By Martha Estes - July 13, 2008
This is the last reminder of the particulars of this IMPORTANT Hearing. The link below will allow you to watch the meeting on the internet if you cannot attend.
Scheduled Sunset TxDOT Meeting:
July 15, 2008 – 9:00 am
Room E1.030, Capitol Extension – House Appropriations Committee Room
Questions: 512.463.1300
Agenda
9:00 a.m.
Call to Order
Approval of Minutes
Commission Decisions:
Texas Racing Commission/Equine Research Account Advisory Committee
Staff Presentation and Public Testimony: *Department of Transportation
Other Business
Adjourn
* Witness Affirmation Form. If you plan to testify, please submit your Witness Affirmation Form 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. If presenting written testimony, please provide 15 copies.
Meeting materials will be available on Friday, July 11.
Staff reports on the above agencies are available.
INTERNET ACCESS to Meeting
The meeting is broadcast live on the Internet.
Current status of the proceedings will be posted on the homepage.
Notice of Assistance at Public Meetings
Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, are requested to contact Cee Hartley at 512.463.1300, 4 days prior to the meeting so appropriate arrangements can be made
USEFUL INFO FOR ANY VISIT TO THE CAPITOL.
MAPS:
Capitol COMPLEX & VISITOR Parking Garage:
EXTENSION 1 Floor: (1 print page)
EXTENSION 2 Floor: (1 print page)
FLOOR 1 & GROUND: http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/SPB/Plan/FloorPlan/pdf/cap%20guide1.PDF (1 print page)
FLOORS 2,3,& 4: (1 print page)
Capitol Building DIRECTORY (Locate Offices for Senators & Representatives - Date July 2008) (4 print pages)
Menu of ALL of the MAPS of the CAPITOL:
Positions of Substance to Consider:
See TURF Recommendations.
CorridorWatch.org Recommendations.
Showing posts with label Sunset Reivew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunset Reivew. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
TxDOT Critics Named to Sunset Review Commission-
By Martha Estes - Jan. 9, 2007
FYI: about the Commission
The Commission includes twelve members. The lieutenant governor and the speaker each appoint one public member and five members from their respective chambers. They also appoint alternating chairs and vice chairs for two-year terms. Legislative members serve four-year terms and public members serve two-year terms.
The Sunset process works by setting a date on which an agency will be abolished unless legislation is passed to continue its functions. This creates an opportunity for the Sunset Commission and the Legislature to study each agency closely and make fundamental changes to its mission or operations if necessary. This includes holding public hearings and issuing a final report of findings with recommendations as to whether the reviewed state agency's mandate will be renewed or expired.
Agencies are typically reviewed every twelve years and up to 30 agencies can go through the Sunset process each legislative session. Some of the agencies up for review this term are the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Office of State-Federal Relations, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Youth Commission.
Also FYI: about the Members
On October 9, 2007 Speaker Tom Craddick (Midland) announced the appointments of #1 Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and #2 Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock) and the reappointment of #3 Ike Sugg of San Angelo, a public member of the Commission. Isett will serve as chair of the Commission.
#4 Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham), #5 Rep. Ruth McClendon Jones (San Antonio), and #6 Rep. Dan Flynn (Van) are members serving the last two years of their four-year terms (2009). Before Rep. Kolkhorst's prominent role in the opposition to the TTC footprint in the 2007 Legislative Session she was the expected Chair for the Sunset Commission.
Note: We need to keep in mind that Sen. Hegar carried the battle in the Senate for the Eminent Domain/Private Property Rights bill # 2006 to protect property owners in Condemnation. It had great support in both chambers and was vetoed by Perry.
Read more at Working for Accountable Government
TxDOT critics appointed to key state commission
By Will Lutz - The Dallas Blog - Tue, Jan 8, 2008
Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock)Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock by Will Lutz http://www.dallasblog.com/200801081001536/dallas-blog/txdot-critics-appointed-to-key-state-commission.html
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today announced his appointments to the Sunset Advisory Commission, and his appointments could spell trouble for the current brass at the Texas Department of Transportation.
Dewhurst appointed the following people: #1 Sen. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy), #2 Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen), and #3 Michael Stevens as a public appointee. Dewhurst designated Hegar as the vice chairman of the commission -- the lead Senator on the Sunset Advisory Commission. The appointments are important because the Sunset Advisory Commission is scheduled to review the often controversial Texas Department of Transportation in 2009.
