[CSPS] FW: Texas Impact Legislative Update

Mon Mar 7 12:00:24 CST 2005

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Impact Online:  Texas Impact's E-Newsletter
Texas Impact was established by Texas religious leaders in 1973 to provide a voice of religious social concern to the Texas Legislature.
February 2005

In This Issue
* The CHIPs Are Down
* Public School Finance
* House Bill 2: School Reform
* House Bill 3: Revenue System Reform
* Renewable Energy: 2020 Vision
* Campaign Finance

Greetings!

Welcome to Impact Online, Texas Impact's e-newsletter. The 
Texas legislative session is now in full swing, with the state 
budget being the main topic of discussion. This issue of 
Impact Online contains several "action alerts" and tips on 
how to stay involved and make your voice heard. We 
encourage you to forward this newsletter widely and use the 
information it contains in your own education and advocacy 
work.

Read longer versions of all the articles in this newsletter on 
our website, http://www.texasimpact.com, where you'll find 
more links to groups and projects mentioned in the articles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The CHIPs Are Down

Despite anything you may have heard, there is no consensus 
in the Legislature around restoring funding for the Children's 
Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Bills have been filed that 
would restore CHIP completely, but current budget plans 
don't include the money needed to fund those bills.

The budget would restore vision and dental care, but would 
not remove barriers that have caused CHIP enrollment to 
drop by more than 175,000 kids since June 2003. In fact, 
current budget proposals in both the House and Senate do not 
reflect normal population growth over the next two years.

Because they don't take into account increased demand 
driven by a growing population, the budget plans would lead 
to waiting lists for CHIP as well as a number of other state 
programs. The proposals do not increase funding for CHIP, so 
they fail to draw down all the federal CHIP funds available to 
Texas. Texas has abandoned more than $500 million in 
federal CHIP funds over the past two years.

Message to Lawmakers: Support SB59 by Averitt and SB69 
by Shapleigh, and support increasing funding for CHIP in the 
budget. CHIP means 1) helping Texas families help 
themselves; 2) making sure Texas kids are ready to learn; 
and 3) keeping hospital doors open by reducing indigent care 
costs. It all adds up to economic development for local 
communities.

For talking points about CHIP, visit http://
www.texasimpact.com/Pages/chip_home.htm 
We update this site frequently, so check back often and email 
us if you don't find what you need!

Read the whole article - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.rd5a85aab.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2FE-NewsFeb05.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Public School Finance

The Legislature is considering sweeping changes to public 
school funding in the form of two bills, House Bill 2 and 
House Bill 3. These bills have passed out of committee and 
are headed for the House floor. Texas Impact opposes both 
bills, and we ask you to urge your representative to vote NO 
on HB2 and HB3.

HB2 focuses on changes to the way school funds are spent at 
the state and local levels, as well as many other changes to 
the way the state school system operates. HB3 changes the 
revenue sources for public school funding, focusing on 
replacing local property taxes with other revenue sources 
that would be collected at the state level.

comprehensive information about school funding in Texas - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.wd5a85aab.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2Fstaterevenuecomprehensive.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
House Bill 2: School Reform

Virtually every school group in the state is opposing HB2, 
including teacher groups, PTA, superintendents, and the 
Texas Association of School Boards. Here's what Texas PTA 
president Craig Tounget says:

"The problems with the bill are fundamental. First of all it 
does not provide enough additional money to fix the 
problems. The sponsors of this bill claim there will be an 
additional $3 billion provided to schools over the next two 
years. But about $600 million of that is to get the teachers 
back the money for their health insurance that they took 
away last session. There is also $400 million in money that 
they did not spend on textbooks that they were supposed to 
from the last session.

For many districts, the increase in funding will be less than 
the rate of inflation. HB2 does nothing to add significant new 
money to the system. In fact this bill does not raise any 
"new" money--that is being left for other legislation."

It does not provide for adequate facilities or targeted 
programs to reduce dropout rates and improve academic 
achievement for disadvantaged or non-English speaking 
students. Closing the gap for these students is a key factor in 
the recent court decision ruling Texas' school funding system 
unconstitutional. HB2 compromises the equity that Texas has 
worked so hard to achieve.

