By Palmer H.C.R. No. 102 75R4734 CCK-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, In 1995 the Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 1-2 1863, revising the state's public assistance programs and 1-3 restructuring its job-training and workforce development programs 1-4 to promote the move from welfare to jobs; and 1-5 WHEREAS, The law provides for the formation of local 1-6 workforce development boards and for the creation by those boards 1-7 of one-stop career development centers to be operated alternatively 1-8 by private contractors or by the Texas Workforce Commission; and 1-9 WHEREAS, Communications to the state by the U.S. Department 1-10 of Labor have impeded full implementation of House Bill 1863, with 1-11 federal officials taking the position that Wagner-Peyser funds, 1-12 used for certain job matching and other labor market and employer 1-13 services, may be administered only by state employees; and 1-14 WHEREAS, This policy disrupts the efficacy of the state's job 1-15 program consolidation, which has broad bipartisan support in Texas, 1-16 having been recommended by Comptroller John Sharp and having the 1-17 backing of Governor George W. Bush, who signed House Bill 1863 into 1-18 law; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Texas' new system for delivering job-related 1-20 services, which puts this state at the forefront of workforce 1-21 development, not only merges like programs but also offers greater 1-22 control at the community level; this system, including contracts 1-23 with private entities to deliver public services, reflects trends 1-24 and philosophies of decentralization that today are reshaping 2-1 American politics and reinventing American government; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Increased privatization of public services, such as 2-3 competitive bidding between innovative public and private 2-4 providers, and as exemplified by this legislature's creation of a 2-5 State Council on Competitive Government in 1993, has been one such 2-6 trend; and 2-7 WHEREAS, Many other events reflect changed thinking about the 2-8 nature of American federalism: the reassertion of states' rights, 2-9 the questioning of unfunded mandates, the increased use of block 2-10 grants, and the more frequent approval of federal regulatory 2-11 waivers, all of which speak to the philosophy that small, localized 2-12 government is better than large, distant government; and 2-13 WHEREAS, The president recognizes this principle in his 2-14 public pronouncements, the vice president recognizes it in his 2-15 National Performance Review, and the congress recognizes it in laws 2-16 such as last year's welfare reform act, but the message appears not 2-17 yet to have reached or motivated the U.S. Department of Labor, 2-18 which remains out of line with the viewpoint of all three; now, 2-19 therefore, be it 2-20 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-21 hereby respectfully memorialize the Congress of the United States, 2-22 and request the president of the United States, to overrule the 2-23 U.S. Department of Labor policy barring nonstate employees from 2-24 administering programs that use federal funds under House Bill 2-25 1863, 74th Texas Legislature, Regular Session; and, be it further 2-26 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 2-27 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 3-1 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 3-2 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of 3-3 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 3-4 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 3-5 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.