Hegar made stopping the corridor one of the key themes of his successful Senate race in 2006.
Stevens is known for his work on the Governor's Business Council and for chairing the council's Transportation Task Force. The Task Force released a report critical of Department of Transportation's estimated costs of building roads in metropolitan areas.
The Sunset Advisory Commission was originally created to determine if state agencies needed abolition or consolidation. But its mandate has since been expanded to examine how to improve the structure of state agencies. The commission's recommendations become drafted in bill form and then those bills are considered by the Legislature in the next legislative session.
Hegar, Stevens, and Hinojosa join #4 Sens. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), #5 Kim Brimer (R-Arlington), and #6 Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) who are serving the last two years of their four-year terms. Hegar and Hinojosa were appointed to four-year terms, and Stevens was appointed to a two-year term. They join six appointees of the House speaker on the commission."I truly appreciate the willingness of all three of these individuals to serve on this important commission," Dewhurst said. "I know each of them will provide knowledgeable and thought-provoking contributions as the Sunset Advisory Commission undertakes the review of some of our most important state agencies."
Read more in the Dallas Blog
FYI: about the Commission
The Commission includes twelve members. The lieutenant governor and the speaker each appoint one public member and five members from their respective chambers. They also appoint alternating chairs and vice chairs for two-year terms. Legislative members serve four-year terms and public members serve two-year terms.
The Sunset process works by setting a date on which an agency will be abolished unless legislation is passed to continue its functions. This creates an opportunity for the Sunset Commission and the Legislature to study each agency closely and make fundamental changes to its mission or operations if necessary. This includes holding public hearings and issuing a final report of findings with recommendations as to whether the reviewed state agency's mandate will be renewed or expired.
Agencies are typically reviewed every twelve years and up to 30 agencies can go through the Sunset process each legislative session. Some of the agencies up for review this term are the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Department of Insurance, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Office of State-Federal Relations, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Youth Commission.
Also FYI: about the Members
On October 9, 2007 Speaker Tom Craddick (Midland) announced the appointments of #1 Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and #2 Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock) and the reappointment of #3 Ike Sugg of San Angelo, a public member of the Commission. Isett will serve as chair of the Commission.
#4 Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham), #5 Rep. Ruth McClendon Jones (San Antonio), and #6 Rep. Dan Flynn (Van) are members serving the last two years of their four-year terms (2009). Before Rep. Kolkhorst's prominent role in the opposition to the TTC footprint in the 2007 Legislative Session she was the expected Chair for the Sunset Commission.
Note: We need to keep in mind that Sen. Hegar carried the battle in the Senate for the Eminent Domain/Private Property Rights bill # 2006 to protect property owners in Condemnation. It had great support in both chambers and was vetoed by Perry.
Read more at Working for Accountable Government
TxDOT critics appointed to key state commission
By Will Lutz - The Dallas Blog - Tue, Jan 8, 2008
Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock)Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (Irving) and Rep. Carl Isett (Lubbock by Will Lutz http://www.dallasblog.com/200801081001536/dallas-blog/txdot-critics-appointed-to-key-state-commission.html
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today announced his appointments to the Sunset Advisory Commission, and his appointments could spell trouble for the current brass at the Texas Department of Transportation.
Dewhurst appointed the following people: #1 Sen. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy), #2 Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen), and #3 Michael Stevens as a public appointee. Dewhurst designated Hegar as the vice chairman of the commission -- the lead Senator on the Sunset Advisory Commission. The appointments are important because the Sunset Advisory Commission is scheduled to review the often controversial Texas Department of Transportation in 2009.
Hegar made stopping the corridor one of the key themes of his successful Senate race in 2006.
Stevens is known for his work on the Governor's Business Council and for chairing the council's Transportation Task Force. The Task Force released a report critical of Department of Transportation's estimated costs of building roads in metropolitan areas.
The Sunset Advisory Commission was originally created to determine if state agencies needed abolition or consolidation. But its mandate has since been expanded to examine how to improve the structure of state agencies. The commission's recommendations become drafted in bill form and then those bills are considered by the Legislature in the next legislative session.
