From the Capitol...
March 24, 2005
Throughout the 79th Legislative Session, Senator Eliot Shapleigh will be writing a notes column from the Capitol that will allow you to see what is happening behind the scenes in Austin.
Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh,
On the Senator’s desk....
During last week’s Senate floor debate on SB 1, the budget bill, Senator Shapleigh spoke on the bill which Shapleigh said does not provide enough money for education, social services and it does not meet the basic needs of the state: “Texas children will not be first when Texas’ budgets are last.”
To view the video archive of the Senate floor speech go to the Senate Media video archive page and scroll down to March 23, click on Senate session and advance to the 4:39 mark.
Chamber echoes...
Rider 55, from the 78th Legislative session, directed HHSC to study whether or not a state school or hospital in Texas could be closed. Senator Shapleigh has been working to ensure that these type of services are not cut in El Paso. The report will be released in a staff briefing at the Capitol tomorrow. The full report will be available on-line at http://www.hhs.state.tx.us/ following the briefing.
Among those who visited Austin this week ...
Becky Mobley, from the Southwest MVB Association of El Paso; also Bea Huml, Rene Acosta, Sandra Moore Duarte and Valerie Vivar.
In Committee this week... The Senate Education committee has started taking testimony on HB 2 (the school finance bill). “House Bill 2 and 3 are deeply flawed legislation. However, the framework of sales and business income taxes will be the center of the Senate tax code,” Shapleigh said. HB 2 punishes El Paso because it doesn’t provide for an equity education and relies on a continued regressive tax system.
Upcoming News...
SB 1480 by Senator Shapleigh passed out of the Subcommittee on Base Realignment and Closure on Wednesday. SB 1480 expands the eligibility parameters of the Revolving Loan Fund to include defense-dependent communities that are dealing with the results of a Department of Defense closure or mission realignment. The Revolving Loan Fund is currently available to defense dependent communities preparing for the upcoming round of base realignment and closure; however, after the decisions are made some communities may need access to low-interest loans to purchase federal land, redevelop installations or expand infrastructure needs to deal with the installation changes. The full Veteran Affairs and Military Installations committee will consider SB 1480 on Wednesday, April 6th.