Final Issue: July 5, 2007

That Was Then …

All Over but the Crying

On June 15, Gov. Perry signed the $152 billion state budget (HB 1) for fiscal years 2008-09, but not before axing $570 million, plus another $80 million from the supplemental appropriations bill (HB 15). The budget spends $80.1 billion in general revenue (GR), not including the $6.1 billion in GR for school property tax relief. The chief executive decried a lack of transparency in the General Appropriations Act and especially criticized special items, as stated in his accompanying press release:

“As passed by the legislature, special items funding for agencies and institutions of higher education totaled $1.2 billion, or 19.5 percent of the total higher education general revenue funding. This means nearly one of every five dollars dedicated to higher education was spent outside the funding formulas on pet pork projects. Because special earmarks for local institutions often don’t meet the statewide goals of our higher education system, Gov. Perry vetoed more than $35.8 million of the $123 million in earmarks that were disclosed as single line-items.”

Thirteen was the UT System’s unlucky number in this final phase of the appropriations process. That’s how many millions of state dollars System institutions won’t have available in the next biennium, beginning September 1, as a result of the vetoes. The vetoed funding is listed below, followed by the Governor’s stated rationale:

• San Antonio Life Science Institute (SALSI) at UTSA
  $3 million

“Before the state makes the investment required to create more tier-one research institutions, we need a long-term vision and plan. The select commission on higher education and global competitiveness created by House Concurrent Resolution 159 is charged with drafting a Texas Compact that reflects a long-term vision and a step-by-step plan to attain specific goals. After the results of this effort are evaluated, funding increases can be targeted strategically to make the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”

• SALSI at UT HSC - San Antonio
  $3 million

“Although this is a collaborative effort with The University of Texas at San Antonio, which is good, before the state makes the investment required to create more tier-one research institutions, we need a long-term vision and plan. The select commission on higher education and global competitiveness created by House Concurrent Resolution 159 is charged with drafting a Texas Compact that reflects a long-term vision and a step-by-step plan to attain specific goals. After the results of this effort are evaluated, funding increases can be targeted strategically to make the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”

• Public health expansion at UTHSC - Houston
  $5 million

“Funds are provided elsewhere for increasing the number of nursing graduates, which is a more critical need.”

• Stark Diabetes Center at UTMB
  $2 million.

“Two appropriations were made for diabetes research, and only one is needed.  The other is for $18 million at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. One of my priorities is increasing collaboration among the agencies and institutions of higher education. Medical Branch can collaborate with Southwestern.”

Perry excoriated lawmakers for what he called irresponsible “porkbarrel spending” on special items without any justification or accountability to taxpayers. Also vetoed were:

Higher Education Coordinating Board         
Quantitative Study                                   $ 500,000

Angelo State University                             
Museum of Fine Arts                                   300,000

Texas Cooperative Extension                     
Extend Program Delivery                          3,000,000

Texas Agriculture Extension Service          
Obesity Research (S&W - Temple)            2,000,000

West Texas A&M University                    
Engineering Program                               5,000,000

Texas A&M International University         
Student Success                                      5,000,000

Texas State University System                  
System Operations                                  1,733,504

Texas Tech University System                  
System Operations                                  3,169,907

University of Houston System                    
System Operations                                     473,787

University of North Texas System             
System Operations                                   1,632,060

In explaining the Coordinating Board veto, Perry wrote, “This study would develop a pilot system to track and improve student college readiness and progress from high school to college entry to workforce development.  THECB can do this within existing resources. It was appropriated $24.6 million for the College Readiness Initiative in addition to the $14.9 million provided for fiscal year 2007. These and other funds available to the agency can be used for this purpose.”

Gov. Perry also cut two appropriations for two-year schools: $154 million for public community and junior colleges’ FY 09 employee group insurance contributions, and $3.28 million for contact hour enrollment generated by some new community colleges.

View Gov. Perry’s veto proclamations for HB 1 and HB 15.

