Governor Perry,
Please VETO HOUSE BILL 3509
BACKGROUND: In 2009 the Texas Legislature created the Interagency Task Force on Economic Growth and Endangered Species. The Task Force is chaired by the Office of the State Comptroller because it is that agency's role to monitor issues that affect the well-being of the state's economy. Other members of the Task Force are the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the State Soil and Water Conservation Board. Under the Comptroller's leadership, the Task Force has been successful in leading the way in ground-breaking innovations that meet federal ESA requirements and also ease the compliance burdens on thousands of Texans. The Texas Conservation Plan recently established under the Comptroller's leadership is an example of a first-of-its-kind model that resulted in the non-listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.
If signed into law by the Governor, HB 3509 would dis-assemble the machinery the Comptroller and the Task Force have put in place to deal with burdensome endangered species problems.
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, WHY FIX IT?? IT'S WORKING!
The Comptroller has developed an outstanding staff of ESA experts and has elevated rigorous science. Under a recent federal court ruling, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is obligated to review more than 100 species for listing in Texas over the next three years. The economic impacts of these listings could be disastrous to the Texas economy. The Texas Model is working and will be essential as the 100 plus species effecting Texas start rolling out. The Whooping Crane, Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and Lesser Prairie Chicken are just the opening acts. We need effective and proven leadership to meet the challenge.
HB 3509 WOULD LESSEN IMPORTANCE OF AND FOCUS ON ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES. The Texas Comptroller is charged with analyzing the economic effects to Texas of governmental actions. Other agencies are not. This has placed the Comptroller's Office in a strong position to balance economic effects to Texas with the biological requirements of endangered species when considering the most effective and efficient ways to meet ESA challenges.
IT'S A MESS!!! HB 3509 would result in inefficiency, confusion and loss of continuity in handling candidate species.The expertise gained by the Comptroller's over the last 4 years would be lost. The Task Force would rotate every two years among 4 state agencies. The other 3 state agencies do not possess the charge, expertise or ability to assess economic impact on Texas. The Task Force would become effectively leaderless inasmuch as the other agencies would have to re-invent the wheel already possessed by the Comptroller. Developers, industry and landowners would have to deal with a new set of players every two years.
HB 3509 WOULD RESULT IN A BUREAUCRATIC NIGHTMARE - OVER 100 ADVISORY COMMITTEES!! More than 100 species will be reviewed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service for Texas in the next 3 years. The bill requires an advisory committee be established for each candidate species subject to Fish & Wildlife Service review.
LOSS OF LANDOWNER CONFIDENTIALITY!!! HB 3509 would destroy landowner motivation to participate in conservation programs for species because landowner confidentiality would be lost. Landowners currently enter into such programs because they are comfortable that biological information obtained from their properties will remain confidential. Landowners will not feel comfortable when they realize that sensitive information will be shared by the staff of EVERY state agency in Texas, who do not appreciate the extremely sensitive nature of such data.
Click the Capwiz link below to contact Govenor Perry and ask him to please veto HB 3509.
(Governor Perry will be under "My Elected Officials" in the middle of the Home page)
No comments:
Post a Comment