Texas Governor George W. Bush:
An Introduction to Records at the Texas State Archives, 1854-2000 (bulk 1995-2000)
Overview | ||
| Creator: | Texas. Governor (1995-2000 : Bush) | |
| Title: | Records | |
| Dates: | 1854-2000 | |
| Dates: | (bulk 1995-2000) | |
| Abstract: | Records are correspondence, memoranda, legal records, legislative records, financial records, speeches, reports, meeting records, publications, printed material, lists, calendars and schedules, electronic records, audio and video tapes, and photographs, dating 1854-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), gathered, created, and maintained during George W. Bush's tenure as Governor of Texas from January 17, 1995 to December 21, 2000. | |
| Quantity: | approximately 2100 cubic ft. | |
| Language | English. | |
Agency History
The governor of Texas is the chief executive officer of the state, elected by the citizens every four years. The duties and responsibilities of the governor include serving as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces; convening special sessions of the legislature for specific purposes; delivering to the legislature at the beginning of each regular session a report on the condition of the state, an accounting of all public money under the governor's control, a recommended biennial budget, an estimate of the amounts of money required to be raised by taxation, and any recommendations he deems necessary; signing or vetoing bills passed by the legislature; and executing the laws of the state. The governor can grant reprieves and commutations of punishment and pardons, upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and revoke conditional pardons. He appoints numerous state officials (with the consent of the Senate), fills vacancies in state and district offices (except vacancies in the legislature), calls special elections to fill vacancies in the legislature, fills vacancies in the United States Senate until an election can be held, and serves as ex officio member of several state boards.
The office of governor was first established by the Constitution of 1845 and superseded the office of president of the Republic of Texas. The position now exists under authority of Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution of 1876 and Texas Government Code, Chapter 401. To be elected governor, a person must be at least thirty years old, a United States citizen, and a resident of Texas for at least five years preceding the election. In 1972, the term of office was extended from two to four years, effective in 1975. Since 1856 the governor has had the use of the Governor's Mansion.
In 1999 there were 198 full time equivalent employees in the Office of the Governor. Thirteen divisions outside of the Executive Office assist the governor in carrying out his functions: Administration, Appointments, Budget & Planning, Communications, General Counsel, Legislative, Policy, Scheduling, Criminal Justice Division, Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, Office of Film, Music, Television and Multimedia Industries, Women's Commission, and Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness.
George W. Bush Biographical Sketch
George W. Bush served as governor of Texas from January 17, 1995 to December 21, 2000, resigning as governor in the middle of his second term to become president of the United States.
As a Republican, he challenged the incumbent governor, Democrat Ann Richards, running on promises to improve public education and to reform the juvenile justice system, welfare, and the state's tort laws -- the system under which an injured person may sue for damages. During the 74th Legislature in 1995, he worked with the Democrats who controlled both houses of the Texas legislature and managed to get bills passed that dealt with the four issues he had emphasized in his campaign. Bush was seen as pro-business and a consensus-builder.
Bush advocated and signed the two largest tax cuts to date in Texas history, totaling over $3 billion. To pay for the cuts, he sought (unsuccessfully) federal approval of a plan to privatize Texas' social services. Education reform was a priority throughout his terms, with legislation emphasizing local control of schools, higher standards, and a revised curriculum. Controversy has followed, with charter schools mired in financial scandals and protests against one test determining a child's promotion. After winning reelection in 1998, Bush began his bid for the presidency and was not as involved in the 76th Legislature in 1999.
George W. Bush was born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He graduated from Andover Academy, and received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a master's from Harvard Business School. He served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. In 1978, Bush was defeated in a run for the U.S. Congress in West Texas. He was involved in energy exploration from the 1970s into the 1980s. From 1989 until his election as governor, Bush worked with the Texas Rangers baseball organization, leading a group of partners in purchasing the team, and then serving as managing general partner. He married Laura Welch in 1977; they have two daughters.
Scope and Contents of the Records
Records are correspondence, memoranda, legal records, legislative records, financial records, speeches, reports, meeting records, publications, printed material, lists, calendars and schedules, audio and video tapes, and photographs, dating 1854-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), created during George W. Bush's terms as Governor of Texas. Included are records of Bush's executive assistant, Joe Allbaugh, and Senior Advisor Margaret LaMontagne, as well as records of the following offices: General Counsel, Policy, Legislative, Budget and Planning, Grants Team, First Lady, Press, Executive, Scheduling, Correspondence/Constituent Services, and the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities. The Appointments office, Criminal Justice Division, and Film Commission are also represented by a small amount of materials. Major subjects represented in the records are criminal justice, economic development, education, emergency management, executions, legislation, and the state budget.
