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Love Field restrictions to be lifted
Airport to get $200M makeover, more flights

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

Dallas Love Field can soon expand dramatically and within eight years offer travelers long-haul flights under a sweeping agreement hammered out on Thursday. The deal - which will do away with the 27-year-old Wright Amendment - must first be approved by Congress before the end of the year.

The compromise - fostered by American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and the cities of Fort Worth and Dallas - ends the restrictions on long-haul flights from Dallas Love Field after eight years, allows immediate connecting flights and limits the airport to 20 gates. It also would ban international flights from Love Field, either non-stop or through connecting service.

The compromise also includes provisions for revamping the airport's main terminal, demolishing the old Legend Airlines terminal on Lemmon Avenue and redeveloping parts of the airport at a cost of $150 million to $200 million. The cost would be paid by the airlines using the facility -- primarily Southwest, which has the most gates.

Kelleher

Concerns have been raised previously that expansion of Love Field would be at the expense of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Kevin Cox, D/FW's chief operating officer, said that now that the issue is settled, it may help the Metroplex's flagship airport lure more discount carriers that were previously scared away by the uncertainty surrounding the Wright Amendment.

"All sides, all parties have been compelled to make sacrifices," Southwest Airlines chief Herb Kelleher (pictured) said at a press conference yesterday. "The only surefire winner from this agreement is the public."


Lawmaker unveils $300M solar plan

Lamar Smith

New federal money to encourage the proliferation of solar power might be available by next year if a proposal, to be introduced this week by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, wins approval. Smith, from San Antonio, said his Solar Utilization Now Act of 2006 claims to create a competitive matching grant program that will pay up to 40 percent of the cost of new solar panels for power producers. The state would pick up at least 10 percent of the price tag, and the power producer would cover the rest. The proposal calls for a grant program of $50 million in 2007 that would grow to $300 million by 2011. Energy leaders such as Juan Garza, general manager of Austin Energy, a municipal-owned utility, are hailing the proposal. Garza, calling solar energy an integral part of the energy industry's future, said the program will speed many city-sponsored plans to migrate to solar energy around the state.


Houston to crack down on air pollution

Houston, consistently ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the country, should address concentrations of a dozen dangerous air pollutants in east Harris County - especially along the Ship Channel - according to a task force of public health and toxicological experts convened by Mayor Bill White.

The task force said that concentrations of air pollutants is not evenly spread across the 10-county area evaluated, and that residents living in east Harris County, beside industrial plants, the port and major highways, are exposed to twice as many of the most risky pollutants. The landmark 58-page report evaluates 179 chemicals that are released from car tailpipes, ships, industrial plants, and small sources such as dry cleaners and gasoline stations, for their potential to cause cancer, lung disease and other ailments.

Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who chairs the City Council's Environmental and Public Health Committee, said the report represents "marching orders." She plans to hold environmental forums with local residents beginning in mid-July.


Texas Guard heading to border

Approximately 200 Texas National Guard troops have been activated and are training for duty along the Texas-Mexico border. Hundreds more are expected to join them later this month in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.

On Thursday, Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense Paul McHale and National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. Gen H. Steven Blum discussed details of "Operation Jump Start" at Camp Mabry in Austin, headquarters of the Texas National Guard. President George W. Bush on May 15 said that up to 6,000 National Guard troops would be sent to the border for approximately two years to help local and federal law enforcement curb illegal immigration.

Gov. Rick Perry signed an order authorizing up to 2,300 Texas Guard troops as part of the initiative. A spokeswoman in his office said the Texas Guard plans to have 500 troops activated and trained for duty by the end of this month and up to 1,000 in July. State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston, who spent a year in Afghanistan with the Texas Guard, has been told he will next be deployed to the border, according to his office.



Feds to send $2M to Austin for park-and-rides

The Austin area is on the verge of securing $2 million in federal funding for two park-and-ride facilities. The Transportation Appropriations Act of 2006, HR 5576 which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week, includes $1 million for construction of a park-and-ride bus location in Oak Hill. The project will anchor bus service provided by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority into Southwest Austin and Travis County. The bill also contains $1 million for construction of an Interstate 35 park-and-ride facility that will connect neighborhoods in far South Austin with downtown.


