by Legislative Media | May 24, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Nelda Ramírez, Assistant Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; Agustín “Gus” García, Jr., Executive Director, EEDC; David Torres, newly-elected Edinburg City Councilmember; Mayor Richard García, who also serves as President of the EEDC Board of Directors; Cynthia Contreras Gutiérrez, Legal Counsel, EEDC; and Steven Cruz, III, immediate past member of the EEDC Board of Directors, at Edinburg City Hall on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Edinburg’s unemployment rate for April 2015 was 4.6 percent, representing the third consecutive month that the city posted a monthly rate under five percent, with McAllen, at 4.5 percent, being the only other major Valley city to come under five percent, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. Edinburg’s unemployment rate, as calculated by the Texas Workforce Commission, was the best showing for the city during that month since April 2008, when it was reported at four percent by the state agency. Among its many duties, the Texas Workforce Commission provides information and analysis on shifts in occupations and industries within the state, including unemployment rates and employment figures, broken down by cities, counties, and regions in Texas, on a monthly basis. This latest positive news comes as Mayor Richard García , who also serves as President of the EEDC Board of Directors, is preparing to deliver his State of the City Address on Wednesday, May 27, at Edinburg Municipal Auditorium. The Edinburg Municipal Auditorium is located at 415 West University Drive, and is part of the Edinburg City Hall complex. His presentation, which is free and open to the public, begins at 11:30 a.m. It also will be televised live and videotaped for later broadcasting by the Edinburg Cable Network. “The annual presentation brings residents, city staff and civic leaders together to reflect on the city’s accomplishments from the past year and to review plans for the future,” said García. Edinburg’s April 2015 figure was lower than March 2015 (4.8 percent), February 2015 (4.8 percent), and January 2015 (5.1 percent). Edinburg’s April 2015 unemployment rate of 4.6 percent remained close to the Texas statewide average, which was four percent for April 2015, 4.2 percent for March 2015, 4.3 percent for February 2015, and 4.6 percent for January 2015, according to Texas Workforce Commission figures. The city’s latest performance also was better than the U.S. unemployment rate for April 2015, which was 5.4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data represents an increase of 106 jobs in Edinburg when comparing the employment figures for April 2015 and April 2014. In April 2015, there were 35,480 persons employed in Edinburg, compared with 35,374 in April 2014. The April 2015 unemployment rate of 4.6 percent for Edinburg is also better than the annual unemployment rate in Edinburg for 2014, which was 5.8 percent – and that yearly rate was the best 12-month average from January through December since 2005.
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by Legislative Media | May 23, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Michael McCarthy with MD Bio Scan; Sabrina Guerra, Senior Accountant, and Nilda VanHook, Chief Deputy, both with the Office of the Hidalgo County District Clerk; Laura Hinojosa, who is Hidalgo County District Clerk; and Jessica Treviño with Congressman Rubén Hinojosa’s Office, during an open house at the Hidalgo County Courthouse on Thursday, April 23, 2015. An additional $40 fee for the filing of civil lawsuits in Hidalgo County, of which the District Clerk Office serves as registrar, recorder, and custodian, is being proposed in state legislation designed to help generate millions of dollars, without raising property taxes, for the construction of a new Hidalgo County Courthouse.