This finding aid is a work in progress. Some series have been processed, others are still undergoing processing. All series yet to be processed are included in the framework of the finding aid. As these series are processed, this finding aid will be updated and links will be provided for separate finding aids containing fuller descriptions and folder listings.
Organization of the Records | ||
| These records are organized into 15 subgroups and 87 series: | ||
Executive Assistant's Office files, 1987-1989, 1992-2000 (bulk
1995-1999), approximately 28 cubic ft.
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Senior Advisor's Office records, 1948, 1964-1965, 1978,
1980-1983, 1986-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 88 cubic ft.
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General Counsel files, 1886, 1892, 1903, 1912-1921, 1925, 1932,
1939-2000 (bulk 1986-2000), approximately 173 cubic ft.
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Policy Office, 1982, 1989, 1993-2000, 60.25 cubic ft.
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Legislative Office, 1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated (bulk
1995-2000), 119 cubic ft.
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Budget and Planning, 1967-2001, approximately 30 cubic ft.
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Press Office, 1946-2001 (bulk 1995-2000), 278.32 cubic ft.
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Executive Office, 1994-2000, approximately 22 cubic ft.
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Scheduling Office, 1994-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), approximately 92.5
cubic ft.
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| Appointments Office, Polly Sowell's correspondence, 1995-2000, 0.2 cubic ft. | ||
Correspondence/Constituent Services, 1948-2000 (bulk 1995-2000),
approximately 1100 cubic ft.
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Office of the First Lady, 1995-2000, 34 cubic ft.
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Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, 1984-2000, less
than 5 cubic ft.
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| Criminal Justice Division, public information requests, 1995-1999, 5 cubic ft. [in process] | ||
Texas Film Commission, 1995-2000, 1 cubic ft.
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Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
Records in process: Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions, an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records.
Records series described in this finding aid have access restrictions specific to each of them. The terms of access are found in the finding aids for series and office records.
Restrictions on Use
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Researchers are required to wear gloves provided by the Archives when reviewing photographic materials.
To view the videotapes or listen to the audiocassettes please contact the Archives' Preservation Officer.
Technical Requirements
Records contain information on 3.5 inch computer disks and CD ROMs.
Indices to portions of Governor Bush's records are available on CD ROM in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel.
Index Terms | ||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | ||
| Personal Names: | ||
| Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946- | ||
| Bush, Laura Welch, 1946- | ||
| Allbaugh, Joe Marvin, 1952- | ||
| LaMontagne, Margaret. | ||
| Gonzales, Alberto R. | ||
| McMahan, Vance. | ||
| Hawkins, Albert. | ||
| Corporate Names: | ||
| Texas. Office of the Governor. | ||
| Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities. | ||
| Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission. | ||
| Texas. Governor's Task Force on Faith-Based Programs. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Governors--Texas. | ||
| Capital punishment--Texas. | ||
| Education and state--Texas | ||
| Criminal justice, Administration of--Texas. | ||
| Places: | ||
| Texas--Politics and government--1951- | ||
| Texas--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment. | ||
| Functions: | ||
| Administering Texas. | ||
| Decision making. | ||
| Influencing Texas government policy. | ||
Related Material
The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. |
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| Texas State Archives | ||
| Texas Inaugural Committee, Bush-Perry inaugural records, 1934-1999 (bulk 1998-1999), 0.47 cubic ft. | ||
| Texas Inaugural Committee, Bush-Bullock records, 1994-1995, 0.47 cubic ft. | ||
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
(Identify the item and cite the series and office), Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession Information
Accession numbers: 2002/151, 2003/026
In December 2000, Governor George W. Bush designated the George Bush Presidential Library as the repository for the records from his tenure as Governor of Texas, under authority of Texas Government Code, Section 441.201. Shortly after he left office, the records were shipped to the Bush Library in College Station, Texas. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn ruled the records are state records subject to the Texas Public Information Act and the management of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission even after transfer to a federal facility (Opinion No. JC-0498, May 3, 2002). In July 2002 the records were transferred from the Bush Library to the Texas State Archives in Austin for preparation for research use. In June 2003, a memorandum of understanding signed by representatives of the National Archives and Records Administration, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and George W. Bush replaced a January 2002 interim memorandum of understanding. The records will be returned to the Bush Library after the project has been completed. An additional box of records was transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission from the Texas Office of the Governor on October 9, 2002.
Processing Information
Texas State Archives staff, February 2003 to June 2004
In order to present to the public as much information about the records as possible, the finding aid is mainly composed of descriptions created during a preliminary inventory of the records conducted by archivists at the Texas State Archives in September and October 2002. As series are prepared for research, this finding aid is updated, replacing basic information with links to separate finding aids containing fuller descriptions and folder lists.
