Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 309, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 7, 2015 Page: 4 of 38
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LOCAL/STATE
4A
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Denton Record-Chronicle
From Page 1A
Legislature
Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower
Mound
Bills filed:
fee to fund a new student center.
“My focus has always been re-
presenting the University of
North Texas, Texas Woman’s Uni-
versity, North Central Texas Col-
lege. My district is the education
district. TWU was in desperate
need of a student center. SB 596
[and] my bill in the House autho-
rizing the students to build their
student center on campus was
such a critical need. That will be a
huge win for TWU.”
Biggest disappointment:
“The thing we didn’t get to was
the Hazlewood Act. We had
wonderful intentions to give our
veterans free tuition at our state
universities. It was wonderful
idea except the Legislature had a
wonderful idea and dumped the
cost down to our universities.
“We were hoping to come up
with a better way. If it’s the Leg-
islature’s idea, we should pay for
it. We took a good stab at it, but
couldn’t get people organized
and on the same page.”
'at Fallon, R-Frisco
Bills introduced: 34
Bills
passed: four
out of the
House, with
three of those
bills passing
the Senate
Biggest
accomplish-
ment: “One of
the biggest accomplishments for
our office was the passing of
House Bill 283, which will re-
quire larger cities, counties,
school boards and transporta-
tion authorities to post and ar-
chive video of their regularly
scheduled open meetings on-
line. This law will provide an in-
creased avenue of transparency,
accountability and trust for the
citizens of Texas.”
Biggest disappointment:
Fallon did not comment.
51
Bills
passed: 21
Biggest
accomplish-
ment: Child
protection
measures. One
of Parker’s bills would help
churches assist homeless chil-
dren by allowing the churches to
provide overnight shelter for the
children. Parker also passed sev-
eral bills on curbing human traf-
ficking, which included increas-
ing the penalties of repeat of-
fenders for child pornography-
related crimes.
Biggest disappointment:
Parker filed a bill that would have
more fairly applied the sales tax
assessment to locomotives manu-
factured at the General Electric
plant in Justin and elsewhere in
Texas. Time ran out before it was
brought before the full House.
Rep. Ron Simmons,
R-Carrollton
Bills in-
troduced: 38
Bills
passed: 12
Biggest
accomplish-
ment: HB 20,
which wifi pro- Simmons
vide a frame-
work to ensure transportation
dollars are administered in an
objective, transparent manner
with accountability for every
dollar spent.
Biggest disappointment:
HB 279, which would have al-
lowed public school choice for
certain special-needs students.
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Parker
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Dallas Morning News file photos/Ashley Landis
Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, and Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, vote on legislation May 30 during the final days of the
84th Texas legislative session at the Capitol in Austin.
‘We passed a responsible budget
that makes wise investments in
transportation, education and
border security as well as provid-
ing significant tax relief to busi-
nesses and homeowners. This
budget will keep Texas strong
and prosperous.”
Biggest disappointment:
“I wanted to retire more of our
state’s debt. There were several
good ideas put forth and we will
continue to work on this issue
during the interim.”
Sen. Craig Estes,
R-Wichita Falls
Estes did not respond to the
legislative review questions for
this report.
He was, however, a major
player in the
passage of the
bill that allows
Texans who
have concealed
handgun li-
censes to open-
ly carry a hand-
gun. He spon-
sored the measure in the Senate.
“I have great faith in our con-
cealed license holders that they
will do the right thing and carry
their gun appropriately,” Estes
said after the bill’s passage May
>
*
Fallon
iJ
AA \
V
Estes
29.
Jane Nelson,
R-Flower Mound
Bills introduced: 39
Bills passed: 35
Biggest accomplishment:
The Associated Press con-
tributed to this report.
BJ LEWIS can be reached at
940-566-6875 and via Twitter
at @BjLewisDRC.
Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, is congratulated by fellow
senators May 29 after the Senate budget, written by Nelson,
passed during the final days of the 84th regular legislative
session in Austin.
Three of five ‘Good Deal’ bills make it to Abbott
he Watchdog asked for
your help to push state
lawmakers into solving
five of the most annoying con-
sumer problems in Texas. Many
thought little would come of
these proposals, which I called
my “Good Deal” platform. But
others joined my crusade and
contacted lawmakers.
So how did we do in the 2015
Legislature?
Three of our five bills passed.
They await Gov. Greg Abbott’s
expected signature to become
T
ABOUT THIS COLUMN
THE WATCHDOG HALL OF FAME
The Watchdog Desk works for you to shine light on questionable practices
in business and government. We welcome your story ideas and tips.
