By State Rep. Ken Paxton
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Last week Texas House Speaker Joe Straus assigned members of
the Texas House of Representatives with interim charges to study a range of issues crucial to Texas future. Among others these charges include ways to accomplish the following:
- Attract more manufacturing jobs and build on economic development efforts;
- Enhance public and higher education;
- Improve wildfire response and address water needs made more critical by the drought;
- Improve the States transportation infrastructure;
- Reducing wait times for drivers licenses;
- Reduce State debs; and
- Make government more efficient and effective.
House committees will conduct comprehensive studies of the issues outlined in the interim charges during the 15 months between now and the next legislative session. The findings will ultimately form the foundation of legislation to be considered during the 83rd Legislative session which will begin in January 2013.
The interim charges are developed in two ways: Members of the Legislature submit priorities for study and the Speaker includes his own priorities for review. Each of the Houses standing committees will study specific areas. The charges also include areas of special focus driven by pressing current events such as the ongoing drought and its impact on the state water plan which will be reviewed by the House Committee on Natural Resources.
In addition to charges for each of the standing committees of the Texas House Speaker Straus also identified two comprehensive charges that every substantive committee is to consider during the interim.
These charges focus on economic growth by improving the States manufacturing capability and finding ways to increase transparency accountability and efficiency in State government.
Each committee is responsible for submitting a final report no later than December 1 2012.
