Senate Nominations met to take up testimony from several nominees, below is the testimony from the Health and Human Services Commissioner, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the Public Utility Commission.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Courtney Phillips, HHSC Executive Commissioner
- Provided background on history and experience
- Commitment to provide strong leadership and challenges that they convert to opportunity from contracting to managed care
- Procurement and Contracting – they are making huge strides as they build from the ground up and it will take time
- Medicaid managed care – ongoing efforts to strengthen oversight to ensure model is working as it should be
- Working on a business plan to align all which articulates goals and initiatives
- Plan will be published and it will be regularly measured
- Buckingham – doing an exceptional job, a big controversy has been contracting do you want to elaborate?
- On annual basis more than 57k contracts and Pos, when issue first brought to light goal was to stabilize and put things in place to ensure requirements were met
- Also created a quality control unit which is independent from purchasing
- 3 reviews from July and some findings were lack of training, procedures and documentation and of 38 items identified they implemented over 20 of them and working on 5 others
- Also implementing recommendations from Ernst and Young
- Did make exceptional; items request to shore up process
- Miles – thinks Governor knocked it out of the part with this appointee
- Hall – appreciates her meeting with his officer, there were real challenges she stepped in and took care of, asked for comparison to Nebraska
- Chance to be extremely innovative and other states will follow, focus on internal process
- Hall – MCOs what are your thoughts?
- Think in terms of managed care, most receive care through managed care
- Think we have opportunity to increase oversight – network adequacy, making sure quality measures are met, etc
- Seliger – what were deficiencies found from Ernst and Young?
- Do a multi-stage review and none above a stage 1
- Worked on setting up procedures and documenting
- There are a lot of basic things they can do and some require more resources
- Seliger – do you recall some examples that were done poorly
- Does not cite any specifically
- Will continually evaluate and fix as they go along, continual improvement process
- Notes first female to serve in this role
- Kolkhorst – did not realize you were the first female, so Congratulations and appreciates words of putting business plan in place and we need innovation and oversight
Emily Lindley – TCEQ
- Thanked Watson for introduction and made opening remarks
- Notes that she bases her decision on law, good science and common sense while considering all Texans
- Buckingham – thoughts or plans on addressing water issue
- Make conscious efforts to be engaged with TWDB
- Work on being engaged in water issues
- Miles – Notes several areas in his district that are being worked on, constituents seem to think agency is rubber stamp to industry
- Job is to make decisions and consider every Texan
- Alvarado – thanks her for discussions over the break
- Kolkhorst – likes that she wants to be in contact with other agencies, asked about permits
- Depending on permit there is a lot of coordination with state agencies
- Kolkhorst – do you think employees should advocate for industry over general public
- That would be an improper role
Public Utility Commission
Shelly Lyn Botkin
- Thanked Watson and provided details on her experience and background
Arthur Cleveland D’Andrea
- Thanked committee for a chance to testify, most important job is to protect rate payers and landowners while creating environment for utilities
- Thinks water utilities need particular attention, making great strides on reaching out to them
- Provided details on background and experience
DeAnn Thomason Walker
- Thanked committee for time
- Provided background on history and experience
Q&A
Buckingham – A lot going with grid, do you think changes need to be made to marker to incentivize to ensure no brown outs or black outs
- Walker – did make some changes to market structure for incentives, recently had historic low
- Walker – had additional coal power plant shut down
- Walker – ended up doing some modifications to curve to make it more simple and taken some actions
- Walker – told there will be additional investment made in maintenance, believe there will be additional demand this summer
- Walker – wait and see for Commission, hoping actions made will help
- Botkin – Echoes and said important leadership from Walker
- D’Andrea – discussed summer example and notes people have no visibility to price, demand response is coming and can now pass on that visibility and as technology increases there will be incentives to not let the peak get so high
Kolkhorst – transparency and how you choose routes of power lines, how is that working? Would you say it’s a good process?
- Walker – would say it’s a good process, heard individuals come before them at meetings and they have changed their decision based on land owners to accommodate them
Kolkhorst – would say there is zero process for pipeline in comparison to power lines process, when asking who oversees on pipeline hears no one
Hall – Not enough pay attention to how critical margin is that we have and appreciates them highlighting them that point.
Hall – if they think legislation is needed, please don’t wait to long as the body does move slowly and discuss issues sooner rather than later
Buckingham – With issues of the grid and with coal coming off, we want to be able to ensure our lights continue to come on.
Buckingham – Voting on nominees will be taken up in one week.