Texas will spend an additional $1.5 billion above current levels on higher ed in FY 08-09, a 14 percent increase. That includes $146 million more spending on student financial aid, up 24 percent; performance incentive funding and scholarships; more money for the Higher Education Assistance Fund (HEAF); and full funding of the Research Development Fund (RDF). Also increasing are Available University Fund distributions, which are appropriated despite being Permanent University Fund income.

For more details on the entire budget and on UT institutions’ appropriations, see these online documents:

• Summary of CCRHB 1 (Legislative Budget Board)
  
  
• CCRHB 1 (LBB)
  
  
• Institutional Summary of UT System GR Funding (PDF)
  
  
• Supplemental appropriations bill, HB 15

Fiscal Nuts and Budget Bolts
The budget-writing committees’ clerks and phone numbers are:
House Appropriations – Cristina Self, 463-1091
Senate Finance – Amy Jeter, 463-0370

From session to session, the two houses alternate writing the initial version of the General Appropriations Act. The starting point this past session was HB 1; it will be SB1 in the 81st Legislature. The process resumes in about 12 months when institutions begin preparing legislative appropriations requests for the next fiscal biennium.

 

Higher Ed Lowlights

His Hit Parade
Listed below are five bills of significant interest to the UT System and the higher education community that are among those vetoed by the Governor. His paraphrased reasons for doing so follow brief explanations of each bill.

• HB 447  by Callegari et al./Jackson would have modified contracting by governmental entities for construction projects and related professional services, as well as public works performance and payment bonding practices; higher education was exempt. Perry said that the bill’s limitations and extra requirements would have discouraged competition, likely increasing both costs and delays.

• HB 2006 by Woolley et al./Janek would have revised eminent domain law by changing condemnation procedures and the price at which the former owner could repurchase condemned property if its intended use was canceled or the project had not begun within 10 years of acquisition. Perry lamented two 11th-hour amendments on recoverable damages for diminished roadway access and compensation for leftover land. He claimed that they would have enriched condemnation lawyers and shifted a disproportionate share of condemnation costs onto taxpayers.

• HB 3281 by P. King et al./Duncan would have allowed claimants in civil liability cases to seek to recover amounts billed. It also would have removed the “tort reform” limitation on claims for future health and medical expenses to actual amounts paid. Perry did not object to the latter provision, but he argued that the former one would have artificially inflated economic damages by allowing plaintiffs to recoup more in medical expenses than they actually paid.

• SB 1053 by Zaffirini/Aycock would have required the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to establish a method for assessing the quality and effectiveness of academic advising services available to students at each institution of higher education. Perry faulted the bill for not explaining what was to have been done with the assessment methodology, calling it an unfunded mandate and an agency distraction.

• SB 1234 by Zaffirini et al./Rose would have tasked the THECB with developing a higher ed master plan incorporating 13 sets of evaluative criteria, ranging from effective funding methods and improved collaboration across all educational levels to college readiness and affordability and graduate medical education needs. Calling the bill unnecessary and duplicative, Perry preferred to let the Joint Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness go first (see HCR 159).

Other tracked legislation that bit the dust:

• HB 48 (Chavez/Zaffirini) – distributions from the employment and training investment holding fund
• HB 544 (Strama/Watson) – reduced tuition and fees for certain junior college district students who reside outside of the district
• HB 589 (Aycock/Fraser) – requisite student enrollment for Texas A&M University - Central Texas to operate as a general academic teaching institution
• HB 1205 (Keffer/Eltife) – prohibiting certain employment discrimination regarding an employee who is a volunteer emergency responder
• HB 2087 (Hill/Wentworth) – restricting the frequency with which a county, municipality, or junior college district may hold a petition-initiated election on whether to establish a limitation on increases in the amount of property taxes imposed on residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled
• HB 2646 (Rose/Watson) – awarding stipends to nationally certified classroom teachers under the educator excellence awards program
• HB 2713 (Bonnen/Averitt) – interim study of the state's demand for electric generation capacity, the development of a long-term energy plan, and the effects on the environment of electric generating facilities
• HB 3200 (Madden/Whitmire) – computation of certain funding for community supervision and corrections departments
• HB 3457 (Hochberg/Zaffirini) – restricting school bus idling near a public school or school event
• HB 3609 (Talton/Ellis) – membership and service credit in the Employees Retirement System of Texas for certain retirees
• HB 3647 (Kolkhorst/Lucio) – study by the attorney general of the effects on state law and authority of certain international and other agreements and bodies
• HB 3934 (McClendon/Van de Putte) – establishing a student outcomes pilot program at Alamo Community College
• SB 960 (Shapleigh/Haggerty) – administering exit-level state assessment instruments to transfer students who are dependents of military personnel
  

