The event was held at the Alief Houston Community College. Local veterans from several service branches were able to learn about benefits available to both themselves and their families.

Representatives from the Texas Veterans Land Board, the Texas Veterans Commission, and the University of Houston, were there to discuss the new GI Bill, changes to the Hazelwood educational benefits, new property deductions for disabled veterans, and resources available to aid veterans in search of employment.

Thibaut had this to say in a news release:

“Many veterans are unaware of all the benefits that are available to them. I feel that it is my responsibility to connect veterans to the Texas Veterans Land Board and Texas Veterans Commission, so that they may utilize them to the fullest,” Thibaut said. “I am grateful to the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and proud to host an event for those who have given so much.”

September 1, 2010

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re: Request for Transfer of Operational Control of MC-12 Aircraft to the Texas Air National Guard

Dear Mr. President:

With the conclusion of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the corresponding reduction in military forces and assets in Iraq, the group of undersigned members of the Texas House of Representatives respectfully request that all available military assets be utilized to help better secure the border. The level of violence and bloodshed on the Mexican side of the border is tragic. Texas does not have the resources needed to address this public safety and humanitarian crisis.

Specifically, we ask that as MC-12 aircraft are no longer needed in Iraq, that one to two of those aircraft be transferred to the operational control of the Texas Air National Guard along with related support and maintenance resources. The MC-12 is a military version of the King Air that is packed with electronic surveillance equipment. That surveillance platform, built by L-3 Communications in Greenville, Texas, has tremendous capability on the U.S.-Mexico Border. It has the potential to be a “virtual” wall and a force multiplier to assist in interdiction operations.

Assuming an OPCON transfer is not a possibility now, we alternatively ask that crew training for MC-12 be transferred to the Texas Air National Guard. Current crew training is conducted by the Mississippi Air National Guard. We believe it is a better use of resources for those crews to use the Texas-Mexico border to train for their overseas counter-insurgency surveillance and interdiction operations.

We appreciate the steps taken to date by your Administration to help Texas secure the border. If we may answer any questions, please contact Representative Allen Vaught, below, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Border Security, Health and School Centered Emergencies or Representative Veronica Gonzales, who chairs the House Border & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

Respectfully,

Representative Allen Vaught
Representative Veronica Gonzales
Representative Donna Howard
Representative Jose Menendez
Representative Allan Ritter
Representative Valinda Bolton
Representative Jim McReynolds
Representative Eric Johnson
Representative Stephen Frost
Representative Ellen Cohen
Representative Mark Homer
Representative Paula Pierson
Representative Diana Maldonado
Representative Chris Turner
Representative Robert Miklos
Representative Kirk England
Representative Kristi Thibaut
Representative Carol Kent

Listen to interview

Houston accountant Alma Gomez was in the downtown Macy’s on Monday checking out merchandise as she prepared for the sales tax-free holiday weekend that starts later this week.

“I do it every year,” Gomez said of the tax holiday. “It’s very important for parents trying to save some money.”

The sales tax holiday weekend is from Friday until Sunday . Texas shoppers will save about $8 on every $100 they spend on tax-exempt items.

During the weekend there is no sales tax on most clothing, footwear and student backpacks under $100. Last year, school supplies were added to the list.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, the author of the bill creating the sales tax holiday in Texas, touted the weekend event at a news conference Monday at the downtown Macy’s. He was accompanied by state Rep. Kristi Thibaut, D-Houston.

Ellis said he would like to see the state increase the number of days for the holiday, and he wants more items, including computers, added to the tax-exempt list.

Many retailers are holding their own promotions during the sales tax holiday to lure shoppers. Macy’s, for example, is having “One Day” sales on Friday and Saturday.

Sales tax holidays are successful at bringing shoppers to stores, National Retail Federation spokesman Craig Shearman said, although they are typically most effective when they are new to a state. This weekend will mark the 12th sales tax holiday in Texas.

