has shut the state out of the process by ignoring the usual procedural steps.

If a court stay only lasts for so long, how do you slow down the EPA? Take away its money.

House Republicans Propose Cuts to Climate Change Programs for 2011
On February 19, 2011, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution, H.R. 1, that would fund the federal government for the rest of fiscal year 2011. Because a budget for fiscal year 2011 was never approved, the government is being funded during fiscal 2011 by continuing resolutions that are based on the 2010 budget. The current continuing resolution expires on March 18, 2011. H.R. 1 would cut EPA’s 2011 funding by $3 billion from 2010 levels, to $7.3 billion. It would restrict EPA from using any funds to regulate or limit GHG emissions, and it removes all funding for states to develop, and EPA to consider, GHG permits. The continuing resolution would also cut $60.3 million from various other EPA climate change programs and would bar the government from using appropriated funds to make contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Finally, H.R. 1 would prevent EPA from implementing its Clean Air Act waiver for E-15 gasoline during fiscal year 2011. To be implemented, the resolution must go to the Senate, where majority Democrats have opposed the environmental provisions of the continuing resolution and promise to rewrite the resolution, which then must be approved by the President.

So would a state law hold up to Supreme Court scrutiny? Based on precedent, the Supreme Court has already decided that the EPA has the authority to enforce green house gas emission regulations. But what about the money? Right now neither the Senate nor the President are going along with the House on cutting funding to the EPA. The budget process is pretty much at a stand still and threats of a government shut down are looming large. I guess it comes down to who blinks first.

Your Federal Income Tax Receipt

2011-04-05T14:20:00.002-05:00

Here's a cool calculator I found today. The Thrid Way, a moderate think tank, has a calculator that will calculate where your federal income tax money goes. Just type in the total amount you paid in taxes and it gives you an itemized list of which programs get your money and how much they receive. It also calculates how much each taxpayer is on the hook for the national debt.

Not only does it calculate your share, you can sort alphabetically or by percentage share. If you hit the Expand All link it breaks down the expenditures even more, i.e. from Defense, to all its components.

Voter ID Law: Valid Voter Fraud Protection or Voter Disenfranchisement?

2011-03-30T18:21:00.000-05:00

Well, Voter ID bills have passed the Texas Senate and House and it's only a matter of time before they combine the bills to become a law. Each bill, Senate Bill (SB) 14 and House Bill (HB) 401, require voters to present valid photo ID in order to have their votes counted. Proponents say this type of legislation will prevent voter fraud, while opponents argue that requiring photo ID would make it practically impossible for senior shut-ins and the poor to vote. So what's the real story.

If you check out this Voter Fraud Timeline there are plenty of allegations of voter fraud, but if you look for actual legal action or indictments for voter fraud the list is actually pretty small and minor. According to Ballotpedia voter fraud in Texas usually has to do more with mailing in another person's ballot, ordering one or two mail in ballots for someone else, votes by convicted felons (who may not have known that it was illegal for them to vote), and a few cases of people claiming to be illegal aliens to get out of jury duty (jurors are partly chosen from voter registration rolls). The only case of voter fraud that was really egregious and actually did lead to a conviction was the election Refugio County Commissioner, Raymond Villarreal.

Raymond Villarreal, a Refugio County commissioner, pleaded guilty in 2007 to a felony count of tampering with a governmental document and a misdemeanor count of wrongful possession of a ballot. District Judge W.W. Kilgore sentenced Villarreal to 90 days in county jail, 300 hours of community service and $2,500 in fines. If he violates terms of a five-year probation, he could get sent to state prison for two years. Villarreal also agreed to pay back $2,090 to the county, in conjunction with his use of county equipment and county employees to do work on private property, but charges were never filed.^[20]

Villarreal resigned and admitted his role in a voter fraud scheme involving mail-in ballots that helped him get elected in 2006, officials said. Villarreal got county residents to sign mail-in ballot applications, but had those applications sent to his supporters. After the ballots were filled out indicating a vote for Villarreal, he had the original applicants sign them. "It left a bad taste in my mouth that somebody would try to defraud the system — the same system that I worked to be elected," Refugio County Sheriff Earl Petropoulos said.^[20]

Claims that there are more Hispanic voters on the rolls than actual citizens and voting by dead people seem to be anecdotal at best and not borne out by reality.

According to the US Census detailed tables on Hispanic Voter Registration (2008), the number of Hispanic citizens out numbers Hispanics registered to vote by 40% (see Table 2, Hispanics) and the number of Hispanics who are registered, but don't vote is 50%. When looking at our region (West South Central, Table 3, Hispanics) the percentage of Hispanics registered who didn't vote was even higher, 62%.

The Texas Secretary of State's Office ran an audit of Voter Registration Systems. The report found that there were registered voters who were possible felons or dead, but claimed they couldn't find evidence that these people had voted, because they didn't have enough time before the election. Now why they couldn't check these allegations out after the election is anybody's guess.

The TEAM system included the following voter registration records for the May 12, 2007, special election that auditors identified as belonging to people who were potentially ineligible to vote:

Records for 23,114 voters identified as possible felons using data provided by the Department of Criminal Justice. The data identified felons on community supervision as of April 30, 2007, and felons who were incarcerated or on parole as of May 31, 2007. The Secretary of State’s Office identified 1,124 (4.9 percent) of these possible felons prior to the election, but it was not able to complete its investigations to verify the registrants’ felon status and remove them from the TEAM system before the election.
Records for 23,576 voters believed to be deceased because these records matched death records through November 30, 2006, obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics. The Secretary of State’s Office identified three of these records prior to the election, but it was not able to complete its investigations to verify that these voters were deceased and remove them from the TEAM system before the election. It should be noted that the number of potentially deceased voters auditors identified may be understated because the data obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics did not include death notices for the six months prior to the May 12, 2007, special election.

The only part of the audit that addresses illegal alien voting is a survey of the 254 county voter registration offices in Texas. The survey asked

Do you have procedures to identify ineligible voter applicants, such as felons, non-citizens, or voters who submitted duplicate registrations?

Forty-six percent of the counties said they had no identity procedures and 11% didn't respond.

The issue seems to be more one of record housekeeping than actual voter fraud. The possibility exists for election shenanigans, but the low level of indictments and convictions speaks otherwise.

So what about the claims that Voter ID legislation will put such a high burden on the elderly and the poor that they won't be able to vote?

Well, first, let's look at the two bills. SB 14 requires the following types of ID:

Sec. 63.0101. DOCUMENTATION OF PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION. Provides that the following documentation is an acceptable form of photo identification under this chapter: a driver's license or personal identification card issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that has not expired; a United States military identification card that contains the person's photograph that has not expired; a United States citizenship certificate issued to the person that contains the person's photograph; or a United States passport issued to the person that has not expired.

There is an exception to the ID requirement in section 63.001

Provides that the requirements for identification prescribed by Subsection (b) do not apply to a voter who presents the voter's voter registration certificate on offering to vote and was 70 years of age or older on January 1, 2012, as indicated by the date of birth on the voter's voter registration certificate.

So as the Senate Bill stands, it does not appear to be an impediment to the elderly.

The bill also amends section 521.422, subsections (a) and (d) of the Transportation Code

(a) Provides that the fee for a personal identification certificate, except as provided under Subsection (d), is $15 for a person under 60 years of age, $5 for a person 60 years of age or older, and $20 for a person subject to the registration requirements under Chapter 62 (Sex Offender Registration Program), Code of Criminal Procedure.

(d) Prohibits DPS from collecting a fee for a personal identification certificate issued to a person who states that the person is obtaining the personal identification certificate for the purpose of satisfying Section 63.001(b), Election Code, and who is a registered voter in this state and presents a valid voter registration certificate, or who is eligible for registration under Section 13.001 (Eligibility For Registration), Election Code, and submits a registration application to DPS.

So a registered voter can get a free ID, if they show DPS their voters registration card. Here we get into a murky area because that means the voter would have to go to the DPS office to get the ID. Some voter advocates are claiming that it is hard for poor people, or people who are home bound to get to the DPS office. They are able to vote with mail in ballots that are sent to their homes, but they have to travel to prove eligibility to vote.

OK, so what about the House Bill. At the very beginning of HB 401 it states

Sec. 12.007. TEXAS VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARD. (a) Each voter registrar shall issue Texas voter identification cards to registered voters to be used only for the purpose of meeting the identification requirements of Section 63.001(b). The voter registrar must provide at least one place in the county to accept applications for and issue Texas voter identification cards. The voter registrar may not charge an application fee or a fee for the issuance of a Texas voter identification card.

....

(f) A Texas voter identification card remains valid if the person to whom it was issued resides at the same address and remains qualified to vote. A person who changes residence within the state must surrender the card to the voter registrar of the new county of residence and may apply for and receive a Texas voter identification card issued by the new county of residence if the person is otherwise eligible under this section. A person who moves residence outside the state or who ceases to be qualified to vote must surrender the person's Texas voter identification card to the voter registrar who issued the card.

Both bills provide for free Voter ID but each bill expects either DPS or the counties to come up with money to pay for ID cards for voting purposes (unfunded mandate). At least the HB allows the voter to keep the same card as long as they live in the same dwelling. But, I thought we didn't have any money? Also, there is that thorny transportation/mobility problem.

But what proportion of the poor, elderly and shut-ins vote in the free-for-all world of No ID Required voting? Let's take a look at the Census figures.

According Table 2 of the Voter and Election detailed tables 74% of citizens over the age of 75 are registered to vote and 66% actually voted. But if the language for the SB makes it through, these voters will not be effected. In Table 8, Reported Voting and Registration of Family Members, by Age and Family Income: November 2008 of the total citizens in the US making under $10,000 per year, 72% were registered to vote and 49% reported voting. (for the purposes of this post $10,000 per year per person is poverty level) When Hispanics are parsed out of the total population (Table 9) the percentage of registered voters below the poverty level drops to 50% and only 35% reported voting. Remember, these tables represent voting in 2008 when there was a lot of excitement about the election.

The sad fact is, people in Texas just don't vote. Between 1988 and 2010 voter turnout rates in Bexar County dropped from 66% to 34%. During the Presidential election in 2008 voter turnout jumped up to 57%, but wouldn't you expect a better turnout for a highly contested, historical election?

So who's right, those who want to protect Texas from the evils of Voter Fraud or the voter advocates who claim legislators are trying to prevent the poor and elderly from voting?

Potential for Voter Fraud exists, but it hasn't really been a major problem and traveling to get Voter ID Cards for the poor could be a problem, but I'm sure some enterprising Voter Advocate will figure out a way to get poor people to the ID office.

The biggest problem that I see with the law is it just adds another item to an already stressed budget.

Gerrymandering: What is it and What can YOU do about it

2011-03-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

Well the US Census figures are out and it's the season for Redistricting. So what does the Census have to do with Redistricting? Back in the late 1780s, when our Forefathers were trying to figure out how to run this country, they were pretty much inventing a new political system and needed to figure out a way to elect political representatives. So the agreement they came to is in Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; [The sentence that is linked was amended by the 14th Amendment in 1868 after the Civil War.]

The enumeration has become known as the US Census and as it is laid out in the Constitution is is conducted every 10 years. Nowadays the Census is much more than a head count. The Census Bureau collects all kinds of data from housing to racial makeup to income, but it's first charge is to come up with population figures for each state in the union. The reason why population was considered the determining factor in representation was because the power of the people was what was considered important, not the power of the states.

Nowadays, with a population of over 308 million inhabitants, having Congressional districts with only 30,000 persons (and this is everyone, including prisoners, legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, originally slaves were included in the count (3/5 of a person) to help the South get more representatives) would mean that there would be over 10,000 US Representatives. This is a rather unwieldy number so the number of inhabitants per district has gone up to over 700,000 per district. In order to not have to be constantly changing the number of inhabitants per district, in 1929 Congress enacted the Reapportionment Act of 1929, which capped the number of US Congressmen (representatives) at 435 members.

So as the population rises and shifts from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, districts shift, grow or merge. Some states with declining populations, such as Michigan, actually lose Congressional seats, while states with growing populations like Texas, gain seats (Michigan -1, Texas +4).

The duty to redraw district lines falls to each individual state legislature and they each have their own ways of dealing with reapportionment. District lines are supposed to be drawn to include communities of common interest, take into account geographical regions and features, and have fairly equal populations. Usually redistricting is handled by a state legislative sponsored committee, largely made up of politicians. This year for the first time, California is experimenting with a 14-member Citizen Redistricting Committee chosen from a pool of 30,000 applicants.

So why would California hand off its redistricting duty to citizens? Many people find the legislative handling of redistricting to be less about the people choosing their representatives and more about the representatives choosing their voters. This is definitely not what the Founders intended. Back in high school government class you may have heard the term Gerrymandering. This term refers to a district drawn by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1812 under the Governorship of Eldridge Gerry. The districts were drawn to give an advantage to Gerry's political party, thus insuring their reelection. One district was so convoluted it resembled a salamander, so the name Gerrymander was coined.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

But this was not the first case of a contrived district. In a recent broadcast on the Diane Rehm Show about the Constitution and redistricting, one of her guests, Sean O'Brien of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, told an interesting story about a manipulated district.