V*l
Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown
The medical doctor sponsored the $500 fine for merchants who illegally
charge customers extra when they pay with a debit or credit card. His
motivation? A College Station restaurant refused to follow existing state
law banning surcharges.
Schwertner also led the fights against DPS’ unauthorized use of
fingerprints.
“I’m a strong believer in individual liberty,” he said. “Governments
shouldn’t overreact and intrude upon personal privacy unless there’s an
absolute need to do so.”
i. * ■
Contact The Watchdog
Email: watchdog@dallasnews.com
Call: 214-977-2952
Write: Dave Lieber, P.0. Box 655237, Dallas, TX 75265
Dave Lieber
Electricity shopping reform
Grade: D-
Priority one for The Watch-
dog was my idealistic “Retail
Electricity Reform Act of 2015.”
This proposal had no chance of
passage in 2015.
The only reason the grade is
not an F is because Turner, who
is retiring, did what he always
does: fight for electricity cus-
tomers in Texas.
He authored abill that would
have eliminated the hated pen-
alty fees for customers who don’t
use a required minimum
amount of power each month.
These fees are especially unfair
to the elderly and the poor who
try to conserve, then get socked
with monthly penalties.
These penalties didn’t exist
until recently when electricity
companies figured out a new
way to exploit customers.
Turner’s bill failed. Still, he’ll
be missed. No one else in the
Legislature seems to care about
helping consumers navigate the
confusing retail electricity mar-
ket. Rates are advertised with
and without added fees.
Door-to-door
salesmen will say almost any-
thing to make a sale. Annoying
fees — unregulated — are tacked
on to monthly bills by electricity
companies.
Behind the scenes, electricity
companies and their lobbying
groups convinced lawmakers
that there’s nothing really wrong
with the system. Public Utility
Commission officials also take
the attitude that no major
changes are needed.
Many Texans disagree.
At least my campaign gener-
ated attention. Pros and cons
were discussed by me and others
on radio, on TV and in two ener-
gy newsletters read by industry
members across the state and
nation.
I’m disappointed that the
power industry doesn’t want to
clean up its shady marketing
practices. Keep it up, and their
credibility will match roofers’.
The Watchdog is not giving
THE WATCHDOG
up.
Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano
In his first session as senator, Taylor acted as the general in the fight
against DPS’ collection of fingerprints of innocent Texans.
“Clearly the legislators were almost of one mind” against the taking of full
fingerprints, he said. “It’s rare to see an issue have this much broad
support with the public and within the Legislature that this is the right
thing to do.”
“I’m really honored,” Taylor said about this citation.
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin
Although it seems obvious that homeowners and auto insurance
companies shouldn’t punish customers who ask questions about their
policies but never file a claim, Texas law allows companies to do so.
Watson tried to stop the practice two years ago, but he lost out in a
backroom deal during a committee recess. This year, he tried again and
succeeded.
Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake
Gio, as he’s called, took keen interest in three of Watchdog’s Good Deal
bills. He introduced a roofing bill that died but promises to try again. He
supported the action against surcharge violators.
And at a crucial time when he could have blocked the addition of the
no-DPS-fingerprinting amendment to his own bill on another subject, he
did not, allowing it to go through.
Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker
After her mother was forced to give full fingerprints at the driver’s license
center, the longtime rep grew interested and soon established herself as
one of the top privacy advocates in Austin.
She was a key player in negotiations with DPS to stop the practice.
She also exposed how state departments and agencies sell information
from our driver’s license, vehicle information and other databases to
private companies that, in turn, sell the information to other companies
that then market products to us. This evades rules that the state is
prohibited from selling directly to marketing companies.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston
The nine-term member is retiring. He’s running for mayor of Houston.
Although he did not get his electricity bill passed, he gets major points for
trying. He seems like the only lawmaker who cares that the electricity
retail market is unnecessarily confusing to consumers.
He sponsored a bill to ban minimum-usage penalties, a ban that many
Texans support.
During the first decade of deregulation of the electricity market, he served
as a top advocate for consumer rights. With his retirement, other
lawmakers must step up for the electricity battle in 2017.
Debit/credit card
surcharges
Grade: A+
Yes, it’s illegal for retailers
and others to add a surcharge
penalty to customers who pay
with a debit or credit card. Gov-
ernments are excluded and al-
lowed to charge extra.
When somebody complains,
merchants get a warning letter
from the state. That’s it.
No longer.
Thanks to hard work by
Schwertner, anyone who vio-
lates the law will get more than a
warning letter. They can expect
a $500 fine.
Yee-haw!
Learn more: Senate Bill 64L
filing an auto claim but in the
end didn’t file and never re-
ceived any insurance money. His
premiums went up for five years
anyway.
