Dear Friends and Neighbors:

As you can probably tell from the news media, things are really heating up here in the Legislature. We have started moving bills out of committee and onto the floor of the House for debate and consideration. As April and May progress, the activity will increase tremendously and things will move at an even faster pace, crescendoing around May 17th. This brief report will focus on some of my key legislation in the commercialization of research and development done (at taxpayer expense) at our outstanding research institutions, an update on the once every ten year "dance of the scorpions" known as redistricting, and public school finance (a never ending saga).

Biotechnology
As most of you know, I was appointed Chairman of the Interim House Subcommittee on Healthcare Technology. Our charge was to study the opportunity for economic development in the leading edge technologies in the life sciences (biotechnology and nanotechnology). Our conclusion after much research and public testimony is that Texas is far behind other competing metropolitan areas such as Georgia, North Carolina, California, and even Washington State. I believe that in the near future, these industries will become important economic drivers for Texas and for the nation as a whole. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area there are currently over 13,000 jobs that are directly tied to the healthcare technology and biosciences industries. Given that fact, and with four Nobel Laureates at the U.T. Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and nationally recognized science programs at U.T. Dallas and U.T. Arlington, I believe we have an excellent foundation upon which to build North Texas into an industry leader. Just as business and government leaders recognized the potential of Richardson's Telecom Corridor, we now need to recognize the importance of biotechnology and nanotechnology to Texas. As a small, but important step in that direction, I have filed H.B. 2369 and H.B. 2636, which will be discussed more in depth in the next update.

Redistricting
Redistricting is the crazy relative hiding in the closet. This issue has generated a great deal of behind the scenes maneuvering but little visual activity. That is about to change substantially. With the Senate and House Committee plans now out in public the real knife fights can begin. Many of us are in shock at the blatant attempt to minimize Republican House seats. Even though Texas' statewide voting trends are strongly Republican, the submitted plans would likely reduce the number of Republican House districts. In five of the areas where two House districts had to be combined in order to meet the population minimum, and where the pairing pits a Republican House member against a Democrat House member, the Democrats have a significant edge and are favored to win. Some Republican strategists are asserting that the submitted plan would result in 80 Democrat seats and 70 Republican seats--despite the fact that Texas' voting history over the past decade does not warrant this kind of disparity. For some recent developments, read the article at the bottom of the letter. Stay tuned...

The never ending saga of public school finance and my efforts to get property tax relief continues. Long time readers know there were some pretty dark days last session before the final bill and our $120,000,000 victory. Well, we are in the dark again and I worry our flashlight is running low on batteries. The optional homestead relief we obtained last session in S.B. 4 (the school finance bill) is "subject to" the availability of excess funds in the school funding pot. This session, I submitted H.B. 603 to ensure that school districts that offer the optional homestead exemption would not be left at the mercy of political deal-making and arbitrary definitions of what might constitute "excess" funds in the eyes of the Commissioner of Education and the State Comptroller. Without H.B. 603, school districts across Texas stand to lose $265 million in property tax relief over the next biennium. Here in North Texas, local school districts, including those listed at right, will see almost $47 million in property tax relief evaporate over the next two years. As many of our school districts are already taxing at--or close to--the maximum $1.50 rate, they will have no recourse but to cut funding for educational programs and/or teacher pay, or even fire teachers in order to make up for the loss.

On April 10th, the House Public Education Committee held a hearing which lasted into the early hours of the morning. After many hours of debate and testimony, H.B. 603 was left pending in the Committee. The difficulty H.B. 603 is having getting out of Committee could be related to the high fiscal note that is attached to the bill. Although H.B. 603 is returning money back to the taxpayers, there are a number of demands on the state budget and a bill with this high of a fiscal note might just be too much for the budget to handle. (Ironically, at this same moment, school employees are demanding billions for healthcare insurance). However, just because H.B. 603 has been left pending, does not mean that my efforts will end in trying to get this tax relief passed. I believe that no matter what, we need to keep fighting the good fight. Rather than look at this problem and throw up our hands, we need to look at it as an opportunity to roll up our sleeves.

If you have any questions or comments about these topics or any other legislation, please contact my Capitol or District office. You can also check on existing legislation by logging onto www.capitol.state.tx.us.

Until next time,

Quorum Report

April 30, 2001 6:39 PM

ã Copyright April 30, 2001 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

REDISTRICTING UPDATE

House Committee votes out a plan, new map coming for the Senate

After what looked like melt down on Friday, this morning's House Redistricting Committee was a relatively tame affair. Most of the tweaking amendments were accepted, most of the fundamental amendments were pulled down with comments about bringing them to the full floor of the House.

At the end of the day, the map approved by the committee made only minor changes and Chairman Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock) told reporters that he was still optimistic that he could muster the ninety votes he had originally promised.

However, some signs suggest that the ninety vote result may be problematic. For one, Vilma Luna (D-Corpus Christi) registered as "present not voting" after her effort to modify the South Texas map proved futile. Ron Wilson (D-Houston) voted no because he could not modify the Dallas map to improve the numbers for African American districts. Bob Turner (R-Abilene) and Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) also voted "present not voting". The rest of the votes followed party lines. Jones was the only Republican "aye" vote.

The current plan on the Senate side of the rotunda is that Chairman Jeff Wentworth (R- San Antonio) will present a new map to his Committee on Wednesday. He says that of the 31 senators, fewer than five have not communicated their disapproval and/or suggestions. He is hopeful that his new map will be voted out of Committee this week or next. The deadline for Senate Committee reports is Friday, May 11

Should the Committee vote a map out, Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff has indicated that he would convene a Committee of the Whole (comprised of all the Senators) to thoroughly air out any issues about the map. No votes would be taken until the Senate convened after the Committee of the Whole.

In the meantime, there are efforts by some Republicans to create one or two new Hispanic seats at the expense of the anglo Democrats -- in particular, Mike Moncrief (Ft. Worth), David Cain (Dallas) and John Whitmire (Houston). Were that to happen, it would also create additional opportunities for additional Republican seats. This strategy was essentially the one embraced by then Lt. Governor Rick Perry two years ago when he appointed a redistricting committee exclusively of conservative Republicans and Hispanics that pointedly excluded any of the anglo Democrats. Wentworth is trying to find a middle ground.

As we go to press, the Senate Democratic Caucus is getting ready to meet this evening to review its options and see if it can find areas of agreement.

ã Copyright April 30, 2001 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved