Thread: TX: Senate Passes Border BIll

Senate passes, amends border security bill
Law enforcement agencies would fight gangs, drugs, traffickers
By Mark Lisheron

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Senate moved Tuesday to get up to $100 million to law enforcement organizations to battle drug trafficking and gang warfare along the state's southern border.

The Senate voted 31-0 to pass House Bill 13, which would give a Border Security Council appointed by the governor authority to direct state money where it is most needed in border counties.

The bill codifies that the governor of Texas is the appropriate liaison between local, state and federal entities for homeland security decisions.

The bill now heads back to the House with 18 amendments, many of them unrelated to border security. Some of the additions are bills that passed in the Senate or the House but stalled in the other chamber. The House passed HB 13 this month by a vote of 140-5.

The measure calls for the Department of Public Safety to create a database for collection of intelligence on all homeland security questions, including terrorism, drug trafficking and gang activity.

The Senate agreed with a House change to the bill that took authority for the database from the governor's office.

If the bill reaches Gov. Rick Perry's desk and is signed into law, the governor would have authority to appoint the Border Security Council. One-third of the council would have to come from the state's border areas. The council would provide advice to the governor about how to spend state and federal money on crime-fighting measures.

How the money is ultimately spent, said Rep. John Carona, R-Dallas, would be left to the discretion of sheriffs and police chiefs in the border counties.

Carona said he thinks the council would also serve to keep money and policy focused on crime rather than on immigration issues. During a spirited House debate, several legislators expressed disappointment that the bill did not take on immigration issues.

"With the growing drug trade, human trafficking and gang problems, we did not want this bill to be a vehicle for immigration reform," Carona said. "We do not want to make immigration officers out of our police officers."

The bill now includes an amendment that would clearly define human trafficking and abuse in the Texas criminal code.

The amendment was originally a separate bill by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. The Senate passed her bill unanimously, only to have it stall in the House.

This looks like a good thing, right? Any chance this will actually pass?