Hegar, Stevens, and Hinojosa join #4 Sens. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), #5 Kim Brimer (R-Arlington), and #6 Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) who are serving the last two years of their four-year terms. Hegar and Hinojosa were appointed to four-year terms, and Stevens was appointed to a two-year term. They join six appointees of the House speaker on the commission."I truly appreciate the willingness of all three of these individuals to serve on this important commission," Dewhurst said. "I know each of them will provide knowledgeable and thought-provoking contributions as the Sunset Advisory Commission undertakes the review of some of our most important state agencies."
Read more in the Dallas Blog
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Obscenity
By Faith Chatham - DFW RCC - Sept. 27, 2007
TxDOT and Rick Perry say there's no way to build and maintain roads and bridges in Texas without tolls yet TxDOT is spending billions of dollars on lobbying and ad campaigns. TxDOT "mislabeled" millions of dollars of PR spending as engineering.
The Governor's manion needs renovating. The State is spending $9,900.00 a month to rent Rick Perry a mansion. Taxpayers are footing the $1000.00 pet deposit for Perry's dog.
The real danger isn't the probablity of the dog damaging the mansion. It's the reality that this Governor and those he has in charge of policy and spending are "doing it to the people of Texas!"
Conservative? Definitely not.
Prudent? Absolutely not.
Legal? Probaby since the Governor's veto and threat of veto helps determine what remains legal or becomes legal!
Moral? That's for you to determine.
Personally, I see it as absolutely obscene that it was proposed, let alone approved to spend nearly $120,000 a year rent for a residence for ANY ELECTED official.
Who's the landlord? Perhaps we should follow the money and examine the relationships between those who located and approved this property and those who contributed to the decision makers. There may be no conflict of interest. Again there may be.
Money to assist Texans on the Gulf Coast whose homes and businesses were damaged by Hurricane Rita remains undisbursed. It is taking YEARS for Gov. Perry's administration and FEMA to distribute the money in Texas! (The excuse cited is they were trying to be sure that there was not graft and corruption and fraud! Perhaps we should put the people who have been so careful to insure that there is no "fraud" in the Rita distributions in charge of spending in the Governor's office and for administration costs by TxDOT.
Ironically, as time for TxDOT to be reviewed by the Sunset Review Committee nears, some rumblings are circulating about whether Texas should retire the Sunset Review committee!
The real question is whether the Sunset Review Committee will have the integrity to honestly assess corruption, mismanagement, and misappropriation of taxpayers funds and TxDot's failure to deliver necessary services.
TxDOT and Rick Perry say there's no way to build and maintain roads and bridges in Texas without tolls yet TxDOT is spending billions of dollars on lobbying and ad campaigns. TxDOT "mislabeled" millions of dollars of PR spending as engineering.
The Governor's manion needs renovating. The State is spending $9,900.00 a month to rent Rick Perry a mansion. Taxpayers are footing the $1000.00 pet deposit for Perry's dog.
The real danger isn't the probablity of the dog damaging the mansion. It's the reality that this Governor and those he has in charge of policy and spending are "doing it to the people of Texas!"
Conservative? Definitely not.
Prudent? Absolutely not.
Legal? Probaby since the Governor's veto and threat of veto helps determine what remains legal or becomes legal!
Moral? That's for you to determine.
Personally, I see it as absolutely obscene that it was proposed, let alone approved to spend nearly $120,000 a year rent for a residence for ANY ELECTED official.
Who's the landlord? Perhaps we should follow the money and examine the relationships between those who located and approved this property and those who contributed to the decision makers. There may be no conflict of interest. Again there may be.
Money to assist Texans on the Gulf Coast whose homes and businesses were damaged by Hurricane Rita remains undisbursed. It is taking YEARS for Gov. Perry's administration and FEMA to distribute the money in Texas! (The excuse cited is they were trying to be sure that there was not graft and corruption and fraud! Perhaps we should put the people who have been so careful to insure that there is no "fraud" in the Rita distributions in charge of spending in the Governor's office and for administration costs by TxDOT.
Ironically, as time for TxDOT to be reviewed by the Sunset Review Committee nears, some rumblings are circulating about whether Texas should retire the Sunset Review committee!
The real question is whether the Sunset Review Committee will have the integrity to honestly assess corruption, mismanagement, and misappropriation of taxpayers funds and TxDot's failure to deliver necessary services.
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