Floor Play

State Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay)

It’s never been easy fighting powerful polluters in Texas. A bill approved by a Senate committee today would make it even harder. With a big push from the Texas Chemical Council and the Texas Association of Business, the Senate Natural Resources Committee voted 6-3 today for legislation “streamlining” (read: weakening) the process that communities and environmental groups can use to challenge permits to pollute. (Democrats Rodney Ellis and Carlos Uresti as well as Republican Robert Duncan were the ‘no’ votes.)

“We are very disappointed by the committee’s vote today,” said Environment Texas Director Luke Metzger. “The deck is already stacked against residents when a powerful polluter applies for a permit to discharge chemicals in to our air, water and land.”

Senate Bill 957 by Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) would put limits on contested case hearings, mini-trials in which each administrative law judges hear testimony and evidence from each side. Environmental groups already complain that the process is flawed: The judges can only offer recommendations to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. That agency, run by corporate-friendly Rick Perry appointees, often ignores or downplays the judge’s proposals.

However, SB 957 would weaken it even further. Fraser’s proposal would shift the burden of proof from the company seeking the permit—often some of the most lucrative and powerful corporations in the world—to the protestant, often a hastily-formed grassroots group or an environmental organization. The bill would also strictly limit how long the contested case hearing could last; limit who could participate; narrow the scope of the hearing; and eliminate discovery.

But Sen. Craig Estes, a Wichita Falls Republican who voted for the bill in committee, said it would do nothing to diminish democratic participation.

“The bill in no way lessens the ability of the public to fully participate in the environmental permitting process,” Estes said.

“That’s a true statement,” responded Fraser. “That’s why it’s a good bill.”

A few minutes later, Estes explained to veteran consumer advocate Tom “Smitty” Smith, using an analogy, why he thinks the burden of proof should be shifted to citizens.

ESTES: “Let’s say you get accused of jaywalking. Should you have to prove that you didn’t jaywalk or should your accuser be the one to have to prove you jaywalked?”

SMITTY: “That’s the criminal standard, Senator. And this is a civil issue.”

ESTES: “You can be accused of all types of things, rightly or wrongly.”

The good news for opponents of the bill is that it’s unlikely to receive enough support to bring it up in the full Senate as-is—a political reality its author acknowledged.

“I think this bill has got to have some magic happen to get it up on the Senate floor,” Fraser said.

Patrick Michels

The Lead:

Committees are back up and running today, including the Senate Finance Committee, which will continue to work through agency recommendations for the budget. Senate Finance Chair Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) said he’s shooting to get the bill out of committee and headed to the Senate floor by next Wednesday. Of course the senators took an extra long weekend (poor dears got a little flack for that), so we’ll see if they make their own deadline on the only action the Legislature must accomplish during the session.

Weekend Headlines:

1. Former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia won the runoff race for Texas Senate against state Rep. Carol Alvarado (D-Houston), as the Texas Tribune reports. Garcia will fill the seat previously held by the late Sen. Mario Gallegos.

2. Major changes may be in order for the Texas Water Development Board, will handle billions of dollars in the coming years. The Austin American-Statesman reports that Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) wants to restructure the board before all that money starts to, ahem, flow. With all the cronyism in state government in recent years, some people are naturally suspicious of this move.

Line of the Day:

“It would be irresponsible to add more Texans and dump more taxpayer dollars into an unsustainable system that is broken and already consumes a quarter of our budget,” —Perry spokesperson Lucy Nashed to the Austin American-Statesman about Medicaid expansion.

What We’re Watching Today:

1. The House Elections Committee is set to hear a large slate of bills today, including a bill by Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) to give local prosecutors the ability to investigate election fraud—instead of the Attorney General. That may sound benign, but with all the controversy in recent years over supposed election fraud—and the efforts of groups like King Street Patriots, a Houston tea party group, and its True the Vote project—providing more outlets for voter fraud investigations has political implications.

2. The Ways and Means House committee will hold a hearing on the sporting good tax, which has been substantially used to fund programs outside of its intended use—state parks. They could use some extra cash.

3. The Senate Finance Committee continues to make its way closer to pulling together a budget bill. Today the committee will discuss recommendations on higher education and criminal justice.

As oil and gas companies descend on South Texas, lawmakers are beginning to confront the new chaos brought on by the Eagle Ford Shale boom.

The recently formed Eagle Ford Shale Legislative Caucus met Wednesday, led by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) to discuss the shale play’s economic impact on South Texas—but the conversation veered to the day-to-day issues affecting residents most, like quiet country roads that become an industrial zones without any notice.

Thomas Tunstall, who directs the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the caucus should try to promote long-term stability in the fast-growing boomtowns around the shale, so the families lured there for work will want to stay.

It’s been 25 years since Texas has produced this much oil, Tunstall said, and 1,600 wells were completed in the Eagle Ford area last year. A study produced at UTSA last year pegged the Eagle Ford’s regional economic impact at $25 billion, and supported 47,000 jobs.

DeWitt County Judge Daryl Fowler said he has formed a coalition, along with other South Texas officials, “to get the idea across that we need help.” Fowler said they want to spend some of the tax revenue generated by the Eagle Ford on road repairs, rather than put it all into the Rainy Day Fund.

“The Rainy Day Fund, as big as it is, the damages are not being paid for at the county level,” Fowler said.

Zaffirini and Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) worried about housing and schools in the fast-growing areas around the shale.

“We really need to look at this in a comprehensive approach to sustainability planning,” Van de Putte said. Zaffirini said students might drop out of high school or college to work for oil and gas companies. She said she’d like to see colleges offer some courses on worksites.