MINUTES 
          
                SENATE INTERIM COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
                              Monday, June 1, 1998 
                                     9:30 am 
                                 Senate Chamber 
          
                                      ***** 
          
         Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule  
         11.11, a public hearing of the Senate Interim Committee on  
         Economic Development was held on Monday, June 1, 1998 in the  
         Senate Chamber at Austin, Texas.   
          
                                      ***** 
          
         MEMBERS PRESENT:                        MEMBER ABSENT: 
         Senator David Sibley, Chairman          Senator Steve Ogden 
         Senator Rodney Ellis 
         Senator Tom Haywood 
         Senator Frank Madla 
         Senator Florence Shapiro 
         Senator Eliot Shapleigh 
          
                                      ***** 
          
         The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:35 am.  There being  
         a quorum present, the following business was transacted. 
          
         Chairman Sibley announced that the Committee would focus on  
         border region initiatives and workforce development issues.   
         Senators Shapleigh, Shapiro and Madla made statements to the  
         Committee. 
          
         The Chairman then called the first invited witness, Roland  
         Arriola, UT Pan American Center for Economic Development and  
         Entrepreneurship, for a presentation on the Texas-Mexico  
         border region. 
          
         Following Mr. Arriola's presentation and response to members'  
         questions, Chairman Sibley advised that he would call the  
         panels out of order and called Panel Two to discuss Workforce  
         and Education. The panelists were: 
          
              John Breier, Business Development Director, Texas  
         Department of Economic Development 
              Diane Rath, Commissioner, Texas Workforce Commission 
              Bill Segura, Chancellor, Texas State Technical College  
         System 
              Mike Moses, Commissioner, Texas Education Agency 
              Raymond Rodrigues, Provost, University of Texas at  
         Brownsville 
          
         At 11:40 a.m., upon completion of the panelists' testimony and  
  
         response to members' questions, Chairman Sibley recessed the  
         hearing until 1:15 p.m. 
          
         At 1:20 p.m. the Committee reconvened and the Chairman called  
         Panel One to discuss Border Region Economic Development.  The  
         panelists were: 
          
              Mike Allen, McAllen Economic Development Corporation 
              Gary Sapp, Hunt Building Corporation,  El Paso  
              Roberto Rodriguez, Maverick County Development  
         Corporation 
          
         Following the panelists' testimony and response to Committee  
         members' questions, Chairman Sibley called Mike Sheridan,  
         Executive Director, Texas Workforce Commission, and Alan  
         Miller, Director of Workforce, Texas Workforce Commission, for  
         a presentation on the Texas Workforce Development Delivery  
         System.  Upon completion of the presentation and response to  
         members' questions, the Chairman called Panel Three for a  
         discussion of Workforce Needs.  These panelists were: 
          
              John Bercen, Samsung Austin Semiconductors 
              Doris Diven, 3M Company 
              Ommy Strauch, Ommy Strauch and Associates 
              Mary Ann Lynch, American Airlines 
          
         Following the panelists' testimony and response to questions,  
         Chairman Sibley called for public testimony.  The witnesses  
         were as follows: 
          
              Anna Marie Lindley, Chair, Heart of Texas Workforce  
         Development Board, Clifton, Texas 
              Joe McComb and Oscar Martinez, representing Texas  
         Workforce Centers of the Coastal Bend, 
                  Corpus Christi, Texas 
              Ted Melina Raab, representing Texas State Employees  
         Union, Austin, Texas 
              Walter Diggles, representing Deep East Texas Local  
         Workforce Board, Jasper, Texas 
          
         Cheryl LaBerge, representing the Harlingen Area Chamber of  
         Commerce, was unable to remain at the hearing until called,  
         but submitted written testimony. 
          
         The following witnesses registered but did not wish to  
         testify: 
          
              Jody Orsag, representing Heart of Texas Workforce  
         Development Board, Hewitt, Texas 
              Edward L. Clark, representing Waco Chamber of Commerce,  
         Waco, Texas 
              Stella P. Gutierrez, representing Smart Jobs Fund  
         Program, Texas Department of Economic 
                 Development, Austin, Texas 
  
         There being no further business, at 4:30 pm Chairman Sibley  
         moved that the Committee stand recessed subject to the call of  
         the Chairman.  Without objection, it was so ordered.   
          
         _________________________ 
         Senator David Sibley, Chairman 
          
         _________________________ 
         Barbara Henderson, Clerk