Texas Legislative Session Well Underway
April 19, 2009Hopson's Capitol Chronicle
The 81st Texas Legislative Session is underway and numerous issues will be addressed in Austin that affect us in East Texas.
In an effort to keep you up to date on the goings-on at your State Capitol, I will be emailing you periodically during the upcoming weeks. It is my hope that my ‘Capitol Chronicle’ will not only be informative, but will encourage you to contact me with your input. Knowing your views on issues and hearing your ideas makes me a better Representative. By working together, we can ensure a positive difference for Cherokee, Houston, Panola, and Rusk Counties.
Committee Assignments
February 12th was an exciting day in the Texas Legislature. Speaker Joe Straus announced the Committee assignments for the 81st Legislature. He appointed me to chair the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics. I am honored that Speaker Straus has the confidence in me to head this committee. This committee has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the conduct of and ethical standards applicable to state and local government officers and employees.
I was also appointed to serve as a member of the Public Health Committee and the Pensions and Investments Committee. The Public Health committee oversees the protection of public health, including supervision of the practice of medicine and dentistry, including the important Children’s Healthcare Insurance Program. Pensions and Investments has jurisdiction over benefits or participation in benefits of a public retirement system and the financial obligations of a public retirement system.
Now that Committees have been named, bills are being referred to committees at a rapid pace. Currently 4,719 bills have been filed. Of those bills, 249 have been referred to Public Health and 128 have been referred to Pensions, Investments and Financial Services. Both of these committees hold meetings each week. In the initial weeks of session, the hearings are open to the public and the agenda includes testimony from invited parties. The purpose of these meetings was to educate the members on the most current and pressing issues. Over the last few weeks we have begun taking testimony on specific legislation.
The General Investigating and Ethics Committee that I Chair has met once for an organizational meeting and will meet again this week to brief the committee members on a current investigation.
Committee Assignments
On March 11th, I filed House Bill 3339, which would help replenish revenues to the Property Tax Relief Fund. It has since been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
The Property Tax Relief Fund created by the legislature is part of a larger effort to help drive down the cost of property taxes in our state. Now that consumption of cigarettes are trending down, my bill simply changes the methodology of how the state taxes cigarettes. My bill will catch the trend of the increasing manufacturer’s list prices by taxing on that basis rather than following a per pack tax that is currently in decline. The additional revenue from the cigarette manufacturer’s price increases will help replenish the revenues lost in the per pack tax.
This bill is not raising taxes on cigarettes. It is simply doing two things: getting a greater return from the cigarette tax by either keeping the dollar per pack as was agreed to by the legislature or by taxing the cigarette company’s price increases.
Fiscal Responsibility
At a time of financial crisis when households and small businesses are cutting back on unnecessary spending and even leaving some needs unmet it is only prudent and fiscally responsible for state government to cut spending and hold the line on new revenue sources.
While cutting the state budget is never easy, lawmakers should work to see that waste, redundancies, fraud, and abuse in state programs and services are eliminated. State legislators should continue to seek out increased efficiencies and cost savings in state government.
As a small business owner, I have been faced with a similar situation and in order for me to stay in business I have to cut costs, tighten my belt and work harder with less. You should expect the same from your state government.
DWI Offender Registry
Last week, the Public Safety Committee heard House Bill 1260. This is a bill that I filed which will create a DWI offender registration database managed by the Department of Public Safety. This information would be available to the public on the DPS website. Offenders would be required to register upon conviction and would have to re-register annually. The offender would have to obtain or maintain a Texas DPS ID card or drivers license and they would have to renew the license or ID card annually. Upon conviction a person would pay $150 in court costs to fund the database and website.
DWI offenders are dangerous and we currently do not have a way to track people who have multiple offenses under our DWI laws. Drunk drivers endanger the lives of our children and our traveling public and I believe this bill will help lower the number of intoxicated drivers we have on our Texas roads.
We need a system in place that will track these multiple offenders and I believe House Bill 1260 will establish a record that we can use to make sure they are not driving our school buses, church buses, or the vehicles that drive our kids on their field trips.
I believe this bill will save lives and play a key role in curtailing the ever growing problem of drunk driving.
The Stimulus
One of the hot topics at the capitol this session is the Federal Stimulus package. While I can understand the independent spirit of Texans who do not want to rely on federal stimulus dollars, we want to make sure that if that money is spent somewhere, it is spent here in Texas to help our economy.
We want to ensure that the money spent goes to projects that are temporary, targeted and timely. This money is intended to help stimulate the economy and we are working to make sure it is used for that specific purpose and not as a secondary budget.
Voter Identification
Another hot button issue is the debate surrounding voter identification. On March 5th, I filed 2 bills–One makes it a criminal offense to impersonate a United States Citizen and the other adds a photo identification requirement to voter registration cards. These bills are sure to generate a lively debate on the house floor and I look forward to fighting for what is right for Texans.
Teacher Retirement System
Even without today’s economic downturn, the Teacher Retirement System is under-funded for the long-term.
The state clearly has to invest more in the system to ensure long-term stability, so retirees can enjoy the quality of life they deserve.
On February 18th, I filed House Bill 1408 to begin the process of funding the system sufficiently to give retirees a 4 percent annuity increase. We made a promise to our teachers and that’s a promise that we haven’t kept. These people affected our lives, I know they did mine. It’s time for us to give a little back.
Retirees have not seen a permanent increase since 2001. Last session we were able to provide for a 13th check, but it did not do the job to help retired teachers keep up with rising utility bills, rising food costs rising medical cots and all the things that have gone up that affect our families.
I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to welcome the folks of our district to your State Capitol. Already this Session, I have had an opportunity to visit with several of you and discuss issues of importance to you, your workplaces, and your families. I hope if you are ever in Austin, you will stop by and visit.
Sincerely,
Chuck Hopson