The history of gerrymandering predates the name gerrymandering and goes back to actually before the first Congress even existed. So Patrick Henry was governor of Virginia, he was an anti-Federalist, James Madison was a Federalist. Patrick Henry arranged for James Madison not to get elected to the Senate because at that time, the Senate was chosen by the members of the state legislature. So James Madison was going to have to run for Congress if he wanted to be able to introduce the Bill of Rights.

He had been then appointed to the last continental Congress so that he had to travel up to New York to be part of that, or Philadelphia, rather, to be part of that Congress so he wouldn't be able to run locally. And so his friends were saying, James you have got to come back and campaign in your district because the district that has been drawn for you, as described by one person as having 1,000 eccentric angles and it was drawn to put him in the same district with James Monroe who was an anti-Federalist at the time.

Gerrymandering in the past was not only used to keep districts loyal to certain parties. The practice was also used to separate racial minorities from their peers to keep them from developing political clout. This practice is now illegal and was outlawed by the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, the practice of drawing districts to favor political parties is still legal and has actually been upheld by the Supreme Court.

So now we get to redistricting in Texas. In 2003, Texas Democrats famously went on the lam to Oklahoma to prevent quorum so the new, Tom Delay sponsored, redistricting plan couldn't be brought up for vote. After 4 days they returned with a promise that the plan would not be brought up for a vote during the regular session. But as soon as the regular session was over Governor Rick Perry (R) called a special session specifically to vote on the redistricting plan. This time the plan passed. Democratic State Senators (the Texas Eleven), again tried to block the vote by fleeing to New Mexico for 46 days. Tom Delay even suggested having the FBI arrest the senators because he considered the issue of federal significance. Senator John Whitmire (D) finally broke, went back to the special session and the plan passed.

Changes in Congressional Districts Source: Wikimedia Commons

Democrats, however, were not willing to give up the fight and in 2006 took the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. They claimed that the new redistricting plan, unusual because it was made in an off-Census year when Republicans had a majority in the House, was unconstitutional and that it violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But as the Washington Post reported the court didn't agree.

The Supreme Court upheld most of Texas's Republican-drafted 2003 congressional redistricting plan yesterday in a ruling that could prompt majority parties in other states to redraw political maps to their advantage.

The endorsement of the plan, which former House majority leader Tom DeLay crafted to tilt Texas's congressional delegation to the GOP, was not absolute. By a vote of 5 to 4, the court ruled that a sprawling West Texas district represented by Henry Bonilla (R) violates the Voting Rights Act because it diluted the voting power of Latinos.

But seven justices rejected at least part of the opponents' broadest contention: that the entire Texas plan is unconstitutional because the legislature rewrote a previous court-drawn map, three years after the most recent census, out of nothing more than a desire for Republican advantage.

Just a sidebar to this, Henry Bonilla, who didn't get his district redrawn, lost his next election to Democrat Ciro Rodriguez.

So, what can we non-politicians do about partisan redistricting? Well, first and foremost, VOTE. Secondly, learn more about the redistricting process. Columbia University Law School students in the Redistricting and Gerrymandering course are working on the first non-partisan redistricting map for all 435 districts in the country. Their DrawCongress.org website, gives options for maps that they hope legislatures will consider when redrawing district boundaries. They also invite anyone who is interested to come up with their own plans.

Anyone interested in participating in the project and submitting plans should contact Professor Nathaniel Persily at npersi@law.columbia.edu. All submitted plans must include statewide and district-specific maps, as well as a block equivalency file in “.csv” format.

Columbia is using the Maptitude for Redistricting software to draw their maps. But there is also open source software at the Public Mapping Project. Both the DrawCongress.org site and the Public Mapping Project will take you through the process of redistricting and the Public Mapping Project even has a Citizen's Guide to Redistricting.

So, How do YOU want to draw Congressional District Boundaries?????

We Don't Have to Rely on the Texas Leg for Education

2011-03-03T12:25:00.000-06:00

The threat of severe budget cuts to Education has everyone in a state of panic these days. Teachers are worried about their jobs, parents are worried about their children's futures and college students are wondering if they will be able to afford next semester.

So what can we in San Antonio do about it?

We can raise the city's sales tax by 1/8 of a cent and dedicate that money to education.

Mayor Julian Castro is proposing the tax hike to meet the goals set by SA2020. The two most important issues facing San Antonio, as determined by the participants of SA2020, are Education and Transportation. Most people already know that an educated work force is the best way to attract new businesses to a city, so allowing Education to falter would not be in SA's best interests.

Right now all the Legislature is planning on doing is CUT, CUT, CUT.

So, what do you think San Antonio?

Where do Legislators get ideas for laws?

2011-02-25T09:15:00.001-06:00

The 82nd Texas Legislature is now in session and even though the State Budget will receive overwhelming attention due to the estimated $15 to $27 billion budget deficit (see my posts on Public Education and Medicaid, these posts on Grits for Breakfast about Criminal Justice cuts and the higher ed cuts here), lawmakers still have other issues on their minds.

So how do they come up with ideas for bills? (If you've ever seen School House Rock, you know that a bill is a document, that if it makes it through all the hurdles in the legislature and then is signed by the Governor it becomes a law.)

Ideas for bills come from several sources:

Party Platform, Republican or Democrat
Local constituency (You and Me)
Local Government wish lists
Lobbyists for organizations such as Unions, Business Associations, Non-Profit groups, etc
Commendations and Memorials of citizens in the lawmaker's constituency (mostly ceremonial)

So what bills have our elected representatives submitted for the 82nd Legislative Session?

I have listed all of the San Antonio/Bexar County State Representatives and Senators, a brief description of their district, constituency and bills they have authored. If you want more detailed information click on the links I've provided. The district link will show a map of the district. Bills authored will take you to a general information page that lists all of the bills authored by your legislator. For more detailed info on bills, click on the HB (house bill) and SB (senate bill) links; there you will find a full history of the bill including the text, actions, amendments, authors, captions and stages. If it's a bill you are really interested in you can have alerts sent to your email about it. (See the alerts link for each bill on the right side of the webpage.)

Texas State Representatives

Trey Martinez Fischer (D) District 116

NW San Antonio on either side of Fredericksburg Rd from Zarzamora to De Zavala Rd, Balcones Hts
Pop 74% Hispanic (66%) and African American, mostly civilians, average employment (but higher among Hispanics and African Americans), 19% living in poverty, 25% didn't graduate high school, 24% with Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Drunk driving, Database of family abuse and date rape offenders, cell phone use while driving, Texas budget priority, human trafficking

John V Garza (R) District 117

West Bexar County, part of NW San Antonio 1604 @ IH10, Part of southern San Antonio, including Lackland AFB, Helotes
Pop 69% Hispanic (64%) and African American, 8% military, average unemployment, 19% in living in poverty, 28% didn't graduate high school, 17% with Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
No bills authored, this guy doesn't even have an office in his district

Joe Farias (D) District 118

East and South Bexar County, Live Oak, Selma, Universal City, St Hedwig, part of Southside of San Antonio
Pop 67% Hispanic (65%) and African American, mostly civilians, average unemployment over all, but unemployment for Hispanics higher than average, 18% living in poverty, 33% didn't graduate from high school, 11% have Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Health issues, sex education, taxation on disabled, consumer credit regulations

Roland Gutierrez (D) District 119

East outside 410, part of East Side inside 410, southern downtown and part of West Side inside 410
Pop 72% either Hispanic (66.2%) or African American, mostly civilians, with higher than average unemployment, almost 20% living in poverty, 32% didn't graduate from high school, 10% have Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Health issues (elder care, diabetes), sales taxes, eligibility for elections, military, teacher pension board

Ruth McClendon Jones (D) District 120

East Side of San Antonio, part of Northside, Kirby, East Bexar County between Crestway, I10 and FM 1516
Pop 72% Hispanic (42%) and African American (31%), mostly civilians, with higher than average unemployment, 21% living in poverty, 26% didn't graduate high school, 13% have a Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Wrongful convictions, Auto Insurance mile-based rating, Funding for Rail projects, taxation surviving spouses of disabled veterans, In memoriams and congratulation resolutions

Joe Strauss (R) District 121

Part of Northside, and North East San Antonio, part of Far North East Bexar County, Olmos Park, Terrill Hills, Alamo Heights, Windcrest
Pop 65% Anglo, mostly civilians, low unemployment (3%), 6% living in poverty, 7% didn't graduate high school, 39% have a Bachelors or higher

Speaker of the House, doesn't author bills, but assigns all members to committees and and presides over the House of Representatives, probably the most powerful non-elected position in Texas government.

Lyle Larsen (R) District 122

North Bexar County, Hollywood Park, Hill Country Village, Shavano Park, Grey Forest, Castle Hills, part Fair Oaks, part of northern San Antonio between 281 and I10 to Loop 410
Pop 71% Anglo, mostly civilians, low unemployment (3%), 5% living in poverty, 5% didn't graduate high school, 50% Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Allow City County Merger, drug testing for financial assistance, automobile taxes, public nuisances

Mike Villareal (D) District 123

Downtown San Antonio, part of Westside off Commerce and Buena Vista, part of Northside inside 410 between Fredericksburg and McCullough, part of North San Antonio between IH 10 and Nacogdoches and south of Wurzbach Parkway
Pop 73% Hispanic (70%) and African American, mostly civilians, slightly above average unemployment, 21% living in poverty, 20% didn't graduate high school, 16% with Bachelor's or higher

Bills Authored
Public education, Higher education, Sales and Franchise tax relief, Municipal record keeping

Joe Menendez (D) District 124

Westside of San Antonio between Loop 13 and Hwy 90/151, and West San Antonio between 410, 1604, 90 and Culebra/Tezel
Pop 71% Hispanic (63%) and African American, 4% military, slightly higher than average unemployment, 15% living in poverty, 9% didn't graduate high school, 16% with Bachelor's or higher

Bills Authored
Prostitution and graffiti punishment, Cell phone use in vehicles, Health services and issues, Investigation of and collective bargaining practices for Police and Fire officers, Release from property liens, dissolution of Bexar Met Water District, Bullying and Cyber bullying

Joaquin Castro (D) District 125

Part of North West San Antonio inside 1604, including Leon Valley, part of Northside and Westside inside 410
Pop 68% Hispanic (64%) or African American, mostly civilians, average unemployment rate, 16% living in poverty, 25% didn't graduate from high school, 21% have Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Public Schools, school counselors and Community Colleges

Texas State Senators

Carlos I Uresti (D) District 19

The largest district in Texas with 23 counties, including western and southern Bexar County, including San Antonio west, south and east of downtown, Helotes, Grey Forest, Lackland AFB, Sommerset, Elmendorf and Kirby, his roots are in San Antonio
Pop 75% Hispanic (70%) or African American, mostly civilians, above average unemployment rate, 24% living in poverty, 38% didn't graduate high school, 11% Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Low income assistance for Health, Property Tax and Utility usage, Date Violence, Cell Phone use in Motor Vehicles, Ground Water Conservation, Subdivision Plat Revision, Commendations

Judith Zaffirini (D) District 21

A 17 County district that includes East Bexar County, encompassing part of eastern San Antonio, Converse, Shertz, Universal City, southern half of Live Oak, Randolph AFB, Saint Hedwig and China Grove
Pop 76% Hispanic (71%) and African American, mostly civilians, higher than average unemployment rate, 25% living in poverty, 13% didn't graduate high school, 14% Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Health Services for the disabled and college students, Higher Education grants, loans and programs , Cell Phone use in Motor Vehicles, Public School discipline, immunizations and dual credit, Mineral rights, Employee rights, Customs brokerage, Juvenile offense caseworkers, practice of Veterinary Medicine, Commendations

Jeff Wentworth (R) District 25

A 6 County district including North Bexar County, the northern part of San Antonio between 1604 and 410 and part of Northside of San Antonio, Fair Oaks Ranch, Camp Bullis/Stanley, Shavano Park, Hollywood Park, Hill Country Village, northern half of Live Oak, Selma, Castle Hills, Olmos Park, Alamo Heights, and Terrill Hills
Pop 59% Anglo, mostly civilians, lower than average unemployment rate, 8% living in poverty, 8% didn't graduate high school, 37% Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Public land uses, Regulation of land use in counties, State Hwy fund, Cell Phone use in Motor Vehicles, Public Education student discipline, Juror rules in civil trials, Fair business practices, regulation of Solar Energy by property owner's associations, Withdrawals from annuities, etc, Fees for marriage ceremonies, Tax Liens, US Congress term limits, Commendations

Leticia Van De Putte (D) District 26

Only the Western portion of the City of San Antonio from Downtown and bounded by I 10, Loop 1604 and Hwy 90, Leon Valley and Balcones Heights
Pop 75% Hispanic (70%) and African American, mostly civilian, average unemployment rate, 18% living in poverty, 27% didn't graduate high school, 19% Bachelors or higher

Bills Authored
Human Trafficking, Military issues, Health Services, Taxation policies for the disabled, Public Education discipline, Commendations, Dating Site Criminal Background Checks

In case you are wondering about the huge variation in size of the State Senatorial districts, it has to do with population. Senator Uresti's district while vast in land area, is small in population compared to Leticia Van De Putte's much smaller appearing district, which is only a portion of San Antonio, but has a much more concentrated population.

