Rep. Garnet F. Coleman Announces End of 80th Regular Session; Rep. Coleman successfully passes over 15 pieces of legislation for HD 147

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.

End of Session Update on 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. However, no legislation to create an interim administration plan for the university ever passed. As a result, $38.6 million for Texas Southern University is in jeopardy.

Senator Ellis and I are constantly working to secure the $38.6 million for TSU. I met today with the Governor's office, and both Senator Ellis and I recently spoke with Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst on the matter.

We are moving forward to find a resolution to the problem, in order to ensure TSU receives the $38.6 million. The $38.6 million breaks down as follows:

·        $25 million in "academic development initiative" funds, otherwise known as Office of Civil Rights (OCR) dollars.
·        $13.6 million to pay for deferred maintenance costs at the university, making emergency repairs, and paying outstanding expenses. The $13.6 million in emergency appropriations is needed ASAP.

I will continue to keep you up to date on the progress of our work as we continue to do everything in our power to continue to work on the long-term success, independence and prosperity of Texas Southern University.

Budget Fails to Address Priorities of Texas Families

House Democratic leaders decried House Bill 1, the state's budget, for failing to address the critical priorities facing Texas families. The state began the regular session with a record $14.3 billion surplus, yet HB 1 still failed to find enough money to adequately address school finance issues, to lower tuition and utility rates, or to improve access to health care for too many Texas families.

However nearly $11 billion of the $14.3 billion surplus was spent to pay for future property tax cuts, including $3 billion set aside for property tax cuts in 2010-2011.

Rep. Jim Dunnam, Rep. Garnet Coleman, and Rep Pete. Gallego issued the following statements regarding the failures of House Bill 1.

Rep. Jim Dunnam:

"If this is the best budget the legislature can pass in the best of times, Texans should pray that we never see the worst of times again. I'm appalled that we couldn't use a $14.3 billion surplus to at least restore cuts that resulted from a $10 billion shortfall. This session has seen a TYC cover up and a House reduced to chaos, but more Texans will be harmed by spending $152 billion tax dollars in a budget that fails a majority of Texas families."

Rep. Garnet Coleman:

"The budget flat-out fails to invest in the future of Texas. In the budget, there are still 100,000 fewer children that would receive CHIP coverage than in 2003. In the budget, 7,000 fewer students will receive Texas GRANT dollars than in 2003. How can we invest in the future when we can't even catch up with the past?"

Rep. Pete Gallego:

"Passing the biggest budget in history at $152 billion -- and yet failing to meet our core values  -- is the wrong thing to do for Texas. Taxpayer dollars should provide for our core needs. Yet, public education is not well provided for. Teachers and children are still undervalued. In higher education, this budget does nothing to curb the skyrocketing cost of college. In fact, in 2008, 7,000 fewer kids will receive a Texas Grant than were receiving grants in 2003. Texas cannot survive, much less succeed, if we fail to educate our children."

Rep. Coleman To File At Least Fifteen More Ethics Complaints Against House Assistant Parliamentarian Ron Wilson

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) refuted the statement made by House Speaker Tom Craddick's spokeswoman, Alexis Delee, claiming that ethical allegations against Ron Wilson were false.

"Mr. Wilson cannot ignore the paper records of the Texas Ethics Commission any more than he should be able to ignore the rules of the Texas House," Rep. Coleman said.

In addition, Rep. Coleman announced that in the coming days he intends to file at least fifteen more ethics complaints against House Parliamentarian Ron Wilson. Those ethics complaints are based on incidents, going back to as far as 1993, where Mr. Wilson consistently failed to file his campaign finance reports on time.

"Mr. Wilson has shown blatant disregard for ethics in the past," Rep. Coleman said. "I believe our House Parliamentarians resigned late last night because they could no longer stand by Speaker Craddick's disdain for the rules. So what happened? Speaker Craddick went out and found Parliamentarians that have shown they have no problem showing disdain for the rules."

Rep. Coleman Delivers Ethics Complaint Against Ron Wilson

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) delivered to the Texas Ethics Commission on Saturday two ethics complaints against former State Representative Ron Wilson, who is currently serving as Speaker Tom Craddick's Assistant Parliamentarian.

The first ethics complaint states that Mr. Wilson has not yet paid an $8,300 fine to the State of Texas for failing to disclose his campaign finances before his March 2004 defeat in the Texas Democratic Primary. In failing to disclose his campaign finances before his defeat, Mr. Wilson hid $10,000 from the "All Children Matter PAC," which is run by Dr. James Leininger

"Ron Wilson has failed to pay an $8,300 to the state of Texas," Rep. Coleman said. "We should not have an Assistant Parliamentarian advising the Speaker on rules when the Assistant Parliamentarian cannot follow the rules himself."

