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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Successfully meeting the needs of the legislature |
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over the course of a 140-day regular session is a challenging task |
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taken on every two years by the staff of the legislative support |
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agencies, including the Texas Legislative Council; and |
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WHEREAS, Each odd-numbered year, legislators travel to the |
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Capitol from across the Lone Star State to represent their |
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constituents, yet they must stay connected with the folks back home |
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throughout their tenure in Austin; helping them to maintain that |
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tie are the members of the council's information systems division, |
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whose skilled technical services crew ensures that offices are |
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equipped with needed PCs, printers, and software; before the |
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session even began, these personnel installed or relocated |
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equipment in 29 district offices and moved 129 Capitol offices; the |
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division's Computer Support Center provides training designed to |
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serve everyone from the most savvy client to those with little to no |
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experience, and the division's technical support staff and CSC |
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operators are standing by to help them all, ready to lend their |
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expertise over the phone or to dispatch one of the council computer |
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consultants to an office just in the nick of time; so far this |
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session, the staff has answered approximately 23,000 calls and |
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provided training to 93 percent more clients; others among the IS |
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staff are at work developing and supporting such custom network and |
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web applications as LMS, CMS, MSS, TLIS, and TLO to accomplish ever |
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more diverse tasks; and |
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WHEREAS, The hardworking attorneys, legal assistants, |
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editors, and support staff of the legal division are one by one |
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helping to craft the proposed laws of the Lone Star State; to that |
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end, legal staff members have produced some 10,600, or 32.5 percent |
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more, bills and constitutional amendments and approximately |
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12,800, or 21 percent more, amendments, substitutes, conference |
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committee reports, and miscellaneous drafts; greatly contributing |
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to the process are members of the division's legal editing team, who |
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not only work on each draft produced by the agency but also perform |
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a dual role by carrying out the engrossing and enrolling duties for |
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the house; in that capacity, they have engrossed more than 1,300 and |
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enrolled close to 560 house bills and constitutional amendments and |
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over 2,500 house concurrent and simple resolutions, with the bulk |
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of the end-of-session enrollment work still to come; and |
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WHEREAS, The research division of the TLC is composed of |
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policy and statistical analysts, writers, webmasters, mapmakers, |
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and database specialists; during the session, these multitasking |
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staffers have spent their time handling a 25 percent increase in |
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research, data, and map requests from the legislature and the |
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public while also producing more than 600 senate amendment and |
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conference committee side-by-side analyses in the waning days of |
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the session, some 4,650 bill analyses for house committees, and |
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approximately 4,700 policy, congratulatory, and memorial |
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resolutions; they also update election and geographic databases and |
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prepare other useful publications and develop websites to help new |
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members and staff; and |
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WHEREAS, Supporting the legal and research divisions in their |
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efforts to meet the needs of the legislature are members of the |
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TLC's document production staff; expertly producing approximately |
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25,000, or 13.6 percent more, legislative drafts, as well as over |
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11,000 house official printings and numerous other documents this |
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session are the employees of the data transcription, graphics, |
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proofreading, print shop, and final processing sections; also |
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central to the mix is the document distribution section, which |
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distributes more than 100,000 copies of bills and resolutions to |
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the legislative community and the public; and |
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WHEREAS, None of these achievements would be possible were it |
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not for the policy and planning division, whose personnel played a |
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vital role in helping to hire the 130 extra employees needed agency |
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wide to handle the workload of the session; and |
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WHEREAS, Tying it all together is the staff of the |
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administration division, whose invaluable contributions keep all |
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of the agency's divisions running smoothly during the session; |
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composed of the executive team and the accounting and purchasing |
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and staff services and facilities management personnel, the |
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administration division seamlessly maintains the overall |
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operations of the agency and manages the myriad everyday tasks |
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required to ensure TLC staff with the resources they need to get the |
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job done; and |
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WHEREAS, Council staff strive to bring to their duties |
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accuracy, creativity, knowledge, and technical expertise, and they |
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serve the legislature, and thereby the citizens of this state, to |
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the very best of their abilities; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize the staff of the Texas Legislative |
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Council for their efforts in behalf of the legislative branch of |
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government and the Lone Star State; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the staff of the council as an expression of high |
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regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |