September 14

Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff announced an interim study on state employee salaries, classifications, retention and benefits. The committee, chaired by Senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, with Vice-chairman Senator Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin, will report its findings before the next legislative session and TACT will provide data and testimony to the committee.

August 17

Leaders of the Texas Association of College Teachers (TACT) have been working with leaders of AAUP, TFA, and A&M Faculty Senates to address A&M System existing policies and proposed policies that challenge long-established faculty rights.

Existing A&M System policies state that the university shall retain a royalty-free right to use class notes, curriculum guides, and laboratory notebooks (policy 17.02.01) and a royalty-free right to use Technology-Mediated Materials (17.02.02), in apparent contradiction to U.S. Copyright Law.

Chancellor Graves of the A&M System has responded
"It is clearly stated in the work for hire doctrine that all work created by a System employee is owned by the System."
This statement is in apparent contradiction to legal definitions of work for hire as those definitions apply to most faculty members.

Proposed changes to System policy 12.01 may be even more threatening to faculty rights. Proposed policy 12.01 states that "A grant of tenure shall not be construed as creating a property interest in any attributes of the faculty position beyond an annual salary for nine months..." Among other changes, the Policy also proposes that if a faculty member is placed on administrative leave (read suspension) by the faculty member's Dean, the only person to whom the faculty member may appeal the decision is the Dean.

TACT is working with the other organizations to alert all Texas faculty to the dangers inherent in these policies should they become established as legal precedents. TACT will provide further updates as the situation progresses.

Please connect to the TACT web site for more information including proposed changes to system policy 12.01 along with comments attributed to AAUP lawyer Jonathan Knight Also included, copy of letters to and from Chancellor Graves regarding A&M System policies 17.02.01 and 17.02.02.

April 19

The members of the Conference Committee for SB 1, the General Appropriations Act, have been named and will begin ironing out the differences between the House and Senate budget versions on April 24. Retirement issues are scheduled for May 1 and higher education is scheduled for May 7. The members are: Senators Rodney Ellis, chairman, 512/463-0113; Chris Harris, 463-0110; Robert Duncan, 463-0128; Steve Ogden, 463-0105; Judith Zaffirini, 463-0121. Representatives Rob Junell, vice chairman, 512/463-0472; Buddy West, 463-0546; Garnet Coleman, 463-0542; Pete Gallego, 463-0566; Talmadge Heflin, 463-0568.

Recommendation: If you leave a message with Committee Members in support of a TACT issue, limit it to one issue per call per day. TACT issues the Committee will consider include:

* The Senate Bill quadruples the current appropriation to the TEXAS Grant (Toward EXcellence, Access and Success) scholarship program. The House Bill provides less. TACT supports higher funding to assist additional college students.

* A proposal presented to Sen. Duncan and Rep. West would amend page III-41 of the House Bill and page III-40 of the Senate Bill. It would permit institutions to supplement the 6 percent of salary state contribution to Optional Retirement Program up to 8.5 percent for all ORP participants. The national average with which Texas competes for quality faculty is over 9 percent.

* A proposal in Article XI (wish list) of both bills would provide contingency appropriation for the retirement plan contributions associated with salary increases due to passage of HB 1014 or SB 1101.

* A proposal in Article XI (wish list) of the Senate Bill tracks last session’s measure permitting an additional 3 percent salary increase in the second year of the biennium if the Controller certifies that state revenues exceed budgeted expenses.

For additional information on the activities of the Texas Association of College Teachers, see www.tact.org

April 18

The House Higher Education Committee favorably reported to the full House, HB 1014 by McReynolds, the TACT-endorsed legislation designed to raise faculty salaries. TACT has thanked Representative McReynolds for his diligent work on this bill via his administrative assistant's email: heather.fleming@house.state.tx.us. We encourage you to do the same.

March 27

Legislators carrying TACT's faculty salary catch-up legislation were enthusiastic about TACT's suggestion this morning to amend the bills to eliminate the quarter-million dollar fiscal note by adding, "These reallocated funds will include related fringe benefit costs." With this change, hearings are expected to be requested this week for the subcommittee of House Higher Education to which HB 1014 was referred and Senate Education Committee for SB 1101. State Representative David Farabee from Wichita Falls, who serves on the House Higher Education Committee, has signed on the House Bill as a joint author.

