FROM THE EDITOR

By John S. Gray Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP

Legislation and Taxes

On January 11, 2011, the 140-day clock of the 82nd legislative session began ticking away for the Texas House and Senate with the swearing-in of the largest number of freshmen house members in Texas in nearly 40 years, as a consequence of Republican victories in the 2010 mid-term election. After opening the session with a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Tucson, Arizona, shootings, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst welcomed Governor Rick Perry to the platform to address the senate. Perry then declared two emergency issues as priorities for the session: eminent domain and abolishing rules creating so-called "sanctuary cities," where police are not allowed to check the immigration status of persons they stop or arrest.

By listing these issues as emergency items, Perry allows the legislature to consider them in the first 60 days of the legislative session. But Perry also acknowledged that there are other pressing issues that need to be addressed, including balancing the budget, redistricting, the voter identification bill, and school bullying.

This issue of The Houston Lawyer focuses on bills that are currently before, or may come before, the 82nd legislative session that Houston lawyers believe may impact their practices and our community. With Texas facing a massive budget shortfall of as much as $27 billion, some tough decisions have to be made. Each state agency has already been asked to find between a 5 and 10 percent cut in their budget. But even this will not be enough to balance the budget. With promises not to raise taxes, Austin will have to find new sources of revenue. Franchise tax and sales tax receipts have not brought in as much funds as expected so it is probable that fees will have to be increased to make up the difference. There is even talk about taking a serious look at legalizing gambling but some dismiss that idea as a side show, at best, because the $3 to $4 billion in revenue expected would not come in until after this budget crisis is over. The article by Val Perkins explains how the upcoming battle to balance Texas' "doomsday" budget without raising taxes will directly impact Houston's schools and universities, the Texas Medical Center, and immigrant citizens.

Mark Shuck, our special guest editor in charge of putting this issue together, reveals much more in his compilation of brief reports from various Houston lawyers about proposed bills that may impact the following substantive areas of the practice: animal law, business organizations, collaborative law, employment law, environmental law, family law, gaming law, litigation, and probate law.

This issue also features two tax-related articles of current importance and interest. The first is an article by Chris Wolfe, titled "Proposed Changes to Oil & Gas Tax Legislation," warning of plans by the Obama Administration to use the tax code to indirectly reduce global warming. Specifically, the Obama Administration is in favor of increasing the tax burden on oil and gas as a means to discourage fossil fuel consumption, thereby reducing carbon emissions and replacing oil and gas jobs with "green" manufacturing jobs. The second is an article by Mellany McDonald discussing "The Return of the 'Death Tax.'" This article chronicles the political climate at the end of 2010 in which President Obama struck an unexpected deal with key Republican leaders that addressed controversial estate taxation issues.

I hope you enjoy this issue of The Houston Lawyer. We appreciate your comments, critical or otherwise, so please do not hesitate to share your thoughts on our publication. Our overriding goal is to make this publication a valuable part of your membership in the HBA and your practice. As always, please take a few moments to look at the advertisers in your copy of this magazine, give them a call, and then use their products and services when possible.

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