On the Senator’s desk....
On Wednesday, late in the day, funding for El Paso’s Four Year Medical took a giant step forward when the Senate Finance Committee adopted in the 2006-07 budget, full funding for revenue bonds for our medical school buildings and $6 million for medical school faculty. Senator Shapleigh served on the four member Senate Finance Subcommittee that dealt with education issues. The El Paso Medical School was the only health related academic institution to receive guaranteed revenue bond funding.
* On Wednesday, Senate Finance also adopted a 7.9 percent increase to UTEP’s budget which amounted to $9,170,455 more than UTEP got last session.
“We in El Paso have high aspirations in higher education” Senator Shapleigh said. “El Paso did very well in this first step to get guarantees of funding at this stage of the budget.”

Chamber echoes...
It looks like the property tax reduction that state leaders have been promising will be paid with consumption, sales and motor vehicle tax hikes. This means increased sales taxes in El Paso and the continuation of one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation, not to mention the highest sales tax in the nation. HB 3 as filed raises the sales tax by almost a penny from a state rate of 6.25 to 7.2 percent, increase the motor vehicle tax from 6.25 to 7.35 percent, and applies the sales tax to auto repairs, car washes, and bottled water among other items. It would add $1 per pack to the cigarette tax and impose a payroll tax on businesses of 1.1 percent of wages. While it might raise $11 billion over two years, all the tax increases are regressive. And on the reform side, all new money goes to the wealthiest districts.

Among those who visited Austin this week...
UTEP students, Elizabeth Macias, Leon Kababie, Summer Luciano, Jackie Barragan and others. All of the students are members of VOX, a student organization. They were in Austin for Women's Health Day. The group sat and discussed women's issues and violation of free speech on the UTEP campus. They also participated in a taping an Austin In Focus cable TV show with Senator Shapleigh. Students from Fabens and Clint high school were also seen throughout the Capitol this week.

In Committee this week...
The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed S.B. 6, which reforms the state’s CPS and APS system. “When we read in the newspaper than an 87-year-old has been living in tons of trash, despite several on-site visits by social workers, something is wrong in Texas. With this bill we strengthen training of case workers, reduce case loads, create national standards for certification and make the state the guardian of last resort so that never again are abused elderly neglected,” said Shapleigh, who wrote the APS section of this massive bill.

Bills filed...
Shapleigh filed two bills this week that will go a long way toward improving public policy throughout the state. The first bill, SB 852, which sets to regulate telephone polls, which are more commonly referred to as Push Polls. “Push polls are a yet another negative campaign tactic. Political companies call from Florida, mislead voters in El Paso about a candidate's record, and then use real misleading and negative statements to influence the vote. Our bill will expose these tactics by making push pollers tell us who pays their bill," Shapleigh said.
The second bill, SB 870 will place a student regent on every university system board of regents. ''In an era when regents are given the right to raise tuition, students should sit and help make that decision,'' said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, who filed a bill that would require a voting student regent position on each public university board of regents. ''Students' voices should be heard if they're going to be taxed.''

Upcoming News....
Expected to be discussed on the Senate Floor next week is Shapleigh’s S.B. 212, which directs the Texas Workforce Commission to create programs in Texas' defense dependent communities to support military families by providing employment assistance services to the spouses and dependents of military personnel who are assigned to duty in Texas. As service members are transferred to Texas installations, families from around the country and abroad are uprooted and working dependents are forced to leave their employment and find work in Texas. This employment transition is one of the more stressful and complicated aspects of being part of a military family. SB 212 eases that stressful transition process by working to help family members quickly make Texas their home.