Thread: Texas House, Senate make progress on border security legislation

Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2015 5:36 pm

JULIÁN AGUILAR | THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

The Texas House and Senate appear to be making headway on border security legislation, a thorny subject that Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a priority this legislative session.

Nearly two months after being sent to the upper chamber, House Bill 11 by state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, was scheduled Thursday for a May 18 hearing before the Senate’s Committee on Veteran Affairs & Military Installations subcommittee on Border Security.

The measure would increase over two years the number of Texas Department of Public Safety officers on the border, establish an intelligence center in Hidalgo County to analyze border crime data and create a voluntary corps of retired DPS officers to bolster the agency’s ranks. It is part of a three-package set of proposals that affect border security and Department of Public Safety staffing.

The bill has been tied up amid gridlock between the two chambers, which prompted Bonnen last month to allege that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was “playing games” with border security. Bonnen’s bill was passed out of the lower chamber on March 19, but stood idle until Thursday’s scheduling.

Bonnen, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said his bill gaining traction was a sign that the two chambers could come together on one of the governor’s emergency items.

“I appreciate the very respectful and collaborative way that the House and Senate are beginning to move the important issues before us to conclusion,” Bonnen said Thursday.

Bonnen is also in the middle of a grudge match with the upper chamber over tax cuts. But he said Wednesday that although no deal has been reached on that issue, negotiations had begun on that front. He said Thursday that his border security bill finally getting scheduled for a hearing had nothing to do with the two chambers finally moving on the other issue. (The Senate has favored an increase in homestead exemptions. The House has pushed for a decrease in sales tax.)

“At this point I think it’s a coincidence” he said. “And I think that the Senate is wanting to show, and the House is wanting to show, that we can work together and bring these issues to conclusion.”

State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, the chairman of the subcommittee and the author of the Senate companion, Senate Bill 3, said in a statement that the House bill would probably move quickly in the upper chamber.

“Securing our southern border and preventing crimes associated with illegal border-crossings are issues of great importance to the citizens of this state,” he said. “This has been a top priority for the Senate, and I’m eager to finalize the Legislature’s hard work on our border security initiatives here in the coming days.”

It’s unclear whether senators will try to attach more controversial measures, such as the “sanctuary cities” bill that expands the immigration-enforcement powers of local law enforcement. But during debate on Birdwell’s SB 3, the lawmaker did not accept any amendments that included other broad-based measures, including the “sanctuary cities” legislation or a measure to repeal in-state tuition rates for noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants.

Attaching those measures to Bonnen’s bill would probably stall or possibly derail the proposal, something lawmakers might not have the appetite for in the waning days of the 84th Legislature.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local...36d942357.html

Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 6:21 pm
Sky Chadde



A state subcommittee held out on sending House Bill 11, the sweeping border security legislation, to the Senate Monday so legislators could determine who will have oversight over the bill’s implementation, lawmakers said.

The subcommittee — consisting of state Sens. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury; Bob Hall, R-Edgewood; and Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville — left the bill pending, meaning they could pass it on to the Senate the next time they consider it. A date hasn’t been set yet, but the last day to consider bills is June 1.

Who will oversee the measures outlined in the bill — most notably, a law enforcement intelligence center in Hidalgo County, 50-hour work weeks for Department of Public Safety troopers and a provision for human smuggling — is still up in the air.

The HB 11 version the House passed in March created an operations oversight committee of five senators, five representatives and one governor-appointed member. Members would give progress reports to the Legislature to “ensure transparency,” according to the bill’s language.

The bill’s companion that passed the Senate — SB 3 — in April didn’t have any provisions for an oversight committee.

At Monday’s hearing, Birdwell said the bill the subcommittee members considered was a “hybrid” of the two bills, but the oversight committee provision had been removed, at least for the time being.

OTHER MEASURES

Several other measures were included in the subcommittee’s version, Birdwell said.

The first required a 50-hour work week for all DPS troopers in the state. Originally, the House bill required such hours only for border troopers.

It would also allow the state to build a training facility for DPS, sheriff’s offices and local police departments. Birdwell said the facility could be used for “any other military or law enforcement agency including those of the federal government for training purposes.” He didn’t say where it would be located.

These two measures make up for the large discrepancy in the House and Senate’s budgets, Birdwell said. The House’s version would cost the state about $40 million, while the Senate’s would cost about $310 million.

To pay for the increased trooper hours, House researchers predict it would cost about $13 million a year, but that figure only takes into account border troopers. To cover all troopers, Senate researchers estimate it would cost about $70 million a year.

For the training facility, it would cost the state more than $150 million, according to Senate researchers.

Another measure considered was requiring all local law enforcement agencies use the National Incident-Based Reporting System — the FBI uses it — to create uniformity in crime statistics across the state by Sept. 1, 2019.

The bill would also create a “real-time” intelligence center in Hidalgo County called the Texas Transnational Intelligence Center. According to House researchers, the Sheriff’s Office and the McAllen Police Department would operate it.

Agencies already share information on crimes through the Edinburg-based Joint Operations Intelligence Center, but House researchers say the center wouldn’t be redundant.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local...98af4a497.html