The Mignon Memo

Governor Perry appointed Barry Smitherman to the Texas Railroad Commission for a term to expire at the next general election in 2012. He fills the unexpired term of former Commissioner Michael Williams who is running for one of the newly created congressional seats. Smitherman previously served as chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC).

Bryan entrepreneur Rebecca Boenigk has announced that she will run in the special election contest in House District 14. The winner will replace retiring Rep. Fred Brown (R-Bryan). Other candidates include former Brazos County Tax Assessor-Collector Buddy Winn and Aggieland Bookstore founder John Raney. No Democrats have announced their intent to run for the seat.

Matt Schaefer of Tyler announced that he will run for House District 6, currently represented by Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler). Schaefer is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve and has recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan. He has served as the East Texas Regional Director for U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

U.S. Congressman Ron Paul announced that he will not seek reelection to his Congressional District 14 seat so that he can focus his energies on his campaign for president. Paul will serve out his term through December of 2012.

Governor Perry made several appointments last week after the special session concluded. Barbara Cargill of The Woodlands was appointed chair of the State Board of Education for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2013. Cargill replaces Gail Lowe who failed to receive confirmation by the Texas Senate during the recent regular legislative session. Nizam Peerwani of Fort Worth was appointed chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission which oversees professional conduct in forensic laboratories and facilities in Texas. Peerwani replaces John Bradley who also failed to receive Senate confirmation.

Jay Kimbrough, a former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, was named deputy chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. He will also serve as interim chancellor until a replacement can be found for outgoing chancellor Mike McKinney, whose term ended June 30th.

Capt. Scott O’Grady who was flying an F-16 when he was shot down by Bosnian Serbs in 1995 while enforcing a NATO no-fly zone, announced that he is running as a Republican in House District 33, currently represented by Rep. Jodie Laubenburg (R-Rockwall).

Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs has selected Debra Wanser as commissioner for the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS). Wanser, who has more than 30 years of health care administration experience, has been serving as DARS acting commissioner since January 1st.

President Obama has named Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. There, he’ll join about 33 other business, labor and political leaders to provide advice for former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who now serves as the U.S. Trade Representative.

The Center for Reproductive Rights has asked a U.S. court to stop Texas from enforcing the new sonogram law, which takes effect September 1st. The Center has sued Texas to overturn the law, and the group asked U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks to issue a preliminary injunction barring its enforcement while that case proceeds.

The First Called Special Session of the 82nd Legislature concluded today after a somewhat dramatic turn of events on Tuesday. The House and the Senate had each passed several items on the Governor’s list of items to be addressed, including Senate Bill 2 (supplemental appropriations); House Bill 3 (windstorm insurance reform); Senate Bill 4 (Congressional redistricting); Senate Bill 6 (public school instructional materials); Senate Bill 7 (healthcare savings measures) and Senate Bill 8 (flexibility for school district trustees). Legislation on sanctuary cities was not finally passed so it will not become law. The Senate passed Senate Bill 1 (state fiscal matters) and adjourned late Tuesday afternoon. The House, unhappy with the Senate for leaving them with little choice regarding legislation to address the intrusive touching of airline passengers and with concerns regarding certain provisions of the fiscal matters bill, initially voted Senate Bill 1 down. Senate Bill 1 was a must pass bill for this special session since it provides a total of $7.2 billion in either budget savings or new money and is needed to pay for the reduced level of appropriations for public schools. After a short break, the House returned Tuesday evening and reconsidered their vote, this time passing Senate Bill 1 by a slim margin.

The House reconvened this morning and passed House Bill 79 (fiscal matters related to the judiciary). There was an attempt to pass Senate Bill 29 (relating to the intrusive touching of persons seeking access to public buildings and transportation) which had previously been approved by the Senate. However, the vote came up short so it did not pass. Despite his disappointment in the Legislature’s failure to pass legislation to address sanctuary cities, there is no indication at this point that Governor Perry will call another special session this summer.

Rep. Fred Brown (R-Bryan) announced that he will submit his resignation from his House seat tomorrow after the conclusion of session. Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) has previously announced his intent to run for the Texas Railroad Commission during the next election cycle. There may be more retirements as the summer progresses.

Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams announced that he will be a candidate for the newly drawn 33rd Congressional district centered in Arlington. He joins former Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams in this race as both have abandoned their plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The departure of Roger Williams and Michael Williams leaves Republican contenders Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, and former Solicitor General Ted Cruz still in the race. In addition, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has indicated he could enter the race.

Senate Democrats elected new leadership prior to the end of the special session. Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) stepped down as Chair of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus today and was replaced by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin).

The First Called Special Session of the 82nd Legislature ends a week from today on June 29. At this point, it is unclear whether all of the items on the session’s agenda will pass. Senate Bill 4, the congressional redistricting bill, has passed both houses and has been sent to Governor Perry but the rest of the bills are at various stages in the process. Speaker Joe Straus has indicated that the House may work through the weekend in order to get legislation passed but no calendars have been set at this point.

Governor Perry added another item to the “call” of this special session. He has directed legislators to consider legislation addressing the intrusive groping of airline passengers.

Former Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams has switched his focus from the race to replace U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to the race for one of the newly created congressional districts, District 33, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex.

As the special session reaches its halfway mark, several of the major bills are in conference committee and others are moving through the second house of the legislature. Senate Bill 7, the bill relating to the administration, quality, and efficiency of health care, health and human services, and health benefits programs has been referred to a conference committee as well as Senate Bills 1 and 2, the major state fiscal matters bills. The House will also take up four bills relating to public education. These bills relate to class size and the terms of teacher contracts. Senate Bill 4, the congressional redistricting bill, has passed the Senate and the House. The House will take up House Bill 3 relating to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) today while the Senate has passed Senate Bill 9, legislation related to “sanctuary cities” and the issuance of driver’s licenses. Several other education and health related bills are moving through the process as well. The 30 days in this special session are up on June 29th. If these bills are not on their way to Governor Perry’s desk by then, he may be forced to call another special session.