A CD-ROM containing finding aids created by the Governor's Office and a folder listing begun by the Bush Library and completed at the Texas State Archives is available from the Texas State Archives.
Detailed Description of the Records
Senior Advisor's Office records,
1948,
1964-1965, 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-2000, undated (bulk
1995-2000), | |||||||||||||
| These records include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and memos; notes; newsletters, brochures and other publications; newspaper and magazine clippings; copies of bills and other legislative records; attorney general opinions/advice and litigation documents; press releases and speeches; reports (both narrative and statistical); drafts and other policy development files; agenda and minutes; resumes and applications for employment; executive orders; conference packets; mailing lists; travel documentation; purchase documentation; forms; procedure manuals; maps; videotapes; and audiotapes. Records date 1948, 1964-1965, 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000). They comprise records of the Office of Senior Advisor (Margaret LaMontagne) during the tenure of George W. Bush as Texas Governor (1995-2000). The vast majority of the records reflect the Bush administration's policies concerning education, with a small amount of records pertaining to appointments, thus reflecting the role of Margaret LaMontagne as (initially) deputy director of appointments, retaining some appointment functions after her promotion to education advisor. | |||||||||||||
| Education issues files I and II date 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000). They comprise subject files for the entire office of Senior Advisor relating to education (with many of the files created by the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel, Michelle Tobias, later Jennifer Piskun and Debbie Esterak). They were maintained in two groups (hence I and II), although there is no obvious distinction between the groups, except that the second (and larger) group extends chronologically to 2000, whereas the first group extends only to 1999. Most of the incoming correspondence is addressed to Margaret LaMontagne but then was assigned to her education policy staff to work on; some items are addressed to Governor George W. Bush. Correspondents include organizations dedicated to educational issues, state and federal agency officials and employees (especially the Texas Education Agency's Commissioner Mike Moses), professional educators, corporations, consultants (such as Darv Winick and Sandy Kress), and private citizens interested in education. E-mails tend to be between Margaret LaMontagne and the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel. Notes are in the handwriting of both the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel and Margaret LaMontagne. Many of the incoming letters are copies of logged correspondence, and some of the letters are the originals of logged correspondence. In either case, file numbers assigned by Bush staff have been included in the folder listing. Some letters do not appear to have been logged at all. Among the numerous topics covered by these files, the following are especially well-represented: accountability, advanced placement, bilingual education, character education, charter schools, early childhood development, Head Start, Hopwood, literacy (including adult literacy), military tuition, property tax, reading (including the Governor's Reading Initiative), school safety, school finance, School-to-Work, social promotion, special education, standards, teacher preparation, TAAS [Texas Assessment of Academic Skills], TEKS [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills], and vouchers/school choice. Organizations and agencies well represented include the Association of Texas Professional Educators [ATPE], Education Commission of the States [ECS], Educational Testing Service [ETS], Fordham Foundation, Governor's Business Council [GBC], Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, National Education Goals Panel, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory [SEDL], Southern Regional Education Board [SREB], State Board of Education [SBOE], State Board for Educator Certification [SBEC], Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board [TIF], Texas Association of School Administrators [TASA], Texas Association of School Boards [TASB], Texas Business and Education Coalition [TBEC], Texas Education Agency [TEA], United States Department of Education, and University of Texas System. | |||||||||||||
| Education reference materials date 1988, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-1997). They comprise reference files for the office of Senior Advisor relating to education. The difference is unclear between these files and the Education issues files (I and II), except that these reference files are less organized; they often were not originally in file folders. At any rate, they supplement, and may often duplicate, the education issues files. Correspondents include organizations dedicated to educational issues, state and federal agency officials and employees, professional educators, corporations, consultants, and private citizens interested in education. Topics include Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Home Rule school districts, the Education Commission of the States, Chapter 37 (school discipline), charter schools, Senate Bill 1, accountability, Goals 2000, the Governor's Business Council, higher education, school finance, school reform, School-to-Work, the State Board of Education, the State Board for Educator Certification, technology, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Board (TIF), and textbooks. | |||||||||||||
| Debbie Esterak's issues files, dating 1986-1987, 1995-2000 (bulk 1999-2000), comprise education issues files from the office of Senior Advisor Margaret LaMontagne in the Texas Governor's Office, created during Debbie Esterak's tenure as Public Education Counsel. Many of the documents have "Debbie" written in LaMontagne's handwriting. Subjects of these files include assessment (including testing), accountability (including teacher report cards), character education, charter schools, home schools, school safety, special education, master reading teachers, teacher shortages, teacher quality, dropouts, pay for performance, etc. | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous education files date 1964, 1982, 1987, 1995-2000 (bulk 1995-2000). The exact provenance of these files is uncertain. They appear to have been separated from the other series in the records of the Senior Advisor's Office and transferred at a later date. They may fit into one or more of the existing series (Education issues files I and II, or Education reference materials), but this is uncertain. Therefore they have been kept distinct. | |||||||||||||