Watson tried two years ago to
get this law passed but didn’t
succeed. This time he succeed-
ed. Support from Watchdog Na-
tion “certainly helped,” Watson
spokeswoman Kate Alexander
said.
law.
Three for five! The Watchdog
rarely uses exclamation points,
but that’s a .600 batting average,
good enough to get into a hall of
fame.
That’s why today I’m launch-
ing the Watchdog Hall of Fame.
Six state lawmakers who worked
hard on behalf of these five
causes are the inaugural 2015 in-
ductees.
I’m proud to tell you their
names: Sen. Van Taylor, R-Pla-
no; Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Aus-
tin; Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-
Georgetown; Rep. Jodie Lau-
benberg, R-Parker; Rep. Gio-
vanni Capriglione, R-Southlake;
and Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-
Houston.
First, let’s look at what hap-
pened in each of the five areas
and give lawmakers Good Deal
grades.
Watson said, “Giving cus-
tomers the freedom to ask ques-
tions about their insurance pol-
icies without repercussion is just
common sense.”
Learn more: Senate Bills
188 and 189.
Roofers’ licensing
Grade: D+
Fingerprinting for
driver’s licenses
Grade: A+
The curtain officially comes
down on the Texas Department
of Public Safety’s dream of cap-
turing a full set of fingerprints
from every Texan with a driver’s
license or state ID card in the
next decade. The plan was to in-
clude us in a state, and ultimate-
ly, national database.
The Watchdog first reported
the fingerprinting scheme last
year. In February, Taylor and
Laubenberg met with DPS Di-
rector Steven McCraw and DPS’
top lawyer to talk about ending
the program.
Laubenberg met with House
Speaker Joe Straus. Taylor met
with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and
Abbott’s chief of staff. Under fire,
McCraw stopped the program.
To make it stick, though, a
new law was needed.
Laubenberg,
Schwertner and rookie Rep. Tony
Tinderholt, R-Arlington, tried
various maneuvers to place into
law that only a thumbprint is re-
quired. They also wanted DPS to
destroy the hundreds of thou-
sands of fingerprints collected
during the one year the unautho-
The Watchdog sought a li-
censing system for roofers to
weed out the bad guys.
Two lawmakers
Capri-
glione and Rep. Kenneth Sheets,
R-Dallas — introduced bills that
Insurance policy questions
Grade: A+
A key to my Watchdog Na-
tion consumer rights movement
is the idea that we should always
ask a bunch of questions before
making financial decisions.
But you couldn’t do that in
Texas with your homeowners or
auto insurance policies without
risking a premium increase.
Some companies took advan-
tage of a loophole in the law to
penalize customers who made
inquiries. No more.
Thanks to Watson, it will be il-
legal in Texas for auto and home-
owners insurance companies to
penalize customers who only ask
questions about their policies, but
never seek actual claims.
The insurance industry, in its
all-knowing wisdom, decided
that simply asking about your
policy shows a propensity for ac-
cidents. They figure you’ll even-
tually cost them money.
One man I found considered
would create a voluntary certifi-
cation (Capriglione) or registra-
tion program (Sheets) that was
weaker than licensing. But still,
it was an added step of consum-
er protection.
Unfortunately, neither bill
advanced out of House commit-
tees to make it to the full House
for a vote.
“The countless emails from
North Texas readers helped to
support the cause of the bill,” Ca-
priglione said. “But it is also im-
portant to contact the members
of the committee and show
them the support for the bill,
and more importantly, be at the
committee hearing to testify for
the bill.”
live and learn. The Watch-
dog is paying close attention.
The city of Arlington has tak-
en an extra step to protect its resi-
dents from crooked roofers. Last
month, the city created a registra-
tion process that screens roofers
who want to work in the city.
electricity
I’ll be watching for your ideas
about consumer matters you
want to see fixed in the 2017 ses-
sion.
rized collection took place. Taylor,
a rookie senator, added a Senate
amendment to a bill about com-
mercial driver’s licenses.
The amendment enacted the
thumbprint rule and also re-
quired that fingerprints collect-
ed from innocent drivers be
destroyed by the end of the year.
When that bill got to the
House, its author, Capriglione,
agreed to let the added portion
of the bill stand. It passed.
Learn more: House Bill
We’ll battle together. On-
ward and upward.
Dallas Morning News staff
writer Marina Trahan Marti-
nez con tributed to this report.
Follow Dave Lieber on Twit-
ter at @Dave Lieber.
Check out The Watchdog
Mondays on NBC5 at 11:20
a.m. talking about matters
important to you.
Taylor,
1888.
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 309, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 7, 2015, newspaper, June 7, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124824/m1/4/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .