The budget (HB 1) was voted out of Senate Finance late last week and could be up on the Senate floor later this week.  Once this action is taken, both the House and the Senate can appoint conference committee members to begin the budget deliberations.  In addition, the supplemental appropriations bill (SB 30) has passed both Houses, but has not yet had conferees appointed.  The finance and budget process have begun taking center stage in the current “charged” atmosphere.  In addition, internal off-color alleged personal behavior adds to the cacophony of noise in what was and is a very strange legislative session. 

The recently passed House version of property tax reform is dead on arrival according to the Lt. Governor.  The versions in each house are worlds apart and at this point neither side appears interested in compromise, the Lt. Governor loudly proclaiming that he has no plans this summer and is happy to be here working on this issue.

The Governor has spent the past 2 months traveling the countryside speaking to potentially “pro” voucher groups in an attempt to persuade locals to pressure enough key rural Republicans needed to pass some sort of a voucher program.  There was a test vote that occurred on an amendment presented during the House budget process.  The House voted 86 to 52 in favor of amending the House version of the budget to “ban state funding for school vouchers or other similar program”. 

The amendment vote came on an interesting day,  the same day the Senate voted to create a “voucher” like program and 5 days before a House committee considers the subject.  The 86 votes were less than the 115 votes that a similar amendment received on the budget bill last session.  The Senate approved measure would establish an “education savings account” program that would give parents up to $8,000 per student each year.  I am sure there is more to come on this issue.

All 3 of these issues are taking up a significant amount of interest, time and oxygen from the session and the time left is brief.  While the session does not conclude until May 29^th, the House has self-imposed deadlines that bring hard stops to bills that have yet to move through the process.  Realistically, if your House bill is not out of committee by the end of this week, that bill will have a difficult time successfully working through the system. 

The House is significantly behind on the number of bills passed to date so far this session compared to past sessions and the current pace of the Senate.  As of this past Friday, the House has passed 75 bills while the Senate has passed 310 bills.  For context, last session at this time the House had passed 191 bills and the Senate 195. In 2019 those numbers were House 180 and Senate 288.  It is possible for the House to increase its pace, but these slowdowns are almost always intentional.  SB 28 and its enabling legislation SJR 75 are up for a hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday April 18^th at 8 am.  As was the case in the Senate AG/Water committee hearing, Mark Ellison (IDE) and Ronnie Woodruff from Brazosport Water Authority will be testifying on behalf of desalination. The current financial commitment at this point remains $3B.  How much of that amount is actual money or illusionary money remains to be seen.   Until leadership in the House and Senate decide on many of these other pressing big-ticket items (property tax relief, school funding, retired teacher raise, state employee raise etc.) the actual amount contained within the bill will be somewhat fluid.  Our only course of action is to work with what is proposed in the legislation and be nimble enough to adjust as the legislation adjusts.  While time is short, much can happen in the waning days of a legislative session.

The 88th meeting of the Texas Legislature is well underway and could potentially have a great impact on the future of water in Texas.  After experiencing almost continuous multi-year droughts during the past decade, our state government appears to be interested in making long term investments in water infrastructure.  Over the past 20 plus years, state assistance in water projects have been centered around low interest loans to individual communities.  While this practice has been beneficial to local communities, it has limited more regional large-scale projects. 

It now appears that there now is some interest in expanding those efforts beyond just loans.

Most members of Texas Desal are aware of Texas efforts over the past 2 years in regard to studying the potential of “Produced Water”.  That favorable report has given momentum to the next steps in the process and a request for additional funds to continue the efforts to explore the potential of this resource.  Senator Charles Perry, author of the original “Produced Water study” legislation will be seeking an additional $5 Million to continue and expand the efforts of the Produced Water Consortium.  While nothing is for certain at this time, Senator Perry’s level of interest and focus on this issue certainly increases the chances of ultimate success.