Sales tax holidays have a psychological appeal in that people don’t like paying taxes, Shearman said, and there is a greater practical benefit this year: “So many families are struggling and trying to stretch their dollar.”

Nineteen states have announced sales tax holidays this year, according to the NRF, a record number. Most state sales tax holidays are back-to-school related.

“The tax holiday means real tax relief for hardworking Texas families who need to see their dollars go farther in order to provide the necessities for their children,” said Senator Ellis. “I will continue to fight for expansion of the list of tax exempt items to help Texans in these hard economic times.”

In 1999, Senator Ellis passed Senate Bill 441, a $506 million tax relief package which created the 3-day sales tax holiday, eliminated the sales tax on over-the-counter medicines and cut business taxes. The tax holiday is designed to give hard-working Texans a tax break on necessities such as back-to-school clothing.

This weekend marks the twelfth annual sales tax holiday in Texas. This past legislative session, Senator Ellis co-sponsored a bill that expanded the list of tax exempt item to include most school supplies priced at less than $100 purchased for use by a student in an elementary or secondary school.

“The Sales Tax Holiday will provide much needed relief for families across Texas as we prepare for the upcoming school year. This weekend is a great way to stimulate the local economy and give parents a well-deserved break,” added Rep. Thibaut.

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs predicts shoppers will save $59.3 million in state and local sales taxes during the Sales Tax Holiday, which takes place each year on the third Friday, Saturday and Sunday in August. A complete list of the tax exempt items can be found at the Texas State Comptroller’s website: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_490/tx98_490.html.

“It’s wonderful that these deserving students are being awarded scholarships that will help them further their education,” said State Representative Kristi Thibaut. “And it’s terrific to see Comcast deliver on the commitment to power dreams in the community by investing in the future of these young people.”

A commitment to community service is an essential component in the selection of winners of Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarships. Local winners in Houston have participated in a wide variety of community service activities, such as helping revitalize communities as part of mission work, mentoring and coaching younger students, volunteering at hospitals and participating in local blood, food and clothing drives.

Local community organizations like Reading for the Blind, Star of Hope Mission, American Red Cross, Special Olympics and the Houston Area Women’s Center have benefited from their service.

“We want to motivate young people to achieve their potential, to be involved in their schools, and to be catalysts for positive change in their communities,” said Tony Speller, senior vice president for Comcast’s Houston Region. “As the cost of college continues to rise, we’re proud to present each of these young people with the Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship in recognition of their hard work and the leadership they have shown.”

Three lucky students each received an additional $4,000 Comcast Founder Scholarship as part of a random drawing held recently during the scholarship awards ceremony. Since the program’s inception there have been over 13,300 scholarship winners totaling over $13.4 million.

Each year, Comcast works with high school principals, guidance counselors, and school administrators to select the scholarship recipients. The program is managed by Scholarship Program Administrators – an independent, not-for-profit organization that manages corporate and corporate foundation scholarship programs.

For additional information, visit www.comcast.com/scholarships.

About The Comcast Foundation

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation’s focus areas are volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $64 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.

What is the Residential Energy Efficiency Program (REEP)?
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Just a few months ago, at a quarterly networking breakfast she organizes, she was introduced as “the mayor of Alief.” By May 4, it was “prime minister.”

It matters little to Marie Lee as long as it’s good for Alief. And if she’s involved, it will be.

Lee, 78, moved to Alief from Pearland in 1989. A former administrator for the U.S. military who retired as chief administrator for the Veterans Administration in 1992, Lee’s community work began as a mentor for young high school students who worked for the VA.

It wasn’t long before she turned her attention to her own neighborhood, where street lights and the city sewer system needed repairs.

“I always had city officials sitting around my table,” she recalls. In 1999 she ran for a Houston City Council seat but lost.