March 26

The Senate Finance Committee this morning reported out SB 1, their version of the General Appropriations Bill, to the full Senate. Among the congratulatory speeches, Chairman Ellis and others highlighted some of the accomplishments.

Education at all levels comprise nearly 43 percent of the anticipated state spending. Higher education receives an additional $859 million in general revenue (GR) and GR Dedicated funds. The TEXAS Grant scholarship program, among TACT’s priorities, increased from $100 million to $380 million, permitting assistance to 100,000 qualifying students with family incomes up to $75,000 (Georgia began its similar program several years ago for incomes up to $100,000 and has since lifted the cap). The Bill includes an additional $41.2 million for community college growth enrollment and a significant contribution to Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern University as part of the settlement with the Federal Office of Civil Rights.

Senator Ogden pointed out that if the additional contributions for Optional Retirement Program and health insurance are included ($270 million), higher education new money surpasses $1 billion. He and others suggested that health care costs are out of control and must be addressed or all available new money will be going to insurance rather than the state priorities. Chairman Ellis said other states were facing the same dilemma.

After several procedural moves, conferees will meet to address the differences between the House and Senate versions.

On another issue, Senator Ogden has filed SB 1769 to lower the employee contribution to Teacher Retirement System in favor of raising the employee contribution for health insurance. This would reduce the funds available to the Retirement Trust Fund and limit the amount available for future benefit increases.

March 23

The midpoint of the 77th Texas Legislative Session has come and gone, so it’s time for an update on the primary TACT issues. TEXAS Grant: Both the House Appropriations and Senate Finance bills call for substantial increases to the scholarship program begun two years ago. Look for the Conference Committee to double, triple, or quadruple the current $100 million funding level.

Faculty Pay Equity: House Bill 1014 by McReynolds was heard in the House Higher Education Committee and referred to a subcommittee comprising Reps. F. Brown (chair), J. Jones and Morrison. It is expected to languish there because of the fiscal note of $256,000, which is the cost of the increased retirement program contributions in the second year of the biennium. TACT has requested a contingency appropriation rider to fund the cost if money is available, but we don’t know if that will be sufficient to pass the enabling legislation. Senate Bill 1101 by Haywood has been referred to, but not heard by, the Senate Education Committee. The necessary contingency rider is in the Senate Finance Bill’s Article XI – the wish list.

On another issue, Senator Haywood also successfully filed TACT’s request for a contingency rider to increase faculty salaries by 3% in the second year of the biennium (September 2003) as was done last fall (if the Comptroller certifies that additional state revenues are available). It, too, is on the wish list and will need to be moved to the base bill during Conference Committee.

Retirement Plans: TACT submitted a rider to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Rodney Ellis to allow institutions to use local and other funds to supplement the State’s 6% ORP contribution for faculty hired since 1995 up to the 8.5% of salary provided to participants hired before 1995. It did not make it into the bill and we will look for a new champion who is likely to serve on the Conference Committee.

A number of bills would increase the Teacher Retirement System benefit multiplier, some even beyond TACT’s goal of 2.25%. Chances are good that some increase will be authorized.

March 7 - #2

Because of the overwhelming response to our First Alert this morning, we decided to give you a list of suggested "Talking Points" to use when contacting the 3-Subcommittee members of the House Higher Education Committee, along with their phone numbers and mailing address.

Talking Points for HB 1014 by Representative Jim McReynolds and SB 1101 by Senator Tom Haywood

1. In order to provide for student access and equity, the Coordinating Board's "Closing the Gaps" and the Lt. Governor's 21st Century Commission on Texas Colleges and Universities recommend a 50% student enrollment growth by the year 2015. This goal is supported by a recent Comptroller's report estimating a 5 to 1 economic development multiplier for investments in Texas higher education.
2. Texas faculty are the lowest paid among the top eleven most populous states -- the states with which we most directly compete for faculty talent. We are approximately 3 1/2 percent below the average of all 50 states.
3. Texas faculty salary increases lost ground to inflation during the decade ending in 1999 -- a negative 1.1 percent of purchasing power.
4. Even when the Legislature is specific about salary increases, such as the 3 percent contingency rider certified by the Comptroller for FY 2001, raises averaged a paltry 4.4 percent statewide, including less than the dedicated 3 percent by the UT-Health Science Center at Tyler and the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Nine institutions provided exactly 3 percent raises. (Statistics from the Legislative Budget Board). This is in addition to the Legislature appropriating more than $1 billion in new money for this biennium.
5. The cost of this legislation is estimated to beless than $40 million during the first biennium -- 10 percent of the additional money in the base appropriation bill. It reallocates existing resources rather than requesting a further appropriations increase, though an estimated $250,000 would be required for increased state retirement contributions.