View the entire list of vetoed bills and accompanying messages.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Creeping into the slow-starting pace of the interim between sessions, the House Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance met last week for the second time as the tale continues of the insolvent Texas Tomorrow Fund (aka TTFI), now called the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan.

Among other things, the panel is trying to get the state’s original prepaid college tuition program “out of the ditch,” as Chair Dan Branch (Dallas) put it, perhaps even reopening it as a recent sunset review suggested. After the inception of tuition flexibility, state officials closed the plan to new contracts in 2003 when it could no longer sustain financial viability. This session the Legislature passed a new variation, the Texas Tomorrow Fund II (HB 3900 by Morrison/Shapiro), but it doesn’t open for another 15 months.

Three expert witnesses diverged Thursday (June 28) on the estimated size of TTFI’s projected shortfall – hundreds of millions versus billions – further complicating the committee’s task. Comptroller Susan Combs eventually offered three options – two fiscal, one programmatic – but initially demurred.

“You’ve got all the solutions, right?” Branch asked half-jokingly. “You’re going to tell us how to get out?”

“I’m sorry. This is a bad … feedback here from the microphone,” cracked Combs, who previously alerted lawmakers to the looming crisis and formed an advisory board to evaluate it.

The board’s chairman, Mark Hurley, put the shortfall within a range of $1.7 billion to $3.1 billion by 2029, when the last existing contracts expire.

Hurley accused the plan’s creators of no wrongdoing other than financial naïveté, noting that investors could leave their principal in place drawing interest at the tuition rate, then withdraw it. He said the plan is based on unrealistic assumptions and cautioned against trying to grow out of the problem, either through more new contracts or more productive investing.

Dissenting somewhat was actuary Daniel Sherman, a consultant to the Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board (PHETB), who found Hurley's projections too pessimistic. He put the shortfall closer to $1 billion, claiming that the fund is gaining ground partly because many investors are cashing out early.

The Comptroller’s Robert Wood had the rosiest forecast of the shortfall at $683 million, based on an 8.25 percent return with a 7.5 percent average annual tuition increase.

Predicting shortfalls in 2019 and 2021, Combs suggested funding them with $575 million in state appropriations, or contributing $106 million biennially for the next 10 biennia. Another option would be to require colleges to accept reduced tuition for these contracts at some percentage level, with no additional cash infusion, or shorten the time allotted to earn degrees.

She recommended adding some amount of new funding in 2009 and 2011; making legislative changes for current participants; and helping schools paying a higher share of the costs. Among those will be UT Austin, with its large number of students with TTF1 contracts, many of whom will be eligible for automatic admission under the “top 10 percent” law.

Other ideas floated included a hold-harmless provision in the state budget for adversely affected universities and tying the tuition growth rate to the fund’s yield. The one consensus that emerged is that legislators must do some cost-shifting. As several members remarked, “Someone’s got to pay.”

Beginning Sept. 1, 2008, TTFII will sell percentile “units” representing a portion of annual tuition and redeemable at any undergraduate college or university in the state. There are three types of units – the highest-priced public university, i.e., UT Austin; the weighted average, for the more moderately priced institutions; and the least expensive, i.e., two-year schools and community colleges.
 
When students redeem units, universities must honor their value. A beneficiary may redeem, after the third anniversary of the date of purchase, any type of tuition unit for attendance at a general academic teaching institution; two-year institution; private or independent institutions; or accredited out-of-state institutions.

