The framework
On Oct. 29, county staff outlined key takeaways for what to expect in the upcoming legislative session:
- The Legislature will continue to operate with an estimated $23.8 billion surplus, or “rainy day fund.”
- School vouchers will continue to dominate attention.
- Eliminating extraterritorial jurisdictions of municipalities will gain momentum.
- Increased interest in water infrastructure investments
“Counties don't really have any sort of authority on when and where those happen. We have residents that are left being served by those special purpose districts, and they don't have a voice on the management or the leadership,” said Julie Wheeler, the county’s intergovernmental relations officer.
The conversation continued to later encompass the general authority of local government, with staff raising concerns with the instances when county government authority is revoked and no other entity is tasked or responsible with regard to public protections.
“We're not trying to protect authority for the sake of authority. We are doing this as stewards of public trust, our constituents, our residents,” Wheeler explained. “If the Legislature feels that some authority needs to be removed, there needs to be a really good reason for taking that away, and somebody else needs to be taking the reins in those situations.”
What else?
Wheeler also discussed the county’s prioritization of preventative mental health care interventions outside of the criminal justice system, also referred to as diversion programs.
She said previously this topic was housed under the county’s justice policy priorities, but that staff is working to “shift that conversation” to a matter of health and human services, specifically within the Legislature.
"The concept of local control is almost lost at the Legislature. However, it's important that if diversion is going to be effective, then it probably needs to be locally controlled as well," Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion said.
County legislative policy was also updated to support legislation that encourages multimodal transportation, specifically those that expand freight and passenger rail services.
What’s next?
Wheeler outlined six specific bills currently being drafted:
- An Austin State Hospital ground lease agreement with the state to utilize vacated buildings or land for diversion and deflection initiatives
- Allowing counties and emergency services districts to enter into interlocal agreements for the shared administration of and enforcement of county fire code
- Allowing local governments to meet only one part of a surplus property donation test, rather than all three parts, so that the Travis County IT department can donate old computers to partner nonprofits
- Reducing how often the county’s bail bond board is required to meet from once monthly to only six times in a 12-month period
- Changing state law to allow the county to hire local professional agents for deer management within the Balcones Canyonland Preserve
- Refiling a bill from last session for a carve-out statute that would allow, but not require, the county to provide waste management services in extraterritorial jurisdictions of a city, even if that city does not provide those services to that area
Wheeler said that each session there are an estimated 8,000 bills filed, with the county tracking around 3,500 of those bills.
Terms to know
A county bail bond board is responsible for the oversight of bail bond business within the county’s jurisdiction, including issuing licenses to bond companies, monitoring and compliance of bond businesses, investigating complaints, and issuing disciplinary action for violations, according to the Travis County Bail Bond website.
Board members often include individuals from county offices within the justice system, such as sheriffs, district attorneys and district judges.