There are also efforts on a larger more comprehensive scale to supply water to a growing Texas.  Senator Perry and Representative Tracy King have filed legislation in both the House and the Senate to create the “Water for Texas” fund.  SB 837 and HB 2483 (identical) will provide additional financial resources to the Texas Water Development Board to address infrastructure repair (leaky pipes) and the development of new water, reuse and desalination (brackish and marine).  The amount and focus of this commitment is unprecedented and, if passed, will indicate a level of support for expanded water infrastructure in Texas not seen in many years. We applaud Senator Perry and Representative King on their efforts to invest in the long-term water infrastructure in Texas.  The Texas Desalination  Association is looking forward to assist both Senator Perry and Representative King in these efforts to supply Texas with this much needed resource.

The session has begun.

Sort of.

Tuesday January 10^th 12 noon, House and Senate members got sworn in and became official.  Representative Dade Phelan (R- Beaumont) was elected Speaker with a vote of 147 to 3.  The 3 went to  Representative Tony Tinderholt (R- Ft Worth). History tells us that members who vote against the eventual Speaker do not necessarily fare well.  Time will tell if this trend continues.  This futile effort was not a surprise.  Representative Tinderholt has not been subtle about his intentions.  He leads a small group of Republican members who feel that the Texas House has not quite completed its starboard tack, Speaker Phelan being the current main impediment in that further shift to the right.       

The complaint or issue de jour for this session is the long-standing habit of appointing a small number of minority party chairman.  This has been a tradition in the Texas House (and Senate) as long as there has been a party in the minority (R or D). While we wait to see the eventual committee assignments in both Houses, there is a good chance that there will be several D chairs in the House at least.  Last session there was only 1 D chairman in the Senate, John Whitmire (D- Houston) who was chair of the Criminal Justice committee.  We should know soon whether that trend continues. 

While the Senate committee assignments should be completed soon, the House will be awhile coming.  House members have been requested to submit their committee preferences by Thursday January 26^th.  The challenge by the Speaker and his team at that point is to arrange the puzzle between members, attempting to align their seniority  requests with the Speaker’s desires and construct committees that can function to accomplish the work that the House needs to complete.  Think of a wall of puzzle sticky note pieces with names on them, being moved around to complete a picture.  Not an easy task considering all that is attempting to be accomplished with the finished picture. 

Water has figured in both Governor and Lt. Governor agendas as well.  It has been many years since water was front and center of the legislative consciousness, this discussion is greatly needed.  With on-going droughts and regular flooding now becoming our new normal, it is time for the state to take a leadership position on water and spend some of this unusual surplus on water infrastructure.

As of today approximately 2,000 bills and resolutions have been filed.  Over 1450 House bills and about 500 Senate bills.  Many dealing with property tax reductions, and, after listening to both the Lt. Governor and Governor inaugural speeches I think it is pretty certain that we will see property taxes reduced.  While it sounds like a significant amount of money most of the proposals would result in less than $200 per year on the average home.  While certainly better than nothing, not by much. 

In addition, both the Governor and the Lt. Governor mentioned (to varying degrees) improving the power grid and school vouchers.  The voucher discussion has never been particularly serious during past sessions with a coalition of rural Republican and Democratic House members coming together to defeat any effort.  While the Governor talked about his support of school choice during the campaign, the Lt. Governor qualified his support with the desire to protect rural communities.  How far this effort progresses remains to be seen.  Regardless, this type of issue manages to remove lots of oxygen from the room and eat up lots of legislative time. 

A number of other issues will also steal time from needed infrastructure discussions including:

Transgender considerations, abortion restrictions, border security, CRT and other red-meat Republican issues. If past is prologue, figure that bills will pass and be signed reflecting these interests. 

The General Appropriations Bills have been filed.  Lots of water still to pass underneath this bridge as this is just a beginning.  Both the House and Senate bills are very similar emphasizing tax relief, school funding, and border security.  While both spend similar amounts they of course differ in the details.  Both bills leave approximately $50 Billion on the table based on Comptroller Hegar’s budget estimate.  127 days till the session over.  Hang on, its going to be a bumpy ride.

