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November 10, 2008
Bill seeks to allow emailing of ballot materials
A bill that would make permanent a pilot program allowing delivery of balloting materials by e-mail — aimed at making it easier for military personnel deployed overseas — was filed today.
The measure by state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a Democrat who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, and state Rep. Frank Corte Jr., who Republican who heads the House Committee on Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations, would allow the pilot program established two years ago to continue.
Before the program, absentee voting ballots had to be mailed to a physical address. That made reliable delivery of ballots to deployed troops nearly impossible, Van de Putte and Corte said, since combat troops are frequently shifted to new locations.
“Making this process permanent addresses a long-standing issue service members have struggled with for some time: the unreasonable difficulty a deployed servicemember undergoes in simply casting his or her ballot,” Van de Putte said in a statement. “Considering the sacrifices our proud military forces make it is absolutely unconscionable that their ability to vote be compromised in any manner.”
Corte said the measurte would make permanent a voting system that has proven beneficial for military personnel deployed overseas.
“With this program being established as a permanent feature of the Texas voting landscape, democracy and justice have achieved a significant victory, a fact surely not lost on those fighting for it far from home,” Corte said.
Both Van de Putte and Corte represent military base-laden San Antonio.
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September 25, 2007
Democrats prod Perry on community college funding
Three Democratic members of the Texas House offered a suggestion today for restoring $154 million vetoed from community colleges by Gov. Rick Perry: Take the money out of the budgets for the governor’s office and the Legislature.
Perry vetoed the appropriation earlier this year, arguing that the sum was for health insurance that should be covered by the colleges, not by the state.
“If the problem is not resolved soon, the funding shortfall will be forced onto the backs of college employees, students and taxpayers,” said a letter to Perry signed by Reps. Garnet Coleman of Houston, Jim Dunnam of Waco and Pete Gallego of Alpine.
Robert Black, the governor’s spokesman, wasn’t impressed.
“This is very typical of Mr. Dunnam and Mr. Coleman,” Black said. “No real solutions for some very real challenges. The fact is, the governor has a $200 million proposal on the table that will put additional funds into community colleges. The leadership of the House and Senate are looking at it.”
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June 25, 2007
Dewhurst sympathetic to community colleges
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst expressed optimism Monday that some sort of solution could be found to resolve a veto of community college health benefits. But he also indicated that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of $154 million in community college employee health benefits stunned Austin Community College and other schools. State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, suggested in a letter to Dewhurst that the Legislative Budget Board — jointly chaired by Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick — might intervene. But that doesn’t seem likely because any action it took would require gubernatorial approval.
“I share Senator Lucio’s concerns, and fortunately, the budget signed by Governor Perry provides funding for employees’ benefits through the end of FY 2008,” Dewhurst said in a statement. “This gives us some time to study this problem in-depth and find a solution that works for community college employees and the students and communities they serve — as well as taxpayers.”
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A shaky option for community colleges
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, would like to undo Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of $154 million for community college employee health benefits. That might not be easy.
Overriding the veto is out of the question because the Legislature is not in session. In a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst last week, Lucio suggested convening the Legislative Budget Board to address the shortfall. The budget board is a 10-member panel of lawmakers, with the lieutenant governor and the House speaker serving as joint chairmen.
Specifically, Lucio suggested a procedure known as budget execution, which can be employed when the Legislature is not in session. The procedure does not allow the budget board to override a veto, but it does permit the board to transfer an appropriation from one agency to another or to change the purpose of an appropriation. In theory, that might allow restoration of the community college funding — $4 million in the case of South Texas College in Lucio’s district, and $7.6 million for Austin Community College.
But there’s a catch. By law, according to the budget board’s Web site, the governor’s approval is needed for budget execution sought by the board. And therein lies the rub: Perry isn’t likely to approve something he has already vetoed.
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May 27, 2007
Student loan legislation fails
A proposal to impose tight restrictions on the relationship between student loan companies and college financial aid offices is dead for this session.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, had tacked her student loan bill onto a measure concerning the calculation of grade point averages, but it was stripped away this weekend by House-Senate conferees out of concern that the loan language strayed too far from the main subject of the bill. That could have placed the bill in jeopardy in the House, where many members keep close watch for germaneness, or lack of it.
The loan language, already approved by the Senate, would have barred gifts from lending companies to college financial aid officers, and the officers would have been required to disclose ownership of stock in lenders. Any school with a list of recommended lenders would have had to explain how it chose them.
The proposal was prompted by questionable practices involving lenders and college aid offices in Texas and other states. The director of financial aid at the University of Texas was dismissed earlier this month in connection with his past ownership of stock in a lender’s parent company.
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Agreement reached on top 10 percent law
House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on changes to a 10-year-old college-admission law.
Under Senate Bill 101, which still needs approval today from the full House and Senate, the University of Texas would no longer be required to accept all applicants who rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class. UT could limit such students to 60 percent of its freshmen from Texas. Such students made up 71 percent in fall 2006.
