A Glimpse at the Agenda for the 80th Legislature
On October 19th, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom
Craddick (R-Midland) issued the biennial Interim Study Charges for the
79th Legislature. These charges are directed at standing House committees
and include the topics for study between now and the opening of the
regular session of the 80th Texas Legislature in January of 2007.
The Interim Study Charges originated as ad hoc assignments and later
were resolutions and orders to the standing committees for research during
the interim between legislative sessions. Today, the Speaker is
exclusively charged with the authority to issue charges. House Rule 1 §17
states:
when the legislature is not in session, the speaker shall have the
authority to direct committees to make interim studies for such purposes
as the speaker may designate, and the committees shall meet as often as
necessary to transact effectively the business assigned to them.
The Lieutenant Governor, Republican David Dewhurst, also issues Interim
Study Charges. These have not yet been issued and are expected in January
of 2006.
The standing committees will study the issues contained in their
charges and then make recommendations to the 80th Legislature when it
convenes. These charges provide a glimpse at the Texas legislative agenda
for 2007, though do not encompass all of the issues that will be before
the two houses.
Speaker Craddick's charges issued in October are available from the
House
of Representatives Website and range in topic from exploring the
need for rules to govern equine dentistry to examining the feasibility
of additional nuclear power being generated in Texas.
The wise business owner or executive will keep track of the charges
that could potentially impact his or her bottom-line when the dust settles
after the 2007 legislative session. Issues being considered that may be of
interest to Collin County residents, businesses and governmental entities
include:
- Committee on Appropriations
Charge #12: Analyze and compare Medicaid cost containment strategies
in other states.
Charge #13: Review and analyze all higher education funding formulas.
- Committee on Business and Industry
Charge #1: Determine if there is a need to legislate the protection of
homebuyers who purchase dwellings under the "rent-to-own"
or "contract-for-deed" procedures.
Charge #2: Study the problem of identity theft and recommend
legislative changes needed to combat the problem.
Charge #3: Monitor worker's compensation system reforms.
Charge #4: Study powers of homeowner associations and possible need
for legislation.
- Committee on Civil Practices
Charge #1: Review the extent of governmental immunity in contract
disputes under the Texas Tort Claims Act and other laws and consider
whether there is a need for statutory changes.
Charge #4: Examine the prevalence of class action law suits in tort
cases and recommend statutory changes needed.
Charge #5: Evaluate the liability risk associated with privatization
of child welfare services.
- Committee on Economic Development
Charge #3: Study the effectiveness of the Texas Enterprise Zone
program.
Charge #5: Study the use of the Texas Economic Development Act and
make recommendations for statutory changes needed and consider whether
the December 31, 2007, Sunset date should be extended.
- Committee on Environmental Regulation
Charge #2: Consider ways to streamline the permitting process,
including improving the effectiveness of public notice provisions and
expanding the use of the Internet for permit applications and renewals.
- Committee on Financial Institutions
Charge #1: Examine the feasibility and impact of consolidating the
state financial regulatory agencies which include the Office of Consumer
Credit Commissioner, Texas Department of Banking, Department of Savings
and Mortgage Lending and the Texas Credit Union Department.
- Committee on General Investigating and Ethics
Charge #2: Investigate the expenditures of taxpayer money by local
government and school boards to lobby the legislature. Investigate
attempts by school district officials to skirt competitive bidding
requirements with respect to facility renovation and construction
contracts through the use of improper procurement contracts with
associations or other school districts.
Charge #1: Study the availability and affordability of insurance for
Texans suffering from eating disorders, including but not limited to
anorexia and bulimia.
- Committee on Land and Resource Management
Charge #1: Determine the appropriateness of non-elected governmental
bodies exercising the power of eminent domain to condemn property.
Charge #2: Consider the potential establishment of a single and
uniform approach to dealing with situations involving overlapping
extraterritorial jurisdictions.
- Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures
Charge #4: Evaluate the possibility of increased revenues and
unintended problems that might result from selling lottery tickets at
new alternative locations and recommend any needed statutory changes.
- Committee on Local Government Ways and Means
Charge #1: Determine if one fair and equal value per property for ad valorem taxes is preferable to the current system, and whether it is
more efficient to appraise property on a county line basis or on a
jurisdictional line basis.
Charge #2: Research and make recommendations regarding the Central
Appraisal Districts in Texas.
- Committee on Natural Resources
Charge #1: Explore the benefits and concerns associated with Municipal
Utility Districts (MUDs), including an assessment of the appropriateness
of granting MUDs additional powers. Evaluate the impact of MUDs on
economic growth and development.
Charge #2: Consider the potential for increased outdoor water savings
through landscape water conservation, including irrigation audit
requirements, turf replacement programs and the provision of certain
landscape options for prospective home buyers.
- Committee on Pensions and Investments
Charge #1: Study the role of actuaries in monitoring the financial
health of public pension plans and evaluate the need for regulation in
regard to their qualifications, the setting of actuarial assumptions and
oversight.
- Committee on Public Health
Charge #1: Examine the issues related to health professions which
maintain the safety of patients through demonstrated competency and
education.
Charge #3: Study emerging practices for the prevention of
hospital-acquired infections and develop policies for incorporating
these best practices into the delivery of health care.
Charge #5: Evaluate the need for regulation of laser hair removal
facilities.
- Committee on Regulated Industries
Charge #1: Review information on the generation capacity and fuel
diversity of the Texas electric market. Recommend changes to Texas law
that would encourage new investment and technological innovation in
emerging energy fields, such as clean coal and next generation nuclear
technologies.
Charge #5: Study the current repayment mechanism to the county or
municipality for utility relocations in the public rights-of-way.
- Committee on State Affairs
Charge #2: Examine the scientific advances made on stem cell research.
Charge #4: Review and consider all issues involved with a pharmacist
refusal to dispense a drug.
- Committee on Transportation
Charge #3: Examine the transportation planning and coordination of
land use, including planning for large transportation corridors.
Charge #5: Consider the rail relocation needs of the major
metropolitan areas in Texas. Identify possible funding sources.
- Committee on Ways and Means
Charge #1: Examine alternative business taxes and other methods of
finance designed to reduce the state's reliance on local property taxes
to fund public education. Examine the business taxes paid by the various
industries.
The above list contains only 33 of the more than 200 House Interim
Study Charges. Once the Lieutenant Governor issues his Charges in the
coming months, the committees will have plenty of work to do over the next
year. That work will include meetings at which testimony may be taken and
reports considered. Interested parties should keep tabs on these
developments and may even want to take part in them.
Strasburger's attorneys represent public and private clients in
regulatory and legislative legal matters at the local, state, and federal
levels. By way of example, the firm engages in lobbying activities at the
federal, state, county and municipal levels, and represents the interests
of various non-governmental clients before federal, state and local
regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Environmental Protection Agency,
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Army Corps
of Engineers, the United States Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Public Utility Commission,
the Texas Health Department, the State Board of Insurance, the Texas Motor
Vehicle Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Texas
Comptroller's Office, among others.
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