A copy of the ethics complaint can be found here.

$38.6 million for Texas Southern University depends on Passage of TSU Legislation

Late Wednesday night, the Senate passed House Bill 15, an emergency appropriations bill. That bill included $38.6 million for Texas Southern University. However, TSU cannot receive those dollars unless legislation is passed to address the financial issues at the university or unless a conservator is appointed.

Let me repeat that: $38.6 million for TSU is dependent upon the passage of legislation to address financial and administrative issues at TSU.

The $38.6 million breaks down as follows (see exact language below):

$25 million in "academic development initiative" funds, otherwise known as Office of Civil Rights (OCR) dollars.
$13.6 million to pay for deferred maintenance costs at the university, making emergency repairs, and paying outstanding expenses.

If any legislator attempts to kill TSU-related legislation in the final days of the session, then that person will also jeopardize the university's opportunity to receive these important funds, and may in fact guarantee that a conservator is appointed to TSU.

PLEASE CALL the following House Members, and urge them to support the Ellis/Coleman amendment to HB 3851 that contains language relating to Texas Southern University.

Rep. Warren Chisum
Appropriations Chair
(512) 463-0736

Rep. Sylvester Turner
Speaker Pro Tempore
(512) 463-0554

Rep. Geanie Morrison
Author of HB 3851
(512) 463-0456

Urge them to support the Ellis/Coleman amendment for the following reasons:

The Ellis/Coleman amendment to HB 3851 will prevent a conservator from being appointed to Texas Southern University.

The Ellis/Coleman amendment to HB 3851 will guarantee that TSU receives $38.6 million in much-needed funds for Texas Southern University.

The Ellis/Coleman amendment to HB 3851 will hold the Governor and his appointees accountable and ensure the state of Texas is being held responsible for its stewardship of its university by creating a rehab plan complete with benchmarks and progress reports.

I sincerely appreciate your help, and I promise to continue doing everything in my power to protect the independence of Texas Southern University.

Sincerely,

Garnet Coleman


Here is the language added to House Bill 15:
SECTION 9 :
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: CONTINGENCY
APPROPRIATION FOR DEFERRED MAINTENANCE AND OTHER EXPENSES.
(a) Subject to Subsection (b) of this section, and in addition to amounts previously appropriated for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2007, the amount of $13,645,120 is appropriated out of the general revenue fund to Texas Southern University for the two-year period beginning on the effective date of this Act for the purpose of providing deferred maintenance, paying outstanding expenses, making emergency maintenance repairs, paying contract deficits, paying audit and legal costs, providing funding for summer school, and providing funding for the TSU/HISD Charter School.
(b) The appropriation made by Subsection (a) of this section is contingent on the occurrence of either:
(1) the enactment and becoming law of Senate Bill No.2039 or similar legislation by the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; or
(2) the appointment of a conservator for Texas Southern University under Chapter 2104, Government Code.

SECTION 10: TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: CONTINGENCY
APPROPRIATION FOR ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
(a) Subject to Subsection (b) of this section, and in addition to other amounts appropriated for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2009, that may be used for this purpose, the following amounts are appropriated out of the general revenue fund to Texas Southern University for the Academic Development Initiative:
(1) $12,500,000 is appropriated for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2008; and
(2) $12,500,000 and any unexpended balance of the amount appropriated under Subdivision (1) of this subsection are appropriated for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2009.
(b) The appropriations made by Subsection (a) of this section are contingent on the occurrence of either:
(1) the enactment and becoming law of Senate Bill No.2039 or similar legislation by the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; or
(2) the appointment of a conservator for Texas Southern University under Chapter 2104, Government Code.
(c) The amounts appropriated by Subsection (a) of this section shall be used for:
(1) proven academic success programs;
(2) existing graduate programs;
(3) undergraduate education; and
(4) initiatives to target enrollment growth.
(d) Not later than November 1 of each fiscal year, the university shall submit to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Legislative Budget Board, and the governor a report describing the use of the funds appropriated by Subsection (a) of this section that states the goals to be achieved through use of the funds and establishes timelines and milestones for showing progress in meeting the goals. The report shall include proposed actions to be taken in the event a milestone is not met.

House Leadership Says, "We Can Cut Taxes, But We Can't Cure Cancer"

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced extreme disappointment that the Texas House leadership supported a bill that sets aside $3 billion in the state's current bank account for future property tax cuts two weeks after the Texas House Leadership refused to set aside $3 billion in the state's current bank account for an important cancer research bill.

