September 2009 V.P. Report
Disparity Study Update
Little has changed since my last report on this issue. The City has narrowed its choices of study providers down to two companies, D. Wilson and Nera. At a recent stakeholders meeting, City Attorney Arturo Michel stated that he has been looking carefully at both bidders, but was leaning toward Nera. His prime issue, according to Michel is both companies’ responses to the question of how they would address the issue of the Rothe case. In short the Rothe case stated that company capacity must be taken into consideration when studying disparity. D. Wilson stated that they would comply with the law and include capacity in their calculations. Nera on the other hand stated that they disagreed with the Rothe ruling and claimed that capacity was covered through other aspects of their study. Mr. Michel further expounded on the issue stating that he agreed with Nera when they said that, in their opinion they felt that the defense incorrectly argued the capacity issue in the Rothe case. HCA has sent a letter to Mr. Michel and the mayor stating that we strongly disagree with Nera’s reasoning and reminded them that capacity was a key issue that we had with the original disparity study. It is HCA’s position that no study can be complete or accurate without thoroughly reviewing a company’s capacity to do the work they claim they can do. Mr. Michel has responded to our letter with a letter of his own stating that he understands our position, that in his opinion we disagree on what the law is, and provided a list of cases that contradict the finding of the Rothe case and support his position. It is expected that Mr. Michel will make his selection public at the next MWBE Council Committee meeting at the end of the month.
Pay or Play Round 2
Earlier this month Velma Laws, Director of the City’s Affirmative Action Committee and overseer of the pay or play program for the city held a town hall style meeting to review the program. The meeting was called on behalf of Elena Marks, Director of Health and Environmental Policy office of the mayor at the request of two concerned citizens who have been attending the MWBE committee meetings. These citizens have attended the last several meetings and made claims that contractors are forcing employees to sign the opt out waivers allowed in the pay or play program and are pushing for a removal of this option and mandatory compliance by all contractors. HCA had worked to have the opt out policy put into to program to protect contractors from being punished for employees who do not want accept the insurance offered by their employer. Did I happen to tell you that these two "concerned citizens" both work for the same insurance company and are offering a special policy that perfectly meets the city’s requirements. I need to stop here and thank everyone that showed up at the meeting on behalf of the contractors. HCA had put out the call for attendees and our members made up approximately two thirds of the room. The only advocates for increased regulation of the program were our two "concerned citizens" and their employer who, by the way helped start the pay or play program and openly admitted dismay that there wasn’t more participation in the program. In the end what Velma hosted was a smaller version of the national town hall meetings on healthcare and what she got was the same basic outcome. We got our point across, but I doubt that there were any minds changed on either side and the fate of the program still lies in the hands of the bureaucrats who run it. Remember this is an executive order from the mayor and was never voted on by city council. On the positive side we did find out where the money collected by the program is going. A representative of the Tri-County Healthcare Alliance informed the audience that they had been given over $600,000 to set up a nurses triage phone bank and a third party insurance provider system that will be rolled out in October. The phone bank will be used to intercept non-emergency callers who are requesting ambulance service and try to convince them that they don’t need an ambulance if it is not a serious or life threatening injury.
E-Verify Begins
In case you missed the article in the paper earlier this month, the feds have begun implementing the e-verify regulation on federally funded projects as of beginning of this month. For those that don’t know about the e-verify system, it is a web based program designed to check an employee’s documentation against government records to see if the employee is legally in the country. Any company receiving a federal project will have 90 days to verify any new hires and all workers assigned to work on that project. This system is designed to replace the standard procedure of reviewing I-9 forms and social security cards. According to the article in the Houston Chronicle, it is not clear if the new regulation applies to all contractors working on a federal job, or if it only applies to the prime. There are also some exceptions including contracts that are under 120 days or less than $100,000. The article also mentioned that the Department of Homeland Security notified 652 companies across the country including 26 in Houston of plans to audit their immigration and employment paperwork, marking a major increase in worksite enforcement. Contractors need to take note of this and realize that you could be audited next.
Commissioner Eversole’s Seat
Council Member Toni Lawrence has formed an exploratory committee to look into the possibility of running for the Harris County Precinct 4 position in the November 2010 election. The current District A City Council Member is term limited after this year and is looking to possibly replace incumbent Commissioner Jerry Eversole. Council Member Lawrence recently changed her residence to be within the precinct and has now begun making overtures toward the seat. Council Member Lawrence was quoted in a September 10th Houston Chronicle story as saying that while she believed that Eversole had worked diligently on Commissioner’s Court over the last twenty years, she expressed her views that it was time for a new Republican voice in Precinct 4. Commissioner Eversole has been under investigation by the FBI, State and local officials alleging inappropriate use of campaign funds, however there has been no official charges filed against the Commissioner that I am aware of. Commissioner Eversole has not yet stated if he is going to run for re-election, but rumor has it that he is considering it. The rumor may be true considering the news coverage has died down, nothing has come out about the investigations and Eversole is still very popular in his precinct regardless of the ethics scandal. Also keep in mind that Council Member Lawrence is not the only person interested in the Precinct 4 seat, Larry Lindsay son of ex Texas Senator and ex Harris County Judge, Jon Lindsay is interested in the position. As is Court Koenning owner of Koenning Consulting a private consulting firm here in Houston and Chief of Staff for Texas Senator Dan Patrick. Mr. Koenning also served as the Executive Director for Harris County Republican Party. This is a race in its infancy and should be interesting to watch, however the question that needs to be answered before anything can get moving is will Jerry Eversole run? Only time will answer that question.
HCA Day at Minute Maid Park
HCA completed its fourth annual HCA Day at Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros played the Milwaukee Brewers, unfortunately losing in the end 12 to 5. I want to thank all of the attendees that came out to the game. HCA took up over three entire sections of Minute Maid Park with our cheering fans. This was a great family oriented event with hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks provided. I want to personally thank this year’s sponsors for contributing to this event and making it the success that it was. I want to recognize our “Grand Slam” sponsor ACT Pipe and Supply for their generous contribution and also our “Home Run” sponsors Boyer Inc., and Slack & Co. Contracting, Inc. Congratulations also go out to Alicia Jimerson with Jimerson Underground. Alicia won the ACT raffle drawing during the game and was presented her prize, a $200 gift certificate to Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse, by ACT’s C.E.O. Harry Kirk. I also want to thank Rob Harmel with Sign & Supply for donating all of the sponsor signs for this event. This was a great outing with an unfortunate ending for the Astros I am sad to say, but a good night out with friends and family and I hope to see you all back again next year.
