Isn’t that special

This week, and as predicted, the legislature has gone into special session (a limited 30 day session called by the Governor).  At the conclusion of the regular 140 day regular biennial session (which meets only in odd-numbered years), the gavel came down in both chambers signaling the end, but within 10 minutes, the Governor invoked his state Constitutional powers.  Such authority allows the state’s chief executive to call the legislators into “extraordinary session…at any time and for any reason”.  The key is that the Governor must specify the issues or else face a runaway legislature (one where lawmakers focus on their own policy agenda rather than what the governor wants).

Several outstanding issues need resolution, but most salient is the need to adopt a redistricting map.  After the 2010 census required by the U.S. Constitution, the Texas legislature had to go through reapportionment of the Texas House and Senate, along with the U.S. House of Representatives.  Seats were reallocated into the different administrative or election districts, and then the state legislature had to redistrict (the process of drawing boundary lines for election districts in a state).  The new maps resulted in the filing of two federal court cases (one in San Antonio and the other in Washington, D.C. where Texas had to get approval from the federal government).  The San Antonio court found that the legislature had gerrymandered (illegally manipulated) district lines to favor one group over another.  The three-judge court then re-drew the maps to accurately represent racial minority interests—those maps were used in the 2012 election. The court in D.C. did the same thing about six months later.   

Now the state legislature has to vote on whether they want to approve the San Antonio map or try to draw up their own during the special session. 

Other hot issues that Governor Perry may press for during the special session include prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks, drug testing for welfare applicants, and allowing guns on campus. The Governor may have to call more than one session.  He can call an unlimited number, but each 30 day session costs about $1.3 million because of per diem costs—monies allocated to pay for funding, travel and staff during the session.  Perry hasn’t been shy about using his authority—he’s called 10 sessions during his 12 years in office.  

And in other census news, a new report highlights that Texas’ growth in the Hispanic population after the 2010 census means that immigrants have substantially contributed to the gross state product (total sum of all goods and services produced in the state in a given year).  According to the report, Texas’ immigrants produce about 69.3 billion in economic activity by spending in the state, contribute about $30.8 billion in gross state product, and account for approximately 403,174 of the state’s workforce.   The report comes at a time when the U.S. government is considering a major overhaul on immigration reform. 

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see whether the federal government thinks immigrant economic contributions are special enough to merit immigration reform.

Your turn! What do you think?

Just say no

The waning days of the 83^rd Texas legislative session are going to come down to yeas and nays.

The Senate HB 866 which reduced the number of tests public school children have to take. That means students who do well on state exams could skip mandatory tests (required grade level examinations) in sixth grade. That assumes that Texas can get a waiver from the federal government which requires 14 different tests by the end of eighth grade under the No Child Left Behind Act.  The law mandates our nation’s 98,000 public schools make “adequate yearly progress” and make remedial changes or risk losing federal funding.  Texas has over 80,000 fifth graders and 60,000 eighth graders who may be held back this year because of poor performance. While students have two opportunities to retake tests (in May and June), the bill’s supporters say resources used to administer tests can be targeted to help those most in need.  Further complicating the matter is that the Senate’s version still needs to be approved by the House which also eliminated tests in the fourth and seventh grades.

That’s a sticking point.

One measure that had legislators on pins and needles was mandatory drug testing (the use of biological material to detect specific drugs) for all unemployment recipients.  SB 11 by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) required all unemployment recipients answer a screening survey about possible drug use in order to receive benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families  (the federal and state government’s joint social welfare program).

Time ran out on the clock at midnight last night, however, when a compromise failed. It is noteworthy that one amendment was proposed which would have required mandatory drug testing for legislators.

