MINUTES
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION
Friday, August 22, 1997
9:30 am
Capitol Extension, Room E1.028
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.11, a public hearing of the Senate Committee on
Administration was held on Friday, August 22, 1997 in the
Capitol Extension, Room E1.028, at Austin, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Chris Harris None
Senator Carlos Truan
Senator Kenneth Armbrister
Senator J.E. Brown
Senator Mike Moncrief
Senator Bill Ratliff
Senator David Sibley
*****
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:40 am. There being
a quorum present, the following business was transacted.
Senator Harris directed the committee to the revised travel
policy for out-of-state travel in their notebooks. There was
discussion. Senator Truan moved the following rules be
adopted:
1. Airline reservations for out-of-state conferences be made
through the Secretary of the Senates office. Airfare
reimbursed at lowest available rate and/or state rate. (Any
difference would be paid by the individual).
2. Rental cars are discouraged unless absolutely necessary.
The Secretary of the Senate and the Chairman of
Administration will have discretions to determine the need for
a rental car.
3. Hotel charges will be reimbursed at lowest available
single occupancy rate. (Any difference would be paid by
the individual).
Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Truan. Senator Truan
expressed concern over the article that reported missing state
property. The committee asked Betty King, Secretary of the
Senate, to look into this and report back to the committee.
Senator Harris asked Jose Camacho to give the committee an
update on the STC's recommendations for implementation of new
technology. Senator Truan assumed the chair. Jose gave a
brief history of what Legislative Council, in conjunction with
the STC, had been charged to evaluate. Legislative Council
tested and evaluated Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation
operating system. The recommendation by Legislative Council
and the STC is that Windows 95 be implemented as the desk top
operating system for the 76th legislative session. There was
discussion and questions. The second charge was to evaluate
an office suite to go with the operating system. MicroSoft
Office 97 and Corel WordPerfect 8 Suite were the two products
evaluated. Legislative Council, with concurrence from the STC,
has recommended the Corel WordPerfect 8 Suite to be used with
the Windows 95 operating system. There was discussion and
questions. Senator Sibley moved to accept the recommendations
to implement Windows 95 and Corel WordPerfect 8 Suite as the
new operating systems for the 76th Legislative session.
Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris resumed the chair. The next item was the
$100.00 a month pay raise for Senate employees. There was
discussion. Senator Ratliff moved to give the $100.00 a month
pay raise to Central Staff only. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0
nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Patterson to present the
budget for Veteran Affairs & Military Installation. There was
discussion. Senator Truan moved to approve the $56,950.00
budget request. Motion passed 7 ayes, 1 present not voting, 0
nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Whitmire to present the
budget for Criminal Justice. There was discussion. Senator
Ratliff moved to approve the $314,400.00 budget request and
the salary exception for Patrick Redman. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Madla to present the budgets
for Nominations and Senate Interim Committee on Annexation.
There was discussion. Senator Moncrief moved to approve the
$92,560.00 budget request for Nominations. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Ratliff. Senator Ratliff
spoke to the issue of the amount of money being requested by
all committees and especially by the interim committees.
There was concern expressed by all the members.
Senator Madla continued with his presentation of the budget
for the Interim Committee on Annexation. Senator Truan moved
to approve the $69,800 budget request. Motion passed 7 ayes,
0 nays.
2
Senator Harris recognized Senator Ratliff who asked where all
the Interim Committees were going to be housed and if the
budgets being presented reflected the purchase of furniture
and other equipment? There was discussion. Senator Ratliff
moved that there be no purchase of new furniture or equipment
for committees and that they work within existing spaces and
any exception to this would need prior approval from the
Administration Committee. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Moncrief who, in the
absence of Senator West, moved to approve the $98,502.00
budget request for the Interim Committee on Gangs and Juvenile
Justice. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Moncrief who presented the
budget for the Interim Committee on Home Health and Assisted
Living. Senator Truan moved to approve the $118,650.00 budget
request. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Ellis to present the budget
for Jurisprudence. There was discussion. Senator Ratliff
moved to approve the $254,940.00 budget request. Motion
passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris passed the gavel to Senator Truan. Senator
Truan recognized Rosa Compos and Carol Stymons to present the
the budget for Health and Human Services. Senator Truan
recognized Senator Harris who brought up item 7 on agenda and
ask that the additional monies being requested for the current
budget be voted on at the same time. There was discussion.
By unanimous agreement the Health and Human Services requested
budget was not approved. The committee directed the staff to
consult with Senator Zaffirini and come back with a revised
budget. Senator Harris moved to approve the requested
addition of 3,007.25 for the current budget. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris resumed the chair and recognized Mel Hazelwood
to present the budget for Education along with approval for
the salary exception for Mel Hazelwood. There was discussion.
Senator Sibley moved approval of the $271,100.00 budget
request and the salary exception. Motion passed 6 ayes, 1
absent.