In 2006, Lee revived the Alief Community Association and has been its president ever since. She has led clean-up and preservation efforts at the Alief Cemetery and founded the Alief International Parade, which will be staged for the third time this year on Sept. 25.

The networking breakfasts, which were begun six years ago, bring together the diverse mix of business people who populate the community that is also known as Houston’s International District.

So at the May 4 breakfast, state Rep. Kristi Thibaut surprised Lee by presenting her with a resolution from the state of Texas that commends her dedication to the community of Alief. The document acknowledges her work for ACA, the effort to plant 100 trees at the Boone Road Park, help with the annual Alief Health Fair and her “energy, determination and commitment to service” that “contribute to the quality of life in Alief.”

Lee received a standing ovation from the crowd who attended, but most who know her recognize that won’t be enough.

She’s currently working with U.S. Rep. Al Green on a new community event, an Honor a Veteran luncheon to be held July 8 for up to 200 service men and women. Letters went out last month, and the “prime minister” expects to have sponsors lined up by June 18.

Some federal regulators, Houston lawmakers, and environmentalists say the proposed White Stallion Energy Center would only exacerbate the city’s stubborn smog problem as tougher nationwide limits for the widespread pollutant come into play.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for one, wants Texas regulators to prove that pollution from the coal plant would not make Houston’s smog worse before issuing permits. Critics also want the state to require the power company to consider new technology that might slash emissions of smog-forming pollution.

The push comes amid a review of the proposal by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which will soon recommend whether the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality should grant the plant’s air permit.
The plant would be built less than 20 miles from the boundary of the eight-county Houston region that was long in violation of federal limits for smog or ozone. Rules on industrial pollution — in particular, new sources — are tighter inside such areas than outside, even though smog ignores county lines.

The TCEQ has declined to study the smog issue further, saying it would be too costly, take up to a year to complete and still not provide enough information to address the EPA’s concerns.

The state agency declined to comment further because the issue is before the hearing office.

Local concerns

Texas regulators, not the EPA, decide whether to grant power plant permits. But the federal agency can intervene if it finds a problem.

In Matagorda County itself, there is a push-pull between environmental protection and jobs. Some rice farmers also have raised concerns about how much water the proposed plant will use.

In Houston, meanwhile, state Reps. Jessica Farrar, Ana Hernandez and Kristi Thibaut, all Democrats, asked the EPA last week to block the coal plant’s permits until the TCEQ studies emissions that would drift toward Houston and requires stricter pollution controls than proposed.

“Our concern is public health,” Hernandez said. “I think the impact on Harris County should be fully accessed before any permits are issued.”

Houston, once the nation’s smog capital, met the federal ozone limit for the first time last year. But the region will need to make deeper cuts, because the EPA has proposed a stricter smog standard.

The allowable smog level will be between 60 and 70 parts ozone per billion parts air, down from the 84 parts per billion, set in 1997, that Houston met last year.

The EPA says the tighter standard reflects research showing that smog poses greater health risks than previously thought. Ozone is the main ingredient in smog, and chronic exposure can trigger asthma attacks, chest pains and premature death.

Smog is created when a mixture of chemicals emitted mostly by vehicles, industrial plants and refineries reacts with sunlight.

Not the cleanest

If built, the White Stallion plant would be capable of generating 1,320 megawatts, enough to power about 650,000 homes.

The company proposing it, which didn’t respond to requests for comment, says on its Web site the plant’s circulating fluidized bed technology enables it to burn coal and petroleum coke cleanly, meeting rigid environmental standards. The technology burns coal at lower temperatures and uses limestone to capture many emissions that older plants don’t.

Other proposed coal plants in Texas, however, would emit smog-forming pollution at a lower rate than the White Stallion facility, which would pump more than 4,000 tons of nitrogen oxides into the air each year — as much as 4.8 million cars — and increase Houston’s ozone level by 2 parts per billion, according to environmental groups.

