----- Forwarded Message -----
From: John McMillan <mcmillanj@att.net>
To: Rep. Sheryl Cole 2019 CentralTX <sheryl.cole@house.texas.gov>; State Senator Sarah Eckhardt 2020 <sarah.eckhardt@senate.texas.gov>; Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick <dan.patrick@ltgov.texas.gov>; Governor's Office of Texas Open Records Administrator <publicrecords@governor.state.tx.us>; dade.phelan@speaker.house.gov <dade.phelan@speaker.house.gov>; public.information@texasattorneygeneral.gov <public.information@texasattorneygeneral.gov>; p139@traviscountydemocrats.org <p139@traviscountydemocrats.org>; info@traviscountydemocrats.org <info@traviscountydemocrats.org>; carol.alvarado@senate.texas.gov <carol.alvarado@senate.texas.gov>; Rep. John Bucy 2019CentralTX <john.bucy@house.texas.gov>; Rep. Erin Zwiener 2019CentralTX <erin.zwiener@house.texas.gov>; Rep. James Talarico 2019 Central TX <james.talarico@house.texas.gov>; Rep. Vikki Goodwin 2019CentralTX <vikki.goodwin@house.texas.gov>; Celia Israel <celia.israel@house.texas.gov>; Charles Schwertner <charles.schwertner@senate.texas.gov>; charles.wood@texasattorneygeneral.gov <charles.wood@texasattorneygeneral.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 01:11:43 AM CST
Subject: 2-17-21 some proposed bills for Texas Legislature this session
February 17, 2021
Dear State Representative Cole and State Senator Eckhardt,
I hope that each of you is having a safe and healthy week as you each continue to review possible new bills you might want to author or sponsor during the current legislative session here in Austin.
Some possibilities that some to mind for me:
---I hope that each of you will be willing to consider authoring or sponsoring legislation this session that authorizes special review of whether some state agencies of Texas or other government-owned institutions in Texas have possibly attempted to avoid complying in a timely and diligent manner with the state public-information law. I sense that some agencies have been doing that by citing "COVID-19" as their "reason" for not providing any of the legal documents requested by a private citizen in a public information request to that agency. I can cite examples of that type of possible alleged "non-compliance," if either of you would like me to provide that additional information to you.
---I hope that each of you will be willing to consider authoring or sponsoring a new state law for Texas that requires uniformity of formatting in the concluding portion of e-mail addresses for State of Texas agencies. At present, as I'm sure each of you is very aware, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs state agency continues to use an official e-mail address such as: "info@tdhca.state.tx.us". However, the the State Comptroller of Texas and the apparent majority of state agencies in Texas have apparently shifted to an e-mail address such as "cid@cpa.texas.gov", in the case of the Criminal Investigations Division of the State Comptroller's Office here in Austin.
I feel sure that many Texans regard it as confusing that the formatting for the concluding right side of e-mail addresses for state agencies is not consistent or uniform for as many state agencies as possible.
---I hope that you will each consider authoring or sponsoring a new state law before the Legislature that authorizes a review by an expert consultant on how to make websites for government agencies more "user-friendly" while inviting more e-mail inquiries and e-mail comments from private citizens.
It would be helpful if each state agency's official website had an easy-to-find front-page link to a fully up-to-date organizational chart for that agency that also cites specific names of current officials of that state agency's chain of command.
It would also be helpful to private citizens in our state if they could easily find an e-mail address for a webmaster or "info" person or "contact" person for that state agency on the front page of that state agency's website. If there were uniformity of placement of a general-comments e-mail address of that type for each state agency---such as always at the top right side of each state agency's website---this would save lots of time for residents of our state and others who seek to contact a state agency. It might also be very helpful if all Texan residents could write to "info@dps.texas.gov", for instance, in order to contact one designated official of that state agency who reviews a wide variety of questions and comments. Another alternative could be either "contact" or "webmaster" cited in the overall e-mail address for each and every State of Texas institution or State of Texas agency. This would help to make it much easier for members of the general public to contact state agencies of Texas and pose questions or concerns to them.
--I hope that each of you will be willing to sponsor a bill requiring each and every state agency of Texas to designate one staff member in their state agency as an official ombudsman for that state agency. The purpose of the ombudsman for each agency should be to address concerns from private citizens who have complaints or questions and would like to see those complaints addressed or questions answered by that government agency.