Senator Harris recognized Buddy Garcia to present the budget
for Intergovernmental Relations. There was discussion.
Senator Moncrief moved approval of the $236,400.00 budget
request which includes enough for the Interim Committee on
Housing. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nay.
Senator Harris passed the gavel to Senator Truan and asked to
be recognized. Senator Harris presented the budgets for
Administration and the Interim Committee on Title Insurance.
Senator Moncrief moved approval of the $149,625 budget for
Administration and the $66,500 budget for the Interim
Committee on Title Insurance. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
3
Senator Harris resumed the Chair and presented the budget for
the Subcommittee on Agriculture in the absence of Senator
Haywood. Senator Truan moved to approve the $39,700.00 budget
request. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Sibley to present the
budgets for Economic Development and the Interim Committee on
Electric Utility Restructuring. Senator Moncrief moved
approval of the
$299,600.00 budget for Economic Development and $84,500.00 for
the Interim Committee on Electric Utility Restructuring.
Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Ratliff to present the
budget for Finance and approval for a salary exception for
Nancy Frank. Senator Moncrief moved to approve the $ 347,550
budget request and approval for the salary exception. Motion
passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Moncrief to present the
budget for General Investigating. Senator Ratliff moved to
approve the $32,550.00 requested budget. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Truan to present the budget
for International Trade and Technology. Senator Sibley moved
to approve the $256,683.00 requested budget. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Brown to present the budget
for Natural Resources and the Joint Interim Committee on
Water Resources Development and Management. Senator Truan
moved to approve the $265,000.00 budget for Natural Resources
and the $76,432.00 budget for the Joint Interim Committee on
Water Resources Development and Management. Motion passed 7
ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized David Edmondson to present the
budget for the Committee of the Whole on Legislative and
Congressional Redistricting along with a salary exception.
There was discussion. Senator Truan moved to approve the
$173,180.00 budget along with the salary exception. Motion
passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Armbrister to present the
budget for State Affairs along with a salary exception. This
budget request includes enough monies for the special interim
committee on State Affairs, and interim committee on
Transportation. There was discussion. Senator Moncrief
moved to approve the $402,816.00 budget along with the salary
exception. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Truan to present the budget
for the Subcommittee on Water. There was discussion. Senator
Truan moved to approve the $69,440.00 budget for the
Subcommittee on Water. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
4
Senator Harris recognized Cindy Brockwell to present the
budget for the interim committee on Public Information. There
was discussion. Senator Truan moved to approve the $49,950.00
budget request. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
Senator Harris presented the $44,140.00 budget request for
the interin committee on Sex Offenders. Ssenator Moncrief
moved approval of the requested budget. Motion passed 7 ayes,
0 nays.
Senator Harris recognized Senator Ratliff. Senator Ratliff
expressed concern over the Senate expenditures, not only in
Committee offices but in Senate offices. He wanted to see
total bottom line figures on the Senate rate of expenditures.
Senator Harris agreed and with the committees approval asked
Betty King, Secretary of the Senate, Mark Morgan, Senate
Auditor and Myra Schmitt, Administration Committee Clerk to go
to work on this project. Senator Ratliff asked that if
possible he'd like for the figures to be compared to at least
one prior biennium so he could see what the slope of the curve
is. There was further discussion on this subject. Senator
Moncrief brought up the issue of when a member of a committee
can not attend a meeting then a member of his/her staff could
attend and the travel expense be charged to the committees
travel budget. It was the understanding that this was the Lt.
Governor's intent. There was discussion and most committee
chairs were not aware of this. This is a matter that will
need further discussion.
Senator Harris explained that during the 74th legislative
session a bill was passed requiring state agencies and
institutions of higher education to reimburse the general
revenue fund for 50% of the unemployment benefits (paid by the
TWO on the agencies' behalf) from agency appropriations. In
addition another bill was passed requiring state agencies and
institutions of higher education to reimburse the general
revenue fund (from agency appropriations) for 25% of all
workers' compensation benefits paid to current or former
employees who were originally paid from the general revenue
fund. The former auditor made the decision to charge these
costs to each senator's caucus limit, this decision was made
without discussion or formal approval from the Administration
Committee. Charging what are essentially payroll overhead
costs to the caucus limit is inconsistent with how we account
for other payroll costs such as social security taxes and
benefits replacement pay. It is the opinion of the Senate
Auditor that these expenses need to be charges to the general
senate account. Senator Harris moved to approve this
decision. Motion passed 7 ayes, 0 nays.
There was discussion as to the deadline to make reservations
for the Hawaii trip and Betty King was asked to check and let
the members know the deadline to receive the best airfare.
There being no further business, Senator Moncrief moved that
the Committee stand recessed subject to the call of the Chair.
Without objection, it was so ordered.
______________________
Senator Chris Harris, Chair
______________________
Myra J. Schmitt, Clerk