If you live outside of Bexar County you can find out who your Texas State Representative and State Senator are and the bills they have authored here.

Parents Ask to Pay More Taxes for Schools

2011-02-21T07:23:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting solution to the public education crisis. In Mission Kansas, parents are filing a federal lawsuit to make Kansas lift its property tax cap so they can pay higher taxes. Now this is in a well to do school district, but I think a lot of parents would be willing to pay more in taxes to keep their child's school from be gutted.

Ban Plastics, What Can We Use Instead?

2011-02-17T11:15:00.000-06:00

Many cities across the US have banned the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam packaging, particularly in restaurants. The reasons to do this range from the plastic derivative's inability to be recycled, the chemical used to make them (polystyrene) leeches into your food and the water table when in landfills, and they NEVER go away!

Clever entrepreneurs have come up with substitutes to the ubiquitous Styrofoam and plastic bags and many are biodegradable and compostable. Composting is a process you can do at home and then once the packaging has broken down, you can use it to fertilize your garden. Here are some of the plastic alternatives available now.

Bagasse made from sugar cane and wheat straw fiber

For hot food containers
Biodegradable and compostable
Paper-like packaging, comes in clamshells, coffee cups, and plates
Soak proof, microwave safe (unlike plastic Styrofoam)
Withstands temperatures up to 200 degrees F.

BioBag

For grocery and retail store bags and films
Made from Mater-Bi, a corn product
Biodegradable, commercially compostable

NatureWorks

For cold drinks and food
Made from PLA (polylactic acid) derived from corn grown in the US
Biodegradable, compostable
Similar to clear plastic cups, salad boxes and clamshells

TPLA

PLA plus Talc, made from Chinese corn and Talc
Used for utensils
Withstands temperatures up to 200 degrees F
Biodegradable, compostable (commercial facilities only)

Dell Bamboo Packaging

Made from bamboo, which is strong, fast growing, local and helps promote healthy soil and protects against erosion
Used to cushion Dell Computer products
Biodegradable, compostable

Ecocradle

For shipping needs, foam product similar to Styrofoam
Takes less energy to produce
Made from mushroom seed husks (cotton and buckwheat hulls) and mushroom roots (parts people don't eat)
Biodegradable, compostable

Products on the horizon, not yet available.
Greensulate

For insulation in homes
Use local agricultural castoffs like seed hulls and burrs to lower transportation costs
biodegradable, fire resistant, VOC and chemical free, nonallergenic, mold resistant

Bacterial Polyesters

Biodegradable
Commercially compostable
Could be used to make films, wraps, bottles, combs, molded products

The City of San Antonio already has a yard waste composting program, adding on a compost operation for biodegradable packaging seems like a logical next step in San Antonio's quest to "Creating a Pathway to Zero Waste."

Now if they could just come up with a similar substitute for Saran Wrap!

How Do I Get Financial Aid for School?

2011-02-10T12:48:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year to file for Financial Aid or as the insiders refer to it FAFSA (Federal Student Aid). Even if you don't start school until next fall, you need to file now in order to receive grants, work-study money and student loans. Also, FAFSA isn't just for four year colleges, you can apply for aid if you are planning to attend a community or junior college, technical school, or a certification program.

There are three ways to apply for aid. If you are a minor (under 18) and not living with your parents you can apply as an emancipated minor and can immediately apply for aid. If you are an adult and you support yourself, get your personal taxes filed as soon as possible, tax info has to be verified by the IRS to receive aid. If you are still living at home and are a dependent of you parents, your parents need to file their taxes ASAP. The good thing is, if you owe money, you don't have to pay it until April 15th, you just have to have your return filed.

Now you are ready to either have someone prepare your FAFSA for you, for a charge of course, or fill out the form yourself. Since you're applying for financial aid, why would you want to spend money to receive it?

You will need to have the following information to fill out the form

Social Security Number
Date of Birth
Military Service Information
Bank and Savings Account Balances
Investment Worth Information, including Real Estate, but not your primary residence
The name or names of schools you are thinking of attending (FAFSA informs the schools and they sometimes will contribute to the aid as well, especially if you are attending a state school) Use the School Code Search to make sure FAFSA has the correct school.
Yours or your parent's tax return (specific information is required on the FAFSA form, luckily they tell you which line on the tax return to use, see the side bar comments on the online form)

Sometimes filling out the tax part of the form can be a little confusing. If you have a job, but you are not supporting yourself, make sure you fill out your parents tax information. If you have a job, but don't make enough to file, you have that option on the form, then you can input your wages. If you make enough money to support yourself, and you make less money than your parents, enter your tax information, not your parents, in fact you don't even need to put in any information about your parents, if this is the case.

For you guys out there (18 to 25 years old), you also need to register for Selective Service (otherwise known as the Draft).

Under current law, all male U.S. citizens are required to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. In addition, foreign males between the ages of 18 and 25 living in the United States must register. This includes permanent residents (holders of Green Cards), refugees, asylees, dual citizens, and illegal aliens.

Now I know this sounds kind of scary, but the likelihood of you being drafted is pretty low for the foreseeable future. It is very unpopular politically and most legislators want to keep their jobs, so don't worry about it. Registering also makes you eligible for federal jobs and federal job training, so it's worth doing.
Click here to register online with the Selective Service System.

One other thing you will need to do before you can file your FAFSA is request a signature PIN. This allows you to sign your application online without having to snail mail in a written signature. Apply here for a PIN. You will need

Your Social Security Number
Date of Birth
Your Email Address
Your Mailing Address

The PIN site will have you pick a security question and you can either pick your own PIN or they will assign you one (they will mail it to you). Write this PIN number down in a safe place because you will use it every year you apply for FAFSA.

So now you are ready to file! After you have filed and signed you application you will receive notice from FAFSA and the school you applied to about your financial aid options, you can choose the ones that you want and the information will be sent to your school. After you register for classes money will be payed directly to the school. You may need to go to the financial aid office at your school the first year just to make sure everything goes smoothly. Once you have applied for FAFSA the government sends you a reminder each January to reapply for the coming school year and most of your information will be saved from year to year.

Just a word of advice, if you can live without going away to school, you can save a lot of money by living at home with your parents. The highest cost of College is Room and Board and that's generally what Student Loan money covers. If you can get by without the loans, you'll be better off because reneging on a Federal Loan is not an option and paying off an Ivy League English degree will probably take you the rest of your life.

Who Owns the Water in Texas? Surface Water

2011-02-09T07:26:00.000-06:00

In Texas, ownership rights to Surface water (lakes, rivers, streams and creeks, etc.) depends on how long your family has owned property in Texas. If your landownership goes back to pioneer days, then you may have Prior Appropriation Rights, if someone in your family filed a claim for water use by 1969. In this case, your family would own the surface water on your property and can use it in a reasonable manor that doesn't infringe on the rights of other water users.

If your property ownership doesn't go back that far, then you have to apply for a permit with the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) because Surface water in Texas (after 1967) belongs to the state.

Water in the rivers, streams, underflow, creeks, tides, lakes and every bay and arm of the Texas portion of the Gulf of Mexico is considered state water. Its use may be acquired through appropriation via the permitting process established in Texas Water Code, Chapter 11, and Title 30, Texas Administrative Code.

So surface water regulation is pretty well established in Texas and its use is not as contentious as ground water usage. Where problems occur has to do with sharing of water resources. Texas shares its surface water resources with other US states and Mexico. Texas has many strong ties with Mexico, population, commerce, and language, but what truly divides us is water. In the future squabbles over water are likely to become even more fractious as populations swell on both sides of the border.

Texas and Mexico share the water from the Rio Grande and its tributaries along with two man made lakes, Lake Falcon and Lake Amistad. Since 1944 the US has had a water treaty with Mexico. Since Texas has by far the longest border we are the ones most effected. Under the treaty Mexico agreed to send 350,000 acre feet of water each year from the Rio Grande to its neighboring US states to the north. In return the US would send 1.5 million acre feet per year from the Colorado River to Mexico. But over the years Mexico started to lag behind on its commitment. Water policy has always been a problem for Mexico and most of its states on the border are in the dessert where water is scarce already. Droughts exacerbated the problem. Between 2000 and 2001 the situation was so dire that the mighty Rio Grande didn't have enough water to drain into the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2004, US Water News reported that Mexico was not meeting its obligations under the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty. Texas Farmers and Ranchers were angry.

After years of losing land, money and producers due to a lack of water, 17 irrigation districts, North Alamo Water Supply Corporation, and 29 farmers sent notice to Mexican officials that, under the NAFTA agreement of 1994, unless Mexico delivers what is due, they will seek up to $500 million in damages from the Mexican government.

"Mexico has unlawfully taken over 1,000,000 acre feet of Texas water and given it to Mexican farmers so their farmers can grow crops. All while the crops of farmers in the Rio Grande Valley have dried up and blown away," said Nancie Marzulla, attorney for the claimants in a recent press release.

Droughts aren't the only problem, flooding in 2010 caused by a small hurricane and a tropical depression sent water barreling down the Rio Grande destroying lives and property and leaving people stranded on both sides of the border. And with the drug war raging on the Mexico side of the border, even recreational water use is threatened.

Fights over water have plagued man for centuries, but as the world's population continues to swell fights over water will likely lead to all out war. Water will be the new oil.

Our Muni Gov: Open Source Gov 2.0

2011-01-29T22:47:00.000-06:00

I just found out about a website called Our Muni Gov that offers open source software for cities and towns to communicate with each other and to communicate with their citizens. City budgets being what they are, free software is always a plus. I'll be adding a link to the site under helpful sites.

HOV Lanes, Save Time on Your Commute

2011-01-28T09:20:00.000-06:00

The Texas Transportation Institute has just completed its annual Urban Mobility study. This is a nationwide study that looks at population, freeway and arterial street miles traveled, public transportation, fuel and personal costs to determine how long we spend in "Rush Hour" traffic. As you all have probably guessed San Antonio has moved up the ladder of congested cities over the years, from a ranking of 34 in 1984 to 32 in 2009.

But what's really interesting is back in 1988 we actually had more traffic congestion than we have now with a ranking of the 28th most congested city. So what happened? The number of freeway lane and arterial street miles went up between 1988 and 2009 (48% more freeway lanes and 29% more arterial street miles), but the number of vehicles miles traveled went up by 102% on freeways and 61% on arterial streets. So we are way behind on building enough streets. But in 1988 we didn't have the TxDOT "Smart Highway System". This system of cameras and highway instant warning signs helps TxDOT to manage traffic by letting commuters know about congestion ahead and getting service vehicles and police out to the scenes of accidents more quickly.

So if the cameras and warning signs can make such a difference, what if we added HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes to the mix. In Houston (where they need all the time savings they can get) the 2.2 million HOV lane miles save Houstonians 2.8 million hours in traffic, and in Dallas/Ft. Worth/Arlington, where HOV lanes are relatively new, the 390,000 HOV lane miles save 433,000 hours in traffic. New lanes wouldn't even have to be added to the highways, they would just need to be striped and signs would need to be posted, much cheaper and faster than building new lanes. Wouldn't you like to save more time on your commute?

For more information on HOV lanes, check out this post.

Texas, Cutting Our Nose Off to Spite Our Face?

2011-01-27T07:59:00.000-06:00

Right now the Texas Legislature is contemplating numerous bills to cut the budget. The Legislature is considering drastic cuts to Higher Education, K through 12 Education, Medicaid and the Criminal Justice/Prison System, and not even considering raising taxes. Well who wants to pay more taxes, we pay so much now, right?

Well, According to the Tax Foundation, Texas ranked 43rd with an 8.4% tax rate in State-Local tax burdens in 2008. The tax rate has gone up a whopping 0.3% since 1977.

Now I'm not saying that I'm dying to pay more taxes, but I think we have to look at our budget problems in a balanced way. There certainly are some cuts that need to be made to make education more efficient, but cutting Higher and K through 12 Education to the bone is not good for the Texas Economy, our STRONG POINT. According to Joel Kotkin of New Geography

Migration patterns are also changing among college-educated workers. Between 2005 and 2007, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina already enjoy higher rates per capita of net migration of educated workers between the ages of 22 and 39 than California, New York or Massachusetts.

This advantage could expand as the upcoming states increase their educational offerings along with employment opportunities. Students may end up tempted to attend schools closer to where there is job growth. Unlike Austin and Raleigh-Durham, which have rapidly expanded tech employment, Silicon Valley has produced virtually no new net tech jobs for the past decade.

The second impact may be more subtle, as declining revenues from businesses and individuals reduces the opportunity to boost education spending. As the country stumbles into this recovery, the greatest advantage will fall not only to states with the most natural resources, but those with the best-educated human resources. For a half century this is a game that states like California have played to perfection, but it is one in which other places are likely to catch up, and perhaps even pass. The long-term implications for the nation’s economic geography could prove profound.

Do we want to lose the advantages Texas has over other states by striping our Education system?

Banning the Bag: Becoming a Trend?

2011-01-25T07:43:00.000-06:00

South Padre has just jumped on the bag banning band wagon, after the success in Brownsville. This makes sense in coastal communities, where plastic bags can wreak havoc on sea birds and marine life. Local surfer activists pushed this measure through the city council with a unanimous outcome. These two communities (Brownsville pop about 176,000, South Padre pop about 2800) are relatively small compared to San Antonio, but they are interesting case studies to see how the populace reacts to the ban.

How Do I Get Food Stamps?

2011-01-22T16:10:00.000-06:00

Everyone needs a helping hand now and then, and with the recession, there are more and more families and individuals signing up for food assistance. Just from January to December 2010 food stamp recipients went up by 12.6% in Texas and 15.6% in Bexar County.

Foods Stamps, now known as the SNAP program have benefit programs that last anywhere from one month to three years, but usually last about 6 months. Just before the expiration of benefits recipients can reapply for assistance. Families, the disabled, pregnant women and the elderly, generally get longer benefits than individual adults (between 18 and 50). Individual adults are usually limited to 3 months of benefits within a 3 year period, unless they work at least 20 hours a week or are in a job training program.

To qualify for Texas Food Stamps, you must:

Be a resident of the State of Texas
Fall into one of two groups:
- Those with a current bank balance (savings and checking combined) under $2,001
- Those with a current bank balance (savings and checking combined) under $3,001 who share their household with a person or persons aged 60 years and over, or with a person with a disability (a child, your spouse, a parent, or yourself)
Have an annual household income of less than:
- $16,848, if one person lives in the household
- $22,596, if two people live in the household
- $28,332, if three people live in the household
- $34,080, if four people live in the household
- $39,816, if five people live in the household
- $45,564, if six people live in the household
- $51,300, if seven people live in the household

The first step to receiving food stamps is to get qualified by using the SNAP benefits calculator. The calculator uses information such as weekly income, education assistance (student loans, financial aid, scholarships, grants), workers compensation, TANF benefits (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Retirement Survivors and Disability Insurance, Veterans benefits, supplemental Social Security Income, and other income you may have earned on your own (all considered income--money that you have to spend.) You will also need to provide information on how much money you have in the bank, checking and savings, and if you have any stocks or bonds. It also asks about any vehicles you might own, their approximate value, how much you owe to pay off the car, and how you use the vehicle. Then the calculator asks for your monthly expenses such as child support payments, childcare expenses, medical expenses(for the disabled and elderly) and housing and utility costs. By subtracting your expenses from your income the calculator will tell you what programs you are eligible for.

Once you have figured out that you are eligible you need to fill out a formal application (English or Spanish).
There are also certain documents you will need to show proof of your eligibility:

an ID card or a Texas drivers license
Social Security card
a qualified alien card if you are not a US citizen
any type of legal documents that relate to your status, such as court orders or guardianship papers
pay stubs and a statement from your employer or proof of self-employment
pay stubs or award letters from any type of supplemental income (Social Security, Worker's comp, Veteran's benefits, etc)
proof of child support payments
Loan agreements, or statements from persons who have given you gifts of money
Bank Statements
Stock certificates, annuity contracts, trust agreements
Current tax statements
Medical bills
Copies of check stubs for rent or mortgage payments
Utility bills
Check stubs for dependent care services
Medical records confirming pregnancy

(If you don't have a bank account or stocks, that's okay, they just want to see these things if you have them.)

After you have filled out the application you can mail or fax it to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or you can call 211 to apply over the phone. You can also apply online at yourtexasbenefits.com. At some point you will probably have to go to Texas Health and Human Services to receive your benefits. Click here for directions to the local office.

However, they can talk with you over the phone or can come to your home if:

You live more than 30 miles away from the closest HHSC benefits office.
You can’t come to the HHSC benefits office because of bad weather.
You are sick.
You can’t get a ride to the HHSC benefits office.
Your work or training hours do not allow you to come to the HHSC benefits office.
You can’t travel because you are 60 years old or older, or you have a disability.
You are a victim of family violence.
You are taking care of someone who lives in your home.

The HHSC also offers an interpreter service.

There are also online resources to help you with your application such as the Food Stamps Network,
and 211 Texas.

Applying for food stamps takes time and perseverance, so don't give up and ask for help when you need it.

Recycling Building Materials

2011-01-21T10:24:00.000-06:00

I just found this out today and thought it was worth sharing. Habitat for Humanity has recently opened 3 Home Centers here in SA, where they sell building materials, flooring, area carpets, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and furniture donated by builders and building supply companies at reduced prices. (If you don't live in SA checkout the national website and put in your zip code for locations near you.)

They can also resell building materials from your house. Habitat offers free deconstruction and tearout services for your remodeling project. The wrecking crew then salvages the materials and they are sold at the store. Plus, you can use it as a tax deduction!

Why all the Uproar in Compton? Single Member Districts

2011-01-19T08:21:00.000-06:00

Compton, notorious for gang violence, is now in the news for an issue that its city leaders probably never expected to face. They are being sued for civil rights violations. At issue is the all African American city council and other elected officials in a city with a majority Latino population, over 67% by some estimates. The Latino advocates are calling for a change from at large elections to single member districts. So what's the difference?

At large elections elect candidates for the entire city, no areas are separated. In Compton the African American population votes as a block and has a much larger proportion of elegible voters, despite its smaller population, in contrast to the Latino population. According to estimates, 24,000 residents in the Compton school district are illegal immigrants. The civil rights complaint claims that there are about 63,000 Latinos in Compton (total population approximately 94,000.) So even accouting for the illegal population there are still about 39,000 Latino American citizens in Compton that should be allowed representation on the city council.

The way to remedy this situation is by setting up single member districts, or proportional voting. Single member districts were originally developed to help minority populations participate in city government in majority white cities. Single member districts were first used in New York City to break the Democratic Machine, but then were returned to at large voting later by the Republican majority. San Antonio moved to single member districts in 1977 after many years of struggle by COPS (Citizens for Public Service) and the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. The city is now divided into 10 districts that are supposed to reflect the different ethnic populations of the city.

Compton is a special case since the majority population is Latino, but more than a third of that segment are illegal aliens. If single member districts are set up in the city they will have to be drawn carefully to reflect the legal population, which could pose other legal problems, like how do you determine where exactly to draw the lines.

Latinos are no longer confined to the Southwest, they are now living in areas that probably never thought they would hear Spanish on a daily basis, such as Lincoln, Nebraska and Minidoka, Idaho. I expect to see more cases like this as the Latino population swells in the US.

Who Owns the Water in Texas? Groundwater

2011-01-14T09:23:00.002-06:00

Water is basically free, right? And it belongs to the people, so they have it to use as they see fit, right? Well, not really, Water Law in Texas is a complicated matter and crucial to Texas' future. This is the first of a three part series on Texas Water Law.

There are three distinctions for water in Texas, Groundwater (water that percolates down into the soil), surface water (rivers, lakes, streams and creeks), and drainage water (runoff water after a rain storm.)

Currently, groundwater is technically owned by the property owner. The landowner can pump and capture the water under his property. The landowner can even sell the water he pumps out of his property. However, if his neighbor pumps all the water out of the ground before he builds a well, too bad! In Texas, this is called "the law of the biggest pump."

"The law of the biggest pump" is currently effecting the West Texas town of Fort Stockton. The town has been battling for water with former gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams over his plans to sell water from the town's main water supply, the Trinity Aquifer, which is already under stress from naturally dropping water levels. The Trinity just happens to run under William's property and he plans sell the water to a town 100 miles away, leaving Fort Stockton high and dry. Back in the late 1940s, (and strengthened in 1985) the legislature set up water conservation districts to provide some limited regulation of ground water use. Luckily, Williams rights to the water only extends as far as land irrigation based on a permit he received from the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District. But the conservation district could still rule in Williams favor and allow the water to be sold. This would set a dangerous precedent for towns in West Texas with limited water supply.

The Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District isn't the only one in a quandary. The Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA), set up in 1993, regulates water use over the Edwards Aquifer in all or part of 8 counties near San Antonio. The water authority has a legal mandate to manage, enhance, and protect the Edwards Aquifer system. It does this partly by issuing water use permits to landowners throughout is 8,800 acre district. Since the Authority is charged with preserving and conserving the water in the aquifer, it limits the amount of water any one landowner can pump. Since 1996, the EAA has been defending it's belief that ground water should not be owned by the property holder in a legal battle with

Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel [who] requested a permit to pump 700 acre-feet from the ground. The two wanted to start a peanut and oat farm on the 350-acre ranch they had recently purchased. Their plan was to use the free-flowing water from a well drilled by the previous owner that was filling a 50-acre man-made lake on the property. The EAA denied their application for groundwater.

The EAA did issue them a permit that allowed Day and McDaniel to pump 14 acre feet per day. (One acre foot of water can provide enough water for the typical single family home in San Antonio for an entire year.) Day and McDaniel sued EAA, claiming the authority was regulating them out of their ownership of the groundwater they legally own. The case has been in the courts ever since, and just this last February finally made it to the Texas Supreme Court. The amicus curiae (friend of the court, interested parties who are not involved in the suit, but believe the courts decision could effect them, i.e. other farmers in the EAA district) briefs are still being filed for the case, and so far the court has not issued any opinions. The Texas Supreme Court's decision in this case, could radically change Texas Ground Water Law.

In general, the other courts agreed with the EAA and the outcome of the permit process. But the state Court of Appeals ruled landowners do have “some ownership rights in the groundwater.”

On Wednesday [Feb 2, 2010], the EAA argued that if the groundwater is owned by the landowners, then it and the roughly 95 groundwater conservation districts in the state would be open to a lawsuit every time they tried to limit pumping or be forced to compensate landowners.

“This is no small question for the authority,” the EAA lawyers wrote in their brief to the court.
The EAA would have its “legs pulled out from underneath it” if the court ruled against it, EAA lawyer Pamela Baron told the justices.

In order to remedy this type of situation, State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, is submitting Senate Bill 332 this legislative session to change groundwater rights. He wants the groundwater rights to be given to the property owner before he puts a well on his property. The Texas Water Solutions blog takes issue with the bill.

According to Senator Fraser, Senate Bill 332 “would clearly state that landowners have a vested ownership interest in the groundwater beneath their property…[G]roundwater conservation districts could still require a landowner to get a permit and limit the amount of groundwater that can be produced. However, the legislation would prevent a district from "taking" a landowner's right to capture the water beneath the land.”

This all sounds very reasonable and benign, but the reality is that this legislation could undermine the ability of groundwater conservation districts (GCD) to effectively manage the very resource that they are charged with protecting. If every landowner has a vested right to the groundwater beneath their property how can a GCD manage that land owners’ access without it being considered a taking?

Fair and equitable use of groundwater will likely be a continuing, contentious, and sometimes volitile issue between cities and farmers/ranchers throughout this century, as Texas population grows and Climate Change slowly makes Texas a dryer and dryer place.

Smart Way SA Mass Transit Plan Open House

2011-01-12T12:17:00.000-06:00

Starting January 26, 2011, VIA will be holding Open Houses to discuss San Antonio's SmartWaySA transportation plan. The plan integrates bus, light rail and modern street cars to improve mass transit in the city.

Wednesday, January 26, 6pm - 8pm
Harlandale Civic Center
115 West Southcross Blvd

Thursday, January 27, 6pm - 8pm
Park Hills Baptist Church
17747 San Pedro Ave

Monday, January 31, 1pm - 5pm
VIA Metro Center
1021 San Pedro Ave

Wednesday, February 2, 6pm - 8pm
The Neighbohood Place
3014 Rivas Street

Thursday, February 3, 6pm - 8pm
Sam Houston High School
4635 East Houston Street

What the Heck is a Brownfield?

2011-01-11T08:24:00.000-06:00

So here is the legal definition of a Brownfield:

With certain legal exclusions and additions, the term "brownfield site" means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. [as defined in Public Law 107-118 (H.R. 2869) - "Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act" signed into law January 11, 2002]

Throughout the inner cores of cities in the US there are pieces of property that are lying vacant because they at one time had a gas station, a manufacturing facility or some other type of hazardous use performed on them. Now that the New Urbanists are singing the praises of inner city living, more and more people are looking for places to live. Unfortunately there's only so many housing units, but there is property that can be developed for housing if it can be cleaned up first, the brownfield.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a program that encourages the cleanup and reuse of brownfields.
The EPA

provides direct funding for brownfields assessment, cleanup, revolving loans, and environmental job training. To facilitate the leveraging of public resources, EPA's Brownfields Program collaborates with other EPA programs, other federal partners, and state agencies to identify and make available resources that can be used for brownfields activities. In addition to direct brownfields funding, EPA also provides technical information on brownfields financing matters.

Funding and grants are provided for anything from coming up with an area wide assessment, to cleanup money, to job training grants. They also have links to other federal agencies and private groups that offer grants and assisstance. There is even a National Brownfield Association, a non-profit dedicated to sustainable development of previously undevelopable land.

