City of Dallas Legislative Agenda

[Mballar]

Thanks to Dave Levinthal at the DMN for the find (Please see pdf attached). I really like the items the city council seems to be focusing on. I'm quite sure that the honorable Angela Hunt is the main proponent of most of these agenda items. The pharmacy school item is interesting. I wonder where the would locate it. . .near the Atmos Energy buildings perhaps? With the University Center, the upcoming law school, and a pharmacy school in that area, we could see a concentration of students turn that part of DT into a lively community.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/111108dnmetdalcouncnil.3a7d28b.html
Legislative agenda

Creating a University of North Texas Law School in downtown Dallas and publicly recording all real property sale prices are among the top goals of the council's state legislative lobbying agenda, which it unanimously approved Monday.

Other priorities include expanded funding mechanisms for transportation initiatives, authorizing the sale of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Dawson State Jail Facility to make way for Trinity River project development opportunities and stricter rules for sexually oriented businesses.

The legislative agenda also calls for council support of street-car system funding, provide incentives to reduce the use of plastic bags and increase the use of solar panels and increase incentives to film and media companies to do business in Texas.

Additionally, the council intends to lobby for establishing a pharmacy school in downtown Dallas, provide funding to bury electric transmission lines, increase penalties for crimes on city park property and allow police to obtain fingerprints from suspects who don't have a Texas driver's license.

[ancientshoes]

This is great...if we actually get a law school down there, it'll be a coup d' grace for DTD

[grantboston]

^ I support all of the city's legislative goals, except for the corporate welfare to media production companies. We'll see how successful they are this time. With Republicans holding the slimmest possible majority in the Leg, anything that gets through will have to have some bipartisan support.

And while I would like to see a law school in DTD, it will only help to flood the market with a bunch of fourth-rate lawyers. If the DA's office is hiring, that's fine, but make no mistake, a DTD law school will not be much of a factor in the area's legal market. Just ask Texas Weslyan.

[ksig121]

And while I would like to see a law school in DTD, it will only help to flood the market with a bunch of fourth-rate lawyers. If the DA's office is hiring, that's fine, but make no mistake, a DTD law school will not be much of a factor in the area's legal market. Just ask Texas Weslyan.

In the short term, you are probably right, but you have to look at the long game. If UNT Law can become established and build a decent alumni base, it will be a long-term benefit to DTD.

That kind of thinking is what has made this DTD renaissance different than the previous ones. We have to invest in the types of projects that will grow and thrive over DECADES along with those that will have an immediate impact.

I think that UT Dallas is a great example of a "fourth rate" school building itself into a fine institution.

With the demand for lawyers in this town, this school will certainly attract a robust student base and, with luck, will have some grads who go out and make a name for themselves and the Law School.

[AeroD]

^ I support all of the city's legislative goals, except for the corporate welfare to media production companies. We'll see how successful they are this time. With Republicans holding the slimmest possible majority in the Leg, anything that gets through will have to have some bipartisan support.

The bill and funding for film incentives passed in the last legislative session. The question is now how much more funding would they like to see. As far as corporate welfare goes, the film incentives program pales in comparison to the Enterprise Fund.

Insofar as "bipartisan" support, the Texas House does not necessarily function on party lines as much as on who a member voted for speaker.

[Mballar]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/111108dnmetdalcouncnil.3a7d28b.html
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Legislative agenda

Creating a University of North Texas Law School in downtown Dallas and publicly recording all real property sale prices are among the top goals of the council's state legislative lobbying agenda, which it unanimously approved Monday.

Other priorities include expanded funding mechanisms for transportation initiatives, authorizing the sale of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Dawson State Jail Facility to make way for Trinity River project development opportunities and stricter rules for sexually oriented businesses.

The legislative agenda also calls for council support of street-car system funding, provide incentives to reduce the use of plastic bags and increase the use of solar panels and increase incentives to film and media companies to do business in Texas.

Additionally, the council intends to lobby for establishing a pharmacy school in downtown Dallas, provide funding to bury electric transmission lines, increase penalties for crimes on city park property and allow police to obtain fingerprints from suspects who don't have a Texas driver's license.