One provision that makes it easier for UT-Austin to just say no is a measure that extended the university’s admissions’ cap.  Texas’ ten percent rule allows all students who graduate in the top of their class be admitted to their choice of public universities.  In 1997 the state legislature established the ten percent rule in reaction to Hopwood v. Texas from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down public universities’ attempts to enhance diversity by using race as a key factor in admissions. By 2008, so many students in the top 10 percent of their class were using the rule that UT-Austin had to admit virtually everyone.  That hurt minority applicants who were good, but not good enough to meet the 10 percent cutoff.  So UT-Austin successfully obtained a waiver which was extended this week to effectively allow UT-Austin to admit the top seven percent.  Now the waiver is has a sunset provision (regulation that will eliminate the bill’s application) effective in 2017.

We will see what the U.S. Supreme Court has to say because we are waiting on a June decision in the Fisher v. Texas case which considers whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits the consideration of race in undergraduate admissions decisions.

Just say maybe.

 

Your turn! What do you think?

Soldiering on into the sunset

The march through agenda clearing (the process of completing the legislature’s policy goals for the two year biennial cycle) continues.  There’s much that still needs to be done by May 27, or else Governor Rick Perry would have to call a special session (meetings to address additional business) for 30 days. The biggest sticking points are budgets for water projects and education.  Governor Perry’s top priority is for a water plan that would use monies from the Rainy Day Fund (Texas’ budget surplus), but that proposal (backed by a Republican majority) takes $2 billion from the surplus and requires a constitutional amendment to establish a dedicated account (both require a two-thirds supermajority vote).

Democrats hope to rally the troops by threatening to withhold needed votes to force a compromise on education funding they want restored after the last biennium when $5.3 billion in school financing was cut.

What’s the legislature to do?

Even if $330 million in funding for the public teachers’ pension funds are reinstated (something that Democrats are demanding for a compromise to be reached), that still leaves a budget shortfall of $1.3 billion. Complicating matters is that Governor Perry wants monies for transportation which also have to come from the surplus.  That forces some tough choices on decision-makers.

Speaking of tough decisions, legislation which limits the decision-making authority of the Higher Education Coordinating Board (the policy unit regulating policies and procedures to operate public higher education institutions) was dealt a blow with Senate Bill 215 that limits the agency’s life expectancy to 12 years.  Such sunset legislation (requiring termination of an agency or program by a specified date) means that the Board will have to get future justification for survival.

Legislators think the Board takes an “isolated approach to decision making” (in the words of Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury) and point to the Board’s decision to close low-performing degree programs (those failing to graduate at least 25 students in five years). The Board is accused of being heavy-handed in closing programs (especially in rural areas which graduate fewer students), and legislators want more transparency and local control in the process.   Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, who oversees the Board, thinks that Texas needs the Board now more than ever to oversee initiatives for nontraditional students and online courses or else there will be an uphill battle to improve quality.

And higher education has more battles ahead.  The showdown over guns on college campuses comes to a floor vote soon since the Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 4-2 to allow each campus to hold annual hearings to vote on whether guns are allowed.  Some are concerned that there are no penalties for “accidentally” bringing an unregistered gun on campus, while others raise the issue that disgruntled students will use weapons if they are unhappy about grades.  Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston), sponsor of the legislation that just passed, has proposed a solution, “grade on the gun curve.”

Soldier on faculty, soldier on.

Your turn! What do you think?

Slap shot silence

You may remember that in October the Kountze School District had been slapped with a temporary injunction (an order which restrains a person from effecting a legal action or orders redress to an injured party) to prevent the display of banners with a Christian message. Public school high school cheerleaders had used their own money, made the banners off-campus, and unfurled the banners at football games.  The school district, concerned that the student-led Christian display was an Establishment Clause violation, had banned the cheerleaders from displaying the messages. The First Amendment prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion” and forbids the government from establishing an official religion and prohibits government favoring one religion over another.

Wednesday, a state district judge disagreed with the school district and held that the school could not prohibit such displays.  The school district will now have to appeal.

One legislator displayed his unhappiness with the Travis County District Attorney by criticizing one of its lead attorneys Rosemary Lehmberg who pled guilty to drunken driving in April and who is due for early release (serving less than your full sentence because of good behavior while incarcerated).   Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) called for District Attorney Lehmberg’s resignation and proposed HB 3153 to transfer the state’s public integrity unit (currently housed in the Travis County District Attorney’s office) to the Texas Attorney General’s office when the local District Attorney (like Lehmberg) is convicted of a crime.  King called it a “shot across the bow” to force Lehmberg to resign.