Some successful brownfield developments are a Senior Citizen housing facility in Houston and and the Evans Avenue redevelopment project in Fort Worth. San Antonio's most well known brownfield redevelopment project is the old Alamo Cement Factory at Basse and Hwy 281, now the Quarry Market. Even part of the San Antonio BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) plan includes the Fort Sam Houston sustainable neighborhood revitalization plan

One way to preserve valuable landscapes while accommodating a growing population is
to redevelop previously used urban lands, sometimes known as "brownfields."
Even with the expense of environmental clean-up, a recycled parcel is often less
expensive to develop than new land, because it is already serviced by roads, utilities,
and other infrastructure. Brownfield development also relieves some pressure to
develop farms and other open space.

In San Antonio, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ) are used to faciliate brownfield redevelopment.

The City uses TIF in areas where little to no private sector investment is currently taking place, and where redevelopment would not occur solely through private investment in the reasonably foreseeable future.

TIF allows future ad valorem and sales tax revenue to pay for the construction of public infrastructure improvements.

By leveraging private investment for certain types of development within a targeted area, TIF can be used to finance new and/or enhanced public improvements and infrastructure. These improvements and infrastructure, in turn, attract additional private investment in surrounding areas.

If you are interested in brownfield redevelopment contact the City of San Antonio Housing and Neighborhood Services Department's TIF Unit.

Bexar County borders

2011-01-06T07:46:00.000-06:00

Here's a fun fact from the San Antonio Remembers blog

January 5 in San Antonio history...

1837

Bexar County is created by order of the Republic of Texas Congress. It was originally much, much larger. By 1850, it went all the way to the panhandle! 128 Texas counties have been created from Bexar County.

City County Merger? Would it Make Sense?

2011-01-05T09:54:00.000-06:00

Lyle Larson, State Representative Elect, R-San Antonio, is proposing a consolidation of city and county government functions. This is not a new idea, The late State Senator Frank Madla was a proponent of consolidation, but always faced huge opposition.

So why consolidate?

According to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington

The proponents of consolidation argue that fewer and larger local governments will be more efficient and effective than many small governments. Costs can be held down and perhaps reduced through the elimination of duplicative services, personnel, and equipment. Larger governments may also be able to take advantage of “economies of scale” or lower per-unit costs for government services. Further, a single unified government will be better able to coordinate policies and decisions for activities, such as regional planning and economic development, than several independent governments.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Policy Research Institute did a study that looked at consolidations in seven metro areas in order to determine if consolidation would work for Milwaukee.

Each consolidation is different.

In Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee, the governments are completely merged, except for a few smaller municipalities within the county that remained separate. However there are two taxing districts, one for the urban areas and one for the less populated areas and services are divided accordingly.
The Jacksonville-Duval County, Florida governments are partially merged with several independent authorities and boards, such as the Electric Authority and the Public Beaches Hospital Board.
Indianapolis-Marion County, Indiana, has multiple tiers and layers, with some services consolidated and some run independently by the county or the city.
Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky has a true consolidation of all city and county services, and all services are provided for all citizens across the county.
In Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky, the Board of Aldermen and the County Fiscal Court were replaced by a Mayor-Council form of government, but 85 incorporated cities (22% of the county population) within the county remain independent. Also some county officials still maintain their offices, such as the sheriff and the county attorney.
Miami-Dade County, Florida is not a formal consolidation, but more of a federation, although the governments are independent of each other, they are closely linked. The merger links activities such as transportation, airport facilities, and sewer and water facilities while leaving policing and fire protection up to individual municipalities.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, which is more similar to San Antonio in that it was not in crisis, like several of the other cities that consolidated, and the idea had been batted around for several years before it was implemented. The city and county governments still exist but they are highly linked in service functions, with like services merged, such as Public Works.

But does Consolidation truly promote efficiency?? According to Chris Pineda of the Government Innovators Network at the Harvard Kennedy School

In theory, consolidation should produce economies of scale which allows cost savings to be achieved – average costs are reduced when spread out over a wider set of users. The reality is that this may not always occur—but why? Why do city-county consolidations not always produce cost savings and, in some case, actually lead to higher costs? To help local and state officials grappling with this issue, we have summarized recent literature on the causes of diseconomies of scale in city-county consolidations and listed useful online resources.

What Causes Diseconomies of Scale in a City-County Consolidation?

Labor intensive services. Consolidated city services that are labor intensive and require replication from one neighborhood to the next cannot always achieve economies of scale and may in fact result in diseconomies of scale. Labor intensive services can include: police, general fire protection, public works, and parks and recreation services. [based on studies by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington]

Bureaucracy growth. According to some economists, diseconomies of scale in consolidated local governments occur because bureaucrats and politicians become removed from day-to-day contact with residents. When these officials are “out-of-touch” with citizen concerns, there may be no incentive to cut costs, or to stop increased spending. [based on a study by the Cato Institute]

Merging personnel-related costs. In city-county consolidations, personnel-related costs may actually rise as two pre-existing personnel systems and benefits packages merge. One explanation is that the wages and benefits of employees are equalized to the highest level of comparable employees. Similarly, existing employees may have job security as part of the merge agreement. [based on a study of Athens-Clarke County by Campbell and Selden, University of Georgia]

Merging service quality costs. When pre-existing delivery systems are merged in a city-county consolidation, an “averaging up” effect may occur with service levels and standards for equipment and facilities. These increased service quality costs then become ongoing expenditures. [Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington]

One-time transition costs. Consolidating city services may require one-time operating and capital expenses that can quickly add up. One-time transition costs can include: merging and upgrading computer systems and consulting fees to resolve conflicting rules and regulations. [Campbell and Selden, University of Georgia]

But it would still be nice to make our local governments more efficient, so here are some alternatives, proposed by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, study that could work for San Antonio.

Increased Citizen Responsibility for Themselves and Others
Functional Consolidation Among Governments
Efficiency Gains Within City and County Government
Regional Government
Regional Cooperation On Selected Services

Increased Citizen Responsibility, basically means we act in a volunteer capacity to improve our neighborhoods, for example, through neighborhood watches and/or organizations. Functional Consolidations could include mergers of police and sheriff departments, public works and procurement (to name a few). Efficiency gains would include internal audits of government agencies to find ways to lower costs. A regional government, that say included all the counties that contain the Edwards Aquifer and recharge zone, could more easily implement environmental and water policies. Regional cooperation however may be more palitable, leaving local authority for local issues, while addressing regional issues in a more coordinated manor. We could even implement more than one of these recommendations, such as more citizen involvement, greater efficiency within government, some functional mergers and regional cooperation.

I'm all for efficiency in government, but before we rush off into something, we need to take a closer look.

Banning the Bag

2011-01-04T07:08:00.000-06:00

Brownsville will soon be the first city in Texas to ban retail stores from using single-use plastic bags. It's interesting that Brownsville, a medium sized border town, and not known for its environmental stance, is the first city to ban the bag, I would of thought it would be Austin, the hip, environmentally concious, capitol of Texas.

Texas Budget: Opt out of Medicaid??

2011-01-01T11:54:00.000-06:00

Right now Texas legislators are looking at all sorts of ways to reduce the Texas budget. One option being batted about is opting out of Medicaid, but opponents say this is too costly and could lead to no health services for the poor. So what is really going on here?

According to the Fiscal Size Up
the Total Health and Human Services budget for the 2010-2011 biennium is $59.747 billion, $33.832 billion
of which comes from the federal government. According to the LBB

The $4.4 billion increase [between 2008-09 and 2010-11] for Health and Human Services is primarily due to increased funding for the state’s Medicaid program.

Federal Funds are the largest source of funding for the HHS function. Many federal funding streams require General Revenue Fund (or other state fund) expenditures to draw down Federal Funds. State contributions can be a match, wherein General Revenue Funds comprise a set percentage of total expenditures, or a maintenance of effort, wherein the state expends a set dollar amount that is tied to previous expenditures.

The 2010–11 GAA establishes the following average monthly service levels for fiscal year 2011:
• health insurance for almost 3.2 million Medicaid recipients (including 2.2 million children);
• health insurance for more than 500,000 Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees;
• cash grants to approximately 100,000 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients;
• adoption subsidies for over 30,000 children; and
• foster care payments for nearly 15,000 children per month.
Eligibility for many of these programs is based on income in relation to the federal poverty level (FPL)

When Politifact looked at Rick Perry's claim that the

federal health care overhaul will cost Texas state government "upwards of $30 billion over the next 10 years."

they found that

An essential fact underlying all these figures: Health care reform becomes more expensive for the state as time goes on. Among the factors driving up costs down the line is the federal government's declining contribution for Medicaid. During the first three years of the Medicaid expansion (2014-2016), the feds pay all the cost of newly eligible enrollees. Starting in 2017, that federal share starts to drop, reaching 90 percent by 2020.

Another essential fact: So far, we've only mentioned the cost of health care reform to the Health and Human Services Commission. A June report by State Comptroller Susan Combs enumerates other costs — as well as some financial benefits — to the state as a whole, although it doesn't offer a net figure. (The comptroller's report also uses a different time period than the commission's, focusing on the 10 years from 2010 through 2019.)

For instance, on the expense side of the ledger is the mandated expansion of health plans administered by the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the University of Texas System and the Texas A&M University System.

One of the pluses: The comptroller's office estimates that the state will receive $1.3 billion in new revenue from a tax on premiums charged by insurers and health maintenance organizations licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance.

As for the projected increase in Medicaid costs, the comptroller's report jibes with the health commission's estimates. But it also tabulates the hefty federal contribution. For every dollar the state spends on new Medicaid enrollees through 2019, the federal government will spend $13, according to the figures in the report. The total federal contribution: $76 billion.

So Perry's claim was considered barely true because he exaggerated the state's contribution ($27 billion instead of $30 billion) and claimed that the costs would start immediately, when they actually don't start until 2014. But Texas still has a $21 billion budget shortfall so one of the biggest state expenses, Medicaid, has to be looked at to find ways to lower the costs.

The Heritage foundation, a conservative think tank, has done a study bemoaning the burden of Medicaid on state budgets.

Unfortunately, states have lost considerable flexibility to reduce Medicaid’s burden on their budgets. As a condition for receiving the additional federal dollars, both the stimulus bill and PPACA [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] contain maintenance-of-effort (MOE) provisions that prohibit states from changing eligibility levels. States have resorted to slashing provider reimbursement rates and benefit packages to cope with rising Medicaid expenses and reduced revenue attributed to the recession. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia cut provider reimbursement rates in 2009 or 2010, and 29 states and the District did so in both years. Additionally, 39 states and the District cut Medicaid pharmacy benefits, and 22 states cut Medicaid medical benefits over the past two years.

In the short term, however, the best solution is to remove the MOE requirements and give the states greater flexibility to manage the cost of their programs.

So how would you remove the MOE requirements? Opt out of Medicaid, it's a voluntary program. Here is a proposition by the Heritage Foundation for fixing the part of the problem, not enough doctors to treat Medicaid patients.

A Better Policy.
There is a better way. Rather than expand the funding for HRSA [Health Resources and Services Administration], Congress should convert the various training-related (and perhaps other) programs funded by this agency into block grants to the states. This would enable states to build upon their critical roles in the oversight of the health care workforce and encourage them to craft solutions relevant to their unique requirements. When the Reagan Administration collapsed the separate mental health service programs supported by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration into block grants to the states, the clinical care system that emerged was able to “bend” the cost curve while offering more choice to patients and families through a more diverse workforce and other innovative strategies.[5] By virtue of the breadth of their oversight, states are in the best position to define the needs and develop the models for the future workforce across the health professions.

But do these block grants exist already?? The CHIP program is covered by block grants. So what's the difference in the way Medicaid is currently funded and the way block grants work

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

So Medicaid would continue with block grants, but rolls would probably not be allowed to increase. At a time when the Texas population is expanding twice as fast as the entire US this might become a problem. According to Rick Perry everyone has access to health care in Texas. Here's Politfact's analysis

Everyone? Even people without health insurance?

When we asked for back-up for Perry's statement, his campaign didn't offer any data or additional analysis.

Next, we looked at hospital emergency rooms, often the portal through which uninsured people seek treatment.

Some background: In 1986, Congress responded to concerns that emergency rooms were refusing to treat indigent and uninsured people — a practice known as patient dumping — by approving the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The act requires all hospitals with emergency rooms that participate in the Medicare program to medically screen, treat and stabilize any patient (including illegal immigrants) who shows up with an emergency medical condition. The law doesn't require hospitals to offer preventive or follow-up care.
However, not every condition that merits treatment is an emergency, and not every town has an emergency room. In Texas, 64 of the state's 254 counties don't have a hospital because it isn't economically viable, "particularly in the Panhandle and West Texas," said Amanda Engler, spokeswoman for the Texas Hospital Association. Still, Engler said "everyone should be able to access some level of care through the community."

A national health care expert, Henry Aaron at the left-leaning Brookings Institution, echoed Engler, saying that "everyone has access to some health care. The issue is what care and how much of it... If you live in a place where few physicians practice and you don't have a car, you may not get much."

