Author Archive

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Jack Z. Smith

There’s a new Texas two-step.

Natural gas prices and retail electric rates are moving in tandem — steadily downward — a trend that could leave many energy consumers dancing with delight.

As of Thursday afternoon, powertochoose.com, the comparison shopping site overseen by the Texas Public Utility Commission, showed 31 retail electric-rate plans priced below 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Oncor Electric Delivery service area that includes North Texas.

There were 33 plans priced from 10 cents to 10.9 cents per kwh.

Thanks to plunging natural gas prices, many Texans can secure electric rates that are 25 to 40 percent lower than what they were paying last summer. Rates had soared as a result of spiraling prices for natural gas, which is burned to generate much of Texas’ electricity.

Financial Times

Newt Gingrich

California is in bad shape. It is likely to get worse. As America’s most populous state faces a $26.3 bn budget gap, lawmakers in Sacramento have had no choice but to make desperate spending cuts. Their latest solution? The legislature is debating a plan to release 27,000 prisoners early to save money on correctional facilities.

California, like so many other states facing budget shortfalls, is a victim of decades of reckless spending and unsustainable budgets. It was not always like this. The Golden State’s government services and public institutions – including its prisons – were models for the country in the 1960s and 1970s. But Californian policymakers stopped planning for the future. The state’s population ballooned from 23m in 1980 to 36m in 2008, and demographics shifted dramatically due to immigration. Roads, schools and prisons built with 1975 in mind are now crumbling and overcrowded.

Albany is just as paralysed as Sacramento. New York State legislators, both Republican and Democrat, avoided difficult decisions and kept spending unsustainably high for years. In New York, per capita Medicaid spending is double the national average. New York also has the highest per-pupil spending in the country, but ranked only 22nd in academic achievement in a US Chamber of Commerce state-by-state study of school systems. Even as private sector jobs evaporated, the state awarded 160,000 public sector employees a 3 per cent pay raise this spring. In the face of falling tax revenues because of last year’s crash on Wall Street, legislators increased total spending by 9 per cent. The result: a $17bn deficit in 2009.

Contact Information:
(817)596-8100

Today, State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) announced that veterans with a service-connected disability may reduce their property taxes in 2009 by filling out a simple exemption form at the Parker or Wise County Appraisal District office.

“This exemption has been a long time coming and is going to give veterans an exemption that they so greatly deserve.” King stated, “It is my hope that the State of Texas will continue to find ways to give back to those who have done so much for us.”

A veteran’s percentage of service-connected disability determines the amount of the exemption – from a $5,000 to a $12,000 deduction from the veteran’s property value.

The disabled veteran exemption is available to:
• a disabled veteran;
• a surviving spouse of a deceased disabled veteran, as long as the spouse remains unmarried;
• a surviving minor child of a disabled veteran, if the veteran’s spouse is deceased and if the child is both under 18 and unmarried;
• a surviving spouse of a person killed while on active duty, whether the spouse has remarried or not at application time; and
• a surviving minor child of a person killed while on active duty, if the child is both under 18 and unmarried.

Any eligible person who has not received this exemption should apply by April 30 of the year in question. An applicant may claim the exemption on only one piece of property, such as a home or any other property the applicant owned on January 1. The applicant must be a Texas resident to qualify.

The appraisal district may require proof of the disability, such as documentation from the Veterans Administration or the branch of the armed services in which the veteran served. Applicants may need proof of marriage, age or spouse’s or parent’s death.

For more information about the property tax exemption for disabled veterans, contact the Parker County Appraisal District at (817) 596-0078 or the Wise County Appraisal District at (940) 627-3081. More information is also available from the state Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division at (800) 252-9121.

Dear Friend,

As you know, I’ve been very outspoken in my opposition to the healthcare plan that the Democrats and President Obama have been propagating in Washington. A couple of weeks ago I joined several of my colleagues in the Texas Legislature in sending a letter to the Texas Congressional delegation urging them to oppose the plan as well.

