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January 19, 2001
The 77th Texas Legislature has begun. Some are calling it an "R&B" session because of the anticipated dominance of redistricting and budget issues. We expect much more in the way of important bill consideration. It could be a very good session for agriculture and rural issues.
A new Governor, new Lieutenant Governor, nine freshman House members, and one freshman Senator will usher in the session. One important figure remains. House Speaker Pete Laney returns after being unanimously re-elected by his House colleagues on Jan. 9.
Gov. Rick Perry is quickly assembling his staff and administration in preparation for the session. Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff of Mt. Pleasant will continue to represent Senate District 1 in addition to his new responsibilities. State Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine is the newest member of the 31-member Texas Senate.
The new members of the Texas House—the smallest freshman class in the state's history—are: Bill Callegari of Katy, Trey Martinez-Fischer of San Antonio, Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville, Elizabeth Ames Jones of San Antonio, Ann Kitchen of Austin, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham, Jose Menendez of San Antonio, and Sid Miller of Stephenville. Another freshman House member will be elected on Jan. 20 from Webb County to replace Henry Cuellar. Former Rep. Cuellar, a Democrat, was selected by Governor Perry as Secretary of State.
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Lt. Gov. Ratliff's committee appointments project a strong bi-partisan tone. He reduced the number of full committees by three and the number of subcommittees by one. There are now 14 committees/subcommittees in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Ratliff appointed seven Republicans and seven Democrats to head the legislative panels. He named Democratic State Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, a position that Sen. Ratliff had occupied. Also, Lt. Gov. Ratliff appointed a new chairman to the Senate Committee on Redistricting. State Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio takes over the committee.
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We welcome a new member to our TFB Austin legislative staff. Jill Turner is a recent graduate of Texas A&M University and is originally from Anahuac in Chambers County, where her family has been actively involved in production agriculture. Jill was a recent participant in TAMU's Congressional Internship program in Washington, D.C., where she worked for U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm on agricultural issues. Jill will be working rural living and labor issues for us.
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The Texas economy has a new lead horse. For the first time, high tech will edge out the oil and gas industry in the next two years as the number one economic contributor. Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander projects high tech to account for 8.9 percent of the gross state product, while oil and gas is forecast to drop to 8.5 percent.
Where is agriculture? The Comptroller's office says production agriculture will account for 1.4 percent of gross state product. Importantly, the figure does not take into consideration the economic activity generated from related agribusinesses such as grocery retail, transportation, suppliers, etc.