Also the health care provided by emergency rooms tends to be a lot more expensive than visits to the doctor. Us tax payers will bear the burden whether the care is received through Medicaid or the emergency room at the county hospital. I'm not convinced that going to block grants would be the end of health care for the needy, but at the same time it seems that it would definitely limit our options and could be more costly in the end if the poor spend most of our health care dollars in the emergency room.

Texas Grows, but what about the budget?

2010-12-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

Some preliminary population numbers are out from the Census Bureau and Texas has grown twice as fast as the rest of the nation. This is good news if you want to be a Congressman. Texas will get 4 new congressional districts. But it also means the Texas budget has to grow to keep up. Funding sources for the Texas budget have not grown and that's why Texas legislators face a big budget deficit in 2011. There are two ways to deal with the deficit, raise taxes (ain't gonna happen) or cut spending. In my next post about the Texas budget I'm going to talk about options for Medicaid, the second largest portion of the Texas budget.

Will California Lead to Way to Cap and Trade?

2010-12-17T07:32:00.000-06:00

California regulators just passed a new plan for a cap and trade market place to give monetary incentives to big polluters to clean up their act. When I first read the article I was wondering, where are they going to get the money to do this. Apparently the plan is to get the polluters to pay for it, first by getting permits to pollute and then when some are greener, selling their carbon permits to other companies that pollute more. The regulators even claim polluters could make money, it would be a carbon emissions stock market.

Of course it has its detractors, companies who say it will raise electricity prices because some of the biggest polluters are coal plants, and others who are worried the system can be cheated and not really lower pollution at all. I guess we'll have to see. It will certainly be a good test case to see if this kind of system can actually work. Most innovative ideas come from states and if they become popular, then they are adopted by the Federal Government.

I Wonder What Bexar Met's Bond Rating is Now?

2010-12-16T07:34:00.001-06:00

Bexar Met General Manager Victor Mercado has just been indicted in Detroit on Racketeering charges. I think that A bond rating for the utility may be sinking fast, just when they really need to borrow some money.

How does the money get Spent? The Texas Budget: K through 12 Public Education

2010-12-15T10:25:00.003-06:00

So what do we spend money on in the State of Texas? The approved budget for the 2010-2011 biennium was $182 billion. About 36% of that money comes from the federal government, 47% from general revenue funds (taxes, fees, etc) and about 16% from other sources. By state law the budget has to be balanced, no deficit spending allowed. The chart below shows that the bulk of the budget is spent on K-12 Education, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, Business and Economic Development, and Public Safety and Criminal Justice.

Based on figures from the Fiscal Size Up done by the Legislative Budget Board (LBB)

By far, the biggest expense in the Texas budget is K-12 Education. The state will receive $9.077 billion directly from the federal government and another $5.875 billion through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help cover this expense. The rest of the money ($37.77 billion) comes from the General Revenue Fund and other funds. An interesting side note to all this is that even though expenditures for All Funds (Federal Funds, General Revenue Funds and Other Funds) has gone up by 24% since the 1996-97 biennium, General Revenue Funds expenditures, where our taxes and fees go, after being adjusted for population increases and inflation, has actually dropped by 1.4%. Also, according to the Fiscal Size Up (by the LBB) even though spending on Education (Pubic and Higher Ed) has risen from $45 billion in 2000-01 to $75 billion in 2010-11, its share of the revenues has actually dropped 3.2% since 2000-01.

The Texas school population was predicted to rise by 14% by 2008 back in the late 1990s. But in actuality, between the 1996-97 school year to the 2008-09 school year the number of students in Texas schools rose by 24%, from 3,838,975 in 1996-97 to 4,749,571 in 2008-09. So part of the dramatic rise in school spending is due to population increases. But, according to the Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) per pupil spending has also increased dramatically. In the 1998-99 school year, Texas spent an average of $7,095 per pupil, by 2008-09 an average of $11,564 was spent per student, a rise in per pupil spending of 63% over 10 years. Inflation during this period would make $7095 in 1998 dollars be equivalent to $9331 in 2008, so even accounting for inflation school spending went up by over $2,000 per pupil ($1520.57 in 1998 dollars).

There are legislators who believe spending for Public Education needs to be cut. They point to efficiencies that would lower costs and not hurt education. Some, like Rep Warren Chisum R-Pampa, who is running to replace House Speaker Joe Strauss R-San Antonio, says that over the years we have doubled money spent on education and gotten poorer results. But even though spending on public education went up by $15.3 billion between 2006 and 2009 to $75 billion (or 44% of the State budget) Texas still ranks 43rd in the nation in spending per student. Also, according to the Texas Sunshine Review site, even though schools ranked academically unacceptable went up 4.4% between 2008 and 2009, the number of recognized schools went up by 10.4% and the number of exemplary ranked schools went up by 6%.

In order to evaluate public school spending and academic performance, the Texas Legislature commissioned the Comptroller (through HB 3) to

identify school districts and campuses that use resource allocation practices that contribute to high academic achievement and cost-effective operations.

The Comptroller Office responded with the Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST). Now of course, not all school districts spend the same amount of money per pupil, so the FAST study looked at each school district individually and scored them based on a three-year average of math and reading scores with a three year average of operating expenditures. In order to determine the spending index for a school district

Texas districts and campuses operate in a variety of “cost environments” —socioeconomic and geographic characteristics that influence the cost of education and are often beyond a school district’s control.
The research team evaluated financial data for each district and campus by comparing them to “fiscal peers” — districts and campuses that operate in similar cost environments, are of similar size and serve similar students.
To ensure the validity of financial comparisons, the research team employed a technique called propensity-score matching to identify up to 40 peers for each Texas school district and campus, based on common cost factors such as wages, school district size and geography and student demographics.
After a group of fiscal peers is identified for a school district, the district is then assigned a “spending index” based on its spending relative to its fiscal peers.

When spending was compared to academic achievement some school districts fared better than others. In San Antonio, the highest scoring school district was North Side ISD with four stars for high academic acheivement and average spending.

The FAST study identified several strategies that school districts used to reduce spending. Some reduced staffing (60% of most school budgets) through attrition and staff consolidations. The FAST Study identified many efficiencies used by the highest rated school districts from online education classes, to refinancing bond debt, to transportation coops and facility sharing, to architectural prototypes for new schools and energy efficiencies.

Based on these efficiencies and other FAST Study findings, the Comptroller has made the following recommendations to the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency:

Eliminate the 22-student limit for each K-4 classroom and institute an average 22-student class size instead.
Instead of rewarding teachers for years of service or advanced degrees, teacher salary schedules should reward teachers based on performance.
The Legislature should amend state law to facilitate the dismissal of ineffective teachers.
Study patterns in school district administrative staffing. From 1998-99 to 2008-09, the number of teachers in Texas rose from 256,276 to 325,809, a 27.1 percent increase. During the same period, the number of administrators rose from 18,531 to 25,130, a 35.6 percent increase.
Ensure that teacher preparation programs produce high-quality teachers.
Reduce barriers to on-line course work.
Require book publishers to provide textbooks in a format compatible with common electronic reading devices.
Standardize the reporting of campus financial data.
Include questions in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) that evaluate high-performing students.
Integrate education and work force data into TEA's database.
Allow school districts and other local governments to publish public notices on their websites instead of requiring newspaper advertisements.
Assist school districts in placing their financial records and budgets on their websites to increase transparency.
Continue to update the FAST study data and use it to identify school districts that deliver quality education in a cost effective manor and to target LBB school performance reviews.
Take advantage of the Comptroller's Purchasing Cooperative so that school districts get the best prices possible.
Encourage shared-service arrangements.
Create an efficient strategy for organizing transportation cooperatives.
Use architectural prototypes in new construction.
Maximize the use of school facilities.
Take advantage of opportunities to manage energy costs more effectively.

Just the savings from going to an average class size, statewide, of 22 could save an estimated $557.5 million annually.

So, can we save money in K-12 Education? Yes, but remember, Education is one of our most important resources. If Texas wants to be The financial powerhouse of the 21st Century, it is imperative that we have a well educated workforce. If the FAST findings are followed in an efficient, careful and unpolitical way, I believe we can achieve this goal and save some money at the same time.

Bexar County Gov 2.0

2010-12-09T07:34:00.000-06:00

Bexar County has joined the 21st Century by launching the YourGOV application on it website. Similar to the City of San Antonio 311 reporting page, the YourGov site allows citizens of the county to report nonemergency issues.

YourGOV can be used via the Web or your mobile phone. By using YourGOV, the Citizen will be able to submit an issue and track its progress from submittal to completion via the Web. Issues are brought directly into the County’s Work Management solution where they can be forwarded on to the responsible department. By entering in an address or selecting a location on the map, the Citizen will be able to view where in Bexar County their issue is located. In addition, the Citizen will be able to view issues that have been submitted by other Citizens and track their status.

All you have to do is download the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in to your computer (available free at the YourGOV site) or the YourGov Iphone App to your smartphone. To track your request, submit your email address and a password. So if you see something that the county needs to address, such as graffitti, pot holes, missing or damaged signs, animal removal, dumping, etc, try out this new service today!

Who Cares if there's a New Speaker of the Texas House?

2010-12-08T09:33:00.000-06:00

Back after reconstruction, when Texans were spitting mad at the radical Republicans for taking over their government, as soon as the Democrats had the chance they held a constitutional convention. The participants wanted to weaken the government as much as possible. So they split the Governor's powers across five different offices, gave the power of choosing just about all judges to the people through election, and made the legislative session so short it would be hard to pass many bills. But there are two offices that still remain very powerful because of their power over the two presiding legislative bodies, the Lt. Governor, who presides over the Senate, and the Speaker of the House.

The Speaker of the House is one of the most powerful offices in Texas and it is the only one not directly chosen by the People. The Speaker is chosen by his/her fellow legislators.

So why is the Speaker So Powerful??
The Speaker of the house chooses all of the committee chairmen for the various house committees. These committees decide whether, and in what form, a bill makes it to the House floor or whether it dies in committee. Because the Speaker chooses these chairmen he usually has a fair amount of control over them and can, in some cases, dictate what bills he wants to see on the floor. Also, if a contentious bill makes it to the floor anyway, the Speaker can decide not to recognize legislators who want to debate the bill, or not even allow it to come up for a vote.

The current Speaker is Joe Strauss R-San Antonio. Joe Strauss has only been speaker for one session when he wrested the position from the autocratic Tom Craddick R-Midland. According to Fred Hill R-Dallas

under Tom Craddick, the system was set up to do what Tom Craddick wanted to do, and he
exercised his power to pass legislation that he was in favor of. If he wasn’t in favor of it, he would kill it.

Of course Democrats wanted to be rid of Craddick, but there were also Republicans who chafed under his rule, some even contending that he was abusing his power.

... the fight was about Craddick having consolidated power with lobbyists and having used campaign contributions to maintain control in the House: "This is about the convergence of money and power and influence," Cook [R-Corsicana] said.

Tom Craddick at first was able to maintain control by not recognizing Republicans who wanted to oust him.

House Speaker Tom Craddick shut down repeated efforts by House members to remove him from his post during a dramatic midnight coup attempt Friday, refusing to recognize them for a procedural move that would set off a vote to oust him.

In an extraordinary late-night exchange before a packed House gallery, with most House members seated quietly at their desk, Fred Hill, R-Richardson, asked that the chamber be allowed to vote on Mr. Craddick's fate.

It was the climax of discontent that had been building for weeks – but Mr. Craddick, R-Midland, stymied it with carefully worded parliamentary rulings.

"The speaker's power of recognition on any matter can not be appealed," he said.

Craddick managed to maintain his position until the 2009 legislative session when Democrats came close to splitting the chamber with the Republicans (74 Ds to 76 Rs), in part due to voter unhappiness with Craddick.

Now that the Republicans have a strong majority in the House once again, Joe Strauss is in trouble because he won the Speaker position partly due to overwhelming support by the Democrats. Part of the deal Strauss made with Democrats for their support was the handing out of some committee chairmanships to Dems. But at the time the Republican majority was only by 2 members. Now that the Republicans have almost a Super Majority in the House, it stands to reason that the chairmanships should change hands, even under Strauss.

Many Conservatives say Strauss is a Democrat in Republican clothing. Some Republicans claim Strauss supported Democratic Candidates and that he is Pro-Choice. But as with most campaign rhetoric, you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. According to the Texas Ethics Commission, campaign contributions made by Strauss were to fellow Republicans.

Campaign finance reports from January 1 through Election Day show the names Joe Straus, Joe R Straus, Speaker Joe Straus, Joe R Straus III, Joe Strauss, and Joe R. Strauss gave $716,550 to Republican candidates and political groups.

Straus defended his efforts as “completely legal,” helping to “bring about the largest gains in the history of our party.”

It is considered part of the House speaker’s job to support the House members, in both their efforts to effectively represent their districts and in their efforts to be re-elected. It is considered bad form for a speaker to actively campaign against incumbents, even if they are in the opposing party.

In fact, former Speaker Tom Craddick , R-Midland, Straus’ direct predecessor, raised more than $2.5 million in campaign contributions in the election years during his three terms in the post. Some of Craddick’s contributions were through his speaker PAC, Stars Over Texas, which was formed to support House Republicans in their election bids.