Yesterday I came across this organizational chart (please find link below) of how the healthcare plan will work if it is passed. I hope it scares you as much as it did me. Please take a look at this chart and share it with all of your friends. The federal government has shown that they are unable to run Social Security, Medicare, and many other programs, so why do they now think they can create the largest government program in our nation’s history and have it work properly?

Please join me in voicing your opposition to this plan to your congressional representatives today. It’s a pleasure to serve you in the Texas Legislature.

Sincerely,

Phil King

Contact Information:
(817)596-8100

This week State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) joined Governor Rick Perry in Dallas at a ceremonial bill signing for House Bill 469. King authored HB 469 this past legislative session to keep Texas as the leader in energy innovation by continuing Texas’ significant progress in energy diversification.

“If we are going to bring down the cost of electricity we must learn how to build a clean coal power plant,” King said. “This legislation will incent investors, in a competitive, free market manner, to take the economic risk of building the first ever clean coal/carbon sequestration plant, ultimately creating jobs and new technology. This bill is great for the environment, and truly a winner for Texas.”

HB 469 is based on a free market solution to expanding our energy portfolio in Texas. It will offer tax breaks to bring out the best in private industry to develop and build the first clean coal plants in the world using this innovative technology that captures 70 percent of the carbon dioxide resulting from the generation of electricity by the facility. The bill also gives a severance tax break to oil production companies that use carbon from these plants for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), a process by which carbon is injected into an oil field to recover oil that would otherwise be unreachable by using standard methods.

“Not only will these plants be a boost to the economy, but the carbon used from these plants will allow Texas to recover billions of barrels of oil that we wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise,” King explained. “That’s why this legislation was such a unique energy solution for Texas. It promotes our energy diversification and keeps us at the cutting edge of energy technology, but also helps us further stimulate our economy by recovering hard to reach oil fields.”

The construction and operation of these clean coal projects in Texas will be a huge addition to the Texas economy. The positive economic impacts of this legislation are numerous, including placing Texas as the leader to develop and export this new technology to other states, creating over 2,000 jobs per plant and pouring billions of dollars in to the economy in capital investment.

Contact Information:
(817)596-8100

State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) today cited fiscal restraint and common sense economics for Texas’ booming economy and why Standard & Poor’s (S&P) raised Texas’ credit rating from ‘AA’ to ‘AA+’ this week.

A statement from S&P on Tuesday explained, “S&P raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) and general obligation (GO) rating on Texas to ‘AA+’ from ‘AA’ based on the state’s continued economic diversification, and expectation that state officials and policy makers will remain committed to the maintenance of an adequate level of reserves in the Economic Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund).” The statement went on to say, “The ratings continue to reflect our opinion of the state’s large and steadily diversifying economy, which despite the recession continues to perform better than the nation in terms of both economic activity and employment.”

King stated, “Conservatives fought off many attempts this past legislative session to unnecessarily raid the rainy day fund and now we are seeing the positive effects of taking that stand.” King went on to say, “Texas has it right – we have ensured our ‘savings account’ is intact, have kept taxes on families and businesses to a minimum, and have kept our government programs in check – that’s why our state is blowing the rest of the nation away in key economic indicators like employment and trade just to name a few.”

King concluded, “If congress and other states would use the ‘Texas Model’ as the standard for how to operate instead of creating more big government programs and raising taxes on business and families to pay for those programs, this country would be a lot better off.”

Contact Information:
(817)596-8100

In a letter to the Texas Congressional delegation, State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) joined thirty-five of his colleagues in the Texas Legislature in urging opposition to pending federal health care legislation that would vastly increase government spending, necessitating tax increases.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the insurance coverage provisions of H.R. 3200 would cost more than $1 trillion over ten years (2010-19). The legislation would be funded in part by a “surtax” on households with annual incomes above $350,000. Clearly, given CBO estimates, taxes will have to be raised on other income-earning households in the future.