Message to lawmakers: Oppose HB2. Don't take Texas 
backward on equity--improved funding to low-wealth school 
districts over the past decade has resulted in proven, 
measurable educational gains for kids in those districts. The 
public school system needs significant new funds. It's not 
enough just to put back funds that were cut two years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
House Bill 3: Revenue System Reform

HB3 would replace the current state franchise tax with a 
payroll tax. It would raise the sales tax by more than 15 
percent, from 6.25 to 7.2 cents on the dollar, making it the 
highest state sales tax rate in the nation, and it would expand 
the sales tax to cover a number of services, including car 
repair services. The bill also would raise cigarette taxes by 
$1 per 
pack.

HB3 would lower property taxes by one-third. It would raise 
no new funds for schools, as all the revenue from the 
increased sales tax, new payroll tax and increased cigarette 
tax would be used to offset property tax reductions.

Increasing the sales tax is a bad deal for most Texans. 
Swapping higher sales taxes for lower property taxes actually 
increases taxes overall for 80% of Texas families, and 
benefits only those with incomes above $100,000.

The payroll tax as proposed would tax employers 1.1 percent 
on the first $80,000 of salary for each employee. It protects 
salaries above $80,000, so it would fall most heavily on 
lower and middle-income workers.

Messages to Lawmakers: Oppose HB3. Texas can't afford to 
cut property taxes at a time when we already face significant 
cuts to key services. Raising the sales tax hurts low and 
moderate-income working families and is not the way for 
Texas to generate new revenue. Any payroll tax should not 
have an upper limit or cap. Increasing the cigarette tax is 
sound public policy and brings Texas in line with other states. 
Also, Texans should thank lawmakers for rejecting gambling 
so far, and keep reminding them that video slot machines are 
not the answer to new revenue demands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Renewable Energy: 2020 Vision

2005 is a key year for increasing renewable energy 
production and availability in Texas. There are bills already 
introduced that would increase renewable energy in Texas 
with more bills expected before the filing deadline.

In 1999 under then-Governor George W. Bush, Texas was the 
first state in the US to establish a state standard mandating 
that electric companies obtain a certain percentage of their 
power from renewable sources such as wind and solar. It's 
important to have a standard because it helps renewable 
power producers and electric companies plan and manage 
demand and growth. Texas' renewable power standard (RPS) 
has helped jump-start the wind and solar industries in our 
state and make clean, safe energy available to Texans in 
many communities.

Texas has nearly achieved its original goal of having three 
percent of electricity coming from renewable power sources. 
Now lawmakers are looking ahead and considering a larger 
RPS, together with the long-range infrastructure planning that 
will be necessary for a state population that is expected to 
double in the next 50 years.

Message to Lawmakers: Support SB836 and HB1798, but the 
higher RPS of 20 percent by 2020 would be better. It's time 
to set new, bold goals for renewable energy in Texas. 
Renewables mean clean air and new jobs, and will keep 
Texas an energy leader in the U.S. Twenty percent by 2020 is 
ambitious but achievable. Energy demand is growing in 
Texas, and the state should do the long-range planning to 
ensure our energy needs are met increasingly with clean, 
safe, home-grown power. 

For more information and talking points about renewable 
energy in Texas, visit Texas Impact's Breath of Life program 
at http://www.texasimpact.com/Pages/BreathHome.html

read the whole article - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.rd5a85aab.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2FE-NewsFeb05.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Campaign Finance

Texas Impact supports HB1348, a bi-partisan bill to keep 
corporate and union money out of Texas elections filed by 
Representative Craig Eiland (D-Galveston) and 
Representative Todd Smith (R- Bedford).  

HB1348 helps ensure Texas has fair and open elections. The 
bill clarifies and modernizes Texas' 100 year-old corporate 
and union prohibition on campaign money. It follows 
established federal law and definitions to make clear exactly 
what is prohibited. It also makes clear that individual and 
PAC donations for election attacks ads must be disclosed. 
These clarifications would ensure that Texas keeps corporate 
and union money out of our elections and that the public 
knows the individuals funding attack ads.

Read the whole article - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.rd5a85aab.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2FE-NewsFeb05.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick Links...

* Join Texas Impact - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.blnx79n6.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2Fjoin%2520impact.htm
* More About Texas Impact - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.dlnx79n6.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2Fabout_texas_impact.htm
* Religious Social Statements - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.clnx79n6.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2Ffaithresources_all.htm
* Information on Issues - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fjssz5aab.0.elnx79n6.mre6txn6.3964&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.texasimpact.com%2FPages%2Fissuesall.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: justice at texasimpact.com
phone: 512.472.3903
web: http://www.texasimpact.com

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