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78S40601 MMS-F
By: Hunter H.R. No. 70
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The State of Texas Anniversary Remembrance (STAR)
Day bill--Senate Bill 1656--was passed by the 76th Texas
Legislature and signed into law by Governor George W. Bush on June
18, 1999; this bill states that all Texas public schools and other
organizations shall celebrate the birthday of the State of Texas on
February 19 each year with appropriate and patriotic programs to
inspire a greater appreciation for the history of our state; and
WHEREAS, The State of Texas Anniversary Remembrance Day
Foundation was organized in 1998 and chartered in 1999 as a Texas
not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation to help carry out
the legislative intent of the STAR Day bill by planning,
developing, and conducting appropriate and patriotic programs
during the year, in partnership with all Texas public schools and
other organizations; and
WHEREAS, On September 26, 2002, Governor Rick Perry issued
Executive Order RP-19, in which the governor noted that donating
blood provides a lifesaving service to patients suffering from
cancer or burns or undergoing transplant or other surgery; the
order encouraged each state agency in Texas to allow its employees
to take one hour of compensatory or vacation time to donate blood to
address the current shortage; and
WHEREAS, On May 29, 2003, Governor Perry signed House Bill
89, which established a Texas Employee Donor Leave of Absence
(TEDLOA) policy for certain employees of Texas agencies, providing
paid leave of absence to donate blood, bone marrow, and organs; the
Legislative Budget Board reported that no significant fiscal
implication for the state is anticipated as a consequence of the
adoption of House Bill 89; and
WHEREAS, The Great Texas Blood Donor Roundup Campaign was
organized and established by The STAR Day Foundation on February
19, 2002, as an appropriate and patriotic annual statewide program
to celebrate the birthday of the State of Texas; the mission of the
Roundup campaign is to educate, inspire, and motivate students to
become our future blood donors and to help overcome the serious,
growing shortage of blood supplies in Texas by partnering with all
Texas public schools and other organizations in planning,
developing, and conducting Roundup blood-drive events; it is the
aim of The STAR Day Foundation to provide an opportunity for all
eligible Texans 17 years of age or older to attend a Roundup event
and donate a pint of blood for the first time, or to donate an
additional pint of blood each year as his or her personal STAR Day
birthday present for our state; and
WHEREAS, The STAR Day Foundation has organized and
established The Great Texas Blood Donor Roundup League to support
the mission of the Roundup blood drive; league members pledge to
plan, develop, and conduct at least one Roundup event each year as
their annual STAR Day birthday present for our state, in
partnership with one or more Texas junior high or middle schools;
and
WHEREAS, United States Congressman Nick Lampson of Beaumont
has volunteered, at the request of The STAR Day Foundation, to
introduce a blood-donor leave bill to amend the Federal Employee
Donor Leave of Absence policy, which currently only grants leave of
absence, without loss of time or pay, to federal employees who wish
to donate bone marrow and organs; Congressman Lampson's measure
would allow federal employees to take sufficient time off during
the workday--up to one day's leave--to donate blood up to four times
a year, thus providing federal employees encouragement and support
to donate blood; and
WHEREAS, The Galveston County Commissioners Court, Loving
County Commissioners Court, Wink City Council, and several Texas
small businesses have joined the TEDLOA Policy Project, sponsored
by The STAR Day Foundation; by adopting a TEDLOA policy, these
businesses and government bodies are encouraging and supporting
their respective employees to take sufficient time off during the
workday to donate blood; each entity adopting the policy has
reported to The STAR Day Foundation that it anticipates no
significant fiscal implication for itself as a result of adopting a
TEDLOA policy; and
WHEREAS, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker of
the House Tom Craddick hosted The Second Annual Great Texas Blood
Donor Roundup at the State Capitol during February 17-19, 2004, in
partnership with Texas junior high and middle schools, to provide
an opportunity for State of Texas employees in the Capitol Complex
area and members of the Texas Legislature and their staffs to
volunteer and donate blood in support of the Roundup campaign and as
their annual STAR Day birthday present for our state; and
WHEREAS, El Paso County Judge Dolores Briones hosted The
Second Annual Great Texas Blood Donor Roundup at the El Paso County
Courthouse on March 30, 2004, in partnership with Eastwood Middle
School of the Ysleta Independent School District (ISD), to provide
an opportunity for El Paso County employees to volunteer and donate
blood in support of the Roundup campaign and as their annual STAR
Day birthday present for our state; and
WHEREAS, Major General Michael A. Vane, commanding general of
Fort Bliss, hosted The Second Annual Great Texas Blood Donor
Roundup at Fort Bliss during April 12-16, 2004, in partnership with
El Paso ISD Henderson Middle School students, who visited Fort
Bliss on April 15, 2004, to encourage and challenge soldiers to
donate blood for soldiers in need; the event was sponsored by the
Fort Bliss Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) Program
under the leadership of BOSS Program president Sergeant Angel
Clark, the Armed Services Blood Program Blood Collection Team at
Fort Bliss under the leadership of Captain Yvonne Beale, and
Dealers' Financial Services, LLC, under the leadership of area
manager Greg A. Funk; and
WHEREAS, Loving County Judge Donald C. Creager, City of Wink
Mayor Betty Lou Dodd, and Wink-Loving ISD Board of Trustees
president Devora Mitchell cohosted the inaugural Wink-Loving ISD
School Roundup event on January 14, 2004, to provide an opportunity
for students to invite and escort their parents, older brothers and
sisters, grandparents, and other relatives, as well as school
teachers, school administrators, school staff, school board
members, and community friends to donate a pint of blood at their
school Roundup event; each student had the unique educational
opportunity to stand by the bedside of their adult school Roundup
partner to observe the complete blood collection process step by
step and ask questions of the blood collection team members about
blood science and related matters; and
WHEREAS, The STAR Day Foundation organized the inaugural
Great Texas Blood Donor Roundup University Challenge event, the
largest blood drive in the State of Texas to date, in partnership
with The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M
University--College Station; sponsored by chapters of Alpha Phi
Omega at each institution, the event supported the Roundup campaign
by providing an opportunity for the nearly 100,000 students at both
institutions, together with all the university administrators,
employees, faculty, and area alumni, to donate a pint of blood as
their STAR Day birthday present for our state; The University of
Texas conducted its event from March 29, 2004, through April 2,
2004, and Texas A&M University conducted its event during April
12-16, 2004; the institution that rounded up the most pints of blood
during its respective one-week event is receiving the James
Pinckney Henderson Service Award, which was established by The STAR
Day Foundation to commemorate the public service of James Pinckney
Henderson, the first governor of the State of Texas; and
WHEREAS, On June 22, 2003, Governor Perry signed a bill
originally introduced as House Bill 926 by State Representative
Craig Eiland, at the request of students at R. D. McAdams Junior
High School of the Dickinson ISD in Galveston County, who were
participating in the after-school Great Texas Readers Are Leaders
Program, sponsored by The STAR Day Foundation; the bill authorizes
the Texas Department of Transportation to issue for sale The STAR
Day Library Readers Are Leaders license plate for an annual fee of
$30, with $22 from each sale benefiting The STAR Day Foundation and
supporting the purchase and distribution of one Pioneers and
Leaders of the State (PALS) of Texas book to a partnering Texas
junior high or middle school; for each pint of blood donated at a
Roundup event with the help of a student, a book shall be donated to
support the after-school program that provides students with the
opportunity to make achievements in reading and service as their
annual student STAR Day birthday present for our state; and
WHEREAS, On July 30, 2003, Galveston County Judge James D.
Yarbrough was the first person in our state to join The Great Texas
Business Card Roundup Program, sponsored by The STAR Day
Foundation; his professional business card shall be digitally
recorded on a bookplate affixed to the inside left-hand cover of a
PALS of Texas book in support of The Great Texas Readers Are Leaders
Program, and 24 students at Weis Middle School in Galveston ISD
shall volunteer to read and sign the book's signature page, which
shall be returned to Judge Yarbrough by the students in honor of his
cohosting, with Galveston ISD Board of Trustees president John W.
Ford, the successful Weis Middle School Roundup event on March 5,
2004; student members of the Weis Middle School Student Council
planned, developed, and conducted the event under the leadership of
Lisa Schweitzer and Pam Goode, student council cosponsors; and
WHEREAS, The Second Annual Spirit of STAR Day Celebration at
the State Capitol was sponsored by The STAR Day Foundation and
hosted by State Representative Bob Hunter on February 19, 2004, in
the Capitol Rotunda, with programs presented by Austin's Fulmore
Middle School Band and Travis High School Choir; during this
celebration, The STAR Day Foundation announced a statewide effort
to plan, develop, and conduct the largest simultaneous Roundup
blood-drive event in our state's history on STAR Day, Saturday,
February 19, 2005, in partnership with all 254 Texas county
commissioners courts and the 1,203 incorporated Texas cities; each
partnering city mayor and his or her respective county judge shall
organize a City Roundup Committee to plan, develop, and conduct one
or more city Roundup events at designated junior high or middle
schools, with the goal of inspiring and motivating all sixth-,
seventh-, and eighth-grade students in their respective cities to
invite and escort an adult to the closest designated school on
Saturday, February 19, 2005, to donate a pint of blood as a STAR Day
birthday present for our state; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas
Legislature, 4th Called Session, hereby recognize February 19,
2005, as The Great Texas Blood Donor Roundup Day and encourage all
Texans 17 years of age or older to donate blood for the first time or
donate an additional pint of blood to help overcome the serious and
growing Texas blood-supply shortage.