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Texas Commissioner of Insurance Mike Geeslin announced today that he will not seek another term. His current term ends Feb. 1st but he stated he will stay on for a transition period. Governor Perry has not made any announcement about a replacement for this appointed position.

Speaker Joe Straus has appointed Rep. Will Hartnett (R-Dallas) to serve as the master of discovery in the election contest filed by Republican Dan Neil against Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) in House District 48. Hartnett previously served as master of discovery in the 2005 election contest between former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin and current state Rep. Hubert Vo, both of Houston.

Governor Rick Perry announced several new assignments in the governor’s office. Former Perry campaign manager Rob Johnson is going into the governor’s office as a senior advisor. Jeff Boyd will be the governor’s general counsel; Brandy Marty will be the director of Budget, Planning and Policy; Milton Rister will serve as director of Administration; and Sarah Floerke was named deputy legislative director and House liaison

Mignon Memo: This Week in Texas
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

This week, we continue our focus on frequently asked questions.
What is the Rainy Day Fund? Where does the money in the fund come from and are there limitations on its use?
In 1988, Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment that required periodic transfers into a new Economic Stabilization Fund, or “Rainy Day Fund,” as a cushion against unexpected revenue shortages. Deposits into the fund consist of transfers of half of any General Revenue Fund surplus in each biennium and 75 percent of any oil and natural gas production taxes exceeding 1987 levels. The fund is capped at 10 percent of the total general revenue budget. Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs has forecast that Texas will have $8.2 billion in its Economic Stabilization Fund by Aug. 31, 2011.
In Texas, in order to use the money in the fund to address an unexpected budget deficit or a decrease in revenue certified by the comptroller, there must be a three-fifths vote of each house of the Texas Legislature. In order to use money for any other purpose, like a budget shortfall, a two-thirds vote is required.
The majority of states have rainy day funds. In the last two fiscal years, states have tapped their rainy day funds at levels not seen since the 2001 recession. States have various restrictions on how the money can be removed and spent. In some states, the governor has the power to transfer funds but in other states, only a supermajority vote of the legislature can approve the transfer of funds.
As state budgets are under pressure across the United States, state legislators are being encouraged to continue adding to these rainy day funds. In a speech last week to the Southern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke encouraged states to continue amassing these reserve funds even as the economy slowly improves.

Texas has a new web portal – http://www.Texas.gov. The new website replaces texasonline.com. Texans can connect to 1,000 state services on Texas.gov, including renewing driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations and buying hunting and fishing licenses. The website is funded through a partnership with Texas NICUSA, a subsidiary of NIC, a company that specializes in building government websites. Users can now link with the social media pages of various government agencies, including the Twitter account of the Legislature and the Facebook page of the Department of Agriculture. Continue Reading »