The Texas Legislature, per our state constitution, meets in regular session for a mere 140 days each odd-numbered year. During these regular sessions, legislation on any topic may be considered. A set of rigid procedural deadlines governs when bills may be filed, heard in committee, debated on the floor, sent to the other chamber, etc. Once 140 days passes, the gavels comes down in each chamber and the regular session is over.


Any proposed legislation that fails to meet certain key deadlines within those brief 140 days sees its progress stopped. Once a session closes, any bills that have not completed the entire process have to start over from scratch in the next one.


The only way for lawmakers to meet outside of these regular sessions is for the governor to call us back for a special session. A special session may be called for up to 30 days and takes up a specific topic or topics that the governor regards as justified for inclusion. In these special sessions only bills that directly relate to the governor's special session topics list may pass.


During the interim period a number of formal studies are performed in both the Texas House and Senate by the committees with jurisdiction over various topics. The specific list of interim study topics is assigned by the speaker of the Texas House in my chamber and the lieutenant governor in the Senate.


Once assigned their interim projects, the committees hold hearings, take invited and public testimony, perform research, and then write a report that covers their assigned topics.


These interim reports frequently form the basis for legislation on these topics in the legislative session that follows. The reports also serve as in-depth briefing documents on these topics for both lawmakers and the general public.


The interim study process provides a great opportunity for the residents of District 55 to impact state government. I would encourage those with an interest in a particular subject to contact my office to see if a legislative committee is studying it. Those with Internet access may also look up the interim charges for the Texas House directly at:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/charges/79interim/79thinterimcharges.pdf.


As the chairman of the House Committee on Public Health, I will be overseeing interim studies on topics ranging from encouraging best practices for the prevention of hospital-acquired infections to evaluating efforts to reduce tobacco use by minors.


One interim project that I am exited about being involved in will be undertaken by the House Committee on Public Education. I am serving as the chairman of its subcommittee on teacher compensation and look forward to working on salary, health care, pensions, and performance incentives issues. My view is that Texas has to be able to recruit, retain, and reward the best teachers to our classrooms. I will be seeking input from educational professionals from all of the school districts represented in my district to hear their ideas regarding what works to encourage excellence.


One topic where a special session being called is a near certainty concerns the Texas Supreme Court's finding that our current school finance system contains an unconstitutional statewide property tax element. This deficiency must be addressed by June 1, 2006 and the work is already underway to develop a constitutional plan.


Gov. Rick Perry has created a 24-member Texas Tax Reform Commission, led by former Texas comptroller John Sharp, to study alternatives to our current school finance mechanisms. At my invitation, the commission is coming to hear testimony from Bell County residents on January 18. Those interested in appearing are welcome to contact my office for additional details.


This promises to be a very busy and productive interim for the Texas Legislature. Once again, I encourage the people of Bell County to participate in the interim study process. Democracy is do it yourself government and your good ideas could become state policy if you share them.