For the 2011 Lobbying Scorecard, Texas Lawyer looked at legislative results for selected clients at some of the busiest lobby shops for the 2011 session. We used our judgment and categorized the legislative results for selected clients as hits (those that make clients happy); in the middle (mixed results); and misses (those where clients didn’t get what they wanted). Lawyer lobbyists at Brown McCarroll of Austin and San Antonio’s Tuggey Fernandez did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Teach for America: Program that has college grads teach for two years in low-income areas got state funding for 2012-2013 biennium.
Texas Association of Manufacturers, Texas Industrial Energy Consumers: Likes legislation to ensure Texas Public Utility Commission considers cost of new transmission facilities before approving.
MISS
Sam Houston Race Park: Disappointed with no opportunity to allow voters to decide whether to expand gaming in Texas.
CenterPoint Energy Inc.: Satisfied with accounting and cost-recovery bills affecting its business.Motorola Solutions Inc.: Happy with bill that funds Texas Department of Public Safety program to improve emergency communications along border.
IN THE MIDDLE
Halliburton Co: Energy services company can live with bill that sets up disclosure rules for chemicals used in fracking.Raise Your Hand for Public Schools: Advocacy group disappointed charter school bill didn’t pass, but pleased with legislation that can ease borrowing costs for some charter schools.
El Paso County: Pleased with passage of joint resolution that will put measure to allow a regional park system before voters.
Houston Independent School District: Unhappy with funding cuts, but cuts weren’t as severe as proposed at the start of the session.
Consumer Electronics Association: Happy with provision in TV recycling bill, because it gives industry role in developing program. TEVA Pharmaceuticals USA: Generic pharmaceutical company excited, because no legislation impeding substitution of generic drugs for name-brand medications.Live Nation Entertainment Inc.: Concert promoter likes special session amendment that allows it to deduct artist costs from its tax liability.
MISSES
Texas Beer Freedom: Texas brew pubs sad over defeat of bill that would have let retailers sell their beer.Texas Radiological Society: Wanted bill to require registration of all MRI equipment.
Texas Association of Health Plans: Likes plans for health care collaboratives in special session health-care omnibus bill. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc.: Relieved with continued funding for dialysis treatments. Harris County: Relieved it still gets some state funding for mental health needs.
IN THE MIDDLE
Texas Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.: Reasonably happy with Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform bill.Community Loans of America: Company that lends money with car title as security can live with rules requiring registration with Consumer Credit Commissioner registry.
MISS
Sam Houston Race Park: Disappointed Legislature didn’t approve joint resolution to put gaming before voters.
Texas Health Care Association: No rate cuts for nursing services, and bill ensures nursing homes a priority in restoring power during extended outages. EduCare Community Living: Small cuts in state funding to providers of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Pioneer Natural Resources Inc., Atmos Energy: Happy with revisions to grant program for reducing emissions.Texas Forestry Association: Pleased with bill that crafts penalties for theft from forestry industry.
Blue Origin LLC: Succeeded in getting S.B. 115 passed, providing liability protection for suborbital space flights.Department of Public Safety Officers Association: Multiple wins, including preserving pensions and benefits as well as adding one provision that allows officers uniform-cleaning stipends. The Boeing Co.: Passed H.B. 3727, which outlines tax appraisal formulas for airplanes still in production, paving the way for company to expand manufacturing of its Dreamliner in San Antonio.
MISS
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: H.B. 242 vetoed by governor. Bill would have outlawed texting while driving.
Houston Community College: Helped defeat guns-on-campus legislation.Harlan Crow: Stopped legislation authorizing statewide light-emitting diode billboards.Six Counties Regional Mobility Authorities: Legislation bolstering transportation reinvestment zones.
MISS
Landry’s Restaurants Inc.: Proposals to bring video gambling to state of Texas failed.
The Pew Charitable Trusts: Successfully enhanced procedures to allow for more military voting.International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees: Preserved state-sponsored incentives for film industry.Landowners Coalition of Texas: Achieved legislative recognition of landowners’ property rights in groundwater.MISSTexas Motorcycle Dealers Association: Failed to get protection for members in border cities from foreign competition.
Raybec Investments Inc.: Established a public improvement district for city of Port Isabel, creating potential tax advantages for company.
Iberdrola Renewables Inc.: Succeeded in getting a string of legislation supporting wind development.Texas Instruments Inc.: Preserved tax incentives available with Chapter 313 of Tax Code, Texas Economic Development Act.
MISSES
Dallas Citizens Council: Legislature’s expansion of state managed health-care program doesn’t safeguard local hospitals’ access to federal funds for treating the uninsured.Texas Nurse Practitioners Association: No legislation passed allowing the professional to set up facilities separate from physicians, as exists in 16 other states.
* Formerly Tuggey Rosenthal Pauerstein Sandoloski Agather.
Sources: Texas Ethics Commission filings and interviews with lobbyists.
