The Mignon Memo

It is time to make your way to your local polling place. Early voting for the Texas primary will end this Friday, May 25^th.  Election Day is next Tuesday, May 29^th.  As always, we will send out a recap of the election results next Wednesday morning. For you political junkies, you can see the results in real time by following the Texas Secretary of State’s website (www.sos.state.tx.us) or your local county website if you are keeping an eye on local races.

Billy Millwee, who currently oversees the Texas Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs, will retire in August. Millwee has worked as a state employee for more than 20 years, 18 of them with Texas’ Medicaid program.

Good news for the Texas economy. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased in April to 6.9 percent, down from 7.0 percent in March and from 8.0 percent a year ago.  This is well below the national unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. The state’s unemployment rate has decreased for eight consecutive months. Texas has seen an increase of 225,800 jobs over the year.

If you are in the market for a new appliance, the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the time to buy.  Buyers will get a break from state and local sales taxes on the purchase of select ENERGY STAR appliances and products Saturday, May 26 through close of business on Monday, May 28.  ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for products that meet strict energy efficiency guidelines.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has released their second annual edition of The Texas Public Higher Education Almanac, a publication designed to provide information on every public college and university in the state, including average tuition and fees, students’ average time to degree, and breakdowns on revenues and expenditures.  The Almanac may be found on the Board’s website: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/.

Have you voted? Early voting for the Texas primary elections has begun and continues through next Friday, May 25^th.  Are you curious who else is voting early?  The Texas Secretary of State’s website provides information on the top 15 counties in Texas each day who vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Follow this link: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/earlyvoting/index.shtml

Early voting for the May 29^th primary election begins Monday, May 14^th and continues through Friday, May 25^th.  Candidates are busy with last ditch efforts to be noticed by the electorate so expect to hear a lot of advertisements on television and radio the next three weeks.

There was a lot of action in federal court last week regarding the Texas Women’s Health Program.  Under a state rule adopted in accordance with legislative directive, all Women’s Health Program participants had to certify by May 1st that they do not promote abortion or affiliate with organizations that perform or promote abortions. A day before the rule took effect, Federal Judge Lee Yeakel found that the rule violated Planned Parenthood’s First Amendment rights.  Judge Yeakel set a May 18 conference to schedule a trial date to determine whether the injunction should be made permanent.  Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott immediately appealed Yeakel’s order to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and requested an emergency stay, which was granted by one judge – Judge Jerry Smith – shortly before midnight, when the abortion affiliate rule was to take effect. Then on Friday, May 4, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the emergency stay, meaning that once again Texas is banned from excluding Planned Parenthood from the initiative.  So the WHP continues as is and the parties will argue their cases on May 18^th.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs and Amazon.com Inc. have reached an agreement on sales tax issues.  According to the agreement, Amazon plans over the next four years to create at least 2,500 jobs and make at least $200 million in capital
investments in Texas and will begin to collect and remit Texas sales tax on July 1, 2012. The agreement resolves all sales tax issues between Texas and Amazon.

Al Armendariz, EPA Administrator for Region 6, a five-state region including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, resigned this week after criticism over remarks made two years ago when he used the word “crucify” to describe his approach to enforcement.  Armendariz was appointed to the post by President Obama on November 5, 2009.

Through provisions in the Affordable Care Act, the federal government awarded $61 million to improve and establish new community health centers in Texas. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates the funding for 25 new or improved health centers will serve 78,479 patients across the state.  Most of the services provided by community health centers involve primary care to help patients prevent more serious illnesses.

The state political party conventions will be held next month.  The Texas Democratic Party announced that San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro will present the keynote address at the Party’s state convention in Houston on the evening of Friday, June 9, 2012.  The night before, former Republican Presidential candidate, Senator Rick Santorum will be a featured speaker at the Texas Republican Party’s convention banquet in Ft. Worth.

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott announced Tuesday that he will resign in July, on the fifth anniversary of Governor Rick Perry appointing him to the post.

The last day to register to vote in the May 29^th Texas primary election is Monday, April 30^th.  Early voting for the primary begins May 14^th and runs through May 25^th.  If you are curious to know how much money a candidate has raised or spent, April 30th is also the day that candidates must file their 30 day campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission.  Those reports are generally accessible within 24 hours on the Commission’s website.

