THE 3rd CALLED SPECIAL SESSION OF THE 79th LEGISLATURE
May 12 May - V-I-C-T-O-R-Y at
Last, HB1 Has Passed
We are about to start what could be the most important
day of the session It looks like we will accept the Senate amendments on HB1.
House Bill 1 was a requirement that a school district to provide employment
contracts that allows qualifying employees may receive an incentive payment
under a state established awards program.
The bill also contains a provision Representative Delisi and others of us
in the House have supported for several years. It authorizes each school district
to assign a mentor teacher to a teacher who has less than two years of teaching
experience. It funds this program.
May 11th - Nuts and Bolts of the Senate Versions HB1 & HB5
Dear Friends,
We are now in a period of anticipation and high expectations. The Senate version of HB1 looks pretty good to most of the House members. There is reason to expect we will actually complete the process this special session, meet the court requirements and court dates, cut property taxes significantly, provide a teacher's pay raise, and provide the relieve from recapture for our districts. I will try in this report to cover all the items in the two bills that passed the Senate last night HB1 and HB5. I will start with the easy one which is HB5 the cigarette tax.
May 10th - The Finish Line is in Sight
Dear Friends,
The finish line is now in sight. The Senate tonight passed their version of HB1 Their vote was 31-0 so there is reason for extreme optimism at this time. I will write a complete summary of their bill and amendments in a Madden report tomorrow morning. The House sent HB2 to conference with the Senate this evening. I would expect that conference tomorrow. I would expect the bill to be completed by tomorrow night.
The word is the Governor will open the call by tomorrow morning. I will discuss that action also in the report tomorrow. We should be able to take up some appropriations bills that are critical in the morning.
The Senate is currently debating HB5 and I will report on their actions on the cigarette tax bill also in the morning.
May 9th - Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock - Same Song Second Verse
Dear Friends,
The clock continues to tick but the optimism
seems to be growing here in the Capitol. I have talked to a lot of people
today and the general consensus is that the Senate is getting closer to having
a meeting of the minds on HB1. When they reach a consensus we will be like
the football field architect. We will have put in place the two goal posts
for the bill and will then meet to see if the kicker either hits one of the
posts, kicks it somewhere between the posts or in the worst case the kick
is blocked but at least for future games the goal posts are built. Hopefully
the kick sailing through the goal post is a good metaphor for what will happen
with the school bill.
If the ball is kicked through the goal posts will everyone be happy, of course
not. We can pass many bills and I can guarantee you not everyone will be happy
with any of them. You can be assured that at least 3 candidates for Governor
will find faults with the bills; you can be assured that any candidate running
against a sitting legislator will bemoan some segment of the bill, and you
can be assured those groups getting higher taxes will not all be ecstatic.
But the ultimate judge will be the general public, the average taxpayer like
the reader of this report. We will ask your opinion at some time hopefully
soon when the final goal posts are up and the kick is on its way what you
think of the final score. History will be the final judge and that will take
years to determine. A good measuring stick would be does the new system last
at least a decade and if so it has been as effective as one could ask.
May 8th - Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble
- Something is Brewing in the Senate
Dear Friends,
The report to day
is a little shorter because there is not much observable forward progress.
I sense frustration in several of the offices and know that some of the staff
people are getting tired with all the attempts to get this done.
Facts, Figures, Fiction and Fatigue
First I do owe you a clarification. In some of our letters we had indicated
teachers looking for a $6,000 raise. I know all the teachers groups have signed
a letter indicating a $3,000 raise is what they are describing as an essential
feature for the bill. There are other things in their letter such as restoration
of the $1,000 health insurance supplement for all school employees and changes
to the incentive programs in the bill. I did receive letters from several
teachers on a $6,000 raise and that is where that amount came from in some
of my correspondence. But it is fair to clarify that amount is not the amount
officially recommended by any group.