It seems to me that many of the state agencies of Texas or State of Texas institutions currently do not have an official ombudsman for that state agency or State of Texas institution. This conveys an awkward message to members of the general public that "some state agencies care enough about your concerns to employ an ombudsman, while other state agencies of Texas don't care enough to offer you an ombudsman you can directly call or directly write to."
---There may also be a need for an overall ombudsman for the entire State Government of Texas as a whole---particularly since there appear to possibly be more total state agencies or institutions owned by the State of Texas than any other U.S. state. I have not researched that point, though. The large number of state agencies in Texas can be very confusing and chaotic for members of the general public.
I am reminded that in 1999, one prominent private attorney in Austin whom I consulted about privacy-related concerns of mine in Austin responded by writing a signed legal letter for me in which he referred in writing to conduct (or lack thereof) relating to my own living conditions in Austin by the "State Government of Texas". If there were an overall ombudsman for the entire State of Texas, this could help to address concerns of private citizens such as myself who have not been informed about which State of Texas agency or State of Texas institution, if any, is the most appropriate one to contact with a cited complaint or concern from that private citizen.
---I hope that each of you will consider authoring or cosponsoring a resolution that honors the municipality or county of Texas that has made the most progress during the most recent two-year period toward increasing participation by that municipality or county in recycling of disposable items such as plastic bottles or cardboard or newspapers.
I would also like to raise the question of whether either of you believes that the Texas Legislature each session should publicly honor each of the most-improved cities or most-improved counties in a variety of very specific and tangible categories, including participation in recycling. Another category for a most-improved award could be for the municipalities and counties where the per-capita incidence of reported violent crime declined the most significantly in the most recent two-year period, five-year period, or 10-year period.
---I hope that each of you will be willing to author or sponsor a resolution honoring each of the cities of Texas that in the most recent two-year period or by February 10, 2021, have formally applied and paid the application fee for the next "All America City Award" to be conferred by the National Civic League. It would also be nice if each of you would consider sponsoring a legislative resolution honoring the most recent city of Texas that actually achieved that high honor from the National Civic League.
---I hope that each of you will be willing to author or sponsor a resolution honoring the healthful and nutritious crop in Texas for which statewide agricultural production of that crop has increased the most dramatically in the most recent two-year period, five-year period, or 10-year period. This type of resolution could offer much-deserved praise for a fruit or vegetable or grain or nut for which crop yields or total produce yields from our state have increased dramatically during the applicable time period. I myself am very hopeful that avocado farming, for instance, has increased in our state in recent years---and avocadoes are truly life-savers, since they are very good for the cardiovascular health of Texans.
---I hope that each of you will be willing to author or sponsor a new bill that would require the establishment of a Texas Statistics website that contains very pertinent statistics to a wide variety of public-policy-related questions such as, "What is the current Attempted Homicide Rate in Texas, statewide and by county or by city?" and "What is the Attempted Home-Invasion Crimes Rate in Texas, statewide and by county or by city?" I mention "attempted" home-invasion crimes as a category for which statistics should also be compiled, since attempts of that type, regardless of whether the perpetrator actually succeeds at breaking into someone's apartment unit or home, is very, very alarming and truly outrageous to the point of heinous. In that regard, I hope that each of you will be willing to ask for a review of the state penal code of Texas to determine whether the current punishment of those who ATTEMPT to commit a home-invasion crime (regardless of whether their attempt "fails" or "succeeds") is strict enough at present.
Representative Cole and Senator Eckhardt, I am very hopeful that this very tentative brainstorming letter will offer some useful ideas to each of you as you continue to evaluate which resolutions and bills each of you plans to author or sponsor or co-sponsor during the current legislative session.
Sincerely and Best Wishes,
John Kevin McMillan, a gainfully-employed and law-abiding single adult British-German-American Anglo non-Hispanic male adult constituent of each of you. I am also the founder and only approved current member of the quality-of-life-minded "Progressive Prohibitionist Religion"---a non-proselytizing factually-minded implicitly-deistic religion with very stringent membership-eligibility requirements.
My solo-occupancy efficiency apartment unit ever since June 21, 2019:
Pebble Creek Apartments, 8805 North Plaza Drive, Building 17, Apt. 2418, Austin, TX 78753.
Home phone: (512) 342-2295.
Cell phone: (512) 993-7305.
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John Kevin McMillan
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