King stated in the letter, “Legislation being considered by Congress would place the federal government directly in the center of our health care system in competition with providers in the private marketplace, and at the expense of taxpayers and consumer choice.” King continued, “People are demanding health care reform; not a government takeover of health care. There is a major difference between the two.”

King went on to say, “I strongly oppose more government spending and even more government intrusion in the name of health care. Anyone who believes that the federal government should run our health care system need only to look at the failure of Fannie Mae to see all the warning signs.”

“The health and well-being of each Texan is too precious to be entrusted to a massive, government-run, federal health care scheme that will be expensive and untrustworthy. Leaving health care decisions to unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. is a disaster waiting to happen,” stated King.

He concluded, “America needs health care reform, but there is a better way. Reducing health insurance mandates, passing sensible tort reforms like those passed by the Texas Legislature in 2003, encouraging innovation, and improving price and quality transparency are four positive health care reforms that could help to lower costs and improve care without massive government intervention.”

Houston Chronicle

Barry Smitherman

The proposed climate change legislation, intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions over the next 40 years, will substantially raise electricity bills. An analysis recently released by ERCOT, the electric grid operator for most of Texas, joins other reports from around the country that project significant job losses and dramatic increases in the cost of electricity if this legislation is enacted.

About 50 percent of all electric generation in America comes from burning coal and about 20 percent comes from natural gas. And, even though Texas has more wind generation than any other state (and all but a handful of other countries), we still burn fossil fuels to generate the vast majority of our electricity.

What is the justification put forward by the bill’s proponents, including President Barack Obama, for destroying jobs and dramatically increasing your electric bill? An attempt, based upon computer models with no guarantee of success, to prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising a couple degrees by the year 2100. (In fact, one study projects that at best this proposed legislation reduces the already projected rise in temperatures by only 9/100ths of one degree in 2050.)

Austin American-Statesman

Corrie MacLaggan

A group of Republican lawmakers today announced the formation of a Texas chapter of GOPAC, a national organization that recruits and trains Republican candidates.

GOPAC-TX will raise money and work to get additional Republicans elected to the Texas House and Senate, the group’s chairman, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said at a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin.

At least for now, the House — where Republicans have a 76-74 majority — will likely be the group’s primary target in the Lone Star State.

For Republicans to win on key issues at the Capitol, “we need more Republicans in the House,” said state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a member of the group’s board. “The gap is too small.”

King said the group — which includes more than 30 state lawmakers so far — will take on incumbent Democrats. GOPAC-TX will mostly stay out of Republican primaries, he said.

He said the group is planning a series of fund-raisers around the state and hopes to raise at least $4 million.

Contact Information:
(817)596-8100

Austin – This week, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued notices of violation to Planned Parenthood clinics in San Antonio that were performing abortions illegally in unlicensed facilities in Texas, posing a danger to the lives and health of women in Texas.

The notices of violation, which were accompanied with administrative penalties ranging from $14,000 to $17,500, are the latest in a string of formal actions taken against unlicensed Planned Parenthood clinics that were illegally performing abortions. One San Antonio facility failed to comply with reporting requirements. DSHS issued cease and desist orders to four facilities on April 2, 2009. Subsequently, DSHS issued formal notices of violation to five facilities on June 15, 2009.

The months-long investigation of Planned Parenthood clinics was initiated based on a March 16 letter from members of the Texas Conservative Coalition (TCC), the conservative caucus of the Texas Legislature. The TCC letter informed DSHS that legislators were aware of unlicensed Planned Parenthood abortion facilities in San Antonio that were illegally performing abortions; these facts have since been confirmed.

“The questions we first asked in March have brought troubling facts to light about illegal abortions in Texas,” said State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford), who is a member of TCC. King continued, “By accepting state funds for its illegal facilities, Planned Parenthood has endangered the health of women in Texas, misused public dollars, and violated the public trust.”

“Planned Parenthood must act in accordance with state laws that are in place to protect the health and safety of women who seek an abortion,” King added. He concluded, “The notices of violations send a strong message that Texas expects all abortion providers to comply with the law, especially when they are receiving state funds.”