NEW LAWS READY TO TAKE EFFECT

AUSTIN - Texans will be subject to hundreds of new and revised laws
Saturday, when 919 bills passed by the Legislature become effective.

Many measures are aimed at protecting and advancing rural interests,
improving education opportunities and expanding public safety.

Going into a redistricting session, House members knew rural Texas would
lose some representation, said Rep. Gary Walker, R-Plains.

"I think all of us focused a little more, thinking, 'Golly, next time
around, there's going to be more municipal members, and we've got to kind
of work together toward a common goal."'

To that end, several measures that take effect Saturday will focus
attention on farmer needs.

A multiple-point, statewide agriculture policy will serve as a guide for
what's important to rural Texas. The policy is a legacy of the late Sen.
Tom Haywood, R-Wichita Falls, and Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas.

"One of the main reasons we did the bill was what you've just seen: Rural
Texas is going to lose a lot of political stroke because of redistricting,"
Swinford said.

The policy board will bring together House and Senate agriculture members
with the state agriculture commissioner and producer groups.

"We can sit around a big old table and make sure we're doing what's in the
best interest of agriculture in general," Swinford said. "I expect it to work."

Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, secured an Office of Rural Community Affairs
to make agriculture and rural needs a focus of the session. The new rural
benefits office will be authorized, but the board to guide it won't be
named until later this year.

Walker and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, established an agriculture lien
program to protect farmers, particularly those in the seed industry.

Education

The beginnings of charter school reform will take effect with the new batch
of laws.

Criminal background checks will be required for charter school staff, and
teachers will be required to hold at least a high school diploma. All
charters will be converted to open enrollment, and universities may apply
for the grants.

Public schools facing drops in enrollment will be eligible for state
funding at a percentage of their prior year take. The proposition is
designed to help small, rural school districts that are troubled by a loss
of even a few students.

For higher education, a statewide marketing plan will begin in September.
Drafted by Sen. Teel Bivins, R-Amarillo, the measure is aimed at informing
young people about state college and university opportunities. The
increasingly technological nature of the job market increases the need for
a degree, and Bivins said it's important that all Texans are aware of the
possibilities.

Research opportunities at the state's leading public universities got a
boost from the Legislature. The Texas Excellence Fund was established to
give top-performing universities research funds. Texas Tech will receive
almost $10 million. West Texas A&M University will take $52,000 for this
biennium.

Public Safety

Young Texans will have to stay out of the back of pickup trucks or face a
misdemeanor charge and fine up to $500. Lubbock ISD school board member
Karen Slay, supporter of the bill, said the law's effectiveness will be
based on education, similar to other traffic safety requirements for seat
belts and child car seats.

Records of substantiated claims against police filed with the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education will be public. The
new law, along with one to require corroboration for testimony of
undercover informants, was prompted by a controversial 1999 drug bust in Tulia.

Charles Kiker, co-founder of the Friends of Justice, a community action
group in Tulia, said the group will monitor the success of the new laws.
However, civil rights leaders hope for expanded laws in 2003, he said.

The bill that requires corroboration for informants started as one that
required backup evidence for undercover police.

Kiker said he and others hope that the law will be strengthened. Whether
the open-records law will be effective will depend on whether police
agencies use it, he said.

If Swisher County officials had the right to check on officer Tom Coleman's
past through the police agency, the sting in Tulia might have been
different, Kiker said.

Other newly effective bills of statewide implications for criminal justice
include a measure to permit inmates to request post-conviction DNA testing,
prohibitions on racial profiling and punishment enhancements for hate crimes.