| Education bill files date 1998-1999 (bulk 1999), and comprise Senate bill files relating to education for the 76th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (1999). The occasional piece of correspondence is addressed to Margaret LaMontagne. The bills are sometimes annotated, although not heavily; often the only annotation indicates the corresponding House Bill number. | |||||||||||||
| Margaret LaMontagne's correspondence, dating 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1998-2000) comprise letters and memoranda to and from Margaret LaMontagne, with occasional items addressed to others (including Governor George W. Bush, and members of Margaret LaMontagne's staff) and forwarded to Margaret LaMontagne. Correspondents include state and local officials, educators, prospective job applicants, prospective appointees, and private citizens. The subject of most (but not all) of the files in the first group in this series is education. The subject of most (but not all) of the files in the second group is future employment of job applicants. Resumes, recommendations, and inquiries about potential employment are especially numerous in this second group. Also numerous throughout are thank-you letters for gifts, meetings, and information. | |||||||||||||
| Appointments files, dating 1948, 1965, 1987, 1990-2000 (bulk 1995-2000) comprise appointment files of the Office of the Senior Advisor, including general files as well as files specific to agencies, boards, and commissions. Many, but not all, of the appointments are to educational-related boards and commissions. The correspondence is usually to and from Governor Bush regarding appointments, although some of it is to and from Senior Advisor Margaret LaMontagne. Most of the memoranda and e-mails are to and from Margaret LaMontagne, her assistant Shannon Smith, or Appointments Director Clay Johnson. These records deal with all issues regarding appointments, both generally (including policies and procedure, and legal aspects) and specifically (individuals seeking and receiving particular appointments). | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid . If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records ). | |||||||||||||
| Senior Advisor's Office History | |||||||||||||
| Margaret La Montagne began working in the Governor's Office in January 1995 as Deputy Director of Appointments. After the 74th legislative session (1995), her title was changed to Senior Advisor reporting directly to the governor and her office was moved to the Capitol. Her focus was on education-related issues, which went through her rather than the Policy Division, especially after the 74th legislative session when the Education Policy person left and the position was not filled. She retained some of her appointment duties after becoming Senior Advisor, including selecting appointees for education related boards and commissions. Her staff included Public Education/Special Projects Counsel [title changed from Public Education to Special Projects and back] (first Michelle Tobias from 1995 to 1998, then Jennifer Piskun, followed by Debra Esterak); Administrative Assistant (Judy Okimura, then Shannon Smith); and Special Projects Assistant (Sheryl Labar for a while, spring 1996-February 1997). | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into eight series: | |||||||||||||
| Education issues files I, 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-1999, undated (bulk 1995-1998), 13.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Education issues files II, 1986, 1988-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 36 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Education reference materials, 1988, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-1997), 24.67 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Debbie Esterak's issues files, 1986-1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1999-2000), 6 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous education files, 1964, 1982, 1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 3.67 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Education bill files, 1998-1999 (bulk 1999), 0.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Margaret LaMontagne's correspondence, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1998-2000), 0.67 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Appointments files, 1948, 1965, 1987, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 2.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), Senior Advisor's Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Tony Black, May 2004 | |||||||||||||
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Education issues files I, 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-1999, undated (bulk 1995-1998), 13.5 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and memos; notes; newsletters, brochures and other publications; newspaper and magazine clippings; copies of bills and other legislative records; attorney general opinions/advice and litigation documents; press releases and speeches; reports (both narrative and statistical); policy development files; agenda and minutes; resumes; executive orders; conference packets; videotapes; and audiotapes. Records date 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-1999, undated (bulk 1995-1998). They comprise subject files for the office of Senior Advisor to Texas Governor George W. Bush relating to education (with many of the files created by the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel, Michelle Tobias, later Jennifer Piskun and Debbie Esterak). Most of the incoming correspondence is addressed to Margaret LaMontagne but then was assigned to her education policy staff to work on; some items are addressed to Governor George W. Bush. Correspondents include organizations dedicated to educational issues, state and federal agency officials and employees (especially the Texas Education Agency's Commissioner Mike Moses), professional educators, corporations, consultants (such as Darv Winick and Sandy Kress), and private citizens interested in education. