(Austin 4-6-09) 

     The Senate Health and Human Services heard testimony on two bills Tuesday that seek to change the way the state deals with developmentally disabled individuals in its care.  Laredo Senator Judith Zaffirini, author of both bills, testified that although other states are moving away from physical restraints and drug controls of patients at state developmental centers, their use continues in Texas.  She cited a recent Department of Justice investigation into state schools in Texas that found more than 10,000 instances of physical restraint applied to 751 residents in one year.  "That is appalling," she said.   The same report found, she said, that 78 percent of state school residents with maladaptive behaviors are given psychotropic drugs for treatment.  Her bills would restrict the use of physical restraint and psychoactive drugs at Texas state developmental centers.  
    Zaffirini's first bill, SB 751, would prohibit the use of straightjackets or prone holds, where the person is held on the ground, in all cases.  Other forms of physical restraint could only be used in cases where there is an imminent risk of serious injury to the resident or other residents.  When a restraint is necessary, only the least restrictive form would be permitted.  The Department of Aging and Disability Services would have to compile a report of each instance of physical restraint at state schools each month.  The bill would also prohibit the use of psychotropic medication as a restraint method, unless specifically ordered by a judge or psychologist.  
    The second bill, SB 750, deals with the use of psychotropic drugs at state schools.  Zaffirini told the committee that too many state school residents are given medication when there is no reason to do so.  "Many consumers receive medication with no diagnosis or without being identified as having a mental disorder not otherwise specified," she said.  "The DOJ found that the quality of psychiatric diagnosis in Texas state schools falls far below professionally accepted standards."
    Under SB 750, developmentally disabled residents at state schools would be given the same right to refuse medication that other institutionalized citizens do.  This could only be overridden in the case of a medication related emergency, or if the person's legally authorized representative or a judge orders otherwise.  When prescribing medication to a state school resident, a physician would have to provide to the person or the person giving consent for the medication information about the condition to be treated, any possible risk or benefit to the medicine, as well as any accepted alternative treatments for the condition.  Physicians could apply for a court order to administer the medication in situations where they deemed it necessary.  Then if the court decides that the resident lacks mental capacity, and the medication is in the person's best interest, then the medication could be administered against a resident's wishes.
    The Senate will reconvene Wednesday, April 8 at 11 a.m.

(Austin 04-06-09) 

     The Senate approved two measures Monday aimed at codifying the way the state funds and develops toll roads.  When comprehensive development agreements (CDA) were approved by the Legislature in 2003, the law was unclear about who had authority to enter into a public-private partnership to build and manage a toll road.  Many different regional mobility and toll authorities sprung up around the state, some with overlapping jurisdictions and authorities.  According to Jacksonville Senator Robert Nichols, it was only a matter of time until this led to serious confusion and disagreements.  "Truly there have been so many types of toll entities put together over a relatively short period of time…how they interact with each other, who has first right, what terms should be in [agreements], none of that has ever been established," he said.  "Eventually those entities were going to collide."  
    Nichols said this led to a moratorium on public-private partnership toll projects for two years.  His bill, SB 17, intends to make a fair, clear process to govern the CDA process in Texas.  
    SB 17 would give a regional toll authority first right of refusal to decide whether or not to develop a toll road as a public project.  If the regional authority passes, then the Texas Department of Transportation could decide whether to develop the road as a public project.  If neither body opts for the public route, then the regional toll authority gets first right to decide whether to develop the road as a private project.  If they pass, then again TxDOT can decide to develop the road as a private project.
    The bill also includes safeguards to ensure the public's right of ownership over the project.  A private entity developing a toll road must determine what the buy-back rate of the project up front; they cannot wait until the state or governmental entity wants to buy it back and then set the rate.  It also restricts non-compete clauses, which could prevent the state from building roads near the private toll project, to 30 years and the non-compete zone only extends four miles from the toll road.  
    The Senate also approved a bill that would extend the ability of entities to enter into a CDA.  The original enabling legislation set a sunset date on new public-private partnerships to September of 2009.  SB 404, by Dallas Senator John Carona, would extend this deadline six more years, until September 1, 2015.
    Restaurants in Texas would have to turn to healthier cooking fats and oils under a bill filed by El Paso Senator Eliot Shapleigh.  Trans-fats are artificially produced fats that are believed to increase the risk of heart disease even at low levels of consumption.  With obesity-related health care costs continuing to mount, Shapleigh said the state needs to do something about this public health issue.  "Across Texas, a silent epidemic of obesity is shortening lives, raising health care costs and putting more and more Texans at risk," he said.  "With Senate Bill 204…we can make sure that more Texans live strong and healthy lives."
    His bill would prohibit restaurants and other food service businesses from using trans-fats to package, store, prepare or serve food.  Violators would be subject to a $25 to $200 fine.  Shapleigh said that because 15 cities and California have passed similar laws, a market for healthy alternatives to trans-fats already exists.  He also doesn't buy the arguments that this is an issue of personal responsibility. " I think we heard, word for word, those same arguments for smoking, about 25 years ago, when you got on an airplane," he said.  "What this will do is push healthier choices in restaurants, and make sure that those choices are available in Texas."  Shapleigh was joined at the press conference by Glen Garey, the general council for the Texas Restaurant Association, which supports the bill.  
    The Senate will reconvene Tuesday, April 7 at 11 a.m.

