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CC Resolution No. 2457RESOLUTION NO. 2457 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS, ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF BAYTOWN'S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 2017 STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS: Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, hereby establishes the City of Baytown's Legislative Priorities for the 2017 State Legislative Session, which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein for all intents and purposes. Section 2: That the City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, hereby establishes the City of Baytown's Legislative Priorities for the 2017 Federal Legislative Session, which is attached hereto as Exhibit `B" and incorporated herein for all intents and purposes. Section 3: This resolution shall take effect immediately from and after its passage by the City Council of the City of Baytown. INTRODUCED, READ and PASSED, by the affirmativete of the City Council of the City of Baytown this the 26th day of January, 2017. /� ATTE LETICIA BRYSCH, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: ACID RAMIREZ, SR., Ci ttomey H. DONCARLOS, Mayor \\coba01Vega1\Ka=\Fi1es\City Council\Reso1uti0ns\2017\January 26\Establish2017State&Fedet-alLegislativeAgenda.doc Exhibit "A" BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES BAYS 85TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION LOCAL CONTROL ✓ Oppose legislation that would erode municipal authority in anyway. ✓ Oppose legislation that would impose a revenue cap of any type or negatively expand appraisal caps. ✓ Oppose legislation that would expand requirements for issuance of any city debt or that would erode the ability of a city to issue debt in any way. ✓ Oppose legislation that erodes municipal authority in the areas of municipal annexation, municipal zoning or extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs). REVERSE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AID ✓ Oppose legislation that would require municipalities to fund former State and Federal programs without providing a means to recapture the associated costs. ✓ Oppose legislation that would impose additional state fees or costs on municipal court convictions or require municipal courts to collect fine revenue for the state. ✓ Oppose legislation that would remove or negate the strictly voluntary nature of TxDOT highway turnbacks, including relevant state budget strategies. MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION ✓ Oppose H.B. 424 related to municipal annexation and ensure that any legislation impacting a city's ability to annex provides an exemption for industrial district areas. ELECTRIC AND GAS RATEMAKING ✓ Oppose legislation that would eliminate cities' jurisdiction over electric and gas utility rates and/or eliminate the reimbursement of cities' rate case expenses. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ✓ Support legislation that provides additional funding opportunities for communities to provide grants and low interest loans for small business development and retention. ✓ Oppose legislation that would erode a city's incentive options to enhance its economic development efforts to promote retention and expansion of existing retailers, restaurants, developers, commercial businesses and primary employers and to attract new business. TRANSPORTATION ✓ Support legislation that would authorize the collection of municipal sales and use taxes for street maintenance for an indefinite term instead of the four years provided by current law. ✓ Support legislation that distributes Federal transportation funding in away that provides local governments with long term funding, sends the funding directly to localities, gives local leaders a stronger role in the decision making process and streamlines the entire process. ABAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES 8�S 85TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ✓ Support efforts to improve workforce development programs that will build a workforce in Texas to fill current and future technical job openings with Texas workers. PEG FUNDS ✓ Support legislation that would expand the use of public, educational, and government (PEG) fees to include operational and related costs associated with PEG channels. PAYDAY LENDING ✓ Oppose legislation that would preempt or prohibit the regulation of payday and auto title lenders by a city. OIL AND GAS REGULATIONS ✓ Oppose legislation that would diminish municipal authority to reduce the effects of oil and gas development on city residents. AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO INFORMATION FOR CITIZENS ✓ Support legislation that provides affordable e -resources to libraries, schools and colleges for education and workforce readiness. ✓ Support legislation that allows communities in Texas to provide affordable high-speed internet access. PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS ✓ Oppose legislation that would impose new or expand existing property tax exemptions that substantially erode the tax base; including industrial pollution control exemptions. CITY SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY ✓ Oppose legislation