We have also been getting letters and emails today from several school counselors
asking for them to be included in the 65% rule being proposed
by the Commissioner. I am not aware that the legislature is going to take
any vote on the 65% rule this session. That proposed rule is being worked
on by the Commissioner of Education and most of us will leave that in her
wise hands. I do know that the Plano district met the 65% rule under any of
the definitions I have seen proposed. My feeling is that I do not
like recapture money going to any district that does not spend at least 65%
in the classroom and think it is right to say if you get recapture funds they
should be used in the classroom.
May 6TH - The Madden Report - Friday Wasn't the 13th But it Sure Was Something
Dear Friends,
Friday
was one of the most interesting, frustrating, and I think fascinating days
I have seen in my 14 years in the Legislature. First the governor
announced he would not sign HB3 until he had all the required bills for his
signature. I am not sure if that means all five bills. I would suspect it
means HB1, HB2 and HB3. However it could mean all 5 bills. We will see but
I certainly understand why he would not sign HB3 until the tax reduction and
dedication bills are there since HB3 is the tax revision bill and does increase
some taxes without the offsetting reductions in HB1 and the dedication of
future revenues in HB2.
Secondly the House raised a point of order on the amendment to HB2
that it violated the 2 subject rule and others. The speaker
I know weighed the balance of the bill and determined that the point would
be sustained. That means the bill goes back to the Senate to remove the Williams
amendment that dedicated some of the revenue after your property tax had been
lowered to $1.00 to the schools. Since the bill was for property tax relief
this amendment violated the rules and therefore has to be removed. We would
expect the Senate to do this fairly quickly but knowing the Senate, that may
be optimistic.
The third thing that has happened is that HB4 conference committee members
have been appointed and I know they are working on the bill and expect to
have something to us pretty quickly.
May 5th
- Third week of Special Session
Dear Friends,
We are now
half way through the 3rd week of the special session. I continue to be an
optimist but the clock is ticking. We are getting closer to completion
of this very difficult task of reducing property taxes, providing a constitutional
school finance system, and overhauling the state's franchise taxes. Whenever
you do any of these tasks there will be opposition but when you do all three
there is even opposition that makes strange combinations. A lot of the same
groups that opposed things we tried to do in the last general session and
the past special sessions are still there and they are very vocal. However
there is a growing realization that the court deadline is upon us and the
work must be done.
Facts:
Again I will try to divide the report between facts, rumors, and interesting
gossip. As the first fact we all said Happy Birthday to Sen. Shapiro. I do
not verify it as fact, rumor, or gossip that it was her 39th birthday. But
with all the actions going on in the Senate right now and her efforts it would
be nice for many of you to wish her Happy Birthday.
For the last two days the house floor has been comparatively inactive since
we have completed the actions that were available to us under the Governor's
call. We have passed to the Senate the legislation required to give
us a Constitutional School Funding System, to lower property taxes substantially,
and to revise the business franchise tax. We met today and sent HB4
the automobile tax modification back to the Senate to correct one of the amendments
that dealt with the cost of a totaled automobile. The Conference Committee
will meet soon and fix this rapidly and we will send it to the Governor.
May 2nd - A Report for the First 2 Days of
the Third Week of the 3rd Special Session of the 79th Legislature.
The outlook for success for the current special session
continues to be optimistic.
I will try to cover factual events and also give some of the concerns and
rumors that are afloat as you read this report.
The Factual Items
The Senate this afternoon passed HB3 on third reading
with no amendments and it will be to the Governor within
the next few hours. I would expect him to sign it with a lot of fan fare this
week. HB3 is the revision to the franchise tax. There were many disappointed
special interest groups when they learned that there would be no amendments
on HB3.
The Senate has also passed House Bills 2 and 4 through 3rd reading. These
two bills will come back up on the House Floor Thursday to debate the Senate
Amendments. I know of no controversy on HB4 amendments but I am aware
of a lot of discussion on the amendment to HB2. That amendment takes
the revenues from the bill that were totally to go to a fund to reduce property
taxes and after the property tax for M+O for school taxes have been cut to
$1.00 from the current almost $1.50 and says added revenues will be used 1/3
for public education and 2/3 for property tax reduction. The proponents say
we should be using some of the revenue at some time for added money to the
schools. The opponents say we committed to use all of it to cut property taxes
and that by changing it then some of it is not a tax swap but a tax increase.
