GIVE AND TAKE

Illegal immigration is draining hundreds of millions of dollars from local governments but bolstering the Texas economy by $17.7 billion a year, the state comptroller estimates in a new report.

And when it comes to taxes, illegal immigrants are a boon. They cost the state $1.16 billion in services, such as public health services and education, but they pay $1.58 billion every year in taxes and fees, according to the report, released Thursday.

That’s a net profit to the state of $420 million. But counties pay the price: They’re taking in $513 million in local taxes and revenues – but spending $1.44 billion in indigent care and law-enforcement costs. Cities and school districts suffer as well, the report said.

While the debate on the impact of illegal immigrants has roiled the state and nation, the study represents the first time Texas has comprehensively looked at the costs and financial benefits. An estimated 1.4 million illegal immigrants live in Texas.

In Texas, the report dovetails two highly sensitive and politically charged issues expected to be at the forefront of the 2007 legislative session convening in January: the cost of illegal immigration and how much money counties are allowed to collect from local taxpayers each year.

When those debates hit the House and Senate floors next year, counties can point to the new report as “one more reason” the Legislature shouldn’t further limit the growth of property appraisals or cap how much local governments can collect in taxes, said Elna Christopher, spokeswoman for the Texas Association of Counties. – The Dallas Morning News

PAPER TRAILS

By the 2008 presidential election, voters around the country are likely to see sweeping changes in how they cast their ballots and how those ballots are counted, including an end to the use of most electronic voting machines without a paper trail, federal voting officials and legislators say.

New federal guidelines, along with legislation given a strong chance to pass in Congress next year, will probably combine to make the paperless voting machines obsolete, the officials say. States and counties that bought the machines will have to modify them to hook up printers, at federal expense, while others are planning to scrap the machines and buy new ones.

The changes also mean that the various forms of vote-counting software used around the country — most of which are protected by their manufacturers for reasons of trade secrecy — will for the first time be inspected by federal authorities, and the code could be made public. There will also be greater federal oversight on how new machines are tested before they arrive at polling stations.

Having stalled for over two years, federal legislation requiring a shift to paper trails and other safeguards, proposed by Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, has a better chance of passing next session, several members of Congress and election officials say.

But it is also clear that the changes will not come without a struggle. State and local election officials are still reeling from the last major overhaul of the country’s voting system, initiated by the Help America Vote Act in 2002, and some say that the $150 million in federal aid proposed by Mr. Holt would not be enough to pay for the changes. – The New York Times

DOUBLE STANDARD

Police officers who can ticket you for not wearing a seat belt sometimes ditch their own restraints, a factor that may have contributed to a double-digit jump this year in law enforcement traffic fatalities, according to a new study.

Many patrol car seat belts tangle with gun belts worn by officers, causing some of them to choose access to a firearm over seat belt safety, said Craig W. Floyd, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

“There are times, I’m afraid, where some officers think it’s to their benefit to not have their seat belt on,” Floyd said in an interview. “They’re worried that if someone were to start shooting at them and they have to jump out of their car quickly, it might get tangled.” – The Associated Press

OLDER AND SAFER

Elderly and middle-aged residents are more likely to get concealed handgun permits than people in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, according to Texas Department of Public Safety figures.

People 60 and older hold more than onefourth of the permits in Texas. And although those 55 and older represent just 28 percent of the state’s population older than 21, they carry 42 percent of the permits. – Houston Chronicle

INTERIM REPORT, HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE.
Ninety-two page study looks at the impact of unfunded mandates on local property taxes as well as the faults of appraisal/revenue caps. A good resource for officials seeking to influence their legislators on these topics. Available online at http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/ reports/79interim/localGovWaysMeans.pdf.

REPORT TO THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE: MEETING THE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGE.
Read the Texas Department of Transportation’s proposals for addressing congestion issues, including county corridor planning, in this 75-page report. Download it at http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ publications/government_business_enter prises/state_agenda.pdf.

INTERIM REPORT, HOUSE CORRECTIONS COMMITTEE.
Additional funding for probation- type treatment services earned more emphasis than prison construction by the legislative committee that oversees criminal justice sanctions. Read it at http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/ reports/79interim/corrections.pdf.

FOCUS REPORT: TOPICS FOR THE 80TH LEGISLATURE.
The House Research Organization presents a 16-page shorthand analysis of major issues to be considered this spring. Go to www.hro.house.state.tx.us/focus/to pics80-1.pdf.

HISTORIC TEXAS COURTHOUSES by Mike Andrews with photos by Paul Hester and Lisa Hardaway.
Former Congressmen Andrews selected 100 courthouses to profile, for coffee tables. Available from Texas A&M University Press.

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