Capital Highlights
Budget bill goes to conference committee
Ed Sterling Texas Press Association

A USTIN - The Texas House of Representatives on

April 17 refused to

accept Senate amendments to House Bill 1, the proposed state budget for 2008-2009.

Differences in the House and Senate versions of the $150 billion budget will have to be worked out in a 10-member conference committee. Speaker Tom Craddick, RMidland, named the five House appointees to the conference committee: Reps. Warren Chisum RPampa; Ryan Guillen, D-San Diego; Sylvester Turner, DHouston; Dan Gattis, RGeorgetown; and Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham.

Four floor motions to instruct conferees to go into the negotiations with certain non-negotiable points were voted down by the full House.

Chisum thanked members for voting down the motions, saying he thought it better to proceed "without tipping your hand."

Senate members had not been named to the conference panel as of press time for this column.

The Legislative Budget Board's pie chart of the Senate version shows education getting 36.6 percent of the budget, health and human services getting 31.6 percent, and the remaining one-third of the budget going to all other functions, including, for example, business and economic development, property tax relief and public safety and criminal justice.

House approves handgun bill

The House passed HB 991 by Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, legislation that would make the names of concealed handgun license holders confidential.

Current law allows a requestor to give the Department of Public Safety another person's name and find out if that person holds a Texas concealed handgun license.

Advocates of the legislation say it's nobody's business who has a license. Opponents say it's a matter of personal safety to be able to find out who might be carrying a concealed handgun. The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.

If HB 991 becomes law, concealed handgun licenses will be the only confidential stateissued licenses. Senate amends loan program

The Senate on April 18 passed legislation amending the forgiveness part of the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program.

SB 1496 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would allow students who graduate within five years from an eligible four-year institution with at least a 2.5 grade point average to have 50 percent of their education loan forgiven.

In 2003, Zaffirini's SB 4 created the B-On-Time Loan Program, providing Texas students with a zerointerest higher education loan.

Under the program, students are required to graduate with a 3.0 GPA within four years for a fouryear degree or within five years for a five-year degree to have 100 percent of their loans forgiven.

Senate passes redistricting bill

Legislation by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, would require congressional redistricting to be determined by a bipartisan panel appointed by the House, Senate and governor's office.

The Senate passed SB 1068 by Wentworth on April 16, and it has moved to the House for further consideration.

Until the recent, mid-decade redistricting, lines were redrawn every 10 years.

Supporters of the bill say if the redistricting task is in the hands of a special commission, it would free up the Legislature to work on other important law-making. Opponents say moving district boundaries is a job the full House and full Senate should keep.

House passes record votes bill

The House approved House Joint Resolution 19, authored by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, requiring each legislator's final votes on legislation to be recorded and available for public view on the Internet.

The measure has moved to the Senate for consideration. If it passes, Texans will have the opportunity on Nov. 7 to cast a yes or no vote on HJR 19, along with other proposed amendments to the state constitution.

Flags fly at half staff for V-Tech

Gov. Rick Perry directed that flags be flown at half-staff to honor the lives of the victims of the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech.

The governor's directive was effective April 17 through sunset on April 22.

Ed Sterling is director of member services for the Texas Press Association in Austin.