Since it will be 2-3 years before the $1.00 is reached my own feeling is that
we would have time to change this either way and that it might be something
we would adjust in the next regular session without hurting either schools
or property tax reduction at least until then.
APRIL 30TH - Review of the First Week of the Special Session
My first event this past week was early Sunday evening
when I gave the welcoming address to a group of conferees from around the
world gathered at the University of Texas to look at "Opening up a Closed
World: What Constitutes Effective Prison Oversight" Dr Michele Deitch
at UT and Professor Michael Mushlin of the Pace Law School in New York had
been the driving force in setting up the conference and Senator Whitmire and
I had been asked to welcome them. Since Sen. Whitmire was meeting with his
Superintendents Sunday evening I usurped his time and added it to mine to
give the entire welcoming address in the Lt Governors Reception Room behind
the floor of the Senate at the Capitol. It was a very well attended reception,
a very interesting group that included world wide expert including Judge William
Wayne Justice amongst others. The outline of my remarks are on the webpage
www.jerrymadden.org and I do believe they were very well received. The conference
went on for most of the week and I did attend one of their sessions on Tuesday.
Last week was a very interesting and I feel very productive one for the House
of Representatives. The week started on Sunday when we held a Republican Caucus
and discussed the 5 bills dealing with the Supreme Court directive to fund
education and the plans developed to meet those needs and the other items
in the Governor's call which included the property tax relief, the dedication
of any new revenues to property tax relief, and the changes to the taxes necessary
to insure the property tax cuts.
APRIL 28TH - How HB1, HB2, HB3, HB4, and HB5 were changed from the versions voted out of committee.
Dear Friends,
HB2 is the bill that dedicates revenues from the change in the business tax,
any increase in the cigarette tax, and any sales of automobile tax to property
tax relief. It passed the House first by a vote of 81 to 65. It had 5 amendments
added including some disclosure language, equalization language and certification
language. An amendment was defeated that would have sent the funds to sources
other than property tax reduction.
HB1 was the second bill addressed by the House. This bill is the property
tax relief bill that meets the requirement of the Texas Supreme Court to address
school funding. The first item in the bill is a tax rate for M+O school taxes
to be cut to $1.33. This was assured with an amendment to the bill attached
by Rep Eissler and Rep Chisum.
Madden Report - April 27th - HB1 & HB2
The biggest issue before this special session is of
course school finance. Currently the Governor has restricted the call to those
items that are solely associated with meeting the Supreme Court deadline of
1 June. I believe he is very wise in doing this. There are other items many
legislators want to do but we have tried at least 7 times in the last 3 years
and failed to get it done so I believe the best chance is to make sure we
get the court items done and then if there is time let us also address the
other items. Those other items include school reforms, teacher raises, incentive
pay, other appropriations for items we have already spent like Hurricane relief,
and other appropriations we know we need to approve like textbooks, Medicare
expenditures, and Nursing Home funding.
The House Ways and Means Committee passed out 5 bills which will be debated
Monday on the House floor. Actually we hope they get done Monday and some
will but we may have to work into Tuesday to get them all. I will discuss
HB1 and HB2 in this report. I will start with House Bill 1 which is the property
tax rate compression bill.
Madden Report April 26th - Activities for the first week of the Special Session
I want to thank all our readers in advance for their
support, kind words, and interest in the work of the Texas Legislature.
The Special Session opened Monday at 2 PM. Late in the morning Gov Perry issued
his call for the legislature. This is very important because under the Texas
Constitution we are able only to hear and work on legislation that fits within
the call of the Governor. For this session it is equally important to understand
what is not in the call at this time. What can happen and we have been told
may happen is that if we succeed in meeting the items in the call that when
they are completed the Governor may open the call to other issues. The items
in the call include property tax reduction, the development of a business
margin tax and the elimination of the current franchise tax, increasing taxes
on cigarettes and other tobacco products, a tax on motor vehicle sales which
would also include a tax on the difference between a book and sales price
on an automobile, and appropriations of funds to the Texas Education Agency.