[highlights added, followed by cartoon, reader comments, angry legislator response, and related article]

COMMENTARY:

The economy is in a dive. Texans are losing their jobs. Lawmakers don’t know what to do yet with the state’s budget, and the governor wants state agencies to cut back.

What I’m wondering, is anyone listening at the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC)?

Last week, two commissioners appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, proposed a pay raise for their executive director, Duane Waddill, which would boost his annual salary from the current $98,000 to as much as $125,880.

Some people don’t get it.

Remember, this is the agency, now under sunset review, that some legislators and many consumer advocates want to abolish because of complaints that it has been little more than a lap dog for home builders. The budget chutzpah didn’t do anything for its future.

In a letter to TRCC Chairman Paulo Flores, Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, said the request for a raise was “wholly inappropriate ... at a time when the commission should instead be focused on regaining public and legislative confidence.”

Like being more responsive to consumer complaints of shoddy workmanship, lawmakers said.

“This agency is really a trap for homeowners. The reality of it is it’s a failure,” said Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen.

The Legislature created the TRCC in 2003 at the behest of home builders, including mega-political donor Bob Perry of Houston, ostensibly to improve building standards while offering builders protection from customer lawsuits.

The staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission recommended last year that the agency be abolished because it was doing consumers more harm than good. But the commission, several of whose legislator-members have received significant contributions from Bob Perry, reversed the staff and endorsed keeping the TRCC in business while strengthening consumer protections.

Hegar, one of the sunset members, said he wants to strengthen the TRCC’s enforcement powers and speed up the process for resolving disputes over workmanship so homeowners, if necessary, can get their complaints to court faster.

The governor also wants to see the TRCC continued but hasn’t taken a position on how it should or shouldn’t be changed, spokeswoman Allison Castle said.

You could call it the $720,000 question. That’s approximately the amount of money that Bob Perry has given to Rick Perry during the latter’s administration.

Waiting for a bill to pass

The Legislature is zero for 49.

Today is the 49th day of the 140-day session, and neither the House nor the Senate has passed any bills.

The multi-step legislative process is designed to limit what becomes law, and the early days of a session are restricted by the state constitution to emergency issues.

The Legislature used to routinely override that restriction but has been largely complying with it in recent years. Later this week, the Senate may pass its first bill, a measure designed to improve conditions at state schools for the mentally disabled. It was among several issues the governor declared emergencies on Feb. 3.

Emergency issues stemming from Hurricane Ike, also on the governor’s list, may take several more weeks, however, because they are tied to the time-consuming budgetary process.

It’s a good thing the Legislature doesn’t run the fire department, huh?

Clay Robison, Houston Chronicle
clay.robison@chron.com
03/01/2009

Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/robison/6288716.html

READER COMMENTS:

conclusionjumper wrote:
Rick Perry is a dog sitting in Bob Perry's lap. He will never do anything contrary to Bob Perry's wishes. It is outrageous that one person holds such power over all of us. Perry, Rick AND Bob, must go and their influence over the lives of ordinary Texans must come to an end.

The TRCC is nothing more than a tool of the homebuilding industry and should be disbanded. Why should one industry(homebuilders) have their own little system of "justice" when the rest of us don't? Sickening.

pootysfriend wrote:
If he deserves a raise for doing the job he was hired to do, then he should get a raise. Anyone who believes he was hired to help homeowners is mistaken. He was hired to suck up to and aid Bob Perry, Rick Perry, Tom Craddick and the home builders.. No one can dispute that he has done an excellent job for them.

12StepSteve wrote:
It's time for the sun to set on this agency and its greedy director. They are nothing but a lapdog for the builders anyway.

georgex wrote:
I say no to their payraise. All of this agency is political payback for contributions to the governor. Only public financing of campaigns will remove the control of our government from special greedy interests.

TexGator wrote:
So, we have an organization that is basically owned by the people it's supposed to regulate and they want a raise while their industry is in its worst shape in 3/4 of a century.

Yeah, that's about right for the Dick Perry administration. 

Lawmaker Blasts Push for Pay Hike for Residential Construction Official
Hegar Letter

By Mike Hailey, Capitol Inside Editor
March 2, 2009

A Republican state senator has sharply criticized a pair of Texas Residential Construction Commission leaders for seeking a maximum boost in the executive director's salary at a time when the agency has been under fire from legislators amid complaints that it's failed to be an effective watchdog for homeowners across the state.

