By Paul Emerson
TAC State Financial Analyst
At the conclusion of the 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, the issue of public school finance was still unresolved — leaving roughly a $4 billion gap in the state budget for the next biennium (2012-13). Through a special session called by the governor, the Legislature enacted SB 2, which addressed the dilemma centering around public school finance and added funding to various other state programs to offset the severe budget reductions in HB 1 (General Appropriations Act).
Several of these programs directly impact counties. The 9-1-1 State Emergency Communications program, for example, was initially reduced by 8 percent or $7.6 million in HB 1. But SB 2 added $11.7 million back to the program which is a 4 percent overall increase.
Other programs that received additional funding include:
TAC has prepared a comprehensive list of the state budget cuts and the possible impact they will have on counties. On July 19, 2011, the governor signed SB 2, which became effective immediately.
For more information on this article, contact Paul Emerson, TAC state financial analyst, at (800) 456-5974 or paule@county.org.
By Nanette Forbes
TAC Legislative Staff
As required by the Federal Military Overseas Empowerment Act (MOVE), SB 100 facilitates the voting process for military and overseas voters who often encounter problems and time delays with the standard vote-by-mail process. SB 100 requires ballots to be mailed or emailed to military and overseas voters not later than the 45th day before election day.
In order for the state of Texas to accommodate the federal requirements of the MOVE Act, significant changes were made to the local election calendar. The changes to the election calendar are as follows:
Since the May uniform election date falls between the March primary and the May runoff (early voting for the runoff primary begins two days after the May election), SB 100 limits the May uniform election date in even-numbered years to non-county elections only, and provides that county election officials are not required to contract to conduct local elections in May of even-numbered years.
The May uniform election date in odd-numbered years is not affected. The deadlines to order elections and to file an application for a place on the ballot have been adjusted to comport more accurately with the new reality of the resulting time constraints caused by the bill.
The announcement of candidacy for a different office, when more than one year remains in the office held, forces an automatic resignation from the current office. To comply with the MOVE Act, without changing the date of the March primary election, SB 100 imposes a Dec. 12 primary election filing deadline.
Since this filing schedule runs afoul of the constitutional “resign to run” provision, a constitutional amendment was passed by the Legislature to amend Article XVI, Section 65. The constitutional amendment, if passed by the voters on Nov. 8, will expand the period in which officers may file for election by an additional 30 days. Look for more information in a following edition of County Issues.
SB 100 has an effective date of Sept. 1, 2011.
By Rick Thompson
TAC Legislative Staff
Counties with populations of 50,000 or more must continue to operate the Collection Improvement Program (CIP) under the Office of Court Administration (OCA).
During the 82nd Regular Legislative Session, HB 2949 by Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) passed and was signed by the governor, striking this mandate and allowing those counties to choose how best to collect delinquent fines and fees. However, during the 82nd First Called Special Session, the Legislature passed SB 1, which included language — added at the very last minute — reimposing the mandate.
During the regular session, Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) filed SB 1059, which would have made county participation in CIP voluntary. This piece of legislation passed the Senate, but did not make it to the House floor. The SB 1059 language was ultimately amended onto HB 2949 and passed into law.
During both chambers’ committee hearings on the original bill, one resource witness representing OCA testified that without the mandate, counties would stop collecting these monies, costing the state millions of dollars.
However, Angelina County Judge Wes Suiter disagrees.
“The idea that counties would stop collecting delinquent fines and fees if participation is made permissive is absurd,” Suiter said. “Like the state, counties are in a financial crisis and would only look to make the program more effective by using best practices.
“Also, this is a large state and one size doesn’t fit all. To require Angelina County to collect fines and fees the same way Dallas or Bexar does, is not being realistic.”
In the final days of the 82nd First Called Special Session, through a legislative maneuver allowing the conference committee to add language found in neither the House or Senate version of SB 1, the Legislature reversed the actions of HB 2949, making county participation in CIP mandatory.
Once again, 54 counties with existing programs will operate under this resurrected unfunded mandate. In addition, as a result of official 2010 Census numbers, eight new counties will be required to participate in CIP as well.
By Ender Reed
TAC Legislative Staff
As technology continues to develop and improve dramatically, it has become the driving force in fostering greater government efficiency. This increased efficiency can often result in the delivery of better services for taxpayers and lower costs for governmental bodies.
The Texas House of Representatives, recognizing the critical role of technology in government, created a Technology Committee during the 82nd Legislative Session to deal solely with legislation pertaining to technology issues. A few technology bills passed during the session will directly affect the operations of county government.
One of these bills is HB 2338 by Rep. Ken Paxton (R-McKinney), which mandates a “Truth in Taxation Summary” be placed on county websites. The bill requires the tax assessor-collector to post certain property tax information on the county’s website, if the county maintains one.
The assessor-collector is expected to post the adopted tax rate, the maintenance and operations rate, the debt rate, the effective tax rate, the effective maintenance and operations rate, and the rollback tax rate for all taxing units in the county. The posting will begin with information from the most recent five years beginning with the year 2012.
The comptroller will prescribe the manner in which the information must be presented on the website. Concurrent with the “Truth in Taxation Summary” legislation, under SB 1692 by Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville), the comptroller will be mandated to provide a link on its website to the websites of each municipality and county that provides budget information for that entity.
Another bill worth highlighting is HB 3333 by Rep. Aaron Peña (R-Edinburg). This legislation allows the governor to order the Department of Information Resources to disconnect a computer network from the Internet in the event of a “substantial threat to the computer network.”
Given the prevalence of hacking groups — such as Anonymous— seeking to infiltrate government websites, as well as the revelation of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, government website security bills will likely become more prominent in future sessions.
Though HB 3333 generally limits the governor’s authority to shutting down state agency websites, if a county has contracted with the Department of Information Resources to manage its network security, then the governor would also have authority to shut down that county’s website.
By M. Blain Johnson
TAC Legislative Editor
The Sheriffs’ Association of Texas (SAT) recently awarded TAC Legislative Liaison Laura “Lori” Nicholes the President’s Award for her support of the association and “unselfish service to the people of the State of Texas.”
Association President and Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter presented Nicholes with the award at the association’s conference in Houston on July 19. The award is presented annually to an individual that has gone “above and beyond” to help the sheriffs. 
“I had the opportunity to work with Lori during SAT committee hearings, getting her feedback after meetings, talking about proposed legislation, talking to legislative aides and other sheriffs and citizens,” Painter said. “Lori Nicholes always conducted herself very professionally and with the utmost integrity.”
For the past decade at TAC, Nicholes has monitored legislation pertaining to criminal justice, law enforcement, mental health, immigration, juvenile justice, jails, prisons, probation, parole, tax assessor-collectors — and even feral hogs.
Nicholes said the recognition from the association came as a complete surprise.
“I was speechless at the time,” Nicholes said.
But now that she’s had time to reflect, Nicholes said she wants to let the sheriffs know that the credit for the legislative session’s successes belongs to them.
“I want them to know that it wasn’t really me that did it,” Nicholes said. “It was the sheriffs who responded to all those requests for phone calls, letters and presence at the Capitol. Some dropped everything they were doing to come to the Capitol on no notice —and then they stayed at hearings until after midnight.
“Thankfully, they allowed me their trust and the opportunity to provide insight so they could make things happen.”
During the 82nd Legislative Session, Nicholes represented the sheriffs’ interests and kept an eye out for issues that would impact their offices, especially their budgets. Nicholes said the Legislature didn’t waste any time moving straight to budget cuts that would impact county law enforcement.
“Everything they were cutting in the budget was going to trickle down to the local level, and so much of that was going to impact the jails and sheriffs’ department operations,” Nicholes said. “Sitting in the legislative committee meetings for the past 10 years, I had a pretty good idea of how the cuts might impact the sheriffs or how other legislation might impact their operations, and I tried to get them ahead of the flow.”
Painter attributed much of the association’s successful working relationships with legislators this session to Nicholes’ diplomatic way of helping sheriffs be heard in committee.
“If she had an altering view, she presented her side and respectfully listened to the other party,” Painter said. “Lori had no problem presenting her side of an argument, but she did so with the utmost respect, always keeping the county’s side within perspective.”
Whereas many groups grow disillusioned with the Legislative process, perceiving that the Legislature is going to do what it wants no matter what the people say, Nicholes said that’s not been the case with the sheriffs.
“The sheriffs have a tremendous amount of respect and influence at the Capitol,” Nicholes said. “I’ve never been to a hearing where they didn’t want to hear from a sheriff.”
Nicholes said one afternoon she walked into a committee chairman’s office and the staff let her know just how much impact the sheriffs have. “I was told ‘Lori, the sheriffs have been tying up our phone lines for two days. Tell them we got the message.’”
Ultimately, Nicholes said it’s TAC’s cohesive working partnership with the Sheriffs' Association that’s been able to effect change and protect their budgets.
“If I can open the door, that’s fantastic, but it’s their efforts that get the job done.”
During the special session, the Legislature passed SB 4, a congressional redistricting plan authored by Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo). To view the approved map, known as PlanC185, visit the Texas Legislative Council’s district viewer.
By Elna Christopher
Director of Media Relations
During the most recent legislative session, House and Senate constitutional amendments that would prohibit unfunded mandates did not pass the Legislature.
In 2013, it will be time to try again.
There was some good news about counties’ persistent quest for an unfunded mandate constitutional amendment, despite the overall bad news that none of the three resolutions made it to the House or Senate floors. There were 95 bi-partisan authors and co-authors on one – HJR 56 by Rep. Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton) – only five short of the two-thirds needed for House passage of a constitutional amendment.
Almost all counties passed resolutions in support HJR 56, and their resolutions played a major role in getting all those co-authors to sign on.
The other two constitutional amendments filed were:
Both HJR 56 and HJR 89 made it to the House Calendars Committee but not to the floor. SJR 17 did not get a committee hearing on the Senate side.
If any of the three resolutions had passed the Legislature, voters would have weighed in on the November 2011 ballot. We firmly believe that voters would have approved – since county officials have been, and must continue, to inform local taxpayers that mandates cost them money the state should be paying.
Why we will try again in 2013
The financial burdens placed upon counties by the Legislature in recent decades have become onerous for local property taxpayers – either causing local property tax hikes or reductions in services.
Examples include the 2001 Fair Defense Act, which has doubled the costs for appointed attorneys, with state reimbursement accounting for only about 10 percent of that cost – meaning the local property taxpayers must make up the difference. Another recent unfunded mandate is SB 6 from 2005 that mandated counties must provide attorneys for indigent parents in CPS cases. Other unfunded mandates include indigent health care and requirements for some counties to have mandatory civil service systems.
The State of Texas fights for its rights against encroaching federal mandates. Counties and Texas taxpayers should be protected from additional costly mandates from the state.