(Austin  04-03-09) 

   The Senate approved its version of the state budget on Wednesday, passing a bill that would spend $182 billion over the next two years.  This biennial budget is a seven percent increase over 2008-2009, but nearly half that growth is attributable to federal stimulus money.  Actual state spending grows only about two percent per year over the next biennium, a fact Lt. Governor David Dewhurst says shows the Senate's commitment to fiscal responsibility.  "When families all around the state of Texas are tightening the belt," he said, "they know that, at least in the Legislature, our members are trying to do everything we can for people that are suffering."
    The Senate budget includes more money for higher education, including $134 million for student financial aid.  Health and human services funding is up over last biennium, with $3.1 billion going to reduce waiting lists for state entitlement services.  Most of the federal stimulus money for Texas would be spent on infrastructure construction, as well as $500 million for workforce development and re-training.  Once House budget writers finish their version of the appropriations bill, members of both chambers will come together to formulate a final state budget, which should come up for a vote sometime in May.
    The Senate passed two measures this week aimed at curbing drunk driving in Texas.  The first bill, SB 261 by Greenville Senator Bob Deuell, would expand the circumstances under which a drunk driving suspect would be compelled to take a breath or blood test.  Suspects couldn't refuse to give a sample if they have one prior felony intoxication conviction or two prior DWI convictions.  They would also have to give a sample if they were pulled over while driving with a child in the car, or caused an accident that sends someone to the hospital.     
    The other bill, SB 298 by Senator John Carona of Dallas, would permit the use of drunk driving checkpoints in urban counties.  These checkpoints must be advertised prior to implementation in a newspaper or on the Internet, and cannot last longer than four hours.  Locations must be determined based on prevalence of drunk driving, and not ethnic or socio-economic factors.  A checkpoint could be set up at a given location only once a year, and a driver would be asked to show a driver's license and insurance card only if there is a reasonable suspicion of drunk driving.  Both bills now head to the House for further consideration.
    In committee action this week, the Senate Business and Commerce Committee looked at a bill aimed at rebuilding the state's catastrophic storm insurance fund. Bill sponsor Senator Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay said that the fund is almost depleted, and if another major hurricane hit the Texas coast, the state could owe as much as $80 billion in insurance payouts. This is because the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), intended to be the insurer of last resort for coastal property holders, is now virtually the only entity writing insurance in that region.  Fraser said this is a consequence of the low premiums offered through TWIA coupled with a lack of reinsurance for private underwriters.
    Fraser acknowledged his plan won't be popular with many people, because it asks both insurers and policy holders to help refill the catastrophic insurance fund, but he warned that the state must take action.  "Doing nothing is unacceptable.  If we do nothing, we run the risk of bankrupting the state of Texas if we have a major storm," he said.  His bill, SB 14, would require insurance companies to kick in $400 million to the fund, and would raise windstorm insurance premiums on coastal property owners by at least 20 percent.  The bill remains before the committee.
    Also in committee this week was a bill intended to expand coverage of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by creating a buy in program for families currently above the eligibility limit of 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).  The bill, SB 841 by Senator Kip Averitt, would create a graduated program that permits buy-in for families that earn up to 300 percent FPL, with the state contribution decreasing and the individual cost increasing as annual income approached that 300 percent level.  Averitt believes this will get more children health insurance in Texas.  "I think we're going to be able to attract more children who currently don't have health insurance into the Children's Health Insurance Program," said Averitt.  The bill would also permit families that make more than 300 percent FPL, about $66,000 for a family of four, to buy insurance through CHIP, though they would have to pay the entire cost of the premium.
    The Senate will reconvene Monday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m.
 