And speaking of cheap shots, the budget battle turned into a war of words when Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) went after Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) who authored HB 500—a bill giving $661 million in tax cuts to businesses including specific industries (e.g. insurance, hospitals, and oil and gas).

The two sparred over whether the tax cuts were at the expense of public education. Hildebran argued that strong business growth through tax incentives (reductions in taxes that businesses would have to otherwise pay) would fuel more taxes long-term into education. Turner challenged cutting the franchise tax because he favors restoring funding for over $5.4 billion in education cuts made last biennial session (two year legislative cycle).

At one point Turner accused Hildebran of not being truthful and questioned his competency by making a veiled reference to Hildebran’s public  statement that he is considering running for Comptroller of the Public Accounts (the chief of the state’s finances,  tax collections,  accounts, revenue estimations, and treasurer).

The quip caused the legislature to go to go unusually silent. Turner later apologized.

Governor Rick Perry is not apologizing for pushing hard to get HB 500 passed because it is a cornerstone of his legislative agenda this term.  He has threatened to call a special session (a short 30 day term called by the Governor to address specific issues) if legislators fail to pass “significant tax relief” this year.

Take that!

Your turn! What do you think?

Drowning the water bill and exploding investigations

It is shaping up for a legislative water fight in the last month of the session because HB 11 has hit a sinkhole.  The bill funds the state’s 50-year water plan, and while it had enough votes for passage (76 of 150 House members), the bill relied on $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund (Texas’ $12 billion projected surplus). Legislation which raids the Rainy Day Fund requires a two-thirds supermajority vote (100 of 150 House members).  Both Tea Party conservatives (who don’t want to use Rainy Day monies at all) and Democrats (who wanted Rainy Day funds to be used for both water and education projects) were unhappy with HB 11.

The bill drifted because of a point of order (debate query about whether correct procedures are being followed).  To kill the bill, Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) argued House rules mandate a minimum number of days for consideration—HB 11 did not meet that prerequisite (it needed 6 more days for deliberation).  It might get incendiary though—Democrats have accused non-Tea Party Republicans of callousness because they are willing to raid the budget surplus for water projects, but not for children’s education.  There’s some hope—the Democratic Caucus has proposed amendments to restore education funding cut last legislative session—so a compromise could get Democrats on board.

Someone may need to throw water on the firestorm that has resulted from the explosion in West, Texas, which killed 15, injured hundreds, and triggered calls for both state and federal investigations.  Six different state and two different federal regulatory agencies have substantive jurisdiction (legal authority to regulate).  Lax regulation may set off finger pointing between Texas and the federal government because 270 tons of ammonium nitrate went unreported to the Department of State Health Services (that’s 1,350 times the amount needed to sound the alarm of an administrative inspection—requirements that regulators investigate health and safety concerns).

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) has also called for oversight hearings (the power of legislatures to review how laws are implemented) because the plant had exceeded regulatory standards (benchmarks established by regulatory agencies to enforce legislative provisions).  She sent letters to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting  investigations and guidelines for prevention.

This is serious stuff.

Finally, in the “that’s not funny” category, the West explosion sparked a paroxysm from Governor Rick Perry because of a political cartoon mocking Texas’ regulatory enforcement. The graphic shows the Governor promoting Texas’ capital investment (“Business is Booming”) and our anti-regulatory approach (“Low Tax-Low Regs”) next to a picture of a giant explosion (recalling images of West). The Governor demanded an apology, but cartoonist Jack Ohman says he’s not backing down.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Can someone please get the water hoses?

Personal blog note: Families of first-responders and victims of the West explosion held memorial services this last week.  Our thoughts go out to all those who lost loved ones and to those affected or injured by the blast. Texas is a big place, but in times like these, we remember that our small communities are linked together in spirit.