Dub-yah, Sibley & Averitt Jacked Up Utilities Rates

Governor, Senator and Representative Ramped Up Costs, Made
History, Took Control, Lobbied And Got Their Mojo Working

- ANALYSIS -

A triumvirate of two Republican legislators and a governor
worked together hand in glove to completely alter regulation
of what it costs Texans for electricity, property, casualty
and life insurance, water and transportation during the late
1990's.

Bills involving the expense of taxpayer money were authored
by Representative Kip Averitt, co-sponsored by Senator David
Sibley and signed into law by Governor George W. Bush.

Those laws that affected only the policies of cost
accounting, revenue sharing between state agencies, or rate
setting were often authored by Senator Sibley, sponsored by
Representative Averitt and then signed into law by Governor
Bush.

Either way, the power center headed up by the three
politicians wagged the dog and changed the landscape of
insuring property, lives and casualties amongst motorists
and workers, the wholesale production and trading of
electrical power, water and state real property, eminent
domain and toll-collecting powers of the newly formed
Department of Transportation, and the allocation of pass-
through costs to set insurance rates based upon investment
performance, reinsurance and other costs of doing business
in the insurance industry.

A stupendous feat accomplished in a very short time, this
pattern of law-making and state regulation, something which
affects quality-of-life economic issues in the Lone Star
State for every consumer and every family, deserves the
scrutiny of voters in this crucial year of decision, the
mid-term elections of 2010.

As in any examination of public policy and its evolution,
the thing to remember is the bottom line reality of control.

Cui bono? Who benefits? Follow the money trail and make
your own conclusions.

There is really nothing new about the tactics and overall
strategy involved. All these techniques have been used by
political systems used by anyone from the Pharaohs to the
Phoenicians, Persians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, British,
French, Germans, Portuguese, Spaniards, Americans and the
odd assorted war lord and potentate.

To tax, control, manipulate and pass the costs on to the
people is the ultimate goal of any system of government.

Loosely speaking, the art was whetted and honed to a fine
point by the Senatorial forces of the Imperial Roman Legions
in their occupation of the known world of the European and
Mediterranean regions. In historic evolution, similar
practices have been employed by colonial European powers in
global expansion and the American globe-straddling post-war
dominance.

It may be seen in the participation by super powers in such
international political organizations as the United Nations,
NATO, SEATO and other treaty-based foreign policy
enforcement vehicles.

Quite naturally, internation energy cartels, currency
speculators, investment bankers and multinational
corporations take advantage of these systems to their huge
benefit.

All references below may be studied at either of two
websites -

The Texas Legislature Online,
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/

or, The Texas State Legislative Reference Library,
http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/

75th Legislature:

SB249 - created Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund, a
huge tax.

SB1915 - allowed the TIF to be passed through to consuemrs.
It is estimated to represent 30 to 40 percent of each cell
and land line bill. Mr. Sibley was the architect of the
bill, the historical record shows.

SB369 - laid the groundwork for the Trans Texas Corridor.

HB909 - co-sponsored by Representative Kip Averitt and
Senator Sibley, allowed life insurance companies to invest
in riskier investments, something that has cost consumers
millon in pay for bad investment strategies.

76th Legislature:

HB924 - Co-sponsored with Kip Averitt, this law reduced
coverage for Texans in the Texas Insurance Pool.

HB3042 - Sponsored with Mr. Averitt, allowed property and
casualty insurance carriers to invest in riskier
investments, the same as life insurance companies.

HB3793 - Co-sponsored with Rep. Averitt, the law allowed the
Brazos River Authority to have what many utilities experts
have described as the authority to have access to the funds
of any state agency and removed the $100,000 cap in excess
of which previously required legislative approval. This law
establishes a stong link between the two veteran
legislators. Mr. Sibley later wound up representing the
Brazos River Authority as a lobbyist, a contract he
dissolved two weeks ago, prior to announcing he is a
candidate to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Averitt in
Senate District 22.

In the previously cited online legislative history
libraries, one may access either the "engrossed" or
"enrolled" summaries of the bills for detailed legislative
analyses prepared by Commmittee Staff which explain exactly
what the laws do and how they affect the consumers and rate
payers in Texas.