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BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2017 STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN EXPANDED EDITION PRESENTED TO THE 84TH TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE 2017 STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN (SLAP) DEVELOPMENT TEAMS SLAP COMMITTEE a. Co-chair: John Anderson b. Co-chair: Linda Ravey
SLAP SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND MEMBERS 1. Natural Resources & Energy a. Chair: Members: Chace Murphy, Mike Connor, John Adams 2. Economic Development a. Chair: Roy Kirkpatrick Members: James Edge, Jill Giroir, Sylvia McMullen, and Mary Lynne Stratta 3. Higher Education a. Chair: Bobby Bisor Members: Hayden Paul, Mel Waxler 4. Public Education a. Chair: Clark Ealy Members: Hayden Paul, Judy LeUnes, and Mel Waxler 5. Health Care a. Co-chair: Sharon Brown b. Co-chair: Jack Buckley Members: Dena Gaskin, Tim Ottinger 6. Budget/Taxes/Regulatory a. Co-Chairs: Sherry Mashburn & Aubrey Nettles Members: Kerry Beck, Jason Ogle 7. Transportation c. Chair: Michael Parks Members: Steve Aldrich, Tedi Ellison, and Scott Simpson
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Introduction: The Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce has, as its foremost mission, the continuation and cultivation of a vigorous local economy. Through many of its programs, the Chamber enhances the ability of companies in the Brazos Valley to grow and prosper. As the voice of local business, we take a proactive approach to ensure that those who represent us nationally in Washington D.C., state-wide in Austin, and locally in Bryan/College Station hear about the business interests of our community. The purpose of the State Legislative Action Plan is to summarize the important legislative goals and areas of concern to our community. We respectfully request your support on the issues outlined in this plan. Please contact the B/CS Chamber of Commerce if you need clarification or additional information. This document is an expanded version of the legislative areas of major concern covered in the 2017 B/CS SLAP brochure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS LEGISLATIVE ACTION AREA PAGE NUMBER Energy & Natural Resources .................................................................................................... 3 Economic Development ........................................................................................................... 5 Education ................................................................................................................................. 7 Healthcare .............................................................................................................................. 11 Regulatory/Taxes ................................................................................................................... 14 Transportation ....................................................................................................................... 16
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ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES The continued production of energy and stewardship of our natural resources is vital to a sustainable national and local economy. Electricity Preserve local regulatory authority. Provisions within the state statutes relating to municipally owned electric utilities must be maintained in order to continue to allow local decision-making authority on all utility matters, including the local option to participate in retail competition. Oppose any legislation that would take rate setting authority for municipally owned utilities from the locally elected city councils. Take no position on proposed legislation that will assign authority for rate setting for investor-owned utilities to a state agency. Water Support changes to eliminate use of DFC as a cap on groundwater availability/supply in the Regional Water Planning process. This will allow Regional Water Planning Groups (RWPG) to develop recommended strategies that are based on sound technical and economic feasibility. This is consistent with statutory goal for RWPG to plan for sufficient water supplies at a reasonable cost. During the last round of regional water planning which concluded in January 2016, the cap placed on groundwater availability in Brazos County in the Brazos G Regional Water Planning effort resulted in serious challenges to the City of Bryan regarding future water management strategies. Essentially, the adopted DFCs resulted in estimates of what is referred to Modeled Available Groundwater, or MAG. As such, a city or other water user may be prohibited from pursuing a water supply project, for example, adding a well to an existing well field inside the city limits due to the capping nature of the MAG in regional water planning. Simply put, this issue is now recognized as being unwarranted and not supported by anything that approaches best available science, and as such, should be either eliminated or significantly amended to remove any limitations on groundwater availability to a city. Oppose legislation that would attempt to undermine in any way HB 655 passed in the 2015 session which gave the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) exclusive jurisdiction for regulating and permitting of Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) projects. HB 655 was passed to remove regulatory roadblocks to building ASR projects including specifically dual regulation by both TCEQ and groundwater districts. Following passage of HB 655, some Districts have attempted to kill SWIFT-funded ASR projects that are based on recommended water management strategies in the Regional and State Water Plans. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Groundwater Districts should not be allowed to subvert state law enacted by the Legislature. HB 655 passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. HB 655 removed regulatory authority from GCDs for a variety of reasons, but primarily due to the requirement that TCEQ, as the delegated authority for the Safe Drinking Water Act in Texas, have sole responsibility for the permitting of Class V injection wells (ASR wells). GCDs have no technical resources to understand the technical requirements of permitting a Class V ASR well. TCEQ has a division of technical experts dedicated to the technical review of applications and permits.
