State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-House) announced the end of the 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature. The regular session ended without Texas Southern University being placed under conservatorship.

 

During the 80th Regular Session, Rep. Coleman successfully passed over fifteen pieces of legislation to improve health care for Texas families, protect the environment, implement necessary prison reform, and promote economic development in House District 147 and other areas of the City of Houston. Rep. Coleman also successfully fought to maintain the current Top 10% law, stop private school vouchers and charter schools that threaten our neighborhood schools, and kill voter ID legislation that would have made it more difficult for people to vote.

 

These are highlights of the bills Rep. Coleman successfully passed this session, along with other important issues he worked on while in Austin:

 

 

Protecting the Independence of Texas Southern University

 

Thanks to the efforts of Rep. Coleman and Senator Rodney Ellis, the session ended without Texas Southern University being placed under conservatorship. Though specific legislation to address the financial and administrative problems at TSU did not pass, efforts by Rep. Coleman successfully maintained the accreditation and independent standing of TSU.

 

Rep. Coleman issued the following statement regarding Texas Southern University:

 

The session ended without Texas Southern University being placed under conservatorship. However, we still need an administrative plan in place that would allow the public to hold the Governor and his board appointees accountable.

 

An administration plan creates transparency for the public. An administrative plan doesn't just hold the board of regents accountable -- it holds the Governor accountable, because it allows the public to see whether or not the Governor has appointed individuals who are working to help or hurt the school. If you don't have a plan with measurements, there is no way to evaluate whether or not the board appointees are working to benefit the school.

 

An interim administration plan requires specific benchmarks for success. It lays out exactly what needs to be done to improve the school's financial and administrative issues. There is then a progress report completed that, much like a report card, grades whether or not benchmarks have been met and whether or progress is being made at the university.

 

An interim administration plan that was provided by the rider I placed in the budget and was removed -- or by the bill Senator Ellis and I filed that was killed -- would have ensured that the state of Texas is held responsible for its stewardship of TSU. It's unfortunate the language for the administration plan did not pass.

 

But for now, the university remains strong and independent, which is something I'm very proud to have worked on this session. I will continue to work on the long-term success and prosperity of Texas Southern University.

Fighting for Better Health Care for All Texans

 

·         HB 2224, authored by Rep. Coleman, would have fully restored the Children's Health

Insurance Program (CHIP) and returned health coverage to over 200,000 children. Though the legislature ultimately was unable to fully restore CHIP coverage, more than 100,000 more children will receive health coverage this session than in previous years. In addition, Rep. Coleman successfully passed legislation to remove the administrative red tape that proves a barrier to families trying to enroll their children into CHIP and Children's Medicaid.

 

·         HB 1370, authored by Rep. Coleman, creates an HIV Interagency Council. This health

council will coordinate all the statewide efforts for the prevention and treatment of HIV and Hepatitis among various state agencies.

 

·         HB 3184, authored by Rep. Coleman, the "Kids Flu Vaccine Awareness" bill will improve

education efforts for Texas families about the benefits of getting children the flu vaccine. The bill also allows certain state agencies to work with licensed daycare facilities to ensure the information is distributed to parents.

 

·         SB 453, authored by Senator Ellis and sponsored by Rep. Coleman and Rep. Yvonne Davis,

requires prisons to conduct HIV testing for all incoming prisoners.

 

·         HB 1396, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes, Rep. Coleman, and Senator Judith Zaffirini, will

greatly increase the effectiveness of the Office for the Elimination of Health Disparities (OEHD) and the Health Disparities Task Force (HDTF). The Office and its task force are responsible for eliminating health and health access disparities throughout Texas.

 

Landmark Cancer Research Legislation

 

During this session, Rep. Coleman worked closely on landmark cancer research legislation -- HB 14 and HJR 90, authored by Rep. Jim Keffer. The legislation creates a cancer research institute that will operate with a $300 million annual budget over ten years. Rep. Coleman successfully amended the cancer research bills to do the following:

 

·         Increase funding for cancer prevention and treatment by $30 million a year.

