CC Resolution No. 2220 - Establish2013State&FederalLegislativeAgenda RESOLUTION NO. 2220
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF BAYTOWN'S LEGISLATIVE
AGENDA FOR THE 2013 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 Agenda for the 2013 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 Agenda for the 2013 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 thAafffifirmativ of the City Council of the
City of Baytown this the 10" day of January, 2013.
CARLOS, Mayor
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A Cj� ity Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
NACI�SR., Cit torney
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Exhibit "A"
BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
B 83RD 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.
✓ Promote workforce and skills alignment by reforming the Skills Development Fund in a
way that allows for flexibility and agility in training design and deployment; and define
clear pathways between high school technical career training and community college
technical career training.
BUDGET ISSUES
✓ Oppose legislation that will require additional services or taxes by cities due to State
budget shortfalls,still placing a burden on local constituents.
UNFUNDED MANDATES
✓ Oppose legislation that would require municipalities to fund former State and Federal
programs without providing a means to recapture the associated costs.
APPRAISAL CAP
✓ Oppose legislation that would mandate a reduction in the current ten-percent capon
annual appraisal growth.
POLLUTION CONTROL PROPERTY TAx ExEmMON
✓ Oppose legislation that would extend the"Prop 2" pollution control property tax
exemption to processes,facilities,or end products.
STREET MAINTENANCE SALES TAX
✓ Support legislation that would authorize the collection of municipal sales and use taxes
for street maintenance for a longer or indefinite term instead of the four years provided
by current law.
LOCAL PARKS FUNDING
✓ Oppose legislation that would cut state appropriations for future local parks grant
funding,specifically cuts to the Texas Local Park Grant Program.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
✓ Support legislation that would exempt as many cities as possible from any Federal
collective bargaining legislation that may become law in the future.
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ABAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
BAYTOWN 83RD TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION
EROSION OF MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY
✓ Oppose legislation that erodes municipal authority in the areas of:
• Municipal Annexation
• Municipal Zoning
• Extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ)
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.
CFPY 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.
LEGISLATIVE COMMUNICATION
✓ Oppose legislation that would limit or prohibit the authority of city officials to use
municipal funds to communicate with legislators.
COTTAGE FOOD INDUSTRY REGULATIONS
✓ Oppose legislation that would expand the Cottage Food Industry regulations to allow
individuals to produce any potentially hazardous food product in their home or without
appropriate regulation and inspection by local authority.
GRAFFITI ABATEMENT
✓ Support legislation that would repeal the requirement In current law that a city must
first offer to remove graffiti free of charge prior to requiring the property owner to
remove it.
HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAXES
✓ Support legislation that would apply hotel occupancy taxes to RV parks,except for stays
of longer than 30 days.
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Exhibit"B"
BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
113' UNITED STATES CONGRESS
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
✓ Support efforts,such as reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act,to improve
workforce development programs that will build a workforce in Texas to fill current and
future technical job openings with Texas workers.
✓ 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.
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).
HARBOR MAINTENANCE PEES
✓ Support measures that would ensure the full allocation of the Harbor Maintenance
Trust Fund for its intended purposes of maintaining the nation's waterways.
PUBLIC WORKS
✓ Support increases in funding to maintain vital public infrastructure(i.e., highways, roads,
bridges,water,wastewater and stormwater), including reauthorization of the Water
Resources Development Act(WRDA)and creation of the Water Infrastructure Finance
and Innovation Authority(WIFIA)that would supplement existing resources and provide
increased support for water and wastewater infrastructure for local governments.
✓ 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%.
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BAYTOWN LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
0 1137" UNITED STATES CONGRESS
UNFUNDED MANDATES
✓ Oppose legislation that would require municipalities to fund former State and Federal
programs without providing the associated resources.
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.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
✓ Oppose any legislation that would require local governments to adopt federal collective
bargaining standards.
FRANCHISE FEES
✓ Oppose efforts that reduce or eliminate a municipality's ability to collect franchise fees
for use of rights-of-way.
MUNICIPAL BOND INTEREST
✓ Oppose legislation that would limit or remove the exemption on the taxing of municipal
bond interest.
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 federal preemption of local government hotel occupancy taxes.
✓ Oppose any federal preemption of state defined-benefit plans, such as the Texas
Municipal Retirement System.
PRIORITY TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVES
✓ Garth Road Signal Synchronization/Interconnection
✓ SH 146 Signal Synchronization/Interconnection
✓ City-wide Sidewalk and Trail Connectivity