STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
March 16, 2007
(This update is produced by the UH System Office of Governmental Relations and the UH Division of University Advancement as a service to the UH System community.)
SELECT COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION CREATED
House Speaker Tom Craddick has announced the creation of the House Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance. He has charged the committee to work to improve college and workforce readiness by coordinating public and higher education finance policy toward this end. In a press release, Speaker Craddick said that the committee will focus on several aspects of higher and public education to achieve its main goal, including examining the efficiency and effectiveness of state programs to increase student achievement, and aligning formula and non-formula funded programs with the state’s educational goals. The committee is also charged with developing strategies to more effectively leverage and deploy federal funds and meet state obligations under the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan.
Rep. Dan Branch (Dallas) will serve as chairman of the committee and Rep. Scott Hochberg (Houston) will serve as vice chairman. Additional members serving on the committee will be Rep. Harold Dutton (Houston), Rep. Rob Eissler (The Woodlands), Rep. Helen Giddings (Dallas), Rep. Ryan Guillen (Rio Grande City), Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham), Rep. Geanie Morrison (Victoria), and Rep. John Otto (Dayton).
EXCEPTIONAL NUMBER OF BILLS FILED
The filing deadline for legislation brought an exceptional number of bills and resulted in 615 pieces of legislation on our tracking list. The totals listed below do not include the numbers for joint resolutions (which are typically constitutional amendments) or concurrent and simple resolutions.
| 2007 | 2005 | # Change | % Change | |
| House Bills | 3977 | 3474 | +503 | +14% |
| Senate Bills | 1944 | 1789 | +155 | +9% |
| Combined | 5921 | 5263 | +658 | +13% |
The House Appropriations Committee has completed substantive work on their respective appropriations bills. It will be about 10 days to two weeks for the Legislative Budget Office to prepare the final bills so we will not have an official analysis until then. The Senate Finance Committee has yet to conclude their work on the Article II (Health and Human Services agencies).
Now that they are awaiting consideration of the funding bill by the full House and Senate, other committees will have longer agendas, as evidenced by the following postings for pertinent committees on Monday, March 19:
House Higher Education
MONDAY - 3/19/07
8:00 A.M., JHR 120
| HB 120 | Brown, Fred | Relating to state funding and tuition charged for courses provided during off-peak hours at certain public institutions of higher education. |
| HB 317 | Miller | Relating to the student enrollment required for the issuance of certain revenue bonds for facilities at Texas A&M University-Central Texas. |
| HB 589 | Aycock | Relating to the student enrollment required for Texas A&M University--Central Texas to operate as a general academic teaching institution. |
| HB 1173 | Coleman | Relating to authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds or other obligations to fund capital projects at public institutions of higher education. |
| HB 1185 | Morrison | Relating to the sale of facilities of public institutions of higher education to real estate investment trusts. |
| HB 1668 | Aycock | Relating to the issuance of revenue bonds to fund facilities at Texas A&M University - Central Texas. |
| HB 1775 | Christian | Relating to authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds for the expansion of school of nursing facilities at Stephen F. Austin State University. |
Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education
MONDAY - 3/19/07
1:30 P.M. OR ADJ., E1.028
| SB 51 | Zaffirini | Relating to leave for junior college district or university system employees who are physically assaulted while on duty. |
| SB 469 | Brimer | Relating to the creation by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board of a certificate of recognition for persons who contribute certain gifts or donations to public institutions of higher education. |
| SB 963 | Shapleigh | Relating to the recreational facility fee at The University of Texas at El Paso. |
| SB 1051 | Zaffirini | Relating to course requirements for students enrolled in joint degree programs between certain general academic teaching institutions and foreign universities. |
| SB 1053 | Zaffirini | Relating to assessing the quality and effectiveness of academic advising services offered by public institutions of higher education. |
| SB 1055 | Zaffirini | Relating to establishing a commission to study and report on the projected need for faculty at public and private institutions of higher education. |
| SCR 3 | Wentworth | Encouraging colleges to ensure diversity of opinion. |
UH SYSTEM DAY IN AUSTIN PHOTO GALLERY ONLINE
Read about UH System Day in Austin and view the photo gallery.