The new plan takes into account many of TTFI’s shortcomings, according to Sen. Florence Shapiro (Plano). They have been addressed to protect the actuarial soundness of the new fund by shifting the burden from the state to schools and families. But schools can realize gains if tuition and fees remain lower than the purchase price plus return on investment.

The PHETB is responsible for investing both plans’ funds with investment managers and may contract with the UT Board of Regents to have The University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO) manage TTFII’s assets. The board is to annually evaluate prices and adjust future contracts as necessary to maintain the fund’s actuarial soundness, the issue that closed TTFI.

Branch indicated that the committee, comprised mostly of the House’s education leaders, would meet next in late August.

Watch the hearing video.                                              

Read The Quorum Report article. [subscription required]

 

…This Is Now

 

If It's September 1, You're Too Late

Many bills of interest either already have become law immediately on passage, by virtue of approval with at least two-thirds majorities, or will do so sometime prior to September 1, when most enacted bills take effect.

STATE BUDGET/FINANCE
HB 15 (Chisum/Ogden) – supplemental appropriations for FY 2007-09
HB 2365 (Truitt et al./Duncan) – Texas and political subdivision financial accounting and reporting
HB 3107 (Isett/Ogden) – creation/re-creation of treasury funds and accounts, revenue dedication/re-dedication, and unappropriated money exemption for general government
SB 470 (Brimer/Keffer) – uniform state agency financial reporting
SB 679 (Williams/Woolley) – using surplus revenue in the Unemployment Compensation Fund
SB 968 (West/Chisum) – broadening UT System’s financing tools to include bond enhancements, credit agreements and interest rate swaps
SB 969 (Estes/Harless) – fee exemptions for government vessels and outboard motors
SB 1310 (Wentworth/Rose) – state employee travel expense reimbursement
SB 1446 (Duncan/McCall) – removing indirect cost recovery fees from E&G Fund accounting
SB 2031 (Ogden/Chisum) – limiting multi-million dollar settlements of claims or actions against the state without legislative approval

HIGHER EDUCATION
HB 86 (Branch, Garcia/Ogden) – general academic tuition rebates for ROTC students
HB 120 (F. Brown/Shapiro) – state funding and designated tuition for off-peak-hour courses
HB 125 (Delisi et al./Van de Putte) – tuition/fee exemptions for military personnel’s children
HB 741 (T. King/Zaffirini) – tuition/fee exemptions for children of slain/disabled volunteer peace officers
HB 389 (Callegari/Estes) – TWU’s eminent domain authority
HB 868 (Haggerty/Shapleigh) – UTEP recreational facility fee
HB 1157 (West/Seliger) – UTPB student services building fees
HB 1187 (Morrison/Van de Putte) – tuition/fee vouchers for public school students sounding “Taps” at veterans’ funerals
HB 1250 (C. Howard/Patrick) – secondary school-based discrimination in student financial aid awarding
HB 1330 (F. Brown/Ogden) – TAMU reduced summer undergraduate tuition pilot program
HB 1505 (Lucio/Lucio) – UT Brownsville intercollegiate athletics fee
HB 2074 (Krusee/Ogden) – creating the East Williamson County Multi-Institution Teaching Center
HB 2173 (B. Cook et al./Brimer) – Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board sunset review
HB 2198 (Flores et al./Janek) – baccalaureate degrees at public junior colleges
HB 2978 (Morrison et al./Shapiro) – THECB engineering recruitment programs
HB 2371 (Morrison/Zaffirini) – cease-and-desist hearings against unauthorized career school/college operators
HB 3291 (Otto/Averitt) – prohibiting higher ed permanent improvement contracts
HB 3382 (Naishtat, Leibowitz/Uresti) – electronic instructional material for blind/visually impaired/dyslexic public college students
HB 3826 (Morrison/Zaffirini) – revising automatic college admissions requirements and requiring admission of children of slain public servants
HB 3827 (Morrison/Zaffirini) – closed conference call meetings of junior college district governing boards
HB 3851 (Morrison/Shapiro) – GPA computation for college admissions and promoting undergraduate transfer admissions
HB 3900 (Morrison et al./Shapiro) – Texas Tomorrow Fund 2 prepaid tuition program
SB 201 (Nelson/Morrison) – tuition exemptions for professional nursing program preceptors/children
SB 276 (Wentworth/Rose) – modifying the student regent selection process and term of office
SB 285 (Shapiro/Hill) – UT Dallas student services and transportation fees
SB 289 (Nelson/Morrison) – using professional nursing shortage reduction program grants to encourage part-time faculty to do clinical nursing instruction
SB 457 (Watson/Menendez) – clarifying higher education benefits eligibility of surviving minors of slain public employees
SB 469 (Brimer, Zaffirini/Patrick) – creating THECB recognition of donors/contributors to public higher ed institutions
SB 480 (Janek/Gattis) – statutory definition of ‘private’ or ‘independent’ higher ed institution
SB 685 (Van de Putte/Noriega, Escobar) – tuition/fee exemption for Texas National Guardsmen
SB 992 (Nelson/D. Howard) – nursing education program grants from the Permanent Fund for Health-related Programs
SB 1050 (Zaffirini/Patrick) – THECB administration of the work-study student mentorship program
SB 1051 (Zaffirini/Guillen) – course requirement exemptions for foreign joint-degree-program students at general academic institutions
SB 1231 (Zaffirini/Morrison) – modifying tuition/fee refund procedures for dropped courses and student withdrawals
SB 1232 (Zaffirini/Morrison) – flexible tuition/fee payment plans and emergency student loan repayments
SB 1233 (Zaffirini/Morrison) – modifying application of students’ general deposits and determining refund timeframes
SB 1601 (West/F. Brown) – operation of and admission into JAMP