State Senator Glenn Hegar of Katy voiced his disapproval in a letter late last week to TRCC Chairman Paulo Flores, saying he was "highly disappointed" by the testimony that Commissioners Lewis Brown and Glenda Mariott presented at a Senate Finance Committee meeting when they made a pitch for a pay hike for the agency's top staff official.

Brown and Mariott had argued that Duane Waddill deserved to make more because he'd successfully put in place programs that the Legislature had ordered the agency to make two years ago even though he wasn't the top paid employee at the state agency.

Hegar, whose opinion is all the more critical in light of his position as the Sunset Advisory Commission's vice-chairman, suggested in the letter that the executive director's pay shouldn't be such a high priority for an agency that's under the gun to make a series of significant changes if it hopes to keep its doors open for business.

"Quite frankly, I was both surprised and disturbed that the board members of the Texas Residential Construction Commission would ask to increase Mr. Waddill’s salary at a time when the public and the legislature have lost confidence in the Commission to adequately protect those you are entrusted to serve Texas homeowners," Hegar wrote.

Hegar, a former House member who's served in the upper chamber since early 2007, pointed out that the Sunset staff had recommended that the TRCC be abolished before he and other Sunset comissioners voted to give the agency another four years to implement reforms that legislators have demanded as a condition for survival.

Hegar said it was "wholly inappropriate" for the commissioners to be pushing for a salary boost for the top agency employee when the TRCC should be focussed instead on "regaining public and legislative confidence."

The TRCC, which the Legislature created in 2003, has been criticized by lawmakers as an agency that's been soft on home builders while failing to endorce safeguards for homeowners. Some consumer groups have complained that the TRCC was created as a way to please Bob Perry, a Houston home builder who's been the number one contributor to
Republicans at the state and federal level in recent years.

"Instead of asking for salary increases for Mr. Waddill, I would strongly advise the Commission to focus on remedying its staffing shortfalls, improving its administration of the State-sponsored Inspection and Dispute Resolution Process, implementing steps to increase the number of disciplinary actions against "bad" builders, improving its customer service functions, and otherwise regaining the public's trust," Hegar said.

Increasing the executive director's salary was certainly not part of the Sunset Commission’s charge to your agency and it is my hope that you will rethink your colleagues' request." 

Angry Letter from Senator Glenn Hegar
 
February 26, 2009

Mr. Paulo Flores, Chairman
Texas Residential Construction Commission
Post Office Box 13509
Austin, Texas 78711-3509

Dear Chairman Flores:

I write today regarding the recent testimony of the Texas Residential Construction Commission's Executive Director, Duane Waddill, and its Commission members, Lewis Brown and Glenda Mariott, before the Senate Finance Committee. In their testimony, Commissioners Brown and Mariott requested that the legislature consider authorizing the maximum increase in Mr. Waddill's base salary. Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Mariott expressed to the Finance Committee members that Mr. Waddill is deserving of the increased compensation because he is not the Commission's highest wage earner and because he successfully implemented the Commission's programs required by last session's House Bill 1038.

Quite frankly, I was both surprised and disturbed that the board members of the Texas Residential Construction Commission would ask to increase Mr. Waddill’s salary at a time when the public and the legislature have lost confidence in the Commission to adequately protect those you are entrusted to serve -Texas homeowners.

As you are well aware, the Sunset Advisory Commission's staff recommended abolishment of the Commission. Although the members of the Sunset Advisory Commission, myself included, voted to grant a reprieve to the Commission and continue the agency for four years, albeit with significant changes in the way the Commission conducts its operations, I do not yet have a sense as to whether or not my colleagues in the Texas House and Senate will concur with the Sunset Advisory Commission's recommendations or if they will significantly alter them.

Regardless, I feel strongly that it was wholly inappropriate to request a salary increase for the Commission's executive director at a time when the Commission should instead be focused on regaining public and legislative confidence. The Commission has a long way to go before that goal can be accomplished.

Instead of asking for salary increases for Mr. Waddill, I would strongly advise the Commission to focus on remedying its staffing shortfalls, improving its administration of the State-sponsored Inspection and Dispute Resolution Process, implementing steps to increase the number of disciplinary actions against "bad" builders, improving its customer service functions, and otherwise regaining the public's trust. Increasing the executive director's salary was certainly not part of the Sunset Commission’s charge to your agency and it is my hope that you will rethink your colleague’s request.

