Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

On the Senator’s desk....
This week turned into a major victory for El Paso and our efforts to secure our medical school and have it up and running by August 2008, when the first students are expected to be admitted. Senator Shapleigh secured in the Finance Committee’s Article III (Public ED, Higher ED) working group the $7.2 million debt service (revenue bonds debt) to secure the $45 million needed for the Research Tower I. We had originally gone in asking for $7.07 million.

Chamber echoes...
While 80 percent of Texans said the state needs to put more money into public education, 56 percent said they are opposed to a sales tax increase, according to a new survey. The 56 percent is higher than the 46 percent opposing the sales tax from a year ago. The figures are from the Scripps Howard Texas Poll. The sales tax continues to be one of the funding measures Texas GOP leaders want to use to solve the school finance problem.

Among those who visited Austin this week...
Hundreds of El Pasoans were seen throughout the Capitol this week as both the Mission Valley and the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce had its Austin Days. Getting onto the Senate floor were: City of Socorro Mayor Willie Gandara, Socorro city representatives Trini Lopez and Gary Gandara, Rosemary Castillo of Bienvivir, El Paso Mayor Joe Wardy, County Commissioner Betti Flores and Jim Valenti of Thomason Hospital.

In Committee this week...
One of the first bills to be referred to the Senate floor is S.B. 6, which will reform the State’s Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services (APS) programs. Shapleigh is a co-author of this very important bill and he was asked by the chair of the committee to work on the APS portion of S.B. 6, a massive undertaking. Also, moving out of the committee was SB 81 which forces UTEP and Texas Tech to use joint faculty; and SB 111 which gives college credits to students who complete a high school international baccalaureate (IB) diploma program.

Bills filed...
Senator Shapleigh has now filed 54 bills and more are expected to be filed next week. Among the bills filed this week were three bills, S.B. 617, S.B. 618, and S.B. 625, all aimed at protecting consumers from predatory lending practices. Senate Bill 617 seeks to outlaw some of the more damaging abusive or predatory lending practices, including subterfuge, false or misleading statements made by lenders, the arbitrary acceleration of indebtedness by lenders, and onerous balloon payment repayment requirements. ., Senate Bill 618 requires lenders, in connection with high-cost home loans, to provide borrowers with information relating to the fees to be paid by the borrower and where borrowers can turn for further information. Additionally, SB 618 requires that a loan negotiated primarily in Spanish be accompanied by a Spanish translation of the required disclosure…, Senate Bill 625 addresses the need to provide greater enforcement for lenders violating consumer loan protections by allowing local authorities to support state regulators in bringing actions against abusive lenders. ...

Upcoming News....
Senator Shapleigh will release the 2005 edition of the Texas on the Brink report on Monday. The report will show that Texas continues to lag behind other states in providing services to its citizens. “The state's rankings are the expected outcome of an inadequate, outdated and terribly regressive tax system; one that taxes those least able to pay the most,” Shapleigh said. The report compares how Texas ranks among the 50 states in different categories such as spending on education, government services, children and health care. For example, in education, Texas is:
▸ 50th in high school graduation rates
▸ 48th in Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Scores