The Center for Reproductive Rights has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Texas law to require pre-abortion sonograms. The class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, says the law improperly forces doctors to deliver government-mandated speech by requiring them to verbally describe fetal features revealed by the sonogram. House Bill 15 was passed during the regular legislative session and signed by Governor Perry on May 19th.

The special session continues to move along here in Austin. Today, Senate Bill 7, the bill relating to the administration, quality, and efficiency of health care, health and human services, and health benefits programs will be heard on the House floor. Tomorrow, the House will take up Senate Bills 1 and 2, the major state fiscal matters bills. The House will also take up four bills relating to public education. These bills relate to class size and the terms of teacher contracts. The Senate has also passed Senate Bill 4, the congressional redistricting bill. That bill heads to the House floor later this week or early next week.

Governor Perry added legislation relating to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) as an issue to be addressed during the special session. House Bill 3 by Rep. John Smithee was passed by the House Insurance Committee yesterday and should be on the House floor very soon. Perry also added legislation related to “sanctuary cities”, the issuance of drivers licenses and the use of the federal Secure Communities Program by law enforcement agencies to the call for this session.

The 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature ended on a somewhat unsatisfactory note. As the clock reached midnight on Sunday evening, both the House and the Senate had failed to pass major legislation needed to balance the budget for the next biennium. The failure to pass a bill related to state fiscal matters, Senate Bill 1811, as well as Senate Bill 23, a bill related to the state Medicaid program, led Governor Rick Perry to call a special session beginning today at 8:00am. Follow this link to see the text of his proclamation: http://governor.state.tx.us/files/press-office/PROC_82nd_special_session_call.pdf

Here is a quick recap of how a special session works. The governor is the only person with the authority to call a special session and he is the one who decides what issues will be addressed. This list of issues is generally contained in a proclamation and referred to as “the call”. Legislators can file bills on any subject they wish but only those on the call can be finally passed and signed into law. The governor can expand the call at any time during a special session. At the end of 30 days, the session ends and anything left undone must go back to the starting line where it begins the process anew. Follow this link to the Texas Legislative Reference Library for more information about special sessions: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/sessions/specialSessions/FAQ.cfm

Former Texas Governor Bill Clements passed away Sunday. Clements was 94 at the time of his death. In 1978 he became Texas’ first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He served two terms as governor.

With less than a week to go in the 82nd regular session of the Texas Legislature, most of the major issues are still up in the air. The budget has been sent to the printer but no one can agree on a school finance fix which is an essential component necessary to make the budget work. The possibility of a special session looms but we like to think positively and hope a rabbit can be pulled out of a hat in the next few days. Stay tuned.

As you may recall, Governor Perry declared several issues as “emergency items” in order to allow the Legislature to get to work on them immediately. Some have reached the finish line yet others have stalled out. Perry signed legislation requiring sonograms and limiting the use of eminent domain. Legislation to require certain voter identification is awaiting Perry’s signature as is a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to require a federal balanced-budget. The odds of the sanctuary cities bill passing are not good but a consensus was reached on the loser-pays tort reform legislation this week.

When you are told a bill has gone to “conference”, do you know what that means? Many people do not know so the Legislative Reference Library has composed helpful answers to frequently asked questions about conference committees. Follow this link for more information: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/whatsNew/client/index.cfm/2011/5/16/Conference-Committee-FAQs

Yesterday, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced that the state will have $1.2 billion more in general revenue funds to spend over the next two years. Combs said that she estimates that the sales tax, oil production tax and motor vehicles sales tax will bring in more revenue than previously estimated. Combs also predicted that the rainy day fund will have an additional $300 million. This announcement was good news for budget conferees hard at work coming up with a budget for the next biennium.

Speaking of the budget, the conference committee on House Bill 1, the appropriations bill, is still working toward an agreement. The House has postponed consideration of various bills dealing with state “fiscal matters” until tomorrow morning. These bills are designed to provide additional revenue to be used in the budget. With 13 days left in the regular session, a special session this summer remains a strong possibility.

The Texas Legislature has passed House Bill 2403 which specifically defines what constitutes a “nexus” in the state for the purpose of collecting taxes. The bill requires online retailers with a warehouse or distribution center in Texas to collect state sales taxes. This legislation addresses an issue raised by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs who billed Amazon $269 million in back taxes. The Seattle-based website argued that its distribution center in Irving near Dallas was owned by a legally separate entity with a similar name. House Bill 2403 now heads to Governor Perry for his signature.

The conference committee on House Bill 1, the proposed budget for the upcoming 2012-2013 biennium has been appointed and is hard at work. The House is represented by Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie); Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston); Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Denton); Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton); and Rep. John Zerwas (R-Houston). The Senate is represented by Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan); Sen. Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen); Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound); Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands); and Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock).

Texas A&M University System’s chancellor, Mike McKinney, announced Tuesday that he plans to retire July 1, 2011.

Deadlines are approaching for House Bills. House Bills must be passed on second reading by tomorrow night at midnight in order to continue through the legislative process. The Senate does not have a corresponding rule. All bills must pass the Senate on third reading by May 25. However, for the bill to have a chance to make it through the House, Senate bills should be out of the Senate by the end of this week. The nights are long and tempers are short in both wings of the Texas Capitol as we reach the last 20 days of the regular legislative session.