legislation and the monitoring of the workers’ compensation system.  There was a great deal of testimony back and forth regarding the success and failures of tort reform.  Expect to see this debate continue through the upcoming legislative session, especially if the November elections bring about a partisan shift in either chamber.

The Medicaid reform legislation from last session, Senate Bill 10, created a Joint Committee on Health and Long-Term Care Insurance Incentives.  This ten member committee made up of legislators, executive agency representatives and public members met on Tuesday to begin their study of methods by which the state may reduce the state’s reliance on Medicaid by providing incentives for employers to provide their employees with health and long-term care insurance.  The Committee is charged with reporting their findings to the Legislature by September 1^st of this year.

The Business Tax Advisory Committee held an organizational meeting on Monday.  This Committee is charged with reporting back to the Legislature on the new franchise tax concerning the relative share of the tax paid by industry and size of business; the incidence of the tax compared to the economic make-up of the state’s business economy; how that tax compares with business taxes of other states; the effect of the tax on the economic climate of the state; any factors that result in the tax not operating as intended; and any other item presented by the Comptroller or a majority of the committee.  The Committee’s report is due to the Legislature in December, shortly after the final reports for many taxpayers are filed in November.  Subsequent meetings are planned for July, September, and perhaps early January, to work on the remainder of the assigned tasks. A webcast of the meeting will be posted in the next few days on the Comptroller’s website by clicking here.

Eduardo J. Sanchez, M.D., former Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Department of Health, has been named vice president and chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas.  His appointment is effective May 30^th.

Do you remember the drama in the Texas Senate last session surrounding the “Voter ID” bill?  Senator Gallegos was in a room near the Senate floor, resting on a hospital bed.  This was to discourage Lt. Governor Dewhurst from calling for a vote on the controversial legislation that would have required voters to provide photo identification at the polls.  That bill did not pass due to the blockade by Senate Democrats but expect to see a new version in 2009.  On Monday, the United States Supreme Court upheld a similar law in Indiana.  Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott was one of several attorney generals from around the country who filed an amicus brief in support of Indiana’s law.
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