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IN THIS ISSUE:

• Both House and Senate appoints Budget conferees
• Stay tuned for more info about the budget negotiations
• Quick takes: What’s happening with some DPC legislative priorities:
  • Texas state school closure or reform
  • Affordable, accessible, integrated housing
  • Treatment pending transfer
  • Eliminate the “R” word
  • Visual smoke alarms

 

Both House and Senate appoints Budget conferees

Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus have announced the following appointees to the Conference Committee on Senate Bill 1, the state's biennial budget for 2010-2011:

Senate Budget Conferees:

• Steve Ogden, R-Bryan—Finance chair
• Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen—Finance vice-chair
• Florence Shapiro, R-Plano—Education chair
• Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands— Administration chair
• Royce West, D-Dallas—Intergovernmental Relations chair

This is the first time in recent memory that Sen. Judith Zaffirini will not serve as a conferee. Zaffirini is one of the disability community’s best friends in the Texas Legislature. Her appointment to the committee was doubtful since she no longer services as vice-chair of the Finance committee. She left that position to become chair of the Higher Education committee. Several DPC member organizations staged a last-ditch campaign to convince Dewhurst to select her; but, the effort failed. Even though she will not serve on the conference committee, Zaffirini is expected to be a strong influence as the panel considers disability matters.

House Budget Conferees:

• Representative Jim Pitts—Appropriations Chair
• Representative Richard Raymond— Appropriations Vice Chair
• Representative Ruth Jones McClendon—Rules & Resolutions Chair
• Representative John Otto—Appropriations subcommittee General Government Chair and Ways & Means Vice Chair
• Representative John Zerwas—Appropriations subcommittee Health & Human Services Chair

“The House conferees represent a cross section of our state and will guarantee the final budget meets a majority of our Members’ priorities by delivering essential services, preserving the Economic Stabilization Fund and controlling state expenditures”, said Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. “I know Conference Committee members will work together to craft a sound budget which is fiscally responsible and sensitive to the financial difficulties faced by all Texans in today’s challenging economy.”

 

Stay tuned for more info about the budget negotiations

DPC staff and committee chairs are taking stock of the differences between the House and Senate appropriations bills. We’ll use upcoming Texas Action Alerts and Action Updates to point out the differences and where advocacy is important.

This is the time when a legislative session picks up a fast and furious pace. Disability advocates are taking a cue from the Boy Scouts—be prepared. There’s still time to sign up for the Texas Action Center. If you have questions or need more information, see the contact info for DPC at the end of this newsletter.

 

Quick takes: What’s happening with some DPC legislative priorities

• Texas state school closure or reform
  • With just over one month left in the regular session, Texas lawmakers have yet to take substantive action on several bills that would address the deplorable conditions in Texas 13 state “schools.” One measure, SB 643, creates a state school ombudsman and requires video surveillance cameras in common areas. The Senate has passed the bill; its House companion was voted out of the Human Services committee and is on its way for a full House vote.
    
    Meanwhile, several other bills are expected to see action in the near future. The Senate Health and Human Services committee has heard public testimony on SB 1060 by Sen. Rodney Ellis. It would create a steering committee to recommend which institutions to close and how to reform the whole system of services for Texans with disabilities. The steering committee would include legislators, state school employees, and residents and their families. HB 1589, the House companion bill sponsored by Patrick Rose, is pending public hearing in the Human Services committee.
    
    SB 336 by Sen. Bob Deuell would give the HHSC Commissioner—in addition to the legislature--authority to close state schools. It does not recommend closing any particular school. SB 1407 by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh would create a panel to study and make recommendations about whether any of the facilities should close.
• Affordable, accessible, integrated housing
  Several bills were on the public hearing docket for April 23:
  • HB 3540 by Rep. Yvonne Davis covers a lot of DPC’s housing priorities. It would require agencies that get funds for housing to use them for people with disabilities, the elderly or homeless people. The bill would also result in improved efforts to reduce energy costs for low-income households. As chair of the Urban Affairs committee, Davis has made a concerted effort to reach out to the disability community to address important issues. Following the public hearing, the bill is pending in committee.
  • HB 1650 by Rep. Ruth McClendon is the sunset bill for the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation. Among other things, the bill recommends expanding the TSAHC board to include more “public” members, including some who represent the interests of people the corporation serves. This would allow people with disabilities a stronger voice as TSACH expands and strengthens programs to create more affordable and accessible housing. Following the public hearing, the bill is pending in the Urban Affairs committee.
  • HB 2343 by Rep. José Menendez would postpone the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Sunset review for six years. It’s currently supposed to happen next year—the same year as the Health and Human Services sunset review. The bill was pulled from the agenda before the hearing. Disability advocates hope it doesn’t resurface. The review of housing and human services at the same time would be a great opportunity to address a number of crossover issues.
• Treatment pending transfer
  • HB 3325 by Rep. Bryan Hughes would amend current state law to require doctors to treat terminally ill patients until another facility is found to accept them. Currently, hospitals are allowed to end life support 10 days after doctors decide to withdraw treatment. The House State Affairs committee took public testimony on the bill April 14 and has taken no further action.
• Eliminate the “R” word
  • SB 1395 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini seeks to “clarify preferred language for new and revised laws by requiring the use of terminology that places the person before the disability.” Targeting new and revised state legislation, codes, policies and other documents, the bill would replace outdated terms (i.e., the disabled, the mentally ill) with “people first” terminology (i.e., people with disabilities, people with mental illness). It would also replace the label “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability,” a term that is heavily promoted by the disability community. The bill was referred to the Senate Health and Human Services committee and has not seen action yet.
• Visual smoke alarms
  • SB 1715 by Sen. Royce West would require owners and managers of multifamily housing complexes to install flashing smoke detectors if tenants with hearing disabilities request them as an accommodation. The bill, which passed the full Senate with a unanimous vote, is also known as the Sephra Burks Bill. Sephra Burks, who was deaf, and two of her children perished in a blaze that consumed the family’s two-story apartment in Dallas four years ago. Her husband, Tyrus, and two sons barely escaped with their lives. Tyrus Burks, who is deaf, believes the entire family could have survived the fire if visual smoke detectors were properly installed. The bill had a public hearing yesterday in the House Business and Industry committee and was passed favorably.

 

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