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TPWD briefs commission on budget, sporting-goods sales tax boost and asks to publish rules to implement 80th Legislature measures
Summary
TPWD executive director David Jaskowitz updated commissioners on the agency's budget status in conference, highlighted a $20.8 million sporting-goods sales tax increase, and asked the commission to authorize publishing rules needed to implement 80th Texas Legislature legislation; the chairman authorized staff to publish.
David Jaskowitz, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, briefed the commission on the department's pending fiscal and legislative items arising from the 80th Texas Legislature and requested permission to publish rules to implement enacted or expected legislation.
Jaskowitz said the regular session was scheduled to end June 2 and that budget conference committee work remained underway; the larger request for 'exceptional items' totals about $198 million and remained conferenceable. He told the commission that the comptroller had identified $20.8 million in additional sporting-goods sales-tax revenue for the biennium, and both the House and Senate had accepted plans to use those funds to support park expansion and hiring. He also described an authorization to carry forward unexpended land-acquisition balances: TPWD had $125 million appropriated in the prior biennium and may have unspent balances to be retained for land purchases.
On oysters, Jaskowitz said TPWD currently has $1.5 million available this biennium for oyster-license buyback; the department is seeking authority to carry any unexpended balance forward and to add another $1.5 million for the next biennium. He noted other bills of interest: expanded placement of cultivated oyster material on private leases and restoration leases (previously prohibited), adjustments to penalties for oyster-culture violations, consolidation of certain nonresident hunting licenses to aid digital licensing efforts, and disclosure changes for harvest reports; some of those items had been signed and some remained en route to the governor.
Jaskowitz requested that the commission authorize staff to publish rules in the Texas Register to implement legislation passed by the 80th Texas Legislature so the department could present those rules for action in August. Chairman Hildebrand said, "I'll authorize staff to publish the rules in the Texas Register." No formal roll-call vote on the rule-publication authorization was recorded in the work session transcript.
Jaskowitz also answered questions from commissioners about which exceptional items were likely to appear in conference (capital transportation vehicles and critical repairs to headquarters were listed as supplemental items), and he reiterated that final budget numbers would be shared as soon as conference committee releases them.
The briefing included a brief discussion of the legislative appropriation request process and the department's ongoing engagement with House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees; Jaskowitz said the department's governmental-relations team was actively engaged.