(Austin 3-31-09) 

     Saying Texas is facing a financial catastrophe, the Chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce committee laid out a bill Tuesday aimed at funding insurance for coastal property owners.  Senator Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay said the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), the insurer of last resort for storm insurance along the coast, is almost out of money. With nearly $80 billion in obligations to policy-holders on the coast, Fraser warned that if another catastrophic storm hits the coast, the consequences to the state could be severe.  "Doing nothing is unacceptable.  If we do nothing, we run the risk of bankrupting the state of Texas if we have a major storm," he said.
    Much of the problem with TWIA, said Fraser, is that it has become the only insurer along the coast. He pointed out two main reasons for this. First, because TWIA offers very low premiums, it is pricing private insurers out of the market.  Also, a lack of reinsurance funds for underwriters, used to offset catastrophic claims, makes insuring Texas coastal properties very risky.  
    Fraser admitted that many would disagree with the bill, SB 14, because it would levy surcharges on both insurers and policy holders in order to build the catastrophic emergency fund.  SB 14 would require TWIA-member insurers to pay a $400 million surcharge to build the fund.  It would also increase premiums on all TWIA policy holders, a 20 percent increase to rates this year, with a 10 percent increase each of the next four years for policies written on a primary home, and 20 percent more for secondary homes.  The state would kick in $500 million this year, and would contribute more to the fund over the next four years.  The bill would also make it harder to get insurance through TWIA, requiring proof of two denials from private underwriters to get coverage.  New TWIA policies for secondary homes would have a 40 percent surcharge added.  
    Senators from coastal regions expressed their displeasure with the bill.  Senator Tommy Williams of the Woodlands, who represents the upper Texas coast, disagreed with the notion that the premium surcharges would only impact rich property owners with million-dollar beach houses.  "I have a lot of hard working people, they are doing very tough jobs that are important to the economic future of this state, and they're going to be adversely impacted by the decisions that we make and by the way this bill is laid out now," he said.  Brownsville Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. wants to spread the cost around.  "If we want to be able to raise some serious money that will address a state issue, which this is, we should look at a blanket surcharge across the state," he said.  Lucio pointed out that the coastal economy is a critical part of the Texas economy, so any decision that impacts the coast will impact the whole state.  
    Fraser doesn't think the surcharges are too onerous.  He pointed out that policy holders along the coast have been paying an artificially low rate through TWIA, and under a private insurer would have paid a higher market rate.  "The bulk of the burden right now we're putting on the insurance companies," said Fraser. "[Rates] have been insufficient for an extremely long time, and that [increase] would just move them in the direction of a fairness level, but wouldn't really get them to a fair level."
    The Senate will reconvene Wednesday, April 1 at 11 a.m.