Support legislation that would facilitate the development of brackish groundwater supplies for municipal, industrial, and mining uses, through the designation of brackish groundwater zones. Brackish groundwater can provide potentially vast new supplies and can reduce pressures on the use of fresh groundwater. TWDB is in the process of designating brackish water zones as required by HB 30 passed in the last session. RWPGs should be required to consider feasibility of projects in designated brackish zones when developing recommended management strategies. HB 30, passed during the last legislative session, anticipates the designation of brackish groundwater zones by the TWDB. What is yet to happen is what this designation means. It is anticipated by some that this will either reduce or remove GCD regulations in the areas of brackish groundwater zones. Any effort to support this reduction of GCD authority should be supported due to the nature of down dip groundwater resources available to the City of Bryan. Support legislation making Groundwater Conservation District rulemaking subject to requirements of Administrative Procedures Act. Some GCD’s follow practice of adopting rules immediately after a public hearing without taking time to fully consider written and oral comments on proposed rules. APA rulemaking requirements will allow for more deliberate rulemaking and consideration of comments filed on proposed rules. As we have recently learned, no matter the validity of comments/concerns submitted to a GCD during a rule making process, there is no requirement for the GCD to provide a reasoned justification for why it did not address the comments. At a minimum, a GCD should be required to respond as to why it is not addressing comments received during a rule making process. Oppose legislation that would transition groundwater management to a correlative rights system. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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If correlative rights were to be adopted in Texas, all cities that rely in whole or in part on groundwater will be seriously compromised. Cities will be forced to go out and acquire water rights, at potentially greatly inflated costs. During deliberations of Senate Bill 1 in 1997, correlative rights were thoroughly vetted, and in the end, determined to be an unacceptable approach for Texas after 100 years of the rule of capture. The only thing that is different today is that it has been 112 years since the East Case.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Economic development in Texas requires strong support of transportation infrastructure, education, water, and other natural resources. We encourage support of the following initiatives vital to economic development: Oppose revenue caps on municipalities by applying a hard cap of four percent (or any cap less than the current rollback rate) as the maximum increase in property tax revenues a city may collect without a mandatory election. According to the State Comptroller’s latest survey of property tax rates, 67 percent of 1,002 Texas cities either reduced their property taxes or raised their property tax revenues by less than four percent from 2012 to 2013 (37 percent of all cities actually reduced their property taxes). That means property owners in 669 Texas cities would have seen no reduction in their city property taxes if the four percent cap had been in place. Cities collect just 16 percent of the property taxes levied in Texas, yet cities are responsible for providing police/fire/ambulance services, water, streets, drainage, sewage, parks, libraries, municipal court, etc. Most of the property taxes paid by Texans (55 percent) go to school districts. According to the State Comptroller’s report, the total amount of property taxes collected by cities rose by 3.61 percent between 2012 and 2013, while school district tax collections rose by more than twice that rate or 7.72 percent. Imposing revenue caps on cities punishes cities that are aggressive in terms of economic development recruitment and growth, while not providing meaningful tax relief. Revenue caps rob cities of the ability to meet local needs and diverts attention from the real cause of higher property taxes. Municipalities have continued to be a source of revenue for the State of Texas (i.e., collection of municipal court fees and court costs, alcoholic beverage tax collections, etc.) while cities have seen no increase in funding from the state or federal government, while dealing with unfunded mandates. Example: The owner of a homestead in the City of Dallas with an assessed value of $250,000 would have seen a “cut” in property taxes of about $2.75 per month had a four percent revenue cap been in place. The tax savings would have been less or nothing if the homeowner was disabled, elderly or qualified for other exemptions. Had a four percent revenue cap been in place this year, the City of College Station would have realized $1,050,000 less in funding, making it more difficult to add much needed public safety personnel and infrastructure. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Support increased funding and policy alignment to increase and enhance university, community college and high school workforce training programs to meet the workforce training needs of local employers, including support of programs like the Skills Development Fund, Jobs and Education for Texans (JET), and HB 5. Skills Development Fund is funds designated for employer training and support economic development for attracting and retaining businesses. This fund needs to be sustained to allow for educational providers to serve the needs of expanding businesses and contribute to the economic growth and development. In addition, the Jobs and Education for Texans (JET), a program specifically to connect school districts with career and technical providers is critical to creating a seamless pipeline for students to employment. The options for school districts to seek programs aligned with local needs and expansion for funding for innovative programs is encouraged to create opportunities for students to choose career paths that meet local employment gaps. We support the Governor’s Tri-Agency Report that recommended the promotion of statewide and regional industry clusters and objectives that support a variety of businesses and regional job creation. The recommendation that Texas is a leader in accelerated retraining programs, as well as building and expanding high-demand occupational pathway opportunities for students. Continue R&D tax credits and similar resources that place Texas in the forefront of economic development and will lead our state to greater prosperity. In reference to the Tri-agency report from the Governor’s office, we support advancing a statewide vision that establishes Texas as the world leader in research and development and drives the Texas economy. To that end, maintaining economic development relies on our ability to be innovative and we support and encourage greater research and commercialization capacities. This includes continued investment in the Governor’s University Initiative to bring more research for groundbreaking innovation. We support the reinstatement of the R&D tax credit (provided under the previous franchise tax) as well as limiting any unnecessary regulations or legal requirements that increase cost and hamper innovation or limit technology advancement. There could be additional language such as: We support public/private partnerships and funding university tech transfer and commercialization to accelerate economic growth. We support the no tax due threshold amount of $1 million indefinitely. We support making the exemption from franchise tax obligations of certain small businesses with total revenues equal to or less than $1 million permanent. In addition to the two points noted above, there are additional points that we support that include authorizing a businesses’ losses on the franchise tax to be carried forward for up to 10 years and rebating any excess revenue collected from the franchise tax to those who paid it.
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Support maintaining the Texas Enterprise Fund or legislation to continue funds similar to the Texas Enterprise Fund for very large projects considering relocation to Texas or significant expansion of existing Texas businesses.
We support the continuation of the Texas Enterprise Fund and refreshing it each biennium for future economic development, the Texas Enterprise Zone Fund and the tax incentives available under the Texas Economic Development Act under Chapter 313 of the Tax Code. We also support legislative efforts to provide tax incentives to encourage business participation in education initiatives that drive innovation and creativity for job growth and expansion.
Support legislation to require the UIL to allow qualified Texas universities and communities to bid for the opportunity to host athletic, academic, theatric and music competitions. Currently only one university in Texas can host UIL academic events. Opening the competition for those events will provide high performing students the opportunity to experience numerous campuses while yielding a positive economic impact to several communities.
EDUCATION HIGHER EDUCATION Making a transformational difference is a hallmark of Texas A&M University and Blinn College – in their graduates and faculties. Texas A&M’s and Blinn’s legislative priorities reflect and reinforce their commitment to continue providing accessible and affordable education. Texas A&M University Eliminate any proposed cuts to budgets. Texas A&M (both main campus and the Health Science Center) seeks to protect its core academic missions of teaching, research, and outreach. These functions are already operating at highly efficient levels, as evidenced by the state’s lowest administrative cost ratio (3.6%) of all public four-year institutions. Maintain current formula funding rates (base funding) to cover statewide enrollment growth. Texas A&M (both main campus and the Health Science Center) depend upon formula funding to provide high quality teaching and support services for growing student populations and to prepare them to meet the workforce needs of this state. Maintain current rates for Texas Research University Fund (TRUF). This fund strengthens the competitiveness of Texas A&M to successfully recruit and retain the highest-performing faculty and students. Promote veterinary medicine partnerships. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Through a partnership between the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVM) and four A&M System universities, this innovative, cost-effective plan will address the statewide need regarding veterinary medicine -- especially in rural/large animal and in underrepresented minority populations -- without having to create a new veterinary school in the state.