Strauss may have raised money for his fellow Republican supporters, but he didn't raise money for any Democrats.

It is hard to say what Strauss' position is on Abortion, because he didn't vote at all on any of the recent Pro-Life legislation (2005, 2007,2009). Joe Strauss isn't even on the NARAL Abortion Issues list. Neither did he try to obstruct votes on Pro-Life bills. Votes for 3 Pro-Life bills were held in the House during his tenure. If he is guilty of anything, it is by being Neutral in this contentious issue.

Two very conservative Republicans are challenging Strauss for the Speaker position, Warren Chisum R-Pampa and Ken Paxton R-McKinney. They feel the strong Tea Party showing in Texas has given them the mandate to challenge Strauss. Strauss is an establishment Republican, and as we all know by the recent election, the Tea Party hates the establishment.

But, no matter who the Speaker of the House is, he will have to deal with a budget shortfall some are estimating at as high as $25 billion, not a job I would want to have!

Bexar Met, Financially Strong?

2010-12-07T07:11:00.001-06:00

Bexar Met has been touting their "A" Bond rating, saying that Standard and Poors has found them financially fit. However, Standard and Poors begs to differ. They say the "A" rating was given along with a negative outlook. Bexar Met is facing a bill in the legislature this legislative session that would dissolve the utility and eventually move its customers over to other more viable utilities such as SAWS. Other utilities would be willing to take on Bexar Met debt because the utility has water rights to 90,000 acre feet of water but only uses half of it.

The Bexar Met board was definetely exaggerating its worth by claiming that all rate payers in the district would have to be compensated and it would make them instant millionaires. But any utility that takes over Bexar Met will have to put in a large capital investment in order to upgrade facilities, some of which are in pretty bad shape. Also the utility has been bleeding money and has a lot of debt, creditors would have to be paid off first. More than likely rate payers would rather be guarenteed to have water than to have all the Bexar Met facilities sold off to the highest bidder. So if you're in Bexar Met, don't expect to see any million dollar payouts.

SA2020--Your Chance to Shape the Future

2010-12-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

The next SA2020 Forum, What Does Success Look Like, is this Wedsnesday, December 8, 2010 at St. Mary's Bill Greehey Arena. Click here to register. This is the fourth meeting and if you haven't had the chance to participate yet, now's your chance. Let SA's leaders know what YOU want San Antonio to look like in 2020.

Smart Growth Around America

2010-12-01T07:23:00.000-06:00

I'm still on jury duty, but I have time for a quick post. I just added a new blog to the City Planning Blogs called Smart Growth Around America. The title speaks for itself. The blog was pointed out to me by an Urban Planner on Quora who pointed out that not only is regional planning for transportation mandated through the federal government through the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) (an organization that exists in every urbanized area with 50,000 or more residents) but is also now being bolstered by a joint effort of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). HUD and DOT have come together to offer $68 million for HUD's Sustainable Communities Challenge Grants and DOT's TIGER II Planning Grants. According to a post by Smart Growth Around America

HUD’s Sustainable Communities Challenge Grants and DOT’s TIGER II Planning Grants are the latest examples of interagency federal programs that aim to create economically robust and sustainable communities through better transportation, housing and development coordination – helping communities make themselves even stronger through a more thoughtful use of every available dollar for their local economy.

“The partnership between these agencies is good for communities and allows federal funds to achieve multiple goals simultaneously,” said Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America. “By looking at housing and transportation together, HUD and DOT can help regions move farther and faster to strengthen their local economies and create jobs.”

Over 1,700 communities applied for the grant money, but of course there was only so much to go around.
The city of Dallas and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (Arlington) each received a grant together totaling more than $2.8 million. I will be keeping an eye on these projects to see how they progress.

Civic Commons

2010-11-22T06:33:00.000-06:00

I'm still on jury duty, but I have a little time to write a quick post. I found out about a website this morning called Civic Commons. Civic Commons wants to help government entities at all levels share their technology, eliminating redundancy, fostering innovation, and cutting costs. Here's what they do

Facilitating the sharing of code among government entities, with an eye towards developing an “Open Civic Stack”
Connecting governments throughout all phases of technology procurement, and building systems for more transparent & informed technology choices
Developing and supporting Open Data and Open Standards as foundations of an “Open Civic API”
Spreading government technology best practices
Building a community of “civic hackers” and give them clear opportunities to assist in the development of government technology

An interesting idea that could save governments a lot of money. I only see one draw back, security issues in dealing with open sourced software, but if the government entity is diligent in dealing with security, this shouldn't be a problem. I'll post the site in my helpful website listings.

The VIA Express

2010-11-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Well, lucky me, I'm on jury duty, but it has given me the chance to try out the new VIA Express bus. The first day I rode it, I barely made it. I drove over to the Park & Ride at 1604 and IH 10 and there were two buses sitting at the stop, but as I got out of the car one of them (the 94) drove off, so I rushed over and jumped on the 93. Both of these routes are express, but the 93 also stops at the Crossroads Center, while the 94 goes straight downtown. There were about four other passengers on the 6:50am bus. Check the VIA bus schedules for info on bus stops and travel times. Click on the Adobe reader icons for the actual schedules.

While riding, I struck up a conversation with a regular rider. She works for the county and rides the bus everyday from the Crossroads stop. She told me that the Express is very popular with people selected for jury duty. She said sometimes the bus is packed with jurors. The day I rode, I was probably the only one, and the bus wasn't full. It's pretty cool because they actually send you two free tickets (there and back) along with the jury summons. Since I used the ticket the bus driver knew I was going to the justice center, and when we arrived at the center at about 7:12-7:15am (the bus stops directly in front of it) he announced which doors to enter and that the main jury room was in the basement. So the ride to the Justice Center was extremely easy. I took the 6:50am bus, because the next bus at 7:20am was not scheduled to arrive at the Justice Center until 7:47am, and I didn't want to chance it because I was supposed to be there at 8:00am. Bus Schedules are not always on time because of traffic and that's when traffic is usually at its peak.

I got put on a panel for a judge who was determined to pick a jury that day so that the case could be concluded before the holidays, so he kept us until 6:30pm. Luckily the Express for IH 10 runs until 10:00pm but if you are riding the 281 express, it only runs until 7:00pm. The other Express routes are route 6 for the 281 corridor to downtown, route 16 to Fort Sam Houston, route 48, the IH 35 South Express, and route 64, the Hwy 90 Express. If you just want to do some sightseeing check out the Sightseer Special, route 7 which travels from the Botanical Garden to La Villita and back, with stops at the Witte, the Zoo/Brackenridge Park, the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Alamo.

So it was after dark when I walked out to the bus stop. The nearest stop is a little creepy. It's in front of the Payless Shoe store at Commerce and Soledad across from the newly refurbished Main Plaza. Definitely be ready for some local characters, homeless people with shopping carts who talk to themselves, young women in very skimpy outfits with spiky high heels, some young men who probably are regularly refered to as Ese, and I think even a willowy transvestite. The 94 bus came exactly at 7:10pm as scheduled, and I have to admit, I was a bit relieved. The bus brought me back to the Park & Ride at about 7:25pm.

Well, I was lucky enough to be picked for a jury, so I'll be at the Justice Center every day for awhile. Everyday a juror can go down to the main jury room and pick up a set of free bus tickets for the next day. Since we got out so late, the office was closed, so I decided to drive the next day and park in the County Parking lot across from the Justice Center. With a validated ticket, you can park there for $2.00 a day, but beware, there is no in and out, so if you move your car, you will have to pay more, and there is no guarentee that there will be any spaces left, because the garage fills up by 8:00am. One of my fellow jurors arrived at 7:45am and had to park elsewhere. So if you get picked for a jury and you don't have to be there at the crack of dawn, you might want to consider the Express Bus. I don't have to be there until 9:30am today, so I'm definetely taking the bus!

Where does the money come from? The Texas Budget

2010-11-12T09:20:00.000-06:00

The state of Texas receives money from several funding sources, with about half of its income (approximately $44 billion in 2010-2011) coming from the state sales and use tax rate of 6 1/4% (.0625). City, county and transportation authorities can also collect sales taxes, but the combined tax can be no more than 8 1/4% (.0825). The Sales and Use tax is imposed on

all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services.

Sales tax is highly dependent on consumption, luckily, Texans have been willing to spend money so revenue was actually up by 2.2% by June 2010.

Motor Vehicle Sales and Use taxes make up the second largest source of income for the state and the Texas Franchise Tax is the third largest source of general revenue. This tax collects 0.5 to 1.0% of the margin from all corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships (with exceptions), Professional Associations,Joint Ventures, Business Trusts, and Other legal entities chartered in the State of Texas. But what the hell is Margin?

Margin equals the lowest of three calculations:
total revenue minus cost of goods sold;
total revenue minus compensation; or
total revenue times 70 percent.

Here is a table from the Window on Open Government that details the General Revenue fund sources.

As you can see revenues from the general sales tax, the motor fuels tax and alcoholic beverages taxes are up slightly, but revenues from all other funding sources are down, with total tax collections down by 2.5% and non tax collections down by 4.7% lowering General Fund Revenue by about $9 billion, a hole Texas can't really afford right now.

Texas also receives money from the federal government, about $55.1 billion during the 2010-2011 biennium. In 2005 (according to the latest figures available by the Tax Foundation) Texas received $0.94 per dollar of taxes paid by Texans to the federal government. So Texas is getting most of its money back and only actually contributing $0.06 to federal programs. Looks like we are getting off pretty cheap, especially compared to states like California, that only received $0.78 per dollar paid in income taxes.

Texans as a general rule are allergic to taxes and raising tax limits is tantamount to political suicide, but can we really afford to keep taxes this low???

My next post will detail where the tax money is spent in Texas.

The Texas State Budget: How did we get that HUGE Shortfall???

2010-11-10T07:52:00.002-06:00

Over and over in the news I see reports of budget shortfalls for states. Estimates in newspapers for the Texas Budget shortfall range from $18 billion to $25 billion. So I decided to write a new series of posts on the Texas Budget.

Then the confusion set in. When I started to investigate the shortfall by going to websites where these things are actually calculated, like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), which gathers data on all the states, and the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), which deals specifically with the State of Texas, I started finding a lot of discrepancies. The CBPP which gets its numbers for Texas from the CPPP says the budget gap is $4.6 billion for 2011. But the CPPP says

Texas needs to make significant public investments in infrastructure and services to ensure our prosperity. Unfortunately, Texas is a low-tax state with a structural deficit. In 2006, the state made its structural deficit worse by pledging to pay for a local school property tax cut. The "hole" or uncovered cost of that tax cut is now almost $10 billion per biennium. To add to the state's woes, just before the legislative session began in 2009, the country went into a severe economic recession that substantially reduced state tax revenues. Fortunately, the federal government stepped in with Recovery Act funding. Even so, many important projects and programs were left unfunded or inadequately funded.

Now, I guess you could figure that $10 billion per biennium has added up since 2006 to about $20 billion. Not quite sure where the $4.6 billion figure comes from. According to the Sunshine Review of the 2009-11 budget there was a projected amount of $9 billion in the Rainy Day Fund, which probably helps balance the budget out to the point that in 2010 the gap in the budget is $3.5 billion, with an added $1.3 billion in 2011, which adds up to $4.8 billion. But usually, legistators hate touching the Rainy Day Fund.

In an article by Veronica Flores-Paniagua in the Express, she says the shortfall is about $25 billion, so if you add $20 billion for the last four years plus $4.6 billion from the CBPP, then it sort of makes sense.

Since the Texas legislature only meets every other year they have to come up with a budget that covers the government until the next legislative session in 2013, two more years, another $10 billion. Public School Districts across Texas have been ordered to cut their budgets by 5-10%. Now there is always fat in a large bureaucracy that can be trimmed, but if you are looking at $60 million for the next school year like Northside ISD, limiting paper use doesn't go very far, and hiring freezes can only work for a limited time in a fast growing school district.

Then to add to the pain, Perry refused to sign off on the latest school funding bill which would have given some relief to cash strapped districts. The political wrangling on that bill was just plain STUPID in my opinion. I blame both Perry and Lloyd Doggett for being pig-headed. Lloyd Doggett basically drew a line in the sand by requiring Perry (the only governor required to do this) to pledge that federal funding would not replace state funding for schools (which apparently happened the last time Texas got federal school funding). Perry, of course, refused to sign it, saying it was illegal for him to tie the legislature's hands for the future budget process, making him a Tea Party Darling. Lloyd Doggett was trying to make Perry look bad, because he wasn't taking money for the schools, well that BACK FIRED, and now the school districts are paying the price.

Texas is 35th in the nation in per pupil spending. Now if you are anti-taxes you probably think this is great and spending per student is not necessarily an indicator of how well students do in school. But when budget cuts have to continue, because there is no money to make up for the gap in spending, after awhile it will effect student performance. Can Texas afford to lower its student performance at a time when it is becoming the place for high tech and biomedical companies to locate, grow and proper? Remember that old saying, you get what you pay for.