Photograph By HILDA SALINAS
Legislation that could raise between $1 million and $2 million a year for the next 30 years to help pay for a new courthouse or renovations of the existing 64-year-old facility in downtown Edinburg – without increasing property taxes – has been approved by the House Committee on the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council. Senate Bill 1964, by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, was supported by that House panel on Wednesday, May 20, after Rep. Armando “Mando” Martínez, D-Weslaco, successfully offered an amendment to Hinojosa’s SB 1964 that could generate more money than originally estimated, but without increasing property taxes. Martínez and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are the primary author and joint author, respectively, of the companion bill for SB 1964. SB 1964, which is now on the way for action by the House of Representatives, has two major changes from the original version of SB 1964 approved by the Senate on Wednesday, April 29. Instead of authorizing the county commissioners court to charge up to an extra $20 for the filing of each civil lawsuit, as originally proposed, SB 1964 doubled that amount to $40. In addition, Cameron County was added to SB 1964, which would give the County Commissioners Court the same authority to raise revenue for their own courthouse plans, whether they involve a new courthouse or renovations to the existing structure in Brownsville. SB 1964, as approved by the House Committee on the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, also would allow both county commissioners courts to collect an extra $10 fee for each filing of real property records. Real property records are official documents filed with the county clerk’s office such as mortgages, warranty deeds, deeds of trust, power-of-attorney, material liens, notices of foreclosure, oil and natural gas liens, mineral deeds, equity liens, and releases of liens. If the House approves SB 1964, it would have to go back to the Senate for their agreement on increasing the fee by up to $40 for the filing of civil lawsuits. After that, it would go to the governor for his approval. SB 1964 could help raise significant non-tax revenue for the construction of a $100+ million Hidalgo County Courthouse in the heart of Canales’ House District 40 legislative district. “The Hidalgo County Courthouse complex is one of the major economic engines, along with the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and its School of Medicine, that is part of a tremendous revitalization that is going on in deep South Texas,” Canales said. “Just as important, South Texans need a courthouse that provides a safe and secure environment for the administration of justice for individuals and businesses.” SB 1964 allows Hidalgo and Cameron counties to collect a civil courts filing fee similar to the one currently collected in Bexar, Hays, Dallas, Rockwall, and Travis counties to assist with the costs of renovating, improving, or constructing new courthouse facilities, said Hinojosa. For years, Hidalgo county officials have spoken of the need to replace the county’s existing courthouse in Edinburg, Hinojosa and Martínez noted. “When the existing courthouse opened in 1954, it housed two state district courts and one county court-at-law. That has grown to 11 district courts and eight county courts-at-law, along with other auxiliary courts that have spilled into temporary buildings and one nearby storefront in downtown Edinburg,” said Martínez. “In the past 24 years, Hidalgo County’s population has doubled and the county is now home to up to 900,000 residents. Further, the dated structure and history of asbestos requires constant maintenance and repairs raising public health and safety concerns as wells as costs.”
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by Legislative Media | May 20, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives in March 2015.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
House Bill 1887 by Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, and Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which would allow South Texas College to create the multi-million dollar Regional Center for Public Safety on a yet-undisclosed 50- to 60-acre site to be donated by the City of Pharr, is set for a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, May 21. Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, is serving as the Senate sponsor of HB 1887, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, April 29. “HB 1887 would increase necessary access to training opportunities for officers in the Rio Grande Valley region and, in turn, improve public safety and border security,” said Muñoz, who is the primary author of the legislation. “The training provided at the regional center also would provide officers with college credit toward either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, while the four police academies in the area would not.” According to the bill analysis of the legislation, HB 1887 would amend the Education Code to create the Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence to provide education and training for law enforcement personnel in the Rio Grande Valley. “Having such an educational facility for our current and future law enforcement officials will be a tremendous benefit for the delivery of justice and the protection of all of us in deep South Texas,” said Canales, whose House District 40 includes 19 percent of the City of Pharr. “I appreciate Rep. Muñoz allowing me to sign on as joint author of HB 1887, and I look forward to working with him and the leadership of Pharr and South Texas College on this most important legislative effort.” Muñoz’ House District 36 includes 76 percent of the City of Pharr. South Texas College has agreed to fund $4.2 million for construction of a 16,000 square-foot facility to include a vehicle driving range, outdoor shooting range, firearms simulator, mobile firearms simulator/live firing range, driving simulator, obstacle course, fitness rooms, classrooms and administrative offices. The instruction provided by the regional center would include: education and training toward an associate of applied science degree or certificate or another public safety or law enforcement- related associate degree or certificate; a baccalaureate degree for applied science or applied technology authorized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) officer certification; and a continuing education certification. During the Tuesday, April 7 public hearing on the bill by the House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety, STC President Shirley Reed and Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas testified for the bill. Also listed as supporting the measure during the House committee meeting, but not testifying, were Sergio Contreras, representing the City of Pharr, Lon Craft, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Texas Municipal Police Association, and Elizabeth Lippincott, representing the Texas Border Coalition.