Blinn College Increase funding in order to meet the education needs of Texas students at an affordable rate. In order to meet the education needs of Texas students at an affordable rate, community colleges should be funded in accordance with the request submitted by Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) and Community College Association of Texas Trustees (CCATT). This includes increasing core funding for each community college district by $250,000 per year; funding student success points at a minimum of $185 per point; and increasing state funding for community college instruction by $45 million, allowing community colleges to meet workforce skill demands, increase dual credit courses, and expand educational opportunities for all students. Each of the 50 Community College Districts serves as a central partner with school districts, universities, business, and industry to build successful pathways from public schools to postsecondary education to workforce for their respective communities. Texas community colleges are the linchpins to achieving the goals of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s new 60x30TX strategic plan for higher education. Community colleges will do the heavy lifting to reach the goal of at least 60% of Texans ages 25 to 34 earning a higher education credential by 2030 and will need the state funding support to meet this goal. Community colleges are the starting point for the overwhelming majority of Texans entering higher education or enhancing their workforce readiness. Because of this vital role, increasing the state's investment in community colleges is essential in the upcoming Legislative Session. With this in mind, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Formula Advisory Committee recommended $1.94 billion in General Revenue for community colleges over the next biennium. However, given slowdowns in some sectors of the Texas economy, difficult decisions will have to be made to balance the state's budget and maintain the fiscal responsibility that has kept our state strong. Accordingly, Texas Community Colleges respectfully request $1.83 billion in General Revenue to fund Core Operations, Student Success, and Instruction across the 50 districts in the following funding amounts: o Core Operations: $75,000,000 ($25 million increase from 2016-17) o All 50 college districts have basic operating costs. The $500,000 per district per year level of funding was established by the 83rd Legislature. Increasing the core by $250,000 per district per year will help support all institutions, especially small and rural institutions. o Student Success: $186,881,648 ($18 million increase from 2016-17) o Texas Community Colleges continue to advance programs and strategies that improve student success on multiple metrics. In order for the Student Success 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Points system to effectively reward institutions for improvements in student success, the points need to be funded at a minimum of $185 per point. Instruction: $1,566,866,566 ($44 million increase from 2016-17) The largest portion of state revenue provides community colleges with funds for instruction. The ability of community colleges to meet workforce skills demands, increase dual credit courses, and expand educational opportunities for all students is directly tied to instructional funding appropriated by the Legislature. Summary of Request for 2018-19 Biennium TOTAL Core, Student Success, & Instruction, 2018-19 $1,828,768,214 TOTAL Core, Student Success, & Instruction, 2016-17 $1,741,684,013 Additional General Revenue Request of Texas Community Colleges $87,084,201 **Texas Association of Community Colleges, Community College Association of Texas Trustees, and Texas Community College Teachers Association
Increase funding for community college workforce training. Blinn College is committed to strengthening its business and industry partnerships and to enhancing workforce development in all of its service area. Blinn College holds keys partnerships with Texas A&M University System to include RELLIS Campus, TEAM, TAMU Engineering Academy at Blinn, etc. Blinn College career and workforce development programs have at their center a philosophy based on providing training for the jobs and economy of the communities in the Brazos Valley and the College’s service area. Through a decision framework that responds to regional demands, focuses on skills’ gaps and prepares students for gainful employment, Blinn addresses the Workforce Solutions Targeted Occupations of the Brazos Valley. Delivery of educational programs by Blinn addresses local needs and simultaneously maximizes funding resources and builds programs that are sustainable over time, exemplifying the best fit for career pathway development and student success. Blinn College supports enhanced policies, programs and associated funding to strengthen the workforce development services and initiatives as adopted by TACC and CCATT. Growth of the Jobs and Education for Texans (JET), Skills Development, and The Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (T-STEM) Challenge Scholarship programs will enhance the role of community colleges in the area of workforce development. Texas Community Colleges play a critical role in the State workforce development efforts and should be included in new workforce development policies advanced through the Legislature. Increase state funding to offset the rising expenses associated with Hazlewood exemptions. Additional state funding is needed to offset the rising expenses associated with Hazelwood exemptions. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Hazelwood is one of several exemptions that higher education institutions are responsible for and Blinn College requests that the Texas Legislature recognize the hardship this program places on the individual colleges and asks for additional State funding to assist in off-setting this rising expense.
Maintain existing funding for the operations of the State of the Republic Museum. Maintenance of the existing level of state funding for the operation of the Star of the Republic Museum is critical to the continued operation of this Repository of Texas history. The 61st Legislature, transferred the control and custody of the Star of the Republic Museum to Blinn College. This museum serves as the repository for the history of the Texas Republic at the Birthplace of Texas. Blinn College depends upon the Legislature for the financial backing to proudly preserve this important era of Texas history. Significant progress was made during the 84th Legislative Session to restore the State’s financial support of the Star of the Republic Museum in Washington, Texas. Blinn College respectfully requests that the Legislature maintains a financial investment at least at the level achieved during the 84th Legislative Session. A continued State investment in the Star of the Republic Museum will sustain and grow this critical educational tool for future generations of Texans.