"How is it that we can cut taxes but we can't cure cancer?" Rep. Coleman asked. "There are more priorities in the State of Texas than property tax cuts -- including providing affordable health care for all Texans, improving our public schools and raising teacher pay to the national average, lowering college tuition, and decreasing the skyrocketing costs of our utility bills."

Exactly two weeks ago, the House leadership voted on a cancer research bill -- House Bill 14 -- that refused to set aside $3 billion for cancer research. At the time, arguments were made that we do not have enough money to pay for the cancer research.

"People pay taxes to improve their schools, their hospitals, their parks, and other essential priorities," Rep. Coleman said. "So long as we continue to fail to do those things, we are failing the people of Texas."

Update on TSU Legislation

Not more than an hour ago, Senator Ellis successful passed an amendment onto House Bill 3851 that contained the language from the TSU bill Senator Ellis and I have worked so hard on over the past weeks. The amendment would apply strictly to institutions of higher education, and not any other state agency.

Now that the bill with the TSU amendment has passed the Senate, it will come back to the House, where the House may either agree or disagree with the Senate amendments. The following would then happen:

·        If the House agrees, the bill goes to the governor to be signed into law.
·        If the House disagrees, the bill would go to a conference committee for final negotiations and changes.

Due to a House rule that says we must wait 24 hours for any action to be taken on Senate amendments to a House bill, the House will most likely decide whether or not to agree or disagree with the TSU amendment on Friday.

There is discussion that some House lawmakers may try to kill the bill that contains the TSU amendment because they don't want any legislation regarding TSU passed this session. I sincerely hope that is not the case, and that we are able to move forward with legislation that guarantees TSU will not be placed under conservatorship and that TSU remains a strong, independent university.

As soon as the House takes any action on the bill, I will update you to let you know what happens.

TSU Bill Unnecessarily Blocked in the House

The bill to address the financial and administrative problems at Texas Southern University was unnecessarily blocked in the House this week by some of my fellow Houston lawmakers (for more details, please see the Houston Chronicle article below). By blocking the TSU bill that had passed unanimously out of the Senate and unanimously out of the House Higher Education Committee, there is a renewed possibility that the Governor may appoint a conservator for TSU.

Despite this development, I have not given up the efforts to address the issues at Texas Southern University and prevent the appointment of a conservator for the university.

I am doing everything in my power to maintain the historic independence of Texas Southern University. I have offered a rider for the state budget that would create a rehab plan for TSU.

Offering a rider to the budget is like offering an amendment to any normal bill, except that a rider to the budget creates a requirement on how money must be spent. The TSU rider I proposed says that, out of the funds appropriated to TSU by the state, the Board of Regents must work with the State Auditor, consultants and experts, and other state agencies to develop and implement a rehab plan. The rehab plan must address finance and accounting, human resources, management information systems, planning and communications, student financial aid, contract and grant management, and other appropriate areas of administration of TSU.

The rehab plan must also address issues raised by the Deloitte & Touche LLP audit, which was transmitted to the Board of Regents of Texas Southern University on May 9, 2007 and was discussed in the May 23 Houston Chronicle article on TSU.

Finally, the rider I offered requires that strict benchmarks be set in place to guarantee that the university improves its financial and administrative standing. Progress reports would have to be made every four months to the legislative audit committee, the state auditor, and certain members of the Legislature. These reports hold the Governor and his appointees accountable and ensure the state of Texas is being held responsible for its stewardship of its university and meeting the benchmarks set forth by the rehab plan.

I am doing everything I can to ensure the TSU accountability rider makes it onto the budget. I will update you as soon as I know the progress of the rider, along with any other developments relating to Texas Southern University.

New TSU board meets as lawmakers debate its future
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE and KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Texas Southern University's new governing board started the process of rebuilding the troubled school Tuesday while state lawmakers remained at odds over how to proceed.
With the legislative session nearing an end, a compromise bill that would stave off Gov. Rick Perry's call for conservatorship at TSU unraveled in the House. Two Houston Democrats responded Tuesday with separate proposals requiring stricter oversight and greater transparency at the state's largest historically black university.

But their last-minute effort may not address the governor's concerns and thus return conservatorship to the table. Perry also could appoint four more regents to fill out the nine-member board.

"The Legislature has refused to act to fix the problems at TSU," Perry spokesman Robert Black said. "The governor has taken every conceivable approach to solve the problem. He needs legislation to act further."

Perry had supported a bill that would allow him to replace a state agency's regents with a smaller, reform-minded board in times of crisis. But some black lawmakers were reluctant to cede too much control over the board to the governor, leading to the omission of the bill from the House's calendar after the Senate passed it.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, who helped write the bill, said it is a mistake not to pass it and accused another Houston Democrat, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, of standing in the way.

