For Legislature, raiding earmarked funds routine

[Guest guest]

From the Houston Chronicle:

<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4113431.html>

Fees from professionals

There was a time when most of the licensing and registration fees paid

by doctors, lawyers, architects and other professions and occupations

were spent to support the state boards that regulated them.

Some of that money still pays for the boards, but laws were changed

during the budget crunch of the late 1980s and early 1990s to make the

various regulatory fees available for general state spending.

In fiscal 2005, the state collected about $35 million in fees from doctors.

Only $8 million, almost one-fourth of the total, was appropriated to

the Texas Medical Board, which regulates the profession, said board

spokeswoman Jill Wiggins. The remainder was spent elsewhere.

****************************************

For all those pondering a separate EMS commission, here's hurdle #2.

Not unbeatable, but a significant challenge. How do you prepare a

budget when you can't use the numbers you'd get from professional

licensing as a basis? How do you 'confirm " you numbers if they're all

dependent on what the legislature decides to do, or not do, every

year?

I'm not being facetious - I'm asking a serious question.

Mike

[Guest guest]

Mike,

Kathy reported that DSHS currently gets less than $1M of the $2.5M collected

annually...fix that and a lot of things could get better.

Dudley

For Legislature, raiding earmarked funds routine

From the Houston Chronicle:

<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4113431.html>

Fees from professionals

There was a time when most of the licensing and registration fees paid

by doctors, lawyers, architects and other professions and occupations

were spent to support the state boards that regulated them.

Some of that money still pays for the boards, but laws were changed

during the budget crunch of the late 1980s and early 1990s to make the

various regulatory fees available for general state spending.

In fiscal 2005, the state collected about $35 million in fees from doctors.

Only $8 million, almost one-fourth of the total, was appropriated to

the Texas Medical Board, which regulates the profession, said board

spokeswoman Jill Wiggins. The remainder was spent elsewhere.

****************************************

For all those pondering a separate EMS commission, here's hurdle #2.

Not unbeatable, but a significant challenge. How do you prepare a

budget when you can't use the numbers you'd get from professional

licensing as a basis? How do you 'confirm " you numbers if they're all

dependent on what the legislature decides to do, or not do, every

year?

I'm not being facetious - I'm asking a serious question.

Mike

________________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

We should all contact our legislative representatives about EMS regulation.

Many of them do not know what EMS does. Many don't know the difference

between an ECA and a Paramedic. The only thing we can do is to try to educate

them.

Ask your representative why it is that the money we pay into the state for

certification doesn't all go to the DSHS EMS program. Demand that the law be

changed to give us all our money.

But you won't. EMS people are among the most apathetic folks in the world.

They won't do anything politically to help themselves. Too bad.

G