Making Bus Travel Easier and Faster

2010-11-02T07:49:00.001-05:00

VIA's reimagined Express Service is now on line. I got a door tag with two free ride coupons to advertise the new routes and buses. The buses have WIFI, cargo racks, plush seats, reading lights and hybrid engines, making them a far cry from the Express bus I used to ride back in 1983.

But in a city with a lot of traffic, how do you make the bus go faster? In about 2 years, VIA plans to have a gizmo that allows them to change red lights green, but that's a few years in the future. Other ways to make buses faster are HOV lanes (a pretty inexpensive thing to do, and contrary to car commuter fears, doesn't slow down the rest of traffic, check out my post about them here.) And in NYC they have put in bus ticket kiosks by the bus stops in order to take fare collection out of the picture, a process that slows down bus travel by 30%. After adding light changing transponders and fare kiosks, bus ridership in New York went up by 20%, in a city where mass transit is highly used that's pretty phenomenal. It's also the first time, that when polled, NYC bus riders were 98% satisfied with the bus service.

So will fancier, faster bus service catch on in SA, the jury is still out, but I think I'm going to try out my free bus rides.

I Want Change but not that kind of CHANGE

2010-11-01T08:22:00.007-05:00

When President Obama was elected CHANGE was his mantra. He won the election by 7 percentage points. Not exactly a mandate, but certainly change from the previous administration. Of course, Texas went for McCain, but only by 11 percent, not exactly a total blowout either. But now, people are MAD because the Democrats took it for granted that the electorate wanted change.

But what exactly did the electorate mean by change. Well, obviously the liberals wanted carbon trade legislation, strong environmental regulation, immigration reform, and universal, cheap, single payer health care. They sort of got health care, not sure how cheap it's going to be though. Conservatives wanted the economy to get back on track without spending money. Well, the economy is still struggling after two years, and don't even get them started on the money. The moderates, which I still believe there are a few of us left out there, wanted the economy to improve, and wanted modest changes in health care, immigration and environmental regulation. The independents, well I'm not really not really sure what they wanted because they aren't a cohesive group. But probably the thing that everyone wanted was a decent job where they lived.

I think it's interesting that CHANGE caught so many voters imagination. We humans don't particularly like change, we like things to stay the same, as long as everything is running relatively smoothly. But, of course we all know that a few months before the election everything went to hell in a hand basket. Blaming fingers started pointing in all directions and I think that all sides had their parts to play.

The biggest problem, in my humble opinion, was that everyone seemed to think that good economic times were here to stay and despite a few minor blips from time to time nothing was going to slow down. When the stock market started showing weaknesses, people switched to real estate as the be all and end all. I started getting queasy when I noticed large amounts of new housing stock being bought in blocks and put up for lease in neighborhoods throughout town. I found out pension funds from California and other states were investing heavily in real estate. Then the Adjustable Rate Mortgage reared its ugly head. Back in the 80's this was the bugaboo that brought on the Savings and Loan Crisis. Housing speculation became rampant, always a bad sign, but no one seemed to notice. A coworker of mine had caught the fever and declared she wanted to flip a house. I advised against it. When everyone is flipping houses, its time to get out of real estate. Well, I sort of changed that, Old Joe Kennedy decided to get out of the stock market when he found out his shoe shine boy was investing.

So what happened to bring on the Great Recession, relaxation of government regulation, by both the Democrats and the Republicans, and universal greed brought it on. One thing we have to remember is it was called the Great Recession. But unlike its name sake, the Great Depression, which took 10 long years plus a world war to recover from, we in our fast paced world expect the economy to recover overnight. Well it's two years later and the economy is limping slowly towards recovery, largely due to the dreaded TARP legislation. Everyone hates TARP, but actually it has been pretty successful. Most of the banks that received the loans have paid the money back and GM is slowly starting to improve. Also, if my memory serves me TARP was a bipartisan bill, everyone was on board.

Well, back to change, what kind of change would be GOOD Change?

The other day I was listening to an interview of Bill Hobby, the longest standing Lieutenant Governor in Texas. The interviewer said that polls show that most voters don't want their legislators to compromise and he asked what Hobby thought of that. Hobby laughed and said, "then they're CRAZY". Because as the former LG knows, nothing gets done in the state house or congress without compromise. There even has to be compromise between members of the same party. It's also important to have civil dialogue. If everyone is screaming at each other, nothing gets done. The best legislation happens when all voices can be heard and are listened to respectfully with an OPEN mind.

The change I want to see, but I don't think is likely to happen anytime soon, especially after the vitriol spewed during this current election season, is CIVIL DIALOG and the willingness to LISTEN to other people's opinions with an OPEN MIND. SA2020 has been a model of this type of behavior, it sure would be nice to see this happen in other venues. And one more change that I would like to see is PATIENCE. This is probably the hardest one of all, because I know people are suffering out there, but to misquote a Blood, Sweat and Tears song, "What goes down must come UP."

Have YOU Filled Out the Community Survey Yet?

2010-10-29T07:40:00.000-05:00

SA2020 held it's second meeting last night at McCollum High School with an overflow crowd. If you would like to see the meeting check out the recorded webcast here. If you didn't get to the meeting, you should check it out to see the word art formed by the surveys. They are pretty remarkable. At the meeting people were divided into groups to discuss each of the separate issues facing San Antonio to come up with a vision for the future.

The next meeting will be on November 20, 2010. You can sign up to go to the meeting on the SA2020 website. If you can't make the meeting, like me last night, you can watch the live webcast and participate in the meeting on the chat moderated by NowCastSA, during the meeting.

So far over 3,000 people have filled out the Community Survey and more than 65% of respondents were highly satisfied with Arts, Culture, Affordable Housing, Safety, Health Services, Sense of Community and the Quality of Public Service in San Antonio. But we definitely have a lot of work to do. Areas that received the least amount of satisfaction were Transportation/Traffic, the Ability of Regular Citizens to Influence Local Government, Opportunities to find Well Paying Jobs, the Quality of the Physical Infrastructure and Education. These were the topics that were discussed at the meeting last night.

Ben Warner of JCCI, the facilatator of the meeting, puts together meetings like this in cities all over the country. He said getting 1,000 survey responses is about a much as a city can expect. Well, so far we have proved him wrong. Have you filled out your survey yet?

Woe is me, I pay TOO much for taxes in Texas

2010-10-24T08:16:00.001-05:00

After reading an article about a promised $2000 tax savings on property taxes that never materialized, and this quote from Tax Assessor/Collector Sylvia Romo who says

she routinely hears complaints about property taxes.

“I especially hear from out-of-state people — newcomers to San Antonio,” Romo said. “They are shocked because the property taxes are so high. Now they are paying in the thousands instead of hundreds” of dollars.

She added, “Welcome to Texas.”

I just felt that I needed to speak up. Yes the article is correct that Perry's promise of a $2000 savings on property taxes never happened, but this last quote makes it sound like Texans pay high taxes. Well our property taxes may be high in comparison to other states, BUT, we have no state income tax.

According to the Tax Foundation, Texas ranked 43rd with an 8.4% tax rate in State-Local tax burdens in 2008. The tax rate has gone up a whopping 0.3% since 1977.

Yes, I know, no one likes to pay taxes, but an awful lot of people like to complain about the things that government is not getting done. Well, just remember, you get what you pay for.

SA2020, Next Meeting

2010-10-21T06:54:00.001-05:00

The next meeting to plan San Antonio's future is coming up October 28, 2010 from 6:30 to 8:30pm at Mccollum High School. All are welcome to participate, just RSVP at SA2020.org. If you can't come (or even if you can), fill out the Community Survey to put your two cent in. The survey isn't just for adults, here's a link to the Youth Survey.

Early Voting Starts TODAY!

2010-10-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

Early voting starts today. Check here for a list of locations. Bring your voter's registration card, or a valid ID. Check out this earlier post for all the information you'll need to know about voting and candidates.

And as Al Capone said "vote early and vote often!" (I mean in different elections of course)

A Consolidated School District for SA?

2010-10-14T17:25:00.001-05:00

At the SA2020 kick off meeting, one of the participants suggested that the 15 independent school districts in the San Antonio area be consolidated into one district in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Surprisingly (to me, anyway) a lot of people in the room cheered. Apparently State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, has been backing this, who know's maybe he was the guy who brought it up at the conference

First of all, could this even happen? Yes, there are 3 ways to do it.

The Board of Trustees of the school districts involved can adopt a resolution to consolidate and then hold an election.
Constituents of the districts can do it by petition, requesting an election to consolidate, signed by a required number of voters in the district.
The Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency can force the consolidation of a wealthy district with a poor one, if the wealthy district cannot come to an agreement on wealth sharing with the poor district.

School districts have been able to consolidate since 1995, when Chapter 13 was added to the Texas Public Education Code. Forced consolidations, also allowed in 1995, are part of Chapter 41, the Equalization of Wealth Level provision of the Public Education Code, otherwise known as the "Robin Hood" legislation.

So it can be done, but is consolidation PRACTICAL??

If all the districts in SA were consolidated the student population would be:

Alamo Hts 4,762 growing
East Central 9,292 growing
Edgewood 12,392 growing
Harlandale 14,521 growing
Fort Sam 1,472 growing
Judson 21,750 growing
Lackland 936 stable
North East 65,498 growing
Northside 94,369 growing
Randolph Field 1,198 stable
San Antonio 55,327 growing
Somerset 3,726 growing
South San Antonio 9,974 stable
Southside 5,216 growing
Southwest 11,531 growing

311,964 Total Students and GROWING

The seventh largest school district in the US and the largest in Texas, Houston ISD, had an enrollment of 202,773 students during the 2009-10 school year. Enrollment has been declining since 2006. HISD had over 208,000 during the 2004-2005 school year (pre-Katrina, the HISD took in many students from New Orleans after the evacuations). The district has also had many scandals and problems, such as doctored dropout rates, fraud allegations, failing teachers, and failing to meet federal standards for special education.

I'm guessing that school consolidation proponents think that having only one school district would equalize wealth, make schools across the district equal and the school population would be spread equally across all schools. Well, let's take a look at Northside ISD. It is a sprawling district that extends from Hwy 90 just inside Loop 410 north into Southern Bandera County and west to Medina County. Back in 1949, when it was formed, this area had a low population so in order to have a similar population to other districts in the area it had to be this big. Now though, NISD is in the most popular region of SA, population is booming. Even during the middle of the Great Recession, from 2007 to 2009, the district grew by 8.0%. As of March 2009, when it's population was only 82,587, it was the 37th largest school district in the nation.

Credit: NISD Resource Planning

All schools in NISD are required to teach the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), which all Texas schools are required to teach, all teachers are required to meet the same standards, and several bond issues have been held to update older schools. Magnet schools exist at Holmes HS(Business Careers) and Jay HS(Science Academy) to encourage students from other parts of the district to attend these schools.

So, each school in NISD should be considered worthy and relatively equal, but public perception and actions say otherwise. Growth in the city has been moving steadily north westward for the last twenty years, so now there are at least 10 elementary schools in NISD outside Loop 1604. The average student body population for elementary schools gets larger the farther out the school is.

Average School Population

Inside 410--646 students
between 410 and 1604--796 students
outside 1604--898 students

There were 5 new schools opened for the 2010-11 school year. All, with the exception of Martin ES which is the first school built inside Loop 410 in 20 years, are outside Loop 1604. Martin ES is in the Canterbury subdivision, which is the only area in NISD inside Loop 410 to have much growth. Six of the proposed schools from the 2010 bond issue will also be built outside Loop 1604 (the seventh school's location has not yet been determined.)

NISD tries to spread some of the school population around by capping student population at over populated schools, and sending those students to cluster schools. There are 13 cluster schools in the district, 3 inside Loop 410, the rest scattered across the district between 410 and 1604.

The table below shows a comparison between the elementary school populations inside Loop 410 and outside Loop 1604. Housing in NISD inside Loop 410 has become less desirable over time, while outside 1604 is where most of the new housing is being built. I compared elementary schools because this is the foundation for growth in the district for the next ten years.

(sorry for the chopped off totals on the right, if I made the table any smaller, it would be unreadable)

Source: NISD Resource Planning Enrollment Reports

Total school population in both areas is projected to increase, but what is really telling is the percent change in class sizes for the two areas. Class size tends to drop off some after 1st grade, but the slide is much more dramatic (14.08% inside 410 versus 2.23% outside 1604) for the schools inside Loop 410. This may indicate that families tend to move outside Loop 410 after 1st grade, to get their children into "better" schools. What constitutes a better school in NISD, is all based on perception. Lower income areas are assumed to have worse schools solely based on their location.

Proponents of school district consolidation, like State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, believe that a consolidated district administration would lead to effiencies that would lower costs. But Mike Falick, a trustee for Spring Branch ISD, says

I have yet to find any [empirical data] that would suggest consolidation in Texas would lead to greater efficiency or effectiveness in the delivery of education to Texas's 4.3 million students. Indeed, the data I found from other states shows that efficiency and effectiveness are negative correlates to consolidation.

I am interested in any data that supports consolidation by showing improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of education. If you are aware of any such data, please email me or post a comment with the information.

The article was written in 2005, so far, no one has posted any comments.