2009 Policy Orientation Panel Summaries
Lifting the Veil on Government Spending
(Presenters: Rep. Mark Strama, Dr. David Simmons, Collin County Judge Keith Self, Kristina Rasmussen. Moderator: The Honorable Talmadge Heflin.)
With legislative action taken in the 2007 session and strong support from Governor Rick Perry and Comptroller Susan Combs, Texas has begun to lift the veil on government spending giving citizens a chance to see where their money goes. Interested taxpayers are witnessing a growing number of counties, cities and school districts beginning to open their check register for the public to see; some even making history in the process! In just a few short years, Texas has become a national leader in fiscal transparency, but there are still improvements to be made. Does the state register need to be more user friendly and searchable - should the legislature require all counties, cities and school districts to have their check registers on line - do people care? Join us as a panel of nationally renowned experts discusses just how we go about applying the power of 21st century technology to government spending.
New Directions for Texas Corrections
(Presenters: Sen. John Whitmire, Rep. Jerry Madden, Adam Gelb, Mike Griffiths. Moderator: Justin Keener.)
While Texas criminal justice reforms made since 2005 have attracted national attention, the state still has the nation's second highest incarceration rate and the prison system is seeking another $1.08 billion just to run existing facilities. Meanwhile, the Texas Youth Commission is smaller and more accountable, but the jury is still out on the effectiveness of its programs. With these and many other challenges, Texas policymakers will once again consider reforms to ensure taxpayers' money is spent wisely to protect public safety, restore victims, and reform offenders.
Finishing the Job: Completing the Move to a File-and-Use Regulatory System
(Presenters: Rep. Carl Isett, Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, Jim Oliver, Steve Pociask. Moderator: Bill Peacock.)
Reform of the rules governing the Texas homeowners' insurance market in 2003 called for a file-and-use regulatory system. However, five years into the reforms, the Sunset Review Commission's Staff Report on the Texas Department of Insurance rightly concludes that the "Legislature cannot judge the success of the shift to file-and-use rate regulation because the system has not been fully implemented." This panel will examine how and if file-and-use regulation should be fully implemented in Texas to improve the Texas insurance market.
Taking Texas Higher Education to the Next Level
(Presenters: Rep. Dan Branch, Dr. Richard Vedder, Rick O'Donnell. Moderator: Dr. Wendy Gramm.)
Adjusted for inflation, operating costs at Texas universities have increased 65 percent since 1991, which has led to significant increases in tuition. As Texas seeks to meet its goal of an additional 630,000 students attending college by 2015, policymakers are seeking ways to increase efficiency and affordability. The Foundation has recommended solutions such as student-centered funding, separating teaching and research budgets, and compensating faculty based on productivity. In May 2008, regents from every system came together to discuss these solutions and Texas Tech and other universities are now implementing many of them. Together, higher education leaders and lawmakers have a unique opportunity to make Texas a beacon of excellence in both teaching and research.
Innovation, Educational Excellence, and the Role of Charter Schools
(Presenters: Sen. Florence Shapiro, Tom Torkelson, Linda Bridges, Paul Vallas. Moderator: Brooke Terry.)
Charter schools are subject to less regulation and therefore have freedom to innovate. What best practices can we learn from charter schools? How are charter schools performing in comparison to traditional public schools? This panel will address public charter schools from a variety of perspectives.
What's the Prescription for Patient-Driven Health Care?
(Presenters: Rep. Rob Orr, Dr. Albert Gros, John Hawkins, Alison Mitchell. Moderator: Justin Keener.)
An in-depth discussion of provider regulations and the role they play in the health care market. The panel will provide insight on Texas' scope of practice laws and how they affect the price of health care and impact the delivery and accessibility of services.
Margins Tax: Fee or Flee
(Presenters: Rep. Dan Branch, Rep. Ken Paxton, James LeBas, Kurt Summers. Moderator: Talmadge Heflin.)
The first payment on the new margins tax has been made. According to the Comptroller, revenue from the initial collections was slightly lower than expected. With the economy cooling, what effect will the state’s new tax on businesses have on job creation, investment, and wages? Is this tax really more equitable than the previous franchise tax or does it, as many claim, punish small and medium size businesses and unfairly benefit larger, more capital intensive businesses. A knowledgeable panel with diverse views explores the viability of this tax and possibly determines the fate, short and long term, of the revised business tax.
Texas Electricity: Is Deregulation Here to Stay?
(Presenters: Rep. Phil King, Don Ballard, Peter Van Doren. Moderator: Bill Peacock.)
High natural gas prices and restrictions on coal and nuclear generation continue to keep pressure on electricity prices in Texas. Some people want to blame deregulation for the increase in prices. This panel will examine the state of the Texas electricity market—its successes and challenges, and examine whether the call by critics to return to a regulated market is desirable, or even possible.
Texas Water Markets: Obstacles and Opportunities
(Presenters: Sen. Kip Averitt, Bennet Raley, Lynn Sherman, Mark Kelly. Moderator: Kathleen Hartnett White.)
Texas faces a daunting challenge to develop additional water supply to meet growing needs. Landmark water legislation (SB 1), enacted in 1997, stipulated that "voluntary redistribution of existing supply" was an optimal means of meeting future demand. In the last 10 years, however, water marketing has been limited to a few areas. What facilitates or discourages water markets? The panel will focus on obstacles, limitations, and opportunities for water markets in Texas.
Doing More with Less: The Role of Privatization and Competition in Transportation
(Presenters: Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, Deirdre Delisi, Tom Johnson, Steve Stagner, Robert Poole. Moderator: Justin Keener.)
Our state's transportation infrastructure is under tremendous strain due to unbridled economic and population growth. Policymakers seeking to fund solutions to these challenges face many obstacles, from skyrocketing inflation on construction materials, to reduced tax revenue due to increasing vehicle fuel efficiencies. This panel will examine options that leverage private-sector efficiencies to stretch taxpayers' limited fuel tax dollars.