The following message was sent by e-mail to all TCCTA members on Monday, March 28. If you have not seen the message or have not responded to it, please do so as soon as possible.
To all TCCTA members:
The House of Representatives plans to present its appropriations bill on the floor for a vote later this week. Normally this is done later in the Session, but the budget crisis is driving a host of highly exceptional contingencies. It is vitally important to act as soon as possible.
Association lobbyist Beaman Floyd urges all members to contact their representative in support of a particular floor amendment, described below. Contact information is also provided at the conclusion of this message. TCCTA believes that individually written e–mails are far superior to petitions or perfunctory online responses. We ask that you compose a brief statement, using the information provided, as well as any college–specific information you may have. Please do not ″copy and paste″ any language from TCCTA, as lawmakers and staffs might infer that the constituent devoted a trivial amount of effort, and this approach may lessen the impact of your communication.
Before making the request, be sure to thank your representative for his or her hard work and dedication on behalf of the people of Texas. It is extremely important to be polite and constructive at all times.
Our message is precise. Urge your representative to support the floor amendment to HB 1, by Rep. Aycock, which would move $140 million from formula funding to health insurance coverage. The amendment, if passed on the floor, does not require additional revenue, but would (1) allow officials to see more clearly the total impact of budget cuts in all categories, and (2) restore community college educators to the same priority as other participants in the state′s Group Benefits Program.
Working in concert with the Texas Association of Community Colleges, we are asking that any funding cuts to community colleges appear in a single line item in the budget. The floor amendment by Rep. Aycock will accomplish this. We fully intend to continue advocating for increased formula appropriations, but it must be made clear to legislators that any reduction in funding for community colleges is a cut in instruction. (A cut in benefits funding does not reduce this cost. It merely shifts it to local revenue sources that would otherwise be spent on instruction.)
Background: The House version of the appropriations bill currently contains a breathtaking reduction of 82 percent for health benefits, which would truncate the state’s historical commitment, reduce community colleges to second–class participation in the ERS Group Benefits Program, and inflict irreparable structural damage to the revenue stream of these schools. Colleges are required to provide such benefits to faculty and administrators. Therefore, the instructional mission of all institutions would suffer, and the Closing the Gaps program would be jeopardized, with no advantage to the state whatsoever. As TCCTA members, we understand the rise in health care costs, but believe any savings the state chooses to realize should be borne across the ERS system, and not single out community college employees. We deserve the same level of commitment as that provided to other program participants.
The proposed House budget also greatly reduces the state′s contribution to the TRS and ORP retirement programs for community college educators. As with health benefits, colleges will be required to make up the difference, draining revenue from the instructional mission of each school.
The background information above is provided for use at your discretion, but the key point of this communication is to urge your representative to support the amendment to HB 1 by Rep. Aycock.
(IMPORTANT: Do not use college equipment or institutional e-mail accounts in contacting legislators.)
Members of the House can be contacted by using the ″Who Represents Me?″ link provided by the Texas Legislature. By typing in your home address and⁄or zip code, and then clicking on the link to each legislator, access to their e–mail addresses is obtained easily. This message concerns the House of Representatives, not the Senate.
More helpful information, including the "Guide to Political Participation" is available on the TCCTA ″Legislative Resources″ page.
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