As the Vice Chairman of the Sunset Advisory Commission, and the Senator who will carry the Sunset legislation dealing with the Commission, I was highly disappointed by Commissioners Brown and Mariott's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee and their rationale for requesting a salary increase for Mr. Waddill. The Commission should instead focus its attention on those budgetary items needed to improve the Commission’s operations and to restore the public’s trust. I sincerely hope that you agree.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your service to our state. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. As you and your colleagues work to regain the confidence of the people of Texas and of my colleagues in the Texas House and Senate, please know that my door is always open and that I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Glenn Hegar
State Senator, District 18
Vice Chairman, Sunset Advisory Commission

cc: Commissioner Glenda Mariott, Vice Chair -College Station, Texas
Commissioner Lewis Brown, Secretary -Trinity, Texas
Commissioner Art Cuevas, -Lubbock, Texas
Commissioner Kenneth Davis, P.E. -Weatherford, Texas
Commissioner Gerardo "Jerry" Garcia, -Corpus Christi, Texas
Commissioner John Krugh, -Houston, Texas
Commissioner Steven Leipsner, -Lakeway, Texas
Commissioner Mickey Redwine, -Ben Wheeler, Texas
Duane Waddill, Executive Director
Governor Rick Perry
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst
State Representative Carl Isett, Chairman, Sunset Advisory Commission
Members, Sunset Advisory Commission
State Senator Steve Ogden, Chairman, Senate Finance Committee
Members, Senate Finance Committee
State Senator Troy Fraser
State Representative Allan Ritter

TRCC pay boost proposal insults Texas taxpayers
San Antonio Express-News Editorial, 3/5/2009

The Texas Residential Construction Commission has a tin ear, which is bad enough.

What is truly intolerable, however, is that some of the members have a tin cup as well, and they want to pass it around so that taxpayers can pour more of their hard-earned money into it.

Two of the commissioners appeared before the Senate Finance Committee last week, requesting a pay raise for their executive director, according to the Express-News.

The proposal would boost the annual salary from $98,000 to as much as $125,800.

Under the circumstances confronting the commission, the request is outrageous.

At a time when many Texans are strapped to their financial limits — and many others are facing or experiencing layoffs — the commissioners are asking citizens for more money.

The proposal is exacerbated by the fact that the commission, under sunset review, has generated a litany of complaints from consumers and officials who feel the body has done nothing but cater to home builders.

The move fuels the push to consign the commission, which is under sunset review, to a fate it richly deserves — legislative oblivion.

The sunset panel, charged with eliminating waste and inefficiency in state agencies, has branded the construction commission “fundamentally flawed.”

“It's really doing more harm to homeowners than good,” the executive director of the panel told the Express-News.

With the latest proposal to boost the annual salary of the executive director, the commission has expanded its list of victims from homeowners to taxpayers in general.

In a letter to TRCC Chairman Paulo Flores, Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, said the request for a raise was “wholly inappropriate... at a time when the commission should instead be focused on regaining public and legislative confidence.”

The commission has squandered the chance it had to rebuild trust in its ability to do a good job. The sunset panel is right. The commission should go.

Reader Comments

neildean55 wrote:
If you vote Republican you are to blame for the wasteful and ineffective TRCC. This organization was the idea of Bob Perry of Perry Homes and other home construction companies including KB Home. This commission was created by the Republican-controlled legislature at a time when KB homes and other tract builders were getting sued due to the shoddy homes they were building. Thanks to the TRCC, now consumers can not file suit against the home builder until after a lengthy process which costs the consumer money. Not surprisingly, the number of suits against builders dramatically fell after the creation of the TRCC. The defects did not go away, only the law suits. And, of course, Perry and other home builders only grew wealthier despite building shoddy homes. The only people of this state who benefited from the statute are the builders who pour millions into the coffers of Republican law makers.

Bobby wrote:
This is over-the-top arrogance. I hope everyone goes to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/, finds their Austin reps email site and registers their feelings.

Inside wrote:
Here's an idea: Give the guy ten cents for every dollar he cuts out of his budget. In fact, let's see that incentive applied to local gov't and feds, too!

Dan wrote:
Get rid of the commission and kudos for Sen Hegar.

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