HEALTH CARE
HB 92 (Branch/Nelson) – regulation of automated external defibrillators
HB109 (Turner et al./Averitt) – Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility
HB 321 (Dukes/Deuell) – indigent healthcare pilot program on importing electronic eligibility information
HB 522 (Woolley, Hartnett/Duncan) – health benefit plan ID cards
HB 709 (Puente et al./Nelson) – umbilical cord blood options information
HB 1194 (England, Madden/Harris) – TDCJ-contracted phlebotomist indemnification
HB 1066 (Delisi/Nelson) – creating the Texas Health Services Authority
HB 1082 (Straus et al./Van de Putte) – pilot reporting program on methicillin-resistant bacteria
HB 1098 (Bonnen et al./Hegar) – HPV immunization
HB 1373 (Guillen/Zaffirini) – creating the Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force
HB 1973 (Delisi/Nelson) – Texas Medical Board licensing, expert testimony duties
HB 2042 (Dukes, Veasey/Nelson) – Medicaid healthcare provider electronic database
HB 2132 (Straus/Van de Putte) – creating a diabetes mellitus registry pilot program
HB 2168 (Hill/Carona) – powers of municipal and county hospital authorities and districts
HB 2252 (Taylor, Hancock/Williams) – services, information and wellness incentives by health care insurers and providers
HB 2389 (Madden/Deuell) – health care consent of minors in TDCJ custody
HB 2580 (Naishtat/Nelson) – designating DFPS staffer to consent to medical care for foster children
HB 2827 (Taylor et al./Jackson) – anaphylaxis treatment rules for EMS personnel
HB 3184 (Coleman/Deuell) – parental education about children’s flu shot benefits
HB 3443 (D. Howard/West) – Texas hospital-based nursing education partnership program
HB 3618 (Raymond et al./Zaffirini) – border school district health programs and grants
HB 3735 (McReynolds/Nichols) – diabetes demonstration pilot program
SB 7 (Hinojosa et al./Eissler, Vo) – CPR instruction, AED use/availability and a cardiovascular screening pilot program
SB 36 (Nelson/Eiland) – medical license examination application requirements
SB 139 (Nelson/Kolkhorst) – study to improve nursing education program curricula
SB 140 (Nelson/Kolkhorst) – feasibility study of health professional degree student immunization
SB 141 (Nelson/Morrison) – feasibility study of joint health science courses at public and private higher ed institutions
SB 204 (Nelson/Delisi) – electronic medical records systems
SB 288 (Nelson/Delisi) – reporting facilities’ health care-associated infections and creating an advisory panel
SB 556 (Lucio/McReynolds) – creating an interagency obesity council
SB 625 (Janek/J. Davis) – restricting the interchange of transplant immunosuppressant drugs
SB 776 (Jackson/W. Smith) – chiropractic regulation educational requirements
SB 811 (Janek/Dukes) – requiring the DSHS to allow the participating physicians to select the vaccines they use in the federal Vaccines for Children Program
SB 1566 (Patrick/Jackson) – creating the Texas Bleeding Disorders Advisory Council
SB 1896 (Lucio/Delisi) – reusing/recycling unused pharmaceuticals