"It is my belief that you have to have something all of us can live by," said Coleman, whose district includes the campus. "Why would other members intervene in a process meant to protect and save the university?"

The bill, however, failed to address specific fiscal and academic issues at TSU, said Turner, who is a member of the committee that places items on the House's agenda.
"We cannot continue to treat Texas Southern as if it is a community-based institution," he said. "It is a state-run agency. We can collectively work together in the best interest of TSU, without using the term 'mine.' It is ours."

After the bill's demise, Coleman and Turner proposed additional strings to the university's funding. Both lawmakers called for rehabilitation plans and progress reports, but diverged on the details.

Adding to the sense of urgency was the release this week of an outside audit, which concluded that the university's spending practices are rife with problems, ranging from bookkeeping errors to inadequate oversight of public funds.

In a 28-page report, auditors found that administrators sometimes violated purchasing policies, resulting in payments to vendors without proper documentation. TSU also failed to provide receipts and balance sheets for the two years under scrutiny.

Without the information, the auditor Deloitte & Touche could not finish its work or form an opinion about the university's financial well-being.

The previous regents requested the outside review in February after a spending scandal involving the university's former president and internal audits questioning expenses.

The former president, Priscilla Slade, now faces criminal charges stemming from the use of more than $260,000 in school money to furnish and landscape her home. A Harris County jury recently sentenced Quintin Wiggins, the university's former chief financial officer, to 10 years in prison for his role in the matter.

While Deloitte & Touche scolded the university's administration for lack of internal controls, it did not single out Slade or any other individual. Instead auditors suggested the problems were systemic.

Some university employees questioned the need for tighter controls, telling auditors that "this is how it has always been done," according to the report.

"It speaks volumes that a reputable firm like Deloitte & Touche cannot successfully complete an audit because things are such a mess," Black, the governor's spokesman, said. "What they have been able to uncover appears to be a systemic lack of internal controls of the school's finances. This is tremendously damning evidence that a Band-Aid will not fix."

Not all lawmakers, however, view the audit that way. Coleman said it did not tell legislators anything they did not already know.

"It made clear that controls were weak," he said. "You had to have chaos and lack of internal controls to steal. The system was set up to steal."

To address the audit and other financial problems, the new regents on Tuesday approved the hiring of a consultant who would develop a long-range plan for TSU. Former state Rep. Glenn Lewis, who is the board's chairman, said he has talked to retired Xerox Corp. executive Kerney Laday about the job.

The regents also agreed to reinstate J. Timothy Boddie Jr. as interim president for an undetermined period. His contract expired last month amid Perry's push to oust the previous board.

"For now, we want to maintain some continuity," Lewis said.

Melissa Noriega For City Council

I wanted to remind you that there is an important election tomorrow for Houston City Council, At-Large Position 3. A good friend and former colleague of mine, Melissa Noriega, is running for the position, and I hope she'll have your vote tomorrow.

Melissa is dedicated to ensuring that Houston is safe, out environment is clean, and that we have effective city government. I had the pleasure of serving with Melissa in the legislature when she filled in for her husband while he was serving in Afghanistan. I am sure she'll be an excellent council member.

Please vote for Melissa Noriega tomorrow for Houston City Council At-Large, Position 3. For more information about Melissa, click here and to find your polling place, click here.

We must close all loopholes that deny CHIP to children

Beyond bills, Texas should end administrative barriers

Published May 10 in the Houston Chronicle

By State Rep. Garnet Coleman

On Monday, the Houston Chronicle ran an op-ed by Tamika Scott, the mother of Devante Johnson. She told the heartbreaking story of how her son, Devante, lost his Children's Health Insurance Program coverage because his papers continued to fall through the cracks. Soon after he lost his health coverage, he lost his life.

In 1999, I was one of the original authors of the bill that created CHIP in Texas. Our goal was always to cover as many children as possible, not create red tape that denied health coverage to children. The administrative barriers Devante faced were the exact barriers we intended to avoid; yet, Devante's experience is one shared by hundreds of thousands of families across Texas. Just this last week, 17,000 children were kicked off CHIP, many due to administrative policies.

Until we remove all the CHIP enrollment barriers, eligible children will continue to unfairly lose their health coverage.

On Jan. 25, I joined more than 30 of my colleagues in the Texas House to announce our filing of legislation to fully restore the Children's Health Insurance Program. Our bills were designed to overturn the restrictive laws, rules and policies enacted in 2003 that have denied health coverage for more than 200,000 Texas children.