PUBLIC EDUCATION Provide a school finance system that adequately and equitably funds all schools. Overhaul the system. This year the Texas Supreme Court found the school funding system constitutional; however, the court did say that the system needed fixing, calling the system, “byzantine.” Using the exhortation from the Texas Supreme Court, we call on the Legislature to overhaul the Texas school finance system to one that ensures equitable and adequate resources for all Texas children. Use local school tax dollars for schools. The Texas Legislature has relied on school taxes derived from rising local property values as a revenue source for the general fund budget. These local taxes are categorized as “state savings” and can be allocated to any number of spending priorities. We call on the Legislature to ensure that additional revenue generated from business and homeowner school property taxes is reinvested in public schools and not used as additional state general revenue. Ensure that all public, private, and home schools that receive state funding are held accountable for student performance and financial transparency. No vouchers without the same standards. Private schools are not bound by the same accountability and financial transparency protections of public schools. These provisions include but not are limited to public notices, student transportation, bilingual and special education requirements, employment contracts, lunch programs and nepotism statutes. We call on the Legislature to not approve any plan (vouchers, educational savings accounts, tax credits, taxpayer savings grants, tuition reimbursements, etc.) that 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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takes money out of the public school system and funds private schools or home schools with little or no academic or financial accountability to the state, taxpayers or local communities. Remove the A-F labels from the state accountability system. A-F rating labels harm local schools and communities. Our local school districts and our business community believe in holding our schools accountable for student performance. Unfortunately, our current state accountability system relies heavily on a single state-mandated test that has been shown to have a strong negative correlation with students’ economic circumstances. Communities with a high proportion of poor students will have a disproportionate number of schools with “C”, “D” or “F” ratings which will potentially negatively affect the business and economic development opportunities for those communities. We call on the legislature to repeal the A-F accountability system set to begin in 2017-18. Help school district infrastructure in fast growing communities. The $0.50 debt test. Eighty percent of the students new to Texas schools each year go to a fast-growth school district. These communities and taxpayers bear the financial burden of providing facilities for these new students. We call on the Legislature to increase capacities of local districts to fund rapidly increasing enrollment in growing areas like the Brazos Valley by modifying or eliminating the $0.50 debt test. Increasing state funding for facilities lowers the tax burden for local taxpayers. The state has two programs designed help offset costs associated with additional facilities: Existing Debt Allotment (EDA) and Instructional Facilities Allotment (IFA). Increasing the yields in these programs offsets some of the costs of building the facilities. This increased state aid allows the local district to tax less to complete the projects, providing meaningful tax relief for taxpayers in these growing districts. We call on the Legislature to expand the use of EDA and IFA to help growing communities and their businesses and individuals who pay taxes to support the schools.
HEALTHCARE Support funding for a strong behavioral health care system. Texas historically has ranked at the bottom of states in per capita mental health funding, although appropriations by the 83rd and 84th Texas Legislatures have increased funding for behavior health care in Texas. The state has too few inpatient beds for patients with severe behavioral health needs, and outpatient behavioral health care services and crisis units are not sufficiently available to serve the needs of Texans. Brazos County is using “crisis redesign” money to hire mental health screeners. These screeners are able to divert mental health detainees into the proper channels rather 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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than the criminal justice system. Placing mental health patients into the criminal justice system is 4 times as expensive to tax payers. Support for a Mental health Crisis Center in Brazos County that would serve the 7-county region is critical. Currently, no crisis intervention facility exists. Law enforcement takes individuals in crisis to the local emergency rooms where they are held until an MHMR screener can assess them. If they are in need of inpatient services, they have to remain in the ER until a mental health bed can be found (which can take 3-5 days). Brazos County has four full time employees designated to the Crisis Intervention Team who act like case workers and follow up with known mental health patients to insure that they are taking meds and making their physician appointments. Rural counties do not have the budget for these employees and these patients end up in the criminal justice system when a crisis occurs. There is emphasis to fund a Rural Health Initiative for Tele-Psychiatry in rural areas. This would allow a mental health professional to talk to a detainee via teleconference to help identify and treat conditions with the physical presence of that professional Support the extension of the 1115 waiver to help fund the local mental health center.