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by Legislative Media | May 17, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, after addressing the South Texas College Board of Trustees at the Pecan Campus in McAllen.
Photograph By STEVE TAYLOR
Legislation proposing the creation of a South Texas College extension facility in the Delta Region of Hidalgo County, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Friday, May 8, is set for a Senate committee hearing on Monday, May 18, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, has announced. Originally filed to create a branch campus of STC in the Delta Region, Canales changed the language of House Bill 382 to instead call for the creation of an extension facility in order to dramatically reduce the financial cost to the state, which significantly improves its chances of legislative passage. “By requiring an extension facility, STC would be directed by the Texas Legislature to set up a physical presence in the Delta Region, a move that can eventually lead to a branch campus,” Canales said. “What we are wanting to do is move this one step further down the line. We believe that whatever concerns the college may have about the fiscal viability of this program will be shown dramatically to be unfounded because it will quickly flourish.” According to the Texas Higher Education Agency, a branch campus is a major, secondary location of an institution offering multiple programs, usually with its own administrative structure and usually headed by a Dean. A branch campus must be established by the Legislature or approved by the Coordinating Board. He said that STC has an obligation to spread its resources to areas of Hidalgo County which have the population base and geographic location to deserve an extension facility, and eventually, a branch campus. “The Delta Region has historically been a neglected area that can see a positive change from this bill. The area needs better access to higher education to have the same opportunities (as other communities with STC campuses and sites),” Canales said. But times are changing, and for the better, in the Delta Region, further justifying predictions that STC would also grow with those communities. “If we talk about demographics and you look at companies and ask, ‘What are the demographics there?’ Well, they just opened up a Walmart Supercenter, and a new H.E.B., and those businesses conduct incredible demographic studies before they make those multi-million dollar capital investments,” he continued. Canales also spoke about ongoing plans by the state transportation leaders to connect FM 1925, known as the Monte Cristo Road project, between Edinburg and South Padre Island, a thoroughfare which will go through the Delta Region. “The Texas Department of Transportation has opted to expand what is the existing Monte Cristo Road into a highway that will go all the way to Cameron County,” Canales said. “That is why Rep. Lucio and his father, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., and Rep. René Oliveira, support this bill.” The public hearing will take place before the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, whose chairman is Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville. The meeting, which is open to the public, was at 8:30 a.m. in Room E1.028 of the Texas Capitol complex. The session is available for live viewing on the Internet, or afterwards as a video recording in its entirety, by logging on to http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.phpby , find the desire program at the bottom of that web page, and click the “play” button. The live programs are listed by their scheduled start time. Lucio is the Senate sponsor of the measure, House Bill 382, of which Canales is the primary author. Canales’ proposal also enjoys vital support from House legislators from the two South Texas counties – Hidalgo County and Starr County – which STC serves. Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, Rep. Armando “Mando” Martínez, D-Weslaco, Rep. Ryan Guillén, D-Rio Grande City, and Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-San Benito, are joint authors of Canales’ HB 382. The measure, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Friday, May 8, would require STC, which has campuses in McAllen, Weslaco and Rio Grande City, to establish an extension facility in either Elsa, which is in Canales’ House District 40, or in Edcouch, which is in Longoria’s House District 35. Under the proposal, the STC Board of Trustees are directed to set up the extension facility beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year. The legislation does not authorize STC to increase its property tax rate.
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by Legislative Media | May 15, 2015 | Politics
Featured: A section of the $70 million, four-story addition to the Science Building at The University of Texas-Pan American, which received final approval for funding and design development by the UT System Board of Regents in Austin on Thursday, May 14.