A new report from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shows that although Texas medical schools have increased heir enrollment by roughly 30 percent in the last decade, the slots available for students to complete their medical residencies in Texas have not increased at the same level.  The report found that without an increase in the number of first-year residency positions, at least 63 graduates of Texas medical schools will not be able to enter a Texas residency program in 2014.  By 2014, Texas will need 220 more residency positions in order to have one for every Texas medical school graduate.  The report recommends that the Legislature provide an additional $11.7 million in funding in the 2014-15 biennium to support “10 percent of the cost for new first-year entering residency training positions.”

Governor Rick Perry debuted his Texas Budget Compact on Monday.  The Budget Compact is a pledge to cut spending, oppose any new taxes or tax increases and strictly limit the future expansion of government. Perry also called for an end to accounting tricks used to balance the state budget as well as the preservation of the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Former Sen. Carlos Truan (D-Corpus Christi) passed away at the age of 76. Truan served more than three decades in the Texas Legislature, including 27 years in the Texas Senate. He was a member of the “Killer Bee” movement that brought action in the Senate chamber to a standstill for several days in 1979 over legislation that would have required separate primaries for the presidential race and for the state races.

Alan Steen, administrator of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, is leaving the agency to become executive director of the National Cutting Horse Association.  Steen has served as TABC Administrator since 2003.

Governor Rick Perry has appointed former TCEQ Commissioner Buddy Garcia to the Texas Railroad Commission.  Garcia’s term expires at the end of the general election in November when a new commissioner will be elected.

Judge John Dietz has set the trial date for the consolidated school finance lawsuit against the State of Texas.  The trial will begin October 22nd in Austin.

The Sunset Advisory Commission began its work yesterday in a public meeting in Austin.  Prior to the meeting, two public members were appointed to the Commission.  Speaker Joe Straus appointed Casandra Cascos Ortiz of San Antonio for a term of two years. Ortiz is an attorney with the law firm of Shelton & Valadez. In addition, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst appointed Jan Newton of Boerne for a term of two years. Newton previously served as President of SBC-Texas and served on the Texas Tax Reform Commission from 2005-2006.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed four Texans to the Select Committee on Economic Development and named James Epperson Jr. of Dallas presiding officer. Created by House Bill 2785 from the 82nd Legislative Session, the Committee will make recommendations to the Legislature on economic development policies for the state. Epperson is senior vice president of AT&T Strategic and Employee Communications.  The three other members include Stacey Gillman Wimbish of Houston, president of Gillman Companies and chairman of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association; Maher Maso, Mayor of the City of Frisco;  and Carlton Schwab of Austin, president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Council.

Texas displayed strong sales tax collections in March with revenue increasing to $1.87 billion, a 16.9 percent jump over the same month last year.  The state is now almost 13 percent ahead of last year’s sales tax collections at this time.  Total tax collections from all sources are up close to 15 percent.  The majority of the growth in collections comes from the oil and gas sector as well as retail and restaurant sales.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus have named Ursula Parks acting director of the Legislative Budget Board and asked her for an immediate review of the agency’s efficiency and the budget process’ transparency.  Parks has been with the LBB since 1994 and recently served as deputy director of the agency.

If you are looking for easy to find facts and figures on public education in Texas, your search just became a little tougher.  As a result of last session’s budget cuts, the Texas Education Agency has stopped producing the Pocket Edition, an annual pocket-sized pamphlet containing facts about public school finance, state enrollment figures and other demographics.  Snapshot, which provided district-level details, has also been eliminated by the agency.

On your next visit to the Texas Capitol grounds, stop by the south lawn and take a look at the newest addition – the Tejano Monument.  The new sculpture by artist Armando Hinojosa of Laredo is a tribute to Texas’ early Spanish and Mexican explorers, settlers and their descendants.

Here is an interesting tidbit to share with your friends and family.  According to the Gallup polling organization, Texas is the 11th most religious state in the country.  Mississippi took the number one spot.