Support solutions that will allow the most efficient use of public, group, and individual insurance arrangements to reduce the number of uninsured Texans. Texas has both the highest number of insured people as well as the highest rate of uninsured in the U.S. We support health care coverage expansion that would significantly reduce the number of working poor Texas residents for whom insurance is not available or affordable. Expansion should focus on a private insurance option that would require engagement and personal accountability to control costs. Support local funding options to secure a Medicaid rate enhancement without using additional state funding. With more than $8 billion of uncompensated care costs being delivered each year by Texas hospitals, we support programs allowing for local funding options to enhance the Medicaid rate. Texas must find a way to draw down additional federal dollars to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers. We support providing hospitals a mechanism to collect a provider fee (state-wide or by region) that would allow hospitals to fund the state share of a Medicaid rate increase without costing the state any tax funds. Support the continued funding of the Trauma Care Network with the fees and fines collected from the Driver Responsibility Program. Texas has 284 designated trauma care facilities that provide care when and where it is needed in the event of a car accident, mass casualty event or other type of trauma 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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incident. The Driver Responsibility Program is the current mechanism to fund trauma support – we MUST have a stable funding source for trauma. We cannot repeal DRP until we identify a RELIABLE source to fund the state-wide trauma program. (This program is being “targeted” as unfair to certain segments of the population who are fined due to irresponsible driving. We support that the fees/taxes be maintained since these fees should apply to all who violate the law.) Support the continued expansion of Graduate Medical Education Medical Residency positions. Texas suffers chronic healthcare workforce shortages which make health care access, quality and affordability an issue for many. This results in increased costs to the health care system. Texas medical schools have increased the production of physicians (to 1703 graduates in 2016) but these graduates must complete medical residency, or Graduate Medical Education (GME) in order to practice. State funding currently allows for 1,741 first year medical residency positions. More are needed to be added in order to keep pace with increased medical school enrollment and new medical schools coming online in the future. The 85th Texas Legislature should sustain the current $53 million provided for GME Expansion Programs and add additional funding needed to support new positions in the pipeline and new residency programs being planned across the state by our medical schools, hospitals and community health centers.
Support the elimination of “surprise” out of network hospital bills due in part to cost control efforts. Health insurance rates are dependent on the negotiated discounts of in-network providers. To help control costs, these network provider lists have become smaller with network reimbursement schedules more limited. Many providers have opted out of networks but provide needed services within network facilities. Patients are receiving additional bills from these non-network providers even though they are accessing them through network facilities. These surprise bills are often very high and providers are unwilling to negotiate. Support efforts to either require acceptance of insurance coverages in a facility that accepts the plan as in network; prohibit health care providers and physicians from balance billing patients when provided in a network setting; or placing limits on the balance bill charges.
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REGULATORY/TAXES Discontinue unfunded mandates on local governments. Unfunded mandates — when a smaller government entity has to spend its money to comply with requirements handed down by a bigger one — take on many different forms. Tuition waivers at community colleges, training requirements on city police, fire and emergency personnel that cost cities money, to requirements on the type of font that public schools use for notices in newspapers. Local governments do not always disagree with the spirit of a mandate, however; they do object to the high costs they must bear to carry out the objectives. State mandates may accomplish goals of clear state-wide importance. Occasionally, however, the legislation extends an idea that worked in one locale to the entire state. Texas is too large, with distinct geographical and demographic differences, to apply a one-size-fits-all mandate. Texas counties, cities, and schools face a number of State mandates, and they also raise money for the State through taxes and fees. Ultimately, the unfunded mandates, over time, have placed an increased strain on local government budgets and in turn, on local property taxes and local taxpayers. Reduce the continuous new stream of State regulatory burdens imposed on businesses each year. Overzealous regulation is a perennial concern for small business owners. When polled, small business owners did not request a financial incentive or government handout. Instead, they asked to just have the opportunity to own, operate and grow their business without being held down by excessive regulations; to have access to a pool of skilled workers; and to be given the opportunity to compete with the larger businesses instead of having to start ten steps back. Instead of trying to conjure up new tax incentives or handouts to give small business owners, we request that the State look at reducing the regulatory burden on employers in this State. Before proposing a new law creating another permitting requirement or regulation, strike one off the books first. Lastly, look at the indirect cost a new regulation might have on a small business owner. A mandated minimum wage hike would hurt small business owners and their employees in Texas, and ultimately the State’s economy. The minimum wage is meant to be a starting wage and increasing it will hurt the very people it aims to help — young, entrylevel workers who will no longer have the skills to qualify for higher paying jobs. Other prime examples of regulatory burdens include: o Open carry (HB 910) - Businesses can prohibit handguns in their stores, but now they need a new sign to legally keep guns out. o Driver’s licenses (HB 1888) - Fee authorized, penalty increased for commercial driver’s licenses. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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o House Bill 283 - Requires governmental bodies such as county commissioner’s courts and boards of school districts to post video and audio recordings of public meetings online. o Real estate (SB 699) - Regulation of real estate professionals by the Texas Real Estate Commission. o Liability companies (SB 859) - Each partner in a limited liability partnership must pay $200 on the day they file their annual reports. Reports sent in past the due date must pay “$200 for the number of partners as of May 31” of the year the report was due. o House Bill 1733 - Sets up automobile liability insurance requirements for transportation network company drivers for services like Uber and Lyft. o Senate Bill 1162 - Relating to the non-substantive revision of certain local laws concerning water and wastewater special districts, including conforming amendments. Preserve local regulatory authority. Because local governments are so diverse, local regulatory control is needed to meet the needs of local constituents. In order to continue providing local services, the following legislative priorities are recommended: - Ensure that local decisions are made locally by supporting reasonable enhancements to regulatory authority and by opposing attempts to harm the ability of cities to: o Protect property values by imposing reasonable development standards; o Enact zoning ordinances; and o Respond to citizen demands for orderly development. - Protect and enhance essential infrastructure by opposing efforts to diminish municipal revenue and by supporting initiatives that will meet the needs of our cities for: o Streets, roads, and bridges; o Clean water; o Safe and effective wastewater treatment; o Stormwater management; and o Sustainable solid waste collection and disposal. - Ensure funding for vital community services by vigorously opposing efforts to erode revenue needed to: o Keep cities safe from crime; o Respond to emergencies; o Enhance economic growth and job creation; o Provide recreational facilities, parks, and libraries; and o Protect the natural environment. 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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Reduce State-levied taxes on businesses. We support making permanent the exemption from franchise tax obligations of certain small businesses with total revenue less than $1 million. Businesses pay the franchise tax on gross receipts, leading to some having to pay it even in years when they make little or no profit. Services-providing industries account for 78 percent of the state’s jobs and 66 percent of the state’s economic output. Smaller businesses are more likely to be engaged in providing services, a pursuit which tends to have a higher effective tax rate on gross receipts than goods-related industries. Services-providing industries essentially took on a bigger share of a bigger tax. These increases largely result from the more limited deductions available to servicesproducing industries. Information companies, especially those engaged in telecommunications, saw a 162% increase in tax liability. Similarly, transportation, general services and professional services companies saw dramatic increases. Mandate collaboration between State agencies to reduce waste, fraud and duplication. It's impossible to account for how much money is wasted through duplication of State agency funded programs, but most “watchdog” groups estimate it to be in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Agencies often dispute that duplication in their programs is wasteful because some part of the service is slightly different than a similar program being managed by a different State agency. In some cases, the actual programs are distinct, but the State could save millions of dollars by consolidating the programs under one management authority and eliminating extra bureaucracy. Multiple agency programs support environmental protections, infrastructure planning and development, indigent services and State real estate management. Each of the applicable agencies unnecessarily fight to protect their “turf” and program staff, regardless of whether it makes sense economically for taxpayers. It will require significant courage in leadership to stand up to the heads of these agencies and demand that the duplication and mismanagement be addressed.
TRANSPORTATION Transportation is a core concept to every aspect of daily life in any community. Travel, whether for freight and goods, personal or recreational, is supported by infrastructure that provides this foundation for all societies. This infrastructure is constantly strained either through age or with increasing usage and/or infrequent maintenance. To maintain a healthy business climate and quality of life, the priority for this infrastructure must not only be its maintenance, it also must
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allow for infrastructure expansion in areas of high growth and during times when rapid economic development and population expansion occur. Because of the lack of currently allocated resources necessary to achieve this priority, the state must find ways to augment current funding mechanisms. Thanks to Proposition One and Proposition Seven there will be increases in expenditures for Texas in the next decade. However, even with this increase we have not achieved funding levels needed to accommodate long-term growth. Therefore, the B/CS Chamber of Commerce supports the following legislative priorities for 2017: Strengthen the local planning process and support the outcomes and prioritize transportation funding for top priority projects as approved by local elected officials via their Metropolitan Planning Organization and Rural Planning Organization. At the heart of every decision are local elected officials. The decisions made by those most closely associated with the electorate state agencies are often better supported in the long run. When decisions are solely made by state or federal agencies it often results in the locals having to accept those decisions whether they like it or not. When local government, MPO’s and RPO’s are allowed to debate, discuss and act on what their local priorities are, then state agencies are clear on what decisions to implement. That being said local governments, MPO’s and RPO’s must conduct their decision making in full view of and with the engagement of the public AND state/federal agencies. This process would include the state and feds need