JuLY 2005
Special Session Called
On Saturday, June 18th, Texas Governor
Rick Perry called a special legislative
session addressing school finance to begin
at noon on Tuesday, June 21st.
On June 18th the Governor also vetoed
the $35.3 billion dollar public school
funding portion of Senate Bill 1, the General
Appropriations Act passed last month by
the Texas legislature to fund all state
operations. To read the Governor's proclamation
on vetoing education funding, go to: http://209.99.68.131/library/2005061807.PDF
Changing how the state finances its public
schools is necessary, because last year,
Texas State District Judge John Dietz declared
the state's public school finance system
unconstitutional. Judge Dietz ordered the
state to stop funding Texas schools by
October 2005 if the legislature did not
change the funding mechanism. To read Judge
Dietz's decision finding Texas public school
finance unconstitutional, go to: http://www.investintexasschools.org/schoolfinancelibrary/wocfof.pdf
The state has appealed the ruling, and
the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments
in the case on Wednesday, July 6. Schools
will not close while the state is appealing
the case.
A "called" session, commonly
referred to as a "special" session,
is named after the fact that the governor
must call it. A special session lasts no
more than 30 days.
When the Governor convenes a special session,
he or she must declare its purpose. The
Governor has limited this special session's
purpose to only include legislation that:
- Addresses educator compensation, benefits
and certification
- Provides for public school financial
accountability and that increases transparency
in school district financial reporting
- Provides for performance-based incentives
to educators and schools that attain
higher levels of student achievement
- Funds textbooks and that creates the
instructional materials allotment for
public schools
- Provides for charter school funding
and reform
- Provides for modification to the recapture
provisions of the public school finance
system
- Provides for November elections for
public school boards of trustees
- Provides funding for the public school
finance system and the continuation of
the Texas Education Agency
- Provides for end-of-course examinations
to be use in public schools
- Provides for increased accountability
and intervention for schools failing
to meet state standards
- Provides for local property tax rate
compression and voter approval of local
property tax rates
- Establishes indicators of college readiness
and higher levels of student achievement
in the public school accountability system
- Legislation to limit the ad valorem
tax rates of certain taxing units
- Legislation to provide ad valorem tax
relief and protect taxpayers
- Legislation and a constitutional amendment
to increase the homestead ad valorem
tax exemption
To read the Governor's proclamations on
a special session, go to:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/GovProclamation.pdf
http://www.house.state.tx.us/GovProclamation2.pdf
http://www.house.state.tx.us/GovProclamation3.pdf
Legislators may design an alternate, constitutional
funding mechanism this Special Session.
This will be the legislature's fourth effort
since 2003 to fix public school finance—efforts
were made in the 2003 legislative session,
in an April 2004 special session, and during
the 2005 legislative session.
To read the June 2005 MALC Newsletter
on the legislature's efforts to fund Texas
schools this past session, go to: http://www.malc.org/newsletter/0605.shtml#3
Article IV, Section 8(a), of the Texas
Constitution, permits special sessions.
To read the Constitutional language, go
to:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000400-000800.html
Hochberg Presents School Finance Plan
On Monday, June 20th, Caucus member Scott
Hochberg (Houston) held a press conference
to present HB 15, a school finance plan,
in response to the Governor's call for
a special session to fix the state's current
unconstitutional school finance mechanism.
To read HB 15, click here.
Rep. Hochberg presented his plan on the
floor of the House on Tuesday, June 28th.
The bill had strong bi-partisan support
but the effort failed by one vote. House
Speaker Tom Craddick cast the deciding
vote by voting against the measure. To
see the floor vote on Rep. Hochberg's bill,
click here:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/hjrnl/791/pdf/79c1day03final.pdf#page=27
The bill would have given teachers a $4,000
pay raise over the biennium, provided almost
100 percent equity, restored discretion
to school districts, reduced property taxes
to $1.25 per $100 valuation, and tripled
the homestead tax exemption to $45,000.
The House instead passed Rep. Grusendorf's
version of HB 2, which provided less money
for teacher's pay raises than Hochberg's
proposal and $1.3 billion less than the
version that left the floor during the
regular session.
Rep. Hochberg introduced a similar bill,
HB 3452, with bi-partisan support last
session.
In July, the House will consider HB 3,
a bill to raise education funds, and the
Senate will consider HB 2.
Fundraising Begins
As of Monday, June 20th, the Mexican
American Legislative Caucus is accepting
contributions online.
Under state law (Tex. Elec. Code Sec.
253.0341), MALC cannot accept contributions
during the period beginning the 30th day
before a regular legislative session convenes
and continuing through the 20th day after
the date of final adjournment. Sunday,
June 19th was the 20th day after the 79th
legislative session's final adjournment.