On Tuesday October 18^th the House Natural Resources Committee met to hear the final interim charge.  This charge dealt specifically with desalination.  There were a number of witnesses who testified during the several hours-long hearing.  Erica Mancha and Matt Nelson, from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) along with Kimberly Nygen and Robert Sadlier, from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) comprised the first panel.  They gave some background on the current state of desal around Texas and how TCEQ works with these projects.  The next panel was made up of Kyle Frazier, Texas Desalination Association (TXD) Exec. Dir. and Rebecca Grande, both discussed the ongoing need for additional water and how desalination can help impact that need. Michael Esparza, from the City of Alice, John Niland, from Invenergy, Richard Whiting, from Seven Seas and Thomas Williams, also from Seven Seas made up the next panel.  They discussed the current project in Alice and touched on the activities currently underway in Corpus Christi.  The final panel was representatives of the environmental community Jessica Eubanks, with Citizens Climate Lobby and Alex Ortiz, with Sierra Club. 

The committee had a variety of questions for each of these panels and indicated an interest in the future of desalination as a water source.  While no specific legislation was associated with this hearing, it is instructive that legislation often emerges from these interim hearings.  Overall, it was a positive step in raising awareness in desalination projects and the ongoing need for new water sources. If interested the you can watch the entire hearing on the state website via the link below:

https://tlchouse.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=46&clip_id=23672

With the general election fast approaching a recent dollar figure came to my attention. $200 million (I feel like this number should have an exclamation point but perhaps I’m the only one that is shocked by this figure).  This number comes from the most recent campaign finance report from our major candidates for Governor.  Governor Abbott and former congressman Beto O’Rourke have raised a combined $200 million. 

That seems excessive.

That number is one that most of us have no concept of nor will ever have to consider.  For the sake of perspective, how much will $200 million dollars buy today?  Currently the median home price in Texas is $257K, so $200 million will buy you approximately 778 single family homes, or a small subdivision.  The Frost Bank tower in downtown Austin cost $137 million in 2003, after inflation lets just call that a wash and assume you could probably get the equivalent today for approximately $200 million.  The yearly budget for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (not the largest or the smallest state agency) is around $54 million, so you could fund the TABC for almost 4 years at its current budget.

For a campaign there are no “tangible” assets acquired during the campaign itself.  There are some people employed and payroll taxes paid, printing services required, some office space rented, a variety of consultants paid to consult and some gas and airline fuel paid for and consumed.  Most of that money goes to the purchase of paid advertising on a variety of screens, audio speakers and mailboxes.

All with the goal of capturing our attention for a brief moment so that when (and if) we step into that voting booth we will have some recollection of something we have seen or heard that might sway our decision making at that instant.  It is a less than exact science, for we are a fickle group with very short attention spans. 

One might ask, what are the powers and duties of the Governor of Texas that would warrant this level of support? With just a minimum amount of research, the answer to this question is readily apparent. The Governor of Texas can:

• Sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature
• Serve as Commander-in-Chief of the state’s military forces
• Convene special sessions of the Legislature for specific purposes
• Deliver a report on the condition of the state to the Legislature at the beginning of each regular session
• Line-item veto portions of the state budget bill
• Make appointments to a large and varied number of state commissions and boards that actually oversee the daily running of our state government

What the Governor cannot do is introduce legislation, make committee assignments in the House or Senate or vote on any piece of legislation. The Governor can suggest, recommend, support or threaten to veto legislation but that is where it ends.  It is up to the individual members and their leadership whether any Governor’s policy suggestions are accepted or denied.  

All of these duties are indeed important.  Something that should be included on this list is the ability to make emergency declarations.  This ability gives broad authority to the Governor during declared disasters such as: hurricanes, floods, tornados, epidemics, etc. The Governor can activate the state guard, suspend certain laws and make emergency funds available to assist local and regional political subdivisions.  Most of us are aware of the use of some of these powers during past emergencies, some of us may have actually experienced the results of these powers once enacted, for better or worse.

As for the motivation for contributors to any campaign those reasons are as varied as the $200 million dollars that have been contributed so far. Ensuring each’s own version of “good government” is usually the motivation. 

My “good government” may be completely different than your “good government”, that’s what makes elections and politics combative.  It has long been said that Texas politics is a contact sport.  That has never been truer than now.    Early voting begins today, go vote.

JKF