PUBLIC EDUCATION
HB 188 (Hochberg et al./Van de Putte) – public/charter school textbook adoption and credits
HB 208 (Flores/Lucio) – extracurricular/UIL eligibility of joint credit/concurrently enrolled students
HB 1400 (Dutton/Shapiro) – charter school bonds issued by a Texas Public Finance Authority corporation
HB 1748 (Morrison/Shapiro) – Texas governor’s schools administration
HB 2411 (Strama/Ogden) – school district depositories
HB 3485 (S. King et al./Shapiro) – school district/post-secondary career/technical education
SB 9 (Shapiro/Branch, Madden) – requiring national criminal history background checks for all certified public school employees
SB 282 (Gallegos/Dutton) – notice of availability of earned college credit programs in public schools
SB 530 (Nelson et al./Eissler) – public school student physical activity requirements and physical fitness assessments

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BENEFITS/RETIREMENT
HB 155 (Pickett et al./Lucio) – correcting errors in public retirement system benefits distribution
HB 618 (Bonnen/Jackson) – EMS personnel eligibility for state low-interest home loan program
HB 957 (Orr/Ellis) – state employee participation in deferred compensation plans’ default investments
HB 2190 (Truitt/Duncan) – TRS executive director eligibility
HB 3322 (Truitt/Watson) – asset transfer from an ERS 457 plan to a higher ed 457 plan
SB 1039 (Lucio/Homer) – TRS retiree-rehires’ benefit payments
SB 1447 (Duncan/Gattis) – TRS investment authority
SB 1626 (Watson/Rodriguez) – public employee participation in the proportionate retirement program

INSURANCE
HB 888 (Giddings et al./Watson) – copying costs for medical records used in injured employee counsel’s ombudsman program
HB 2548 (T. Smith/Averitt) – health benefit plan coverage limitations
HB 3470 (Delisi/Williams) – supplemental health coverage for ERS TRICARE participants
SB 1627 (Carona/ Martinez) – prosecution of workers’ compensation insurance fraud

HUMAN SERVICES
HB 2120 (Deshotel/Williams) – unemployment compensation benefit computation
SB 27 (Nelson/Delisi) – community living options information and an advance care planning education pilot program
SB 168 (Ellis/Flores) – State Bar indigent legal services fee

GENERAL GOVERNMENT
HB 1473 (Turner/Whitmire) – sovereign immunity waiver for employee claims against political subdivisions
HB 2061 (Keffer et al./Williams) – SSN acquisition/disclosure by governmental bodies
HB 2564 (Hancock/Wentworth) – authority for governmental charges to produce or copy public information
HB 2618 (Guillen/Zaffirini) – authorizing non-competitive purchasing in leases between governmental entities
SB 687 (Shapleigh/Solomons) – TexasOnline use by state agencies and local governments

