Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The Commissioners Court will decide Monday whether to ask that a bill be submitted to the Legislature to allow the creation of a county ethics commission with the authority
County Ethics Commission Bill Draft 2-18-09.pdf
to impose the penalties. It would replace the county's ethics board.

The Sun City could see an influx of jobs from the industry because of its geography and university, but experts say there has been a lack of leadership on the topic at the local level. Mayor John Cook says the city is seeking more information on how to attract the industry.

But Democratic critics say they didn't get many plum assignments, and some have been appointed as figure-heads of commmittees with solid GOP majorities. Key panels such as Calendars, which determines what bills are heard, and Appropriations, which controls how state money gets spent, remain firmly in Republican hands.

"I'm thrilled that the closing of Asarco has finally came to pass. My thanks goes to the various organizations that have worked so hard over these years for something that it not only needed for the students at UTEP, but for all of El Paso, and the communities of Juarez and southern New Mexico," Mayor Williams said. "My thanks go also to Senator Shapleigh for his tireless leadership on this issue. Unfortunately, the fight is not over. A full clean up of the site is absolutely essential to the health of this community. "

Every great Southwestern city has a great university at the heart of her education and economic endeavors. El Paso is no different. For our community to succeed, UTEP must thrive.

The current CHIP eligibility covers families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $44,000 for a family of four. The Industrial Areas Foundation supports a sliding scale payment for families making between 200 and 300 percent of the federal poverty standard.

The federal stimulus bill expected to be signed today by the president has $555.7??million on the table for the Texas unemployment system, but only if the state makes it easier for more out-of-work residents to become eligible.

The controversial voter identification bill that triggered a Senate rules fight last month on Tuesday was referred directly to the full Senate for a vote.

From a public works perspective, the $789 billion stimulus package is unlikely to transform the physical fabric of the nation as the New Deal did when it built hundreds of airports, tens of thousands of bridges, and hundreds of thousands of buildings and miles of roads.

The three unions to merge are the United American Nurses, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Their new, 150,000-member association will be called the United American Nurses-National Nurses Organizing Committee.

State Rep. Norma Chávez, D-El Paso, on Tuesday filed a bill that would allow federally recognized tribes to conduct bingo and poker. She filed the bill on the opening day of El Paso Days at the Capitol.

Expanding eligibility would make CHIP available to about 80,000 uninsured El Paso families, said Jorge Salazar, administrator of community programs at Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe.

"In Texas, we actually know it is a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth. If we don’t, we may end up with an old nag,” said Perry, who has been critical of such federal spending and voiced concern over whether the state could afford federal strings.

Congressmen for South Texas are speaking positively on the more than 23,000 jobs to be created in their respective districts as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law today by President Obama in Denver.

Rep. Norma Chavez, an El Paso Democrat, filed a bill that would allow the Tigua tribe in El Paso and the Alabama-Coushatta tribe near Livingston to reopen casinos that were closed by court orders when the state opposed them. The tribes say they need the money generated from gambling for health care, education and other tribal necessities.

The meeting with Dewhurst was part of a two-day event at the Capitol in which El Paso leaders work to lobby Texas lawmakers and promote issues important to the border city.

Nonprofit groups in Texas are bracing for layoffs and massive cuts to their client lists in 2010 as the biggest source of legal aid funding — the interest on $1.1 billion in bank accounts in which lawyers deposit their clients' money — has all but disappeared as rates have plummeted.

State officials said Texas could get at least $5.4 billion for public education over the next two years. Millions more will go directly to school districts for special education and programs for low-income students.

Of the 23 state lawmakers who retired or lost their elections in 2008, six have registered as lobbyists and are working their former colleagues on the behalf of paying clients.

As more businesses close and unemployment lines lengthen, a virtually unregulated sector of the Texas economy continues to rake in huge profits by providing high-cost payday and auto title loan services that often drag desperate families deeper into financial crisis.