Shortly after that day, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House leaders proclaimed that CHIP restoration faced an uphill battle and warned legislators not to expect any CHIP legislation to pass this session. Despite those dire predictions, a committee hearing to discuss positive change for CHIP — the first such hearing since 2001 — was called by Human Services Committee Chairman Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs).

At the hearing, families and CHIP activists came together to advocate for the full restoration of CHIP. The dozens of bills we authored were heard, and our legislation — after being compromised to overcome the unfortunate political barriers — passed out of committee and out of the Texas House in the form of Rep. Sylvester Turner's HB 109.

The legislation that finally passed the House — which Dewhurst partially supports — is good because it fixes some of the statutory barriers. However, it fails to address all of the restrictive barriers to the program. Most importantly, it doesn't address the administrative barriers — the ones Devante and others faced — that unfairly deny children CHIP coverage.

Let me tell you why.

Administrative directives are policies that govern the administration of CHIP. These policies are not state laws, which must be established by the Texas Legislature, and they are not commission rules, which must be officially adopted by the commission. These policies may be created or changed at any time by the direction of HHSC Commissioner Albert Hawkins or other high-ranking administrators.

Policy changes made by the HHSC can happen at any time without notice to the Legislature — it really can be done as easily as you turn a faucet on or off. Those changes are also issued with minimum notice to CHIP recipients; in fact, only two days' notice was given to many of the thousands of families whose children lost CHIP coverage this month. What happens to the children who had doctor appointments this week? How can they be expected to find new health coverage in two days time?

We must encourage HHSC to adopt policies and issue administrative directives that are inclusive, and not exclusive, for providing CHIP coverage for our children.

Several months ago, before the most recent policy change by HHSC that led to thousands of children losing health coverage, I visited one of the Texas Access Alliance facilities in South Austin that processes CHIP applications. As one of the main authors that crafted the original CHIP bill, I wanted to learn why the default policies seemed to be aimed at denying CHIP coverage for children.

My visit taught me that there are more than a hundred of pages of "red tape" policies for applying to Children's Medicaid or CHIP. A single CHIP application must go through a 15-20 step process in order to be approved. At every step in the process, there is an opportunity for human error. At every step in the process, problems and questions can arise that jeopardize health coverage for a child — even if that child meets every eligibility requirement.

Too often, the default policy is to kick a child off CHIP instead of keeping them on, and that's a problem. That's not what we intended when we created CHIP, and that's not how it has to be.

After my visit, I drafted several riders for the state budget to simplify the enrollment policies for CHIP. Those riders were accepted by House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum.

Unless those riders stay on the budget, and until the Legislature and the Health and Human Services Commission commits to permanently simplifying CHIP enrollment policies, we will fail to do what we set out to do at the start of session:

Ensure our children receive the health coverage they deserve.

Coleman (D-Houston) was one of the original authors of the bill that created the Children's Health Insurance Program in 1999 and authored the Children's Medicaid simplification bill in 2001, which eliminated restrictive barriers to children's Medicaid in Texas.

Rep. Coleman: Over 17,000 Children Lose CHIP Coverage for May

(Houston)//--State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced that the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced that 17,078 fewer children will be covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in May than in April. According to the HHSC, many of the families have lost coverage due to "red tape rules" adopted by HHSC.

"Until we pass the CHIP bill and until we require HHSC to eliminate it's 'red tape rules,' the state of Texas will continue to unfairly deny health coverage for children," Rep. Coleman said. "We have to do both. The CHIP bill fixes state laws that deny access to CHIP, but the 'red tape rules' also deny access to CHIP."

"I passed a rider on the budget that would have fixed the 'red tape rules' adopted by HHSC. Unless that rider stays on the budget, eligible children will continue to lose CHIP coverage."

According to an e-mail from the HHSC announcing the enrollment decline, the majority of children lost coverage because of the 'red tape rules' the Commission has adopted. As stated in an e-mail sent to Rep. Coleman's office Thursday, May 3:

"Many of the families up for renewal this month had received an automatic extension of their coverage…HHSC granted the automatic extensions in response to an issue involving the vendor's ability to properly identify when an application was missing information necessary to determine if the family qualified for the program. …HHSC stopped granting the automatic extensions late last year. This has caused a decrease in the renewal rate."

"The Health and Human Services Commission admitted their vendors could not properly process CHIP applications," Rep. Coleman said. "Previously, their rules did not punish children for their administrative failings. But HHSC changed those rules, and as they stated, 'this has caused a decrease in the renewal rate.' No one can question that these 'red tape rules' are directly causing children to lose their CHIP coverage."

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