MINUTES 
                                           
                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE AFFAIRS 
                             Friday, November 19, 1999 
                                     10:00 a.m. 
                    University of TX - El Paso, Neill Auditorium 
                                           
                                       ***** 
                                           
         Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule  
         11.18, a public hearing of the Senate Committee on State Affairs  
         was held on Friday, November 19, 1999, at the University of TX -  
         El Paso, Neill Auditorium, in El Paso, TX. 
          
                                       ***** 
                                           
         MEMBERS PRESENT:                        MEMBERS ABSENT: 
         Senator Florence Shapiro                Senator David Bernsen 
         Senator Eliot Shapleigh                 Senator J. E. Brown 
         Senator Tom Haywood                     Senator David Cain 
         Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr.                Senator Drew Nixon 
         Senator Jeff Wentworth 
                                           
                                       ***** 
                                           
         The chair called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.  There being  
         a quorum present, the following business was transacted:   
          
         The chair made opening remarks and then asked Senator Lucio and  
         Senator Shapleigh for opening remarks. 
          
         The chair called Mr. Carlos Ramirez, Mayor of El Paso forward to  
         make welcoming remarks on behalf of the city. 
          
         The chair asked Senator Wentworth and Senator Haywood to make  
         their opening remarks. 
          
         Senator Lucio, Jr. moved adoption of the minutes from the  
         previous hearing held on October 28, 1999; without objection, it  
         was so ordered.   
          
         The meeting began with invited testimony.  Those witnesses  
         testifying and registering on State Affairs Committee Charge  
         number 1 are shown on the attached list.   
          
         The chair requested that Commissioner Robert Nichols with the  
         Texas Department of Transportation be prepared to address the  
         committee at a later date regarding the number of abandoned  
         railways in Texas as well as other rail issues.  Senator  
         Shapleigh also requested that  the Department have rail  
         information available from Mexico and other border states. 
          
         At 12:30 p.m. Senator Shapiro moved that the committee stand  
  
         recessed until 1:30 p.m; without objection, it was so ordered.   
          
         At 1:50 p.m. the committee reconvened.   
          
         The chair reconvened the meeting and called for public testimony  
         from the Honorable Linda Harper-Brown, Irving City Council.   
         Further information regarding witnesses testifying and  
         registering on State Affairs Committee charge number 1 are shown  
         on the attached list.   
          
         The chair requested that the Executive Director of the Texas  
         Department of Transportation send the committee information  
         regarding what are the barriers, from the Departments  
         perspective, to building toll roads in Texas.  Senator Shapleigh  
         requested information from the Department on what they see as  
         funding options for improvements needed on Texas roadways.  The  
         chair asked for an answer to Senator Shapleigh's question  
         regarding why Texas ports are not funded through Federal Harbor  
         funds. 
          
         Once invited and public testimony was concluded and there being  
         no further business, at 5:50 p.m. Senator Shapiro moved that the  
         Committee stand recessed subject to the call of the chair.   
         Without objection, it was so ordered.   
          
         ______________________                        
                                                      ____________________ 
                                                      __ 
         Senator Florence Shapiro, Chair                   Cindy R  
                                                           Nottingham,  
                                                           Clerk