OFFICIAL NOTICE (AND CHANGES) REGARDING CPS HEARING THURSDAY

Last week I sent out an e-mail with information on this Thursday’s hearing of the House Committee on Human Services regarding CPS reform. Today the official notice is posted. Note changes in time and location:

                        NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

COMMITTEE: Human Services

TIME & DATE:  8:00AM, Thursday, March 3, 2005

PLACE: JHR 140

CHAIR: Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp

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The Committee will meet to hear PUBLIC TESTIMONY relating to child protective services reform and adult protective services reform.


The Committee will not lay out individual bills and take testimony specific to such bills.  Rather, the Committee will take public testimony on issues relating to protective services reform.


The Committee will stand in recess while the House is in session and will reconvene upon adjournment to resume taking public testimony.


To ensure that as many witnesses as possible have the opportunity to testify, it may become necessary to limit the amount of time allotted for individual testimony.

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For those of you who are planning to attend, note that the hearing will begin at 8:00AM. Previously I had been told it would probably not begin until after adjournment of the general session. According to the official notice they will recess for the general session which means from approximately 9:45AM until noon according to the Committee’s office.

Also the location will be room 140 of the John H. Reagan building which is located north of the Capitol but very close at 15th and Congress. It is on the southwest corner of that intersection.

(You can access a map of the area by clicking here on Capitol Complex.)

If you cannot attend but would like to follow the hearing on that day there is generally a live broadcast via internet of the hearings. Alternatively, you can typically also see broadcast hearings starting the next day via internet through the archived broadcasts. Both of these options enable you to participate in government by hearing and seeing your legislators in action along with the testimony of other individuals even though you cannot be in Austin.

Finally, by design this hearing will not focus on specific bills one by one but with general issues dealing with CPS. Therefore, we are encouraging you to testify on the importance of specific issues in HB 1014 but you may have other concerns that may be voiced at the same time also.

According to the Human Services office there will be forms at the front of the room to complete regarding your concerns about CPS and whether you desire to speak. A representative of the Human Services Committee should be there also to answer questions. Generally testimony is taken on a first come, first served basis for those who sign up on one of those forms. However, the office has stated that they will not turn anyone away as long as you do not get there too late in the day. Accordingly it sounds like they will take into account that some could not get there until the afternoon.

We commend you for your interest in participating in the government process. Our representatives need to hear from the grassroots in order to balance the often self-serving messages of lobbyists who stand to benefit financially from more money being poured into the system.

While I will not be able to be there this Thursday because of a prior commitment I look forward to hearing from you on how it went.


"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
- John Philpot Curran