Items of Interest Compiled by Arnold Public Affairs
Below are some general items of interest pertaining to the latest political developments and important events:
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Appropriations OKs $3.1 Billion From Rainy Day Fund
“On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Rick Perry offered the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee the blessing he seeks to go forward with a vote that would authorize the withdrawal of $3.2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said on Monday he wanted the governor’s public support in order to “comfort” some members of his committee. In the press release issued just before 3 p.m., Perry’s office said he had reached an agreement with House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and Comptroller Susan Combs to “close out the Fiscal Year 2011 budget gap by implementing $800 million in cuts, using $300 million from increased sales tax collections over the last few months, and using a one-time draw not to exceed $3.2 billion from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund…”
(View full article here).
Inside Intelligence: A Special Session Is…
“Most of our insiders think the Legislature is headed for a special session after this regular session ends on Memorial Day. It’s not even close: 76 percent think this 82nd festival of parliamentary joy will go into overtime. That’s not the bad news, either. While 27 percent think there will be just one special session, 51 percent think there will be two or more…’”
(View full article here).
Ban Synthetic Drugs, Lawmakers Say
“Synthetic drugs and hallucinogenic plants shouldn’t stand a chance in Texas, lawmakers on the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee said today, as they considered a set of bills that would ban the substances. Five of the bills deal with synthetic marijuana, which is currently available at stores under brand names like K2, Spice or Ice. These products are typically labeled as incense but are sprayed with a chemical compound similar to THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana…”
(View full article here).
Committee Votes to Send Voter ID to Texas House
“The House Calendars Committee voted this evening to place the voter ID bill, SB 14, on the House calendar for Monday. Gov. Rick Perry declared the item an emergency issue just days after the Texas Legislature gaveled in two months ago. House members always have the option of suspending calendar rules to take up the matter before next week, but committee chairman Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, said he didn’t think that would happen…”
(View full article here).
Hispanic Republicans Back Voter ID
“The Hispanic Republican Conference has thrown its weight behind the controversial Voter ID legislation slated to hit the House floor next week. In a statement released today the caucus said the issue is essential to integrity at the ballot box, and its overwhelming support by the public indicates change is necessary. The legislation would require voters to present a form of approved identification, like a state-issued driver’s license or concealed handgun license, in order to cast a ballot…”
(View full article here).
Will Texas House Support Rainy Day Compromise?
“Does tapping the Rainy Day Fund have 90 House votes to move on to the Senate — and how much will the process of getting there damage the even bigger task for lawmakers of setting the next biennium’s budget?…”
(View full article here).
Lawmakers Push for Changes to Hospital Hiring Law
“The House County Affairs Committee today heard heated testimony on a number of bills targeting hospitals’ ability to hire physicians. Currently, law does not allow hospitals to hire doctors directly. Instead, doctors must set up an individual practice. Lawmakers laid out a number of different bills that would remove the corporate practice law from individual hospital districts, citing the need for doctors in rural areas in Texas. State Rep. Garnet Coleman’s House Bill 1700, for instance, would allow hospitals in counties with a population of 50,000 or less to hire physicians. Supporters of the current law say it keeps doctors’ medical judgment free of interference from the hospital, which have to worry about their bottom lines… ”
(View full article here).
Texplainer: What’s the Select Committee on State Sovereingty?
“The Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor both have the purview to create special committees when there’s a pressing issue facing the Legislature — and they don’t want to detract from the business of traditional standing committees. This session, through a combination of federal health care reform and federal EPA rulings, the issue of state sovereignty — protecting the state from mandates from Washington — is front and center. Between Tea Party rallies and Gov. Rick Perry’s anti-Washington message on the campaign trail, legislative leaders knew to expect a litany of state sovereignty bills, and wanted to have the appropriate place to debate them…”
(View full article here).
Federal Health Reform Clear Antagonist at House Hearing
“Federal health care reform was the clear antagonist at today’s meeting of the House Select Committee on State Sovereignty. Republican lawmakers laid out a dozen bills — and a handful of different strategies — to prevent implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Texas, and allow the state to operate Medicaid its own way. ‘How nice it would be if we were an independent republic again,’ opined Dr. Steve Hotze, who heads Conservative Republicans of Texas and runs a health and wellness center in Houston. Hotze said the federal government has no authority to impose upon Texans what kind of health coverage to buy, and shouldn’t be ‘sticking its finger in our pie…’”
(View full article here).
Plan to Merge Agencies Worries Texas Safety Officials
“A money-saving proposal to combine state agencies that oversee police and firefighter training and local jail operations has public safety officials statewide worried about their future. After Gov. Rick Perry’s budget proposal to fold the state’s Commission on Jail Standards, the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, and the Commission on Fire Protection into one agency, state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, filed a bill last week that would do just that. The individual agencies would be abolished, and a new agency, the Public Safety Licensing Commission, would be formed to take over their roles…”
(View full article here).
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