Len Riley

Lens on Government: Information Resources Strategic Plans
By Len Riley, SPI Senior Consultant

So far this series has covered:

Chapter 2054 of the Government Code requires the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to produce a State Strategic Plan for Information Resources Management (SSP) and requires each state agency, including institutions of higher education, to prepare an agency-level Information Resources Strategic Plan (IRSP) that aligns with the SSP, according to the instructions prescribed by DIR.

This article continues the series on planning and budgeting processes and deals with IR Strategic Plans.

Click here to read the rest of the article.


Del Mar College wants to expand tax district

The 80th Texas Legislature is still six months away, but Del Mar College officials in Corpus Christi have already decided on a legislative agenda. A top priority for the college is a proposal that would align community college taxing districts with the geographical areas they service. Del Mar College taxes the five school districts within the Corpus Christi area. Students who do not live in the Corpus Christi, Flour Bluff, Tuloso-Midway, Calallen and West Oso school districts pay more than twice as much in tuition and fees as in-district students. Only three community colleges in the state tax their entire service area, including South Texas Community College in the Valley, according to Del Mar officials. If successful, Del Mar College would tax the counties it serves and all students would pay the same amount in tuition and fees.


TPWD faces new challenges from FEMA

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which is already struggling to fund the cost of day-to-day operations at many state parks, may have to absorb the cost of more than $2.2 million in Hurricane Rita repairs, according to informal communications that state officials have received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Eleven Texas Parks and Wildlife Department properties suffered $3.1 million in damages when Rita blew ashore last September, according to TPWD. The agency had expected about 75 percent of that cost to be reimbursed by FEMA. However, officials at the federal agency recently sent word saying they intend to disallow reimbursements related to the estimated $291,000 in damage to Sabine Pass Battleground State Park, near where Rita made landfall. They also said informally that they would disallow repair costs to other parks. TPWD officials said they will continue to seek funding from FEMA. The agency has not made a final determination on those reimbursements, and noted that FEMA has earmarked only about $2 million in hurricane assistance for affected Texas parks. TPWD said it expects to get some FEMA assistance on emergency staffing and fuel costs, but may get no help with the higher costs of park repairs.

Texas state parks are facing tough times because of budget and staffing shortfalls, according to State Parks Director Walt Dabney. "We are in some serious trouble," Dabney said at a recent meeting in Arlington. "It's an absolute third-world approach to running a park system."

TPWD oversees 114 state parks, and the agency's budget has been relatively flat, hovering around $50 million. Since 2002, costs have increased by about $6 million, Dabney said. In December 2005, operations at 50 parks had to be trimmed, and 73 staff positions were eliminated, he said. The agency's resources were focused only on priority sites.


CAMPO ponders toll roads

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in Austin this week delayed a vote on funding for a second, billion-dollar wave of Central Texas toll roads. Money for the five roads was authorized when the CAMPO board approved the toll road plan in 2004, but the funding plan has lapsed, necessitating another vote. Supporters of the five-road toll road plan asked that the board of mostly elected officials authorize spending $448 million, about a third of the road projects' total cost, on engineering and right of way purchases. However State Rep. Mark Strama of Austin successfully proposed delaying the controversial vote until a July meeting. In the meantime, those involved are expected to discuss ways to keep tollbooths off future Central Texas roads.


Lassiter

Dallas college district names chancellor

The Dallas County Community College District has appointed Wright Lassiter as chancellor. Lassiter has served as interim chancellor since former chancellor Jesus Carreon, who had been president of El Centro College since 1986, resigned in May. The DCCCD also named Edward DesPlas interim president of El Centro College. DesPlas most recently served as El Centro's executive vice president. Lassiter joined DCCCD as president of El Centro College in 1986.


Hurt

TxDOT's longtime PIO to change jobs

Longtime Texas Department of Transportation spokesman John Hurt will be leaving his post in a few weeks to become the agency's voice at the Combined Traffic and Emergency Communications Center in Austin. Hurt, who has been TxDOT's public voice for 11 years, will still convey critical information to the public from time to time, but will do so during times of crisis.


UTSA lures prominent professor, author

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) hired nationally recognized linguistics scholar and the author of the book "Sista, Speak!" to join its faculty. Sonja L. Lanehart, currently an associate professor of English language studies and linguistics at the University of Georgia, will hold the UTSA Brackenridge Endowed Chair in Literature and the Humanities in the Department of English, Classics and Philosophy. She will join the faculty in the fall where she will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in English literature and linguistics, humanities and African American studies.