for the consideration of statewide or national implications of their decisions. Sometimes, the larger good must be undertaken in spite of local desires but all the while there must be full engagement of all those affected to the benefit of all, i.e., fair and equitable compromises need to be encouraged. A healthy local planning process is one way to strengthen this. Develop new funding mechanisms for local projects and off-system roadways and transit including but not limited to raising the motor fuels tax, implementing an equitable funding formula, providing for a local transportation funding option such as increased motor fuels tax and/or registration fees to support local projects. The B/CS Chamber is not opposed to new forms of funding transportation. We supported with great vigor the Propositions that will provide billions to the state’s transportation system. However, this does little to nothing for local governments. It also does not provide all the funding needed according to even the most conservative estimates. We feel that with gas prices so low the conversation on fuel tax could at least be had. Couldn’t it? Even having a local option for vehicle registrations would be helpful to those areas seeing a large influx of new residents. If local governments had additional resources to do the preliminary engineering and Right of Way acquisition then state and federal dollars could be concentrated on construction and plan implementation. Having the state recognize that a local option sales/fuel tax should be the decision of Each and Every local government, not just those of a certain size. If the legislature allows bigger
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cities to use this method to raise capital for transportation then why shouldn’t small and medium sized communities also be afforded that opportunity? Follow and implement statewide transportation management policies and develop safer roads through better intelligent transportation system (ITS) technology advancement (i.e., connected vehicles, freight shuttle, active roadway messaging, etc.) and streamline environmental approvals. Building isn’t always the answer. Implementing strategies to mitigate traffic and congestion can have some effect to improve the efficiency of the transportation network. Signal timing, event management, offset work schedules, bus rapid transit, rideshare, “road diets”, connected vehicles and strategic land use decisions are acceptable methods in certain situations to glean greater capacity and efficiency out of the existing road system. On a statewide level, the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems can add to this. Changeable message boards, video cameras, transportation operations centers and roadside assistance can work together to keep traffic flowing and make for a more reliable network. Sadly, it can take years to gain approval over the very detailed process of considering all the federal requirements with respect to environmental and historical study and analysis. More use of Categorical Exclusions (1st of 3 levels and simplest level of environmental analysis used by state and federal agencies to explain a project in environmental terms) should be emphasized. The next tier should be Environmental Analyses. Only in extreme cases should a full blown Environmental Impact Statement be authorized. Support public and private High Speed Rail development in Texas. Texas is growing. Texas is changing. History has proved that for communities on a trade route, prosperity is better able to take hold and grow that community for the better. Most of Texas’ major metro areas grew up due in large part to historical trade routes. Dallas had rail heads and interstate highways. Houston had the ship channel and interstate highways. Bryan/College Station had ferry traffic and a rail head. But we were passed by on the Interstate map. We were passed by on I-69. We were passed by on the Texas T-bone rail concept. But having this jewel of privately funding High Speed Rail with a stop in Aggieland, it will be a boon to our economy and will usher in the newest form of low cost travel to our region. The tax base alone in our neighboring counties will cause all their property rates to actually decrease. This project will lower taxes! Lower taxes means more money in circulation for Bryan/College Station as the regional hub for business and commerce. The Texas Central High Speed Rail line will contribute to our growing success. Texas should embrace this as an alternative to congested highways and air travel routes. This will even have a component of a tourist attraction due to the fact there is nothing like it in the United States. This endeavor is bold. It’s fresh. It’s time has come. Texas must not be afraid or cower to new ideas. We must embrace them and make them uniquely 2017 State Legislative Action Plan & Talking Points
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“Texas”. We will lead the nation, set the example and prove that good ‘ol Texas know how can make a difference for the better. We support high speed rail and will work to see it become a reality.
Fully fund TxDOT to levels that allow for adequate project management and project design in the coming years and increase customer service support at Department of Public Safety offices to reduce the time and effort needed for licensing of both private and commercial drivers. TxDOT is a partner in discussions of all things transportation. Over the years the department has complied with every request to reduce and cut back, including administrative resources. With the influx of new funding TxDOT needs the administrative capacity to manage the projects in the time frame demanded by the public. The private sector can support extensive project development thus relieving TxDOT of this burden, yet someone needs to manage the consultants. No state DOT is better at doing that than TxDOT. More resources are needed at Public Safety offices where private and commercial licenses are issued. This translates into a workforce issue when it becomes such a burden to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Truck drivers and bus drivers are often delayed months just to obtain the minimum licenses to go to work. The result of a lack of capacity in this area means a delay in continued growth in Texas and reduces the mobility of Texas’ citizens to engage in our growing economy. License offices around the state must be strengthened and increased if this part of our economy is expected to keep pace with the rest of our growing state.
Updated: February 3, 2017, 4:57 PM
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