“It’s a significant problem, especially since the EPA is tightening the standard” for smog, said Ryan Rittenhouse, a Texas-based analyst with the advocacy group Public Citizen. “It makes no sense to permit this coal plant on Houston’s doorstep.”

“The proposed White Stallion coal plant would harm the health of the people of Matagorda County, degrade the environment, and stifle economic development and tourism throughout the region,” said Ryan Rittenhouse, coal energy analyst with Public Citizen’s Texas office. “We are pleased to see Texas legislators step up to protect our citizens, the environment and Texas’ economic future.”

White Stallion’s air permit hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings begins today and will last through Feb. 19. That office will make a recommendation to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The air pollution permit is the first step; the project still will need a wastewater permit from the TCEQ and an additional permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

If granted an air permit, White Stallion will increase emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), the principle component of ozone, by more than a third in Matagorda County, where the plant will be located. That translates to more than 4,000 tons per year of NOx that would blow into the Houston area, dramatically increasing ozone levels in the non-attainment region.

“The proposed White Stallion coal plant will be less than 17 miles from the Houston/Galveston non-attainment region. Coal plants such as this one are one of the largest, individual sources of smog-forming pollutants,” said State Rep. Ana E. Hernandez (D-Houston). “Particularly in light of new EPA ozone standards, why should we allow a coal plant to be built on our doorstep? It will only make it that much harder for us to clean up Houston’s air pollution.”

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled that the TCEQ has not been adhering to the Clean Air Act in its issuance of new air permits, but the TCEQ has failed to change its permitting process.

For this reason, Texas legislators, including Reps. Hernandez, Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) and Kristi Thibaut (D-Houston), sent appeal letters this week to Dr. Al Armendariz, regional administrator of the EPA, urging the agency to step in and provide much needed guidance and oversight to the TCEQ. Their letters asked that the White Stallion power plant not be given an air permit to begin construction until the EPA ensures that constituents will receive the full public health protections of the federal Clean Air Act.

“I urge TCEQ and the EPA to deny the permit authorizing the White Stallion coal plant to be built in Matagorda County. Texas’ air quality must be improved for the good health of every Texan. The goal of clean air and clean water can be obtained by a commitment to reducing air contaminants,” Farrar said.

Despite the fact that a new coal plant could hinder Houston’s ability to meet federal regulations, the TCEQ refuses to predict or consider air impacts that are outside the non-attainment region. In fact, the TCEQ executive director filed legal briefs arguing that evidence showing White Stallion would contribute to ozone problems in the Houston area is irrelevant to the decision of whether to grant the White Stallion air permit. The TCEQ similarly refuses to consider cumulative impacts when granting an air permit, such as the fact that the 30-year-old Parish coal plant is only 50 miles northeast of the White Stallion site and also within the Houston/Galveston non-attainment region.

White Stallion would also pull 36,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River every year. Increased activity from the two barges required to deliver coal every day would contaminate the water with toxic runoff and erode the embankments.

The proposed plant would be located along a 100-year floodplain and would store coal ash waste on site. In the event of extreme weather, that toxic waste could easily wash into public waterways.

“The proposed White Stallion coal plant would dump thousands of tons of toxic pollutants into our air and water every year, when this region is already in non-attainment for clean air,” Thibaut said. “Furthermore, construction of this plant would remove 36,000 acre-feet of water each year from the Colorado River, which serves many drought-stricken areas of our state. As the elected representative for thousands of my constituents who would be affected, and as the mother of a small child, I cannot stand by as our air and water quality are further eroded.”

If the project is granted its air permit, advocates still have a chance to challenge the permit in state court and to reform the TCEQ through the sunset review process.

“The TCEQ is one of a number of state agencies that are about to undergo sunset review at the Texas Legislature. The sunset commission has the power to reform this agency and insist that any permits issued in the future adhere to the Clean Air Act,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. “With this process, Texas has the opportunity to ensure that the health of Texans and their environment are protected more than the profits of energy corporations.”