Lawmakers eye prison, probation reform

Faced with the need for almost 10,000 new prison beds by 2010, Texas must improve its probation system and use prevention programs proven to work, some key lawmakers said this week.

Whitmire Madden

Sen. John Whitmire of Houston (pictured right), chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, and Rep. Jerry Madden of Plano (left), chair of the House Committee on Corrections, promised to work to continue reforming the prison system in the 2007 legislative session. Both agreed the most violent criminals should be locked up. However, since most prisoners will eventually be released, cuts in recent years to prison programs mean they are returning to their communities without being treated for their drug problems, without learning to read or write and without job training.

Madden said he and Whitmire are hopeful that Gov. Rick Perry to will reinstate the Criminal Justice Policy Council that was cut in 2003. That would cost about $1.2 million, said Madden, but would save the state more than that in the long run because lawmakers could support programs the council knows are proven to work. Recently the Legislative Budget Board projected that the state would need an additional 9,600 prison beds by 2010. Madden would rather divert non-violent prisoners away from the system through community-based programs.


State's health funding criticized

Texas lags behind other states in regard to taking in federal dollars for disease prevention and bioterrorism preparedness - ranking 42nd on a per-person average, according to a report issued this week by a nonpartisan health advocacy group.

The state received an average of $14.28 per person last year in federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health grants - significantly below the $20.99 spent per person nationally. According to a review of federal data, Trust for America's Health showed Alaska receiving the highest per-person share - $53.36 - while Florida was last with $11.38. In absolute dollars, however, Texas ranked fourth among the states, receiving $326 million of the $5.9 billion disbursed by the CDC. Though the nation's second-most-populous state after California, Texas ranked behind Pennsylvania, California and New York in total dollars received. Texas spent an average $13.59 per person on state public health programs last year - well less than half of the $35 average nationally.


Brazoria County issuing $14M in bonds

Brazoria County commissioners this week authorized issuing $14 million in certificates of obligation, paving the way for detention center expansions, service center construction and room for new courts, among other improvements.

A high female inmate population at the county jail has forced officials to move inmates to a pod in the men's section. In addition, an abundance of juvenile offenders has forced officials to turn away some youth from the juvenile detention center because there is no room for them, officials said. The bonds, which didn't require voter approval, will fund about $13.7 million worth of potential projects, with the estimated issuance costs at $282,050. The project cost is slightly higher than the $13 million originally estimated because of an anticipated increase in construction costs. The county was authorized to seek as much as $14 million, according to the published notice of intent to issue the bonds.


Dallas-area superintendent to head Montgomery ISD

Gibson

Cedar Hill school district Superintendent Jim Gibson has been hired by the Montgomery school district for a similar post. Gibson, who has held the Cedar Hill ISD's top post for five years, will report to the Houston-area school district July 1. At its May 23 meeting, the Montgomery school board named Gibson its lone finalist to replace Bob Smith, who will retire at the end of June. Gibson, 59, said he is most proud of working with the Cedar Hill school board in righting the district financially. When Gibson arrived in Cedar Hill, the district faced a $1 million deficit. The Cedar Hill school district's current fund balance is about $10.3 million. Before coming to Cedar Hill, Gibson served as superintendent of the Clear Creek and Huffman school districts and at a California district, and as principal of Highland Park High School.


San Antonio's financial outlook bright

Sculley

San Antonio will end its fiscal year $75 million in the black, the City Council was told this week. The city will enjoy an estimated $21 million surplus in the next fiscal year - a surprising turnaround from predictions just nine months ago that there would be a $22 million budget shortfall for 2007. But with deficits predicted in just a few years, City Manager Sheryl Sculley wants to sock away some of the surplus. Sculley said she will recommend using $15 million of next year's surplus to create a budget stabilization fund that would close the gap between projected expenditures and revenues in subsequent years; projections for fiscal years 2009 through 2011 show significant deficits.


Additional funds coming to Texas

President George Bush has signed the Emergency Supplemental Conference Report Bill. In the bill, emergency funding is designated for areas devastated by Hurricane Rita as well as vital funding for military projects in Fort Worth, Texarkana and Amarillo in support of the War on Terror. HutchisonIn addition, the bill reimburses Texas for costs associated with educating displaced Katrina students.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas said she included an amendment to the Senate Emergency Supplemental bill which raised the federal reimbursement rate for Hurricane Rita damage claims in Texas to a 90 percent federal, 10 percent local rate. By securing that provision in the final bill, the new reimbursement rate will save Texas counties nearly $200 million, she said.