Contributors who give at the $1,000 level
will receive a complimentary 79th legislature
caucus membership poster. To see the poster,
go to:
http://www.malc.org/poster79.html
MALC supporters are invited to give online
at:
http://www.malc.org/contribute.html
MALC Members Represent Texas at NALEO
Conference
On June 23rd to 25th, members of the
Mexican American Legislative Caucus attended
the 22nd annual National Association of
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
(NALEO) Conference in San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
Caucus Chairman and NALEO Educational
Fund Board of Advisors Member, Pete P.
Gallego (Alpine), chaired a morning session
on Saturday, June 25th, entitled, "Financial
Services and the Latino Community: The
Impact of the Regulatory Framework." The
session provided an in-depth discussion
on current regulatory efforts at the federal,
state, and local level regarding the variety
of financial products available to the
growing Latino community, including check-cashing,
access to capitol, and money transfer services.
Panelists included the Honorable N. Owens,
Special Assistant to the Chairman and Director
of External Affairs, National Credit Union
Administration; Ms. Deborah A. Reyes, Senior
Director, Government Affairs, Advance America;
Mr. Jose Rojas, Vice President, Corporate
Strategic Planning, Popular. Inc.; and
the Honorable William Delgado, Illinois
State Representative.
Caucus Legal Counsel Rep. Trey Martinez
Fischer chaired the Friday, June 24th morning
panel, "The No Child Left Behind Act:
An Update on Implementation and Reauthorization".
The session provided education policy makers
with the current status of NCLB implementation
and its affects on Latino students.
Panelists included the Honorable Kathleen
Leos, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary,
U.S. Department of Education; Dr. Darline
P. Robles, Superintendent, Los Angeles
County Office of Education; the Honorable
Steve Gallardo, Arizona State Representative & NALEO
Board Member; Ms. Maria Neira, First Vice
President, New York State United Teachers,
American Federation of Teachers; and the
Honorable Gloria Baquero, Secretary, Department
of Education of the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
The panelists discussed and strategized
about the Act's scheduled 2007 reauthorization.
Caucus members Roberto R. Alonzo (Dallas)
and Rafael Anchía (Dallas) also
attended. Rep. Anchía sits on the
NALEO Educational Fund Board of Directors.
During the conference, the NALEO Educational
Fund Board of Advisors elected Rep. Gallego
Treasurer.
To see the conference agenda, go to:
http://www.naleo.org/ConferenceAgenda.pdf
For more information on NALEO and its
Boards, go to:
http://www.naleo.org
Texas Monthly Recognizes Caucus
Members
The July 2005 edition of Texas Monthly magazine
praises the 79th Legislature's "10
Best Legislators", including Caucus
member Mike Villarreal (San
Antonio). The article states in part,
"Villarreal led the floor fight
against two attempts by Governor Perry
and fiscal conservatives to restrict
the ability of local governments to raise
money. The first battle occurred over
a plan to limit increases in property
tax appraisals. Proponents planned to
offer compromises that might make their
proposal more attractive, a tactic Villarreal
likened to putting "lipstick on
a pig." His counterattack was a
clever parliamentary ploy that enabled
him, in effect, to slaughter the pig
before the other side could apply the
lipstick. The next day, another Villarreal
amendment gutted an attempt to allow
voters to roll back the amount of revenue
local governments could raise.
An Aggie with a master's degree in public
policy from Harvard, Villarreal is one
of the few lawmakers capable of delving
into the complexities of tax issues.
He labored on the Ways and Means Committee
to reform the franchise tax, but his
efforts ultimately came to naught, as
did the tax bill itself. In the end,
he voted against the bill he had helped
write, because it increased "taxes
for the poor and working class while
giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Texans"—alienating
Republicans without mollifying Democrats."
The article also bestows a number of Special
Awards on a selected number of legislators,
including "Rookie of the Year" to
Caucus member Rafael Anchía (Dallas)
and "Honorable Mention" to Caucus
members Scott Hochberg (Houston)
and Vilma Luna (Corpus
Christi).
On Anchía, the magazine states, "His
finest moment came during the fight over
school vouchers, when he criticized the
proposal's sponsor, Kent Grusendorf, of
Arlington, for forcing vouchers on urban
school districts while exempting his own
suburban district."
Texas Monthly commended Hochberg
for his "expert opposition to GOP
education policy". Rep. Luna earned
praise for being the "the go-to lawmaker
for health care advocates."
The Top Ten Legislators included: Rep.
Dianne Delisi (Temple), Sen. Robert Duncan
(Lubbock), Rep. Dan Gattis (Georgetown),
Rep. Charlie Geren (River Oaks), Rep. Fred
Hill (Richardson), Sen. Steve Ogden (Bryan),
Rep. Jim Pitts (Waxahachie), Rep. Mike
Villarreal (San Antonio), Sen. John Whitmire
(Houston), and Sen. Judith Zaffirini (Laredo).
To read the article, go to (registration
required):
http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2005-07-01/feature
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