Graphics Courtesy MUÑOZ AND COMPANY
A $70 million addition to the Science Building at the University of Texas-Pan American has been approved by the UT System Board of Regents, paving the way for thousands of students a year to receive a cutting-edge education that will lead to professions focused on preventing and treating diseases that cause illnesses and deaths in people, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Meeting in Austin for a regularly-scheduled public meeting, the nine-member UT System governing board, which includes Ernest Aliseda of McAllen, on Thursday, May 14, gave final approval for the release of funding and of design development for the 115,000-square-foot structure. Anticipated construction start is scheduled for December 2015, anticipated substantial completion will take place by December 2017, and the final completion is expected by February 2018, according to the UT System. “This new facility represents the next big wave of higher education opportunities in Edinburg and for deep South Texas,” said Mayor Richard García. “In addition to the positive economic impact in our community from its construction, it will provide the crucial infrastructure, such as classrooms, offices, suites, works stations, laboratories, and equipment, to increase STEM graduates to 873 a year, and provide 16 additional labs that will reduce the time to graduate.” STEM stands for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Four teaching labs will allow 4,200 students to take courses and labs during the same semester. The overall project will accommodate 16 additional research labs, two classrooms, 42 faculty offices, 11 staff work stations, and eight suites for research assistants. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, STEM-related programs became a national priority in 2011 because too few college students are pursuing degrees in these fields. The U.S. Department of Labor expects that there will be 1.2 million job openings in STEM related fields by 2018, but there won’t be enough qualified graduates to fill them. The EEDC, which is led by García, is the jobs-creation arm of the mayor and Edinburg City Council. The mayor serves as the President of the five-member EEDC Board of Directors, which works with EEDC Executive Director Agustín “Gus” García, Jr. and his staff on major projects, such as new construction and additional degree programs at UT-Pan American. Mayor Richard García and EEDC Executive Director Gus García are not related. Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, President Ad Interim for UT-Pan American, also serves on the EEDC Board of Directors. Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, whose House District 40 is home to UT-Pan American, works closely with the city’s elected and appointed leadership, as well as with UT System and UTPA officials, to promote growth and investment at the Edinburg campus, which serves more than 20,000 students. “I wish to commend the University of Texas System Board of Regents for their vision and drive to grow and expand the System’s resources in deep South Texas,” Canales said. “The Science Building (addition) will provide much needed classroom and lab space for the university, while increasing the instructional efficiency for all students of the new University of Texas System institution.” Canales in 2o13 was a joint cosponsor of Senate Bill 24 by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Rep. René Oliveira, D-Brownsville, which is combining the resources of UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville into that new institution referenced by Canales, to be known as The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. UT-Pan American will be the largest component of UT-RGV, complete with a full-fledged medical school, at the end of this August, when UT-Rio Grande Valley becomes a reality. “UT-RGV is more than a new university or a new logo, it is a vision for the future of our community. The investments that the UT System Board of Regents has made in the Rio Grande Valley bring with it a new opportunity for our youth to pursue a quality education and work towards a brighter future for them and their families,” Canales said. Michael O’Donnell, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction for the UT System, noted that the $70 million addition will also provide the space necessary to increase research capacity for approximately 168 researchers, supporting physical and biological sciences with a focus on biomedical research. Hinojosa, whose Senate District 27 includes UT-Pan American, praised the emphasis on producing more students with high-level biomedical research capabilities. “Biomedical research involves the sciences whose goal is to come up with effective treatments and cures for the most serious afflictions, and just like the School of Medicine that is now under construction in Edinburg, this new addition to our Science Building will produce dramatic advances for all of Texas,” said Hinojosa. “When the upcoming 115,000 square-foot addition is connected to the existing Science Building, we will wind up with a 272,000 square-foot intensive STEM research and learning center. It is going to be an extremely large and impressive state-of-the-art complex.” The building will support 21st-century classroom and teaching pedagogies by providing additional group study rooms, collaboration spaces, huddle rooms located throughout the facility, and flexible classrooms and teaching labs supported with AV and IT technologies for long distance and enhanced learning, O’Donnell added. Rooms will also be designed to support multiple furniture configurations. He noted some of the many complexities of linking the Science Building and the $70 million addition. We are constructing a building on a completed, basically built-out campus. Accordingly, the vision and the decision consistent with the Master Plan to put this building in there, this is as big a building as we could fit in there. It met the needs of the campus as it was designed,” O’Donnell said. “But at the same time, this particular addition is very difficult to build, because we have to do lifts from outside, with cranes, into the facility, into the courtyard, to be able to complete the building.” Despite the challenges of connecting the $70 million addition to the exiting Science Building – including having to import contractors from outside the Valley for considerable specialized work – “this building is going to be built for a 21st century learning,” he said.
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by Legislative Media | May 13, 2015 | Politics
Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, on Tuesday, May 5, secured passage by the House of Representatives of his House Bill 1015, which will help Texas district judges rehabilitate petty criminals while they pay their debts to society.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Texas taxpayers will save money while improving the rehabilitation of tens of thousands of petty criminals every year, many of them serving drug-related sentences, under legislation by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which was approved on Tuesday, May 5 by the House of Representatives. House Bill 1015 would require the Texas Department of Corrections, which supervises 19 state jails in Texas, to notify a district judge, about two weeks ahead of time, when a felon sentenced in their court will have been locked up in a state jail for 75 days. Currently after the first 75 days served in state jails, offenders can be bench warranted back into community supervision, yet experts testified that this rarely occurs because judges do not have an adequate mechanism to monitor this benchmark for each offender, according to a 2014 study by the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, of which Canales is a member. “State jails are notorious for being more expensive than even state prison, and for offenders who are serious about straightening out their lives, a judge can bring them back home for meaningful rehabilitation programs, diversion treatment, and community supervision, which costs taxpayers a fraction of keeping them in state jails,” Canales said. When the Texas state jail system was first created in 1993, it was intended to remove petty-criminals – many of them convicted of drug-related crimes – from contact with violent offenders as found in the prison system, reduce overcrowding in the prison system, and emphasize treatment and rehabilitation with the goal of reducing the chance those felons would wind up in trouble with the law again, the House committee study noted. But, Canales said, the state jail system – which currently houses around 10,000 “detainees” – is failing because it has is now used for warehousing inmates with no programs to provide rehabilitation. “Right now, no one lets the judge know when an offender who was sentenced in their court can begin the journey to becoming a law-abiding citizen, and instead, they wind up being forgotten for up to two years,” he added. “House Bill 1015 would let our judges take the important steps needed to prepare these offenders to return back to society, as they pay their debt to society.” The reliance on keeping offenders in state jails over community supervision has been criticized for costing taxpayers more money per offender, the House committee noted in its legislative findings, which were published on January 12, 2015. State jails average about $43 per day per offender. This cost is less than prison inmates cost per day, but when one takes into account the higher recidivism rate of state jail offenders, the fact they do not receive meaningful rehabilitation programs, and no parole, the cost is a poor return on taxpayers’ investment; especially for repeat offenders. In comparison, diversion treatment and community supervision costs an average of $10 per day. Therefore, state jails are no longer the backup to community supervision, but are the primary response to state jail felonies with minimal rehabilitation opportunities and maximum sentences served, the legislative committee also concluded. Canales credited Nueces County 117th District Judge Sandra Watts for bringing the issue to light when she testified before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence during its public hearing held in Corpus Christi on Tuesday July 29, 2014. Canales credited Nueces County 117th District Judge Sandra Watts for bringing this and other issues to light when she testified before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence during its public hearing held in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Following House passage of HB 1015, Watts reflected, “This bill is another example that Texas is moving towards a ‘Smart on Crime’ approach and away from the ‘War on Drugs’.” During her testimony last summer before the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, Watts told lawmakers that when the concept of state jails was first introduced, a key goal was to give nonviolent offenders a wake-up call about the consequences of their actions, then bring them back home on probation and rehabilitation. “Problem number one is you are assuming, or the law assumed, that there was a mechanism in place where judges would have a list of everybody they sent away (to state jails). There is no way,” Watts said. “The statute says that after they have served at least 75 days, the district judge has the ability to bench warrant them back and put them on probation. I’m probably as computer literate as they come, and I have spreadsheets about all my inmates, but I can’t keep up with who I’ve sent or this time period.” To further illustrate the need for HB 1015, Watts noted that in 2011, there were 23,000 detainees who went through the state jail system. “Of those 23,000, only 158 in that calendar year were bench warranted (court-ordered) back and put back into community supervision,” she explained. “The intention was perhaps good but has been underutilized. It is not working as perhaps the Legislature in 1993 thought that it would, mainly because of the masses of detainees or the defendants we deal with. We do not have anyway to track them, keep them in our mind.”
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