This week I will continue discussing the interim charges for House committees. The charges are good indicators of what legislation the legislature will take up during the next session. Interim charges are the issues that the Speaker asks committees to study during the time between regular legislative sessions in order to make recommendations for legislation for the following legislative session. Legislators rely on public input when crafting legislation, and it is important that they hear from people during the interim. This week I will review the charges for the House Committee on Urban Affairs, which has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to: municipalities, including their creation, organization, powers, government, and finance, and the compensation and duties of their officers and employees; home-rule municipalities, their relationship to the state, and their powers, authority, and limitations; the creation or change of metropolitan areas and the form of government under which those areas operate; problems and issues particularly affecting metropolitan areas of the state; other units of local government not otherwise assigned by these rules to other standing committees; establishing districts for the election of governing bodies of municipalities; and land use regulation by municipalities.

House Committee on Urban Affairs

Examine the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs' (TDHCA) regional allocation formula policies and determine methodologies that could enhance equitable distribution.

Review the TDCHA's Weatherization Assistance Program and increased funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Examine the methodology used to distribute funds and the program's effectiveness at reducing residential energy costs. (Joint Interim Charge with House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding)

Evaluate the method of distributing federal hurricane relief funds and recommend improvements. (Joint Interim Charge with House Committee on Appropriations)

Make recommendations regarding the feasibility of a housing initiative that promotes independence and prevents unnecessary institutionalization of eligible populations.

Monitor the agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction: the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection.

The House Committee on Urban Affairs can be reached at (512) 463-9904. For more information on these charges or any other matter of state government, please contact my office by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by emailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us. My district office phone number is (903) 891-7297.