The Honorable __________________ House Higher Education Subcommittee P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768-2910

Representative Fred Brown 463-0698
Representative Jesse Jones 463-0664
Representative Geanie Morrison 463-0456

March 7 - #1

TACT testified Tuesday in support of HB 1014 by Representative Jim McReynolds. The bill would create a system by which institutions would bring faculty salaries to the level of their colleagues in the top ten most populous states during the next eight years. The bill and its goal were well received by the members of the House Higher Education Committee, but a last minute fiscal note, unknown to Rep. McReynolds, forced the bill to be referred to a Subcommittee on Salaries and Compensation. The Subcommittee consists of Representatives Fred Brown, Jesse Jones and Geanie Morrison. While the intent of the bill was to prevent the need for an additional appropriation by transferring existing funds toward salaries, the fiscal note calculated the cost of the corresponding state contributions to retirement programs, rising from $256,690 in FY 2003 to $1,026,758 in FY 2006. Senator Tom Haywood has introduced the companion legislation as SB 1101.

February 2

TACT testified yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee about the importance of increasing the state Optional Retirement Program contribution to faculty hired after September 1, 1995. TACT's points included that correcting the inequity, which was recommended by the Senate State Affairs Committee, would help compensate for uncompetitive salaries, and would help faculty recruitment to address the expected enrollment increases. A friendly Senator requested that the Legislative Budget Board staff calculate the cost of this provision to the state -- TACT estimates $14 million for the upcoming biennium.

January 30

State Representative Jim McReynolds has again filed TACT-endorsed legislation addressing faculty salaries: HB 1014. If adopted, it would systematically require institutions to raise salaries during the next eight years so that the average of each faculty rank is equal to, or greater than, the average of the same rank at comparable institutions among the other top ten most populous states. We expect the bill to be referred to the House Education Committee and hope to announce a companion Senate bill soon. Additional information will be available at the TACT Spring Legislative Conference February 23-24.

January 25

The House of Represntatives' Appropriations Education Subcommittee consists of: Scott Hochberg, Chair, Dianne White Delisi, Helen Giddings, Roberto Gutierrez, and Anna Mowery. Their first meeting has been scheduled for February 1.

January 24

Governor Rick Perry listed higher education as his first issue during today's State of the State Address. He suggested tripling the TEXAS Grant scholarship program to $300 million for the biennium to allow an additional 65,000 students to afford college. He also mentioned the importance of faculty recruitment and raising the teacher retirement multiplier.

TACT has indicated its support for Senator Frank Madlas's Senate Joint Resolution 1, a constitutional amendment that would permit faculty members to serve in the legislature. We will provide written support to members of the Senate Education Committee, which may hear the issue as soon as its meeting in two weeks.

January 4

Lt. Governor Ratliff named his Senate Committees Wednesday, including a few surprises for higher education. Senate Finance Committee includes Chairman Rodney Ellis and Vice Chairman Chris Harris, neither of whom served on that committee last session. Senate Education is again chaired by Teel Bivins, but a Subcommittee on Higher Education was not announced, and last session's Subcommittee Chairman, Royce West, was not appointed to the Education Committee. The two newest Senators, Todd Staples and Leticia Van de Putte, are Education Committee members.

Other Wednesday news included Governor Rick Perry announcing the results of his 21st Century Commission on Texas Higher Education. As expected, the recommendations include doubling the appropriation to the TEXAS Grant scholarship program as endorsed by TACT. A longer-term controversial measure would significantly change the higher education funding formula by providing "certificates" (not vouchers) for students to redeem at the educational institution of their choice.