Governor Rick Perry made several key appointments during the past week.  Toby Baker of Austin was appointed to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a term to expire Aug. 31, 2017.  Baker was most recently a policy and budget advisor on energy, natural resources and agriculture issues for the Governor’s Office and previously served as natural resource policy advisor to Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls).  Cynthia “Cindy” Leon of Mission was appointed chair of the Texas Public Safety Commission.  Leon is retired regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Billy R. Bradford Jr. of Brownsville was named chair of the Texas Water Development Board.  Bradford is a certified public accountant and partner at Hales-Bradford LLP.  Texas Workforce Commissioner Andres Alcantar of Pflugerville was elevated to chair of the Commission.

The federal court in Washington D.C. considering Texas’ preclearance request on the Voter ID law enacted last year ordered a weeklong trial from July 9 through July 13.  The trial date is three weeks earlier than the date proposed by the parties to the legal action.  The earlier trial may result in a decision before the deadline to implement the statute for the November general election.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider Texas regulations designed to implement federal air-quality standards.  The EPA rejected Texas’s rules on minor new-source review permits in September 2010, alleging they did not meet Clean Air Act requirements. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other businesses sued the EPA, challenging the ruling.

The state of Texas will be ending its data center partnership with IBM.  In 2005, the Texas Legislature mandated the consolidation of state data in two high-quality data center facilities rather than continuing to maintain several smaller centers.  IBM was hired in 2006 to manage the consolidation but the project soon fell far behind schedule with finger pointing on both sides of the deal.  IBM was supposed to complete the consolidation of the agencies’ servers by December 2009 but by the summer of 2010, only about 12 percent of that work had been done.  Last week, the state and IBM agreed to go their separate ways with a Dallas-based unit of Xerox Corp. formerly known as ACS State and Local Solutions set to take over the majority of the remaining work and several other contractors providing additional consulting work and oversight.  The project is scheduled to be completed by 2016, seven years after the original deadline.

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst released his interim charges to the Senate Finance Committee.  In addition to holding budget hearings, the committee was instructed to look at the following issues:

• Review the state’s current spending limits and determine if statutory changes are needed to continue restraint of spending growth below the rate of inflation plus population growth.
• Review the budget process to develop strategies for greater legislative efficiency and transparency, including diversions of dedicated funding streams to alternative uses. Include options for more user-friendly budget documents, additional
  notice of posting of new information, and enhanced access to research and background information.
• Study cash management related to the timing of receipts of state revenues and expenditures during the course of each fiscal year. Specifically, review methods of short-term borrowing and intrafund borrowing, and estimated cash
  needs for the coming biennium.
• Review current funding sources for regional law enforcement training and retention of law enforcement officers. Make recommendations to meet funding needs over the long-term and ensure the physical safety of law enforcement officers and all Texans.
• Evaluate the changes in the correctional health care system, including management, cost savings, and increasing access to federal matching Medicaid reimbursement for prisoner care. Make recommendations for improving the efficiency and adequacy of health care delivery throughout the system.
• Study and make recommendations regarding the methods of financing capital projects at higher education institutions. Examine the levels of deferred maintenance, the impact of deferred maintenance on the ability to offer basic instructional
  services, and the methods used to finance deferred maintenance projects. Recommend alternatives for addressing long-term capital needs in higher education. (Joint study with Higher Education Committee)
• Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Finance, 82nd Legislature, Regular and Called Sessions, and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, and/or complete implementation. Specifically, monitor the following:
• Implementation of all budget riders to enhance government efficiency, reduce government, and encourage job growth;
• Current loan financing mechanisms offered by the Water Development Board and options for funding the State Water Plan, and the impact of recommendations developed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee on this issue;
• The impact of House Bill 2154, 81st Legislature, Regular Session, on the Physician Loan Repayment Program;
• Receipts from major state taxes, and include a review of tax equity among industry groups and the impact on job creation and economic growth;
• Federal, state, and local options for supporting Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces (ICACs);
• Issues relating to certain cigarette manufacturers not participating in the tobacco settlement agreement;
• The impact of increased funding for Border Security, including an assessment of effective use of surveillance tools, and prioritize future needs;
• The impact of funding decisions on merit pay programs for teachers;
• Hospital reimbursements in the Medicaid program, including the use of Upper Payment Limit (UPL) payments under a new Medicaid waiver and outcome-based payments.