UT is the only school among 35 public colleges and universities that sought relief from the 1997 law. But any school whose capacity is strained in the future could opt to impose the restrictions.
UT President William Powers Jr. has spent considerable time testifying at legislative hearings and meeting with lawmakers this year in hopes of obtaining limits on the law. He’s argued that racial and ethnic diversity — a major purpose of the 1997 legislation — could be realized more effectively if UT has greater discretion in deciding whom to admit.
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May 26, 2007
Budget compromise gives Perry freer hand to veto higher ed projects
Gov. Rick Perry would have a much freer hand in vetoing various higher education construction and research projects under a budget approved by House and Senate negotiators.
The question now is what, if anything, will fall victim to his veto pen.
Perhaps the $23 million earmarked for expanding the medical school operations of Texas A&M University System’s Health Science Center, including $9 million to build and support clinical facilities in Round Rock? Or will $2 million for the University of Texas’ Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas be excised? Or maybe the $5.2 million set aside for “institutional enhancement” at Texas Tech University?
It remains to be seen. But considering that the governor pushed hard for expanded veto power over higher education “special items,” it would seem odd indeed if he didn’t wind up vetoing something on the list.
And it’s a substantial list: all told, three dozen items totaling $123 million. All were added by the House and Senate budget negotiators. An additional $64 million or so in special items included in an earlier version of the budget is in a separate portion of the document and therefore more difficult for the governor to veto.
The governor’s office isn’t talking specifics, but gubernatorial spokesman Robert Black said Perry is pleased that a large portion of special items will be subject to his review. In general, Black has said, “special item” is often a euphemism for pork.
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May 24, 2007
Student loan legislation lives
In a surprise move, the Texas Senate tacked the student loan measure onto another bill Wednesday night. Now the matter goes to the House.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said she was delighted by the turn of events. Prospects for her loan legislation had seemed bleak as the session winds to a close.
Still, it’s not a done deal. Zaffirini added her bill to House Bill 3815 by Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria. Morrison’s bill, which establishes a uniform method for calculating high school grade point averages, was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, who happily received Zaffirini’s amendment.
“We put the whole bill in as an amendment,” Zaffirini said.
The House could go along with the maneuver or send the measure to a conference committee. Either way, time is running short with the session ending Monday.
Zaffirini’s amendment would impose stricter standards on the relationship between loan companies and college financial aid offices. Gifts and revenue sharing would be prohibited, and college financial aid officers could not own stock in lending companies.
The University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Baylor University and Texas Tech University are among schools around the nation whose practices have come under scrutiny.
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May 22, 2007
House expected to debate Top 10 percent bill today
Legislation limiting a 10-year-old law that allows high-ranking students to enroll at the public university of their choice is scheduled for debate today on the floor of the Texas House.
Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, says the prospects for passage are good. But the measure won’t get through without a fight.
Members of the Mexican American legislative caucus in the House oppose any change in the law. Forty-three members of the caucus signed a resolution endorsing the status quo.
The law grants students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class in Texas the right to attend any public university in the state. It was intended to increase diversity, especially at the University of Texas.
Blacks have gone from 3.7 percent of undergraduates at UT in 1997, the year the law was passed, to 4.2 percent in 2006, according to UT records. Hispanics made up 14.2 percent of the student body in 1997 and 17.1 percent in 2006.
In two previous legislative sessions, Morrison has won House approval of similar measures, only to see them die in the Senate. This time, the Senate has already passed the measure, Senate Bill 101, authored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano.
Shapiro’s measure would allow a university to cap enrollment at 60 percent of its freshmen from Texas. The House version calls for a 50 percent cap. The Senate version also would provide scholarships for top 10 percent students, as well as require universities opting to limit admissions to recruit racial and ethnic minorities.
UT President William Powers Jr., backed by UT System regents, says current law needs to be restricted because there isn’t enough room to admit standout musicians, budding scientists and other worthy students who might not rank in the top 10 percent. UT is increasingly the school of choice under the automatic admission law, with 71 percent of its current freshmen from Texas having gained admission under the provision.
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Time's running out for student loan legislation
A measure that would impose new standards on lending companies and college financial aid offices cleared the Senate Education Committee last week, but there isn’t time to pass it in the Senate, run it through a House committee and bring it up on the House floor. Today is the deadline for Senate bills to be considered by the full House.
Tacking the language onto another bill farther along the legislative assembly line is another option. But the receiving bill must be on a related subject for such a maneuver to pass muster.
“We’re looking,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. “Nothing’s immediately apparent.”
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is the author of the loan legislation, Senate Bill 2049. It includes language from proposals by West and Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso. The proposal would tighten rules concerning gifts, stock holdings, financial disclosure and other matters.
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May 4, 2007
Top 10 debate is on in the Senate
A bill limiting to 50 percent of a freshman class the number of students who get in under the top 10 percent rule is now on the Senate floor.
Senators voted unanimously to bring it up. They’ve already voted 18-11 against repealing it entirely. They also defeated an amendment to limit to 4 percent the amount of a freshman class that came from out of state.
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Top 10 vote within minutes?
Word on the Senate floor is that there will be a run this afternoon at voting on changes to the law granting automatic university admissions to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
Some of the key players on the issue, including Sens. Florence Shapiro and Royce West, huddled for about an hour during a break in the Senate action.
The Senate returned and started working on other bills, and that’s where we are now.
Stay tuned.
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April 10, 2007
Williams: Tuition hikes "like crack for universities"
State Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, wasn’t in a mood to dance around his point at a legislative hearing this morning on tuition and other higher education matters.
“This is like crack for the universities,” he said. “They just can’t seem to get enough of these tuition increases.”
Williams acknowledged that, as a House member, he voted in 2003 to give public university governing boards the authority to set tuition, a power previously reserved for the Legislature. He has believed for some time that this was a mistake, and he would like the Legislature to withdraw that authority.
Tuition increases have been “unconscionable,” Williams said. “I feel like we got burned. I feel it’s one of the worst public policy decisions we’ve made since I’ve been in the Legislature.”
It’s doubtful whether the decision will be undone this session. Several bills would restrict tuition increases, but they face a formidable obstacle: House Speaker Tom Craddick, an architect of the 2003 law and a strong supporter of the concept of allowing governing boards to tailor tuition to their schools’ needs.
Average tuition and fees per semester for full-time students from Texas at public universities have risen 69 percent, to $5,327, since the 2002-03 school year, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
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April 5, 2007
Perryman: Don't close that Tomorrow Fund yet
In a new report, one of the state’ss best-known economists casts doubt on Comptroller Susan Combs’ assertion in recent months that the Texas Tomorrow Fund should remain closed to new enrollments.
Advisers to Combs said the state’s prepaid college tuition program should remain closed, as it has been since 2003, after studying it earlier this year and reporting that it could run a deficit as high as $3 billion by 2029.
But Waco economist Ray Perryman, in a letter dated Friday to Gov. Rick Perry, argues that there is considerable evidence to support reopening the plan, which allowed parents to lock in current tuition costs years before their children went to college.
The fund’s actuarial ratio of assets to liabilities is comparable to those of the Texas Teacher Retirement System, Texas Employee Retirement System and other similar funds across America,” Perryman says in his letter, obtained Thursday by the American-Statesman. “Permanent closure of the fund suggested by the comptroller’s advisory panel is a major contributing factor in the predictions, as it compels the investment portfolio to become more liquid over time.”
Perryman, who is often hired to conduct economic studies for interest groups, said he was not paid for his analysis. He said several parents from around the state asked him to take a look at it, although he declined to name them.
The panel of financial professionals that Combs asked to study the fund reported in Frebruary that it could be between $1.74 billion and $3.31 billion short of meeting is obligations by 2029. The advisers said tuition was increasing faster than expected, and that students often take longer than expected to graduate, subjecting the plan to greater tuition increases the longer they stay, among other problems in its design.
Lawmakers in 2003 gave university regents the authority to set tuition rates, causing larger increases than anticipated by the tuition plan, which was created in 1996.
Perryman’s report says the report that Combs called for lacked context. It points out that tuition increases have leveled off some, and that the stock market has improved considerably since the early part of the decade.
“Given that the market situation has improved, the tuition situation is improving and a lot of other plans around the country that had similar problems are turning around now, it just seems like it’s something that takes a good, hard, careful look before we make what would be a pretty radical decision to never open it up again,” he said Thursday.
Combs has not said it should be permanently closed.
Robert Wood, director of the division in Combs’ office that includes the Tomorrow Fund, said he had not read Perryman’s report but welcomed it as a chance to create more discussion about the plan’s future.
He noted that even the report from the Combs panel projected several possible outcomes.
“When you’re trying to project something 23 years out, there’s no question that people come up with different answers to the same question,” Wood said.
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March 1, 2007
Higher ed center proposed for Williamson Co.
A higher education center would be established in eastern Williamson County under legislation proposed by Rep. Mike Krusee.
The Williamson County Republican wants the campus to be an offshoot of Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen, in much the same way that the Round Rock Higher Education Center is an arm of Texas State University-San Marcos.
A&M-Central Texas is a fledgling institution authorized by lawmakers under an exception to the state’s usual minimum enrollment requirements for new stand-alone campuses. The Williamson County unit would have a mouthful of a title: Texas A&M University-Central Texas East Williamson County Higher Education Center. The center would also be affiliated with Temple Junior College, which is based in Temple but has a center in Taylor.
Krusee said his proposal is intended to expand higher education options and related economic development in a largely rural section of the county. He also said it would further the goals of the state’s higher education plan, known as Closing the Gaps by 2015. The plan seeks to boost enrollment and graduation rates, especially among low-income, black and Hispanic students.
“Access to higher education opportunities is critical for both young people and for our current workforce,” Krusee said in a statement. “By creating these higher education options, we can ensure a prosperous future for coming generations.”
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