STATE GOVERNMENT
HB 387 (Callegari, Flynn/Patrick) – repealing the Texas National Research Laboratory Commission statute
HB 921 (Delisi/Ellis) – state agency information sharing
HB 2542 (Kolkhorst et al./Estes) – Office of Rural Community Affairs sunset review
HB 3249 (Truitt et al./Brimer) – Sunset Advisory Commission review schedule, etc.
SB 99 (Zaffirini/Guillen) – identifying, assisting and tracking state projects benefiting colonias
SB 178 (Wentworth/Rose) – State Office of Administrative Hearings administrative law judges’ working papers and e-communications
SB 214 (Fraser/Hilderbran) – authorizing transfer of state-held fractional mineral interests to landowners
SB 654 (Seliger/Pickett) – enabling the land commissioner to determine the terms and conditions of leases and easements authorizing use of public lands for private purposes
SB 1604 (Duncan/Bonnen) – state agency responsibilities for radioactive substances

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
HB 462 (Miller/Fraser) – municipal authority to collect infrastructure fees from governmental entities
HB 1472 (Miller et al./Wentworth) – annexing land assessed its taxable value based on agricultural, wildlife or timber production purposes

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT
HB 486 (Driver/Hegar) – police chiefs’ continuing ed requirements
HB 1113 (Turner/Uresti) – reporting research on juvenile probationers
HB 1955 (Elkins/Hegar) – peace officer licensing by the TCLEOSE
SB 74 (Lucio/Guillen, Gonzales) – creating an address confidentiality program for crime victims
SB 453 (Ellis/Y. Davis, Coleman) – inmate testing for HIV/AIDS
SB 563 (Ogden/Madden) – authorizing the attorney general to seek concurrent jurisdiction in criminal cases involving state property or occurring in state facilities
SB 909 (Whitmire/Madden et al.) – sunset review of TDCJ, Correctional Managed Health Care Committee and other related entities
SB 1879 (Williams/Hamilton) – broadening prescription drug abuse monitoring

CIVIL LIABILITY
HB 823 (Ritter et al./Williams) – liability of licensed/registered professionals providing emergency services
HB 1183 (Otto/Nichols) – landowner liability for radio-controlled flying
HB 1560 (Callegari/Jackson) – governmental liability for recreational activities
SB 362 (Janek/Gattis) – Medicaid fraud prevention civil remedies and qui tam provisions

ETHICS/OPEN GOVERNMENT
HB 1491 (Woolley/Williams) – disclosing relationships with local government officers
HB 1652 (Macias/Fraser) – Texas Ethics Commission personal financial statement forms
HB 2839 (S. King/Fraser) – filing deadline for state appointees’ personal financial statements
SB 175 (Wentworth/Parker) – public information deadlines calculation
SB 592 (Wentworth/Parker) – allowing notice by fax or e-mail to news media of emergency meetings of governmental bodies
SB 1306 (Wentworth/Goolsby) – clarifying quorum requirements of the Open Meetings Law for press conferences and ceremonial events

PROPERTY LAW
HB 564 (Hartnett/Wentworth) – trusts and other property interests
HB 1787 (Hartnett/Watson) – real property title determination by declaratory judgment
HB 1853 (Corte/Van de Putte) – state agency exemptions from real property transaction laws
HB 2738 (Solomons/Harris) – real property liens
SB 300 (Ellis/Paxton) – duration of judgment liens in the state’s favor
SB 596 (Wentworth/Turner) – confidentiality of real estate transaction information involving the General Land Office and related entities
SB 1781 (Carona/Darby) – technical defects in real property conveyance instruments

PROBATE LAW
HB 342 (Naishtat/Watson) – Texas and foreign jurisdiction concurrent guardianship venue determination

ENVIRONMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES
HB 3 (Puente, Hilderbran/Averitt) – state water resources management
HB 4 (Puente/Averitt) – state water conservation
HB 1526 (W. Smith/Seliger) – air contaminant alternative leak detection technologies
HB 3378 (Truitt/Brimer) – water district creation/expansion municipal consent requirements
SB 622 (Carona/Callegari) – Texas Natural Resources Information System data collection and Texas Geographic Information Council duties
SB 1383 (Seliger/Smithee) – district hearings and citizen lawsuits for illegal water well drilling or operation