Report: Texas a leader in renewable energy

Texas is ahead of the curve on standards for so-called renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. The report, "Race to the Top: The Expanding Role of U.S. State Renewable Portfolio Standards," can be viewed online. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia now require renewable energy production from their public utilities and energy companies. Texas was one of the first to do so in 1999. Texas would rank in the top 10 greenhouse gas producers in the world if it were its own country. But state lawmakers updated the standards last year to require that the state produce 5,880 megawatts of renewable energy by 2015. The Lone Star State is well on its way to the 2015 goal and is expected to pass California this summer as the top wind energy producer in the country when several new wind farms in West Texas come on line. According to Pew, renewable energy will account for 7 to 8 percent of the total energy usage in the state by 2015.


New Voices of Veterans Program

The Texas Veterans Land Board has begun a "Voices of Veterans" oral history program that records the stories of Texas veterans and archives the transcripts in the Office of Veterans Records for future researchers, historians, genealogists and the general public. Voices of Veterans represents the first time a state agency has sponsored such a program. Other successful oral history programs include the Vietnam Archive Oral History Project at Texas Tech and the Oral History Program at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg.

Any veteran interested in including his or her story in the Voices of Veterans program should contact the Veterans Land Board at 800-252-VETS or email vlbinfo@glo.state.tx.us.


Push for alternative energy stronger than ever

Mary Scott Nabers

By Mary Scott Nabers, CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.

"Going green" is not unique to Texas or to the federal government. This week, there is yet another significant effort - this one from Washington, D.C. - to reduce our dependence on traditional energy sources by funding more alternative energy initiatives. The "Solar Utilization Now" (or SUN) Act, championed by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith from Texas, would allow the federal government to offer rebates to states to encourage businesses to invest in solar power.

Rep. Smith's proposal would start with funding of $50 million annually, increasing to $300 million within five years. It would require states to reimburse businesses for at least 10 percent of costs associated with the installation of solar paneling. The federal government would then have an option to pick up as much as 40 percent of the remaining costs of those projects.

Movement toward alternative energy is nothing new, and is a trend that will likely continue. Government leaders are always eager to hear from private firms that can help both the public and private sectors reduce their dependency on foreign oil - and consequently curb rising energy bills and the need for additional government-operated power plants.

Late last year these pressures prompted the State of Texas to speed up permitting processes for power producers and to mandate that all state agencies implement significant energy conservation plans. Most agencies are still looking for significant cost reduction solutions.

Local governments in Texas have been implementing conservation efforts for years. However, they, too, are always eager to find new options for energy reduction. Because of the high level of interest, and the fact that mandates for reductions of energy usage and costs are only going to escalate, firms that can provide everything from energy-efficient traffic lights to environmental friendly heating and cooling systems should be talking to governmental agencies now.


State veteran to head Round Rock school board

Maldonado

Diana Maldonado, a 20-year veteran with the State Comptroller's Office, has been elected president of the Round Rock ISD school board. School officials said records dating to 1965 show that Maldonado is the first Hispanic woman to lead the board, which manages a fast-growing district just north of Austin. One of Maldonado's highest priorities, she said, will be to bring a weighty bond proposal before voters soon.


Homeland security report draws rave review

On the heels of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's latest issuance of funding, Strategic Partnerships, Inc. has published a free report that outlines the flow of federal homeland security funds to Texas. The report, which can be downloaded at www.spartnerships.com, details almost two dozen major federal grant programs, their objectives and timelines while also detailing specific funding awards.

"This is a tremendous report," said Juliette Brown, director of the Capital Area Council of Governments' Homeland Security Division. "I have not seen anything else as comprehensive in the time that I've been in this business."


DPS, Nueces County improving communications

A new 300-foot communications tower and radio control building were approved for installation at Hazel Bazemore Park in Northwest Corpus Christi to aid in communications with the Texas Department of Public Safety. A DPS tower has been located in the park for 30 years, but this new tower will feature all the necessary concrete foundations and footings, guy wires and shelters for the protection of the necessary equipment. Nueces County is using Department of Homeland Security funds to improve the system, which will help with DPS communications in the river bottom area and eastern Nueces County.


Tyler airport gains master plan

A new 20-year master plan that lays out millions of dollars worth of new projects has been approved for the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport. Tyler City Council members approved the airport master plan, which now goes to the FAA. New hangars, jet bridges, security features and longer runways are included in the plan.


