The “Trust Me” Law: Signed into law on May 23, HB 2473 is seen by many as one
of the worst environmental bills of the 74th Legislature. Authored by super
conservative Rep. Warren Chisum (D-Pampa) and sponsored in the Senate by
Sen. J.E. “Buster” Brown (D-Lake Jackson), this law allows companies to
audit themselves for violations of environmental, health, and safety
regulations. Since violating the law usually results in some sort of punishment – often a
fine in the case of corporations – this bill would waive any financial
penalties for companies which do an audit, then voluntarily come forward and
admit that they did something wrong. And as long as the companies doing such
audits freely admit to any wrongdoing (on the honor system, of course), they
will be allowed to keep any information gleaned from such audits a secret.
Specifically, the bill will allow corporations to keep the following
information secret from all regulatory agencies, and to prevent anyone from
introducing the information in court or during any permitting process or other
administrative proceeding: interviews with current or former employees; field
notes and records of observations; findings, opinions, suggestions,
conclusions, guidance, notes, drafts, and memoranda; legal analyses; drawings;
photographs; laboratory analyses and other analytical data; computer generated
or electronically recorded information; maps, charts, graphs, and surveys; and
other communications associated with an environmental or health and safety
audit.
Environmentalists and public health advocates fear that granting a company
immunity from fines will encourage polluters to cram years’ worth of violations
into a single audit in the hopes of avoiding any penalties. Commenting on a
similar bill introduced in the Colorado Legislature last year, Randall
Weiner, attorney for the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, says that the
true intent of such bills “is to provide an economic boom to large businesses
at the expense of the environment.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Department of Health, Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission, and other agencies will still be able to
conduct their own investigations and penalize the lawbreakers they discover;
they just won’t be able to use any information gathered by the company itself. – Andrea Barnett n THE BILL TALLY: Like everybody else, legislators like to keep score. In the
Lege, success means passing a bill as an author, joint author, or sponsor. If
that doesn’t work, you can try to tack your bill onto another bill.
This week’s score sheet – which relies on numbers supplied by each
representative – includes three members of the Austin
delegation:
Democratic Reps. Elliott Naishtat and Glen Maxey and GOP Rep.
Susan Combs. Maxey says he passed or piggybacked some 70 different pieces
of legislation. Naishtat claims a total of 52 bills (plus 10 that he tacked
onto the welfare reform bill), while Combs claims a total of 29.
You won’t get these numbers by searching the bills that have been sent to the
governor. A computer search of the 1,102 bills sent to the governor’s office
turned up Naishtat’s name 23 times, Maxey’s 16 times, and Combs’ 14 times. The
discrepancy likely comes from bills that have multiple authors. Those bills
only carry the name of the first rep on the bill, regardless of how many
authors there are.
Maxey’s favorite accomplishment of the session came on viatical settlements,
financial transactions that were previously unregulated. For those with AIDS,
or other terminal illnesses, who need to get the cash value out of their life
insurance policy, it is an important reform. Terminally ill patients often need
to liquidate their assets to pay for medical care and other needs; many sell
their life insurance policies for less than their face value to viatical
brokers, who then collect on the policy upon the death of the insured.
But the terminally ill don’t have much leverage in these transactions. Maxey’s
bill, now awaiting the governor’s signature, will require viatical brokers to
register with the Texas Insurance Commissioner, who will then have the power to
sanction any broker who is dealing unfairly with the terminally ill. The
commissioner can also establish any rules he deems necessary to protect the
terminally ill in these transactions.
Maxey also passed HB 988, which will allow citizens to use home HIV test kits.
Governor Bush signed the bill into law April 28.
Naishtat’s main focus this session was again on children. He sponsored SB 103
by Sen. Mike Moncrief (D-Fort Worth), creating a Guardian Resource Board
which will coordinate guardianship services at the local and regional levels.
He also passed HB 1274, which authorizes social workers to obtain voter
registration information to help them locate parents who aren’t paying their
child support.
In addition to her work on SB 14, the private property rights bill she
initiated in the House as HB 2591, Combs passed or sponsored a variety of bills
– ranging from pensions for police officers and firefighters to HB 2133, which
prohibits employees of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from doing any
biological surveys on private land unless they have the written permission of
the landowner. Combs was one of several House sponsors of Sen. Moncrief’s SB
97, which outlaws “canned” hunts of dangerous wild animals. Thus, a weekend
warrior cannot use a high-powered firearm to kill an animal that’s just been
released from a cage and consider it a sport.
Next week: We’ll tally up the scores for Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos and Reps. Sherri Greenberg and Dawnna Dukes. n JUDGE FOR YOURSELF: The Lege couldn’t reform the way voters select judges, but
on May 26, the House and Senate gave final approval to a measure restricting
contributions to judicial candidates. SB 94 by Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) may be the single most important bit of ethics reform to occur this
session.
For years, the Texas judiciary has been accused of being for sale, or at
least, for rent. Attorneys with pending business before the Texas Supreme Court
were able to give the justices huge campaign contributions. The issue was the
subject of much press attention; even CBS’s 60 Minutes ran a segment on
the problem.
SB 94, which awaits Governor Bush’s signature, limits to $5,000 the amount of
money an individual can give to candidates in statewide judicial races. Law
firms can give a maximum of $30,000 to statewide judicial candidates. The bill
also imposes a voluntary spending limit of $2 million for candidates in
statewide races. Contribution and voluntary expenditure limits will also be
imposed on candidates in local judicial races.
HB 810, which would have overhauled the way Texas selects appellate judges,
never reached the Senate. Thus, the system which allowed Stephen Mansfield – an
underqualified lawyer who has difficulty telling the truth – to be elected to
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, will stay in place for at least two more
years.
This article appears in June 9 • 1995 and June 9 • 1995 (Cover).