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS/DISASTER RESPONSE
HB 1493 (Bonnen/Janek) – severe storm research and planning center
HB 2694 (Hamilton/Janek) – Disaster Contingency Fund
HB 3270 (Eiland et al./Williams) – emergency anticipation note authority for Gulf Coast local governments
SB 61 (Zaffirini/McClendon) – delegating governmental functions and modifying political subdivisions’ meeting requirements during disasters
SB 112 (Carona/Corte et al.) – confiscating firearms and ammunition during disasters
SB 1339 (Estes/Chisum) – allowing Disaster Contingency Fund assistance to agricultural producers affected by natural disasters
SB 1499 (Zaffirini/Corte) – governmental bodies’ meeting notice posting requirements during emergencies

BUSINESS/INDUSTRY REGULATION
HB 624 (P. King et al./Fraser) – securitizing transmission/distribution utilities’ nonbypassable delivery rates
SB 484 (Fraser/P. King) – powers, duties and composition of the Electric Utility Restructuring Legislative Oversight Committee

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
HB 1634 (Dukes et al./Deuell) – film, TV and multimedia production industries incentives
HB 2235 (Guillen/Zaffirini) – rural county technology center grant program
HB 2608 (Hughes/Eltife) – clean coal electricity generation project applied research funding

TAXATION
HB 2188 (Paxton/Williams) – public disclosure exception of property tax appraisal information
SB 242 (Shapiro/Chisum) – transferring contested state tax cases from the Comptroller’s Office to SOAH

 

Vote Early and Often
Two of the 16 propositions on the ballot in the November 6 constitutional amendment election directly affect higher ed, and both involve bond financing.

HJR 90 by Keffer/Nelson would create the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. It would authorize the issuance of up to $3 billion in general obligation (GO) bonds (payable from general revenue) for Texas-based scientific research to find the causes of and cures for all types of human cancer. The institute’s governing body would make grants to provide funds to public or private persons to implement the Texas Cancer Plan and to certain institutions and research facilities in Texas; to collaborate with those institutions and research facilities; and to establish appropriate standards and oversight bodies to ensure proper use of the funds authorized.

SJR 57 by Williams/Chisum authorizes the issuance of $500 million in GO bonds to finance student educational loans, as well as enhancement agreements with respect to the bonds issued for that purpose. Currently, the THECB is authorized to issue $400 million in GO bonds to finance loans through the federal Hinson-Hazlewood College Student Loan Program.  It provides low-interest loans to eligible students seeking undergraduate, graduate, or professional education through public and independent institutions of higher education in Texas.  However, the current authorization is projected to be exhausted by the spring of 2009.  SJR 57 would amend the constitution to increase the THECB's bonding authority from $400 to $500 million.

Early voting begins October 22.

View entire ballot language.

The state already has held one constitutional amendment election this year. On May 12, voters overwhelmingly approved SJR 13 by Averitt/Berman extending school property tax relief to elderly and/or disabled homeowners for the 2006 and 2007 tax years. The proposal passed with 88 percent of the vote (929,579 ballots cast).

 

Post Mortem
In mid-August, the System Office of General Counsel, in conjunction with the Office of Governmental Relations, will publish a summary of the legislative activity that occurred during the 80th session. The report will analyze the impact of bills of interest to the System and higher ed, both those that passed and failed, and include a compendium of bills taking effect on or after September 1. Sorry, no pictures, but there will be charts and graphs.

Session Snapshot

 

Week	21
Days Remaining	0
Bills/Joint Resolutions Filed*	6,363
Bills/Joint Resolutions Passed**	2,338
>House	1,348
>Senate	990
Bills Enacted*	1,498
Bills Vetoed	51
Legislation Tracked	1,904
Bills Tracked enacted	447
High-priority Bills	368

*Incl. SCR 20 (constl. spending limit)
**By each house

Duly Noted

"Our process of funding higher education is seriously flawed."

- Gov. Rick Perry, in his June 15 budget proclamation