that would erode a city's sovereign immunity. CONDEMNATION ✓ Oppose legislation that would further erode a city's ability to condemn property for a public purpose. RIGHTS-OF-WAY ✓ Oppose legislation that would decrease a city's authority to be adequately compensated for the use of its rights-of-way. ✓ Oppose legislation that would erode municipal authority over the management and control of rights-of-way. QUALITY OF LIFE ✓ Support legislation that expands a city's ability to regulate low-income housing, halfway houses, and the abatement of substandard structures. Exhibit "B" BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES BAYS 115TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ✓ Support full remediation of the San Jacinto Waste Pits Super Fund site to ensure area residents have safe water conditions for fishing and other recreational purposes. ✓ Oppose efforts by the EPA to implement new ozone standards before allowing the 2008 ozone standards to fully take effect, balancing economic growth and environmental protection. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ✓ Support workforce resources and programs that allow state and local levels of government to create programs that work for their state or locality, not one -size -fits -all national programs. ✓ Support the continuation of funding for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Community Survey, along with efforts to broaden and deepen workforce and labor data at the zip code level. PUBLIC SAFETY ✓ Maintain or expand federal resources for public safety grant programs that provide core services provided by the City of Baytown: • Federal Homeland Security Grant Programs (Urban Areas Security Initiative, Port Security, Buffer Zone Protection, and State Homeland Security); • Police Grant Programs (COPS and Byrne/Justice Assistance); and • Fire Grant Programs (Assistance to Firefighters, Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, and Fire Prevention and Safety). PUBLIC WORKS ✓ Support implementation of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) as authorized with the enactment of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) to assist localities in need of resources for flood control, water supply, and wastewater infrastructure. ✓ Support the continued exemption of Public Water Systems and Water Treatment Facilities from the Department of Homeland Security CFATS regulation. ✓ Provide funding for hardening of existing infrastructure to mitigate natural and man-made disasters. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ✓ Oppose additional funding reductions to the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and legislation that lowers the CDBG administrative cap below 20%. ✓ Support full funding for the T -HUD bill, which supports many important community development efforts in Baytown. FLEXIBILITY TO ALLOCATE PEG FEES ✓ Support legislation (similar to the Community Access Preservation, or CAP Act of 2013, S.1789) that would eliminate the distinction between "capital" and "operating" with regard to how public, educational, or governmental (PEG) channels/studios utilize their support fees. to BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES BAYT� 115TH UNITED STATES CONGRESS PESTICIDES ✓ Support a legislative amendment to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to clarify that pesticides or any biological control organism permitted under FIFRA will not be considered a pollutant and therefore avoid facing unnecessary restrictions by the EPA through the Clean Water Act. MARKETPLACE FAIRNESS ACT ✓ Support legislation to address a loophole in the tax code and allow states and local governments the ability to require out-of-state (online) merchants to collect and remit sales tax at the time of purchase. FRANCHISE FEES ✓ Oppose legislation that would reduce or eliminate a municipality's ability to collect franchise fees for use of rights-of-way. PUBLIC FINANCE ✓ Oppose efforts to limit or remove the exemption on the taxing of municipal bond interest. ✓ Oppose legislation that would prohibit any special district of the city from being able to sell tax-exempt bonds. UNFUNDED MANDATES ✓ Oppose legislation that would require municipalities to fund former State and Federal programs without providing the associated resources. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) REGULATIONS ✓ Support efforts to streamline and reform duplicative and burdensome requirements currently mandated by NEPA. ARTS AND CULTURE ✓ Support continued funding for NEA and EDA grant programs to improve arts and cultural opportunities in our community and to restore historic areas of our city. .LOCAL AUTHORITY ✓ Oppose any legislation that would require local governments to adopt federal collective bargaining standards. ✓ Oppose any federal preemption of state defined -benefit plans, such as the Texas Municipal Retirement System. PRIORITY TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVES ✓ Support the 1-10 and John Martin/Garth Road On and Off Ramp Re -Configuration Project, focused on spurring economic opportunity in the area. ✓ Support measures that allow for local control of transportation resources, eliminating unnecessary State and Federal administrative costs and creating efficiencies.