LCRA names first female plant manager

The Lower Colorado River Authority has named a new manager of the Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant on Lake LBJ in Central Texas. Debbie Powell is LCRA's first female plant manager. She replaces John Lichtenberger, who had been acting Ferguson plant manager since August 2005.


Houston cracks down on graffiti

Cracking down on graffiti around Houston could soon mean penalties not only for those who vandalize property, but also for home and business owners who take too long to clean it up. Proposed changes to a 10-year-old Houston graffiti ordinance would levy fines up to $500 against property owners who don't remove graffiti within 10 days of notification from the city. Approved by a City Council committee this week, the amendments also would allow police to order the removal of graffiti on private property if owners don't do it themselves within 10 days, down from 30 days under existing law.


McDonald Observatory tests sites for new telescope

Astronomers at the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory in West Texas are studying where to put a $2.8 million telescope that could be used to help map part of the Milky Way galaxy. Scientists are evaluating two mountaintop locations in the Davis Mountains to determine which would be the best site for a 1.8-meter stationary telescope called the Charge-coupled Device Transit Instrument II.


Ask the experts

Q: I've heard colleagues mention something called the "Texas Register." What is the Texas Register and, as a business owner, do I need to know about it?

A: The Texas Register is a document published each Friday by the Secretary of State that can include information that may affect your business or industry. For example, before a state agency can adopt new or revised regulations, the state agency must publish the proposed changes in the Texas Register no later than 30 days before the new or revised regulations are to take effect. New or revised state agency regulations are also published in the Texas Register after they have been adopted. Also, all state agencies, boards and commissions subject to the Open Meetings Act must publish notice of their meetings and the agenda for each meeting. Miscellaneous announcements by authorities, councils of governments, and other public entities can also be found in the Texas Register. Conveniently, the Texas Register can be accessed online.

-Lisa Barsumian,
senior consultant at Strategic Partnerships, Inc.

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ONLINE POLL

In order to relieve overcrowded prisons, do you believe lawmakers should increase funding for community-based rehabilitation programs to accommodate more non-violent offenders?

(Non-scientific results next week)

Last week, 60% of respondents said the Legislature should appropriate more money to community colleges next session. 40 percent disagreed.


Event Links

Texas Veterans Benefits Seminars

HUB Forums in June

HUB Forums in July

ICMA conference in San Antonio - 9/10/06-9/13/06

Upcoming Executive Women in Texas Government events

Correction

Due to inaccurate information provided to the Texas Government Insider, a story in last week's edition incorrectly stated that TCEQ is the first agency to offer live Web casts of its meetings. Several other agencies, such as the Texas Residential Construction Commission and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, have utilized the technology for several years. We regret the error.


Texas Government Insider Archives

Volume 1, 2, 3 and 4 Archives - 11/7/03 - 6/16/06



Resources

NASBO's Fiscal Survey of States

Top 100 Federal Funding Sources in Texas State Budget

Texas Statutes Granting, Prohibiting, or Restricting the Power of Eminent Domain

Higher Education Graduation Rates

Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature 1846-2006

LBB Budget and Performance Assessments

Senate Interim Charges

House Interim Charges

Texas Fact Book '06-'07

LBB's Fiscal Size-up '06-'07

Texas Human Resources Management Statutes Inventory

TBPC Vendor Guide

State Budget Resources

HUB Forms Library

State Contract Management Guide

State Procurement Manual

Who Represents Me? Texas Districts By Address

Diagram of Texas' Biennial Budget Cycle


DIR's IRSP Overview Session

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) will provide an overview session for Information Resources Managers and other interested staff from agencies and institutions of higher education on the content and reporting tool for the 2006 Information Resources Strategic Plan (IRSP). The session will address how the plan is organized, reporting requirements and more.

Click here for more information.


Veterans Benefits Seminar

The Texas Veterans Land Board invites all Texas Veterans to a seminar on the evening of Tuesday, July 11th, at the LBJ Auditorium in Austin. Benefits discussed will include housing, home improvement, and land loan programs; state veterans homes; and state veterans cemeteries. There is no charge for this seminar; registration begins at 6:30 p.m. A schedule of future seminars is available online.

The Texas Veterans Land Board is a program of the General Land Office and is chaired by GLO Commissioner Jerry Patterson. Texas veterans with questions about their state veterans benefits can call 1-800-252-VETS.