·         Ensure that the cancer research institute's grant recipients purchase goods and services from historically underutilized businesses (HUBs).

·         Expand the mission of the cancer research institute to include studies, prevention, and treatment of lung cancer.

·         Ensure minority members on the research and prevention programs committee.

 

SB 10: Medicaid Reform Legislation

 

Senate Bill 10 by Sen. Jane Nelson was a comprehensive Medicaid reform bill. Rep. Coleman successfully crafted language for the bill to do the following:

 

·         Ensure tailored benefit packages for Medicaid will not reduce current state benefits.

·         Guarantee that participation in a health savings accounts through Medicaid is strictly voluntary, and if a person chooses to receive regular state benefits again they may do so.

·         Ensure any incentives for healthy behavior are positive in nature rather than punitive.

·         Amended a long-term care study required by the bill to examine why Texas has such a high rate of people without health care.

 

Improving the Environment: The TexSUN Partnership

 

Rep. Coleman authored landmark legislation -- House Bill 2226 -- that would have provided rebates for residences and businesses to install solar energy systems. The legislation would have also allowed all solar owners to receive credit for energy they produce as a result of solar panels.

 

Rep. Coleman's bright vision for this massive solar energy plan will not go into full effect this year. However, an amendment Rep. Coleman successfully passed onto Senate Bill 12 will go into law. That amendments creates the TexSUN Partnership, a group of regional solar demonstration projects in Texas.

 

The demonstration projects are a public-private partnership, with businesses and non-profits covering the costs of the projects and the Public Utility Commission administering the program and collecting data on the success of the program.

 

"Solar is good for our environment, creates jobs, and helps cut down on utility bills," said Representative Coleman. "It just makes sense for the Texas legislature to invest in solar, and my amendment is a great start to do just that."

 

Promoting Economic Development in HD 147 & the City of Houston

 

·         HB 4110, authored by Rep. Coleman, will create the Hobby Area Management District,

which will help create and promote economic development throughout the Hobby area.

 

·         HB 4091, authored by Rep. Coleman, will expand the existing East Montrose Management

District -- which was previously created in 2005 by Rep. Coleman -- to include all of the Montrose area, delivering economic improvements to the entire Montrose community.

 

·         HB 4113, authored by Rep. Ellen Cohen and Rep. Cohen, will expand the existing Buffalo

Bayou Management District.

 

·         SB 878, authored by Sen. Mario Gallegos and sponsored by Rep. Garnet Coleman, will

make adjustments to the taxing authority of the East End Management District. The East End Management District was instrumental in the creation of, among other things, Minute Maid Park.

 

·         SB 671 & HB 4123, authored by Rep. Borris Miles & Sen. Ellis and joint-authored by Rep.

Coleman, will reunify and expand, respectively, the Greater Southeast Management District.

 

Criminal Justice & Child Safety Reform

 

·         HB 670, authored by Rep. Coleman, was named the "Shantell Thomas Act" after one of Rep.

Coleman's constituents who came to him with a child support problem in 2006. Ms. Thomas was facing a unique case in which it was difficult to collect the child support payments from her child's father due to restrictions in state law. Rep. Coleman worked with the Office of the Attorney General to draft legislation to specifically address her concerns. Rep. Coleman successfully placed the language of HB 670 onto a larger child support bill that did pass, and Ms. Thomas should now be able to collect thousands of dollars in overdue child support payments.

 

·         HB 655, the "bathroom privacy bill" authored by Rep. Coleman, prohibited the use of video

and camera photography in public restrooms and dressing rooms. Rep. Coleman successfully amended the language of his bill onto HB 1804, thereby outlawing bathroom and dressing room photography and protecting the privacy of individuals.

 

HB 1944, authored by Rep. Coleman, created the position of Ombudsperson in the office of the Inspector General to handle sexual assault cases in Texas prisons. This bill will help curb the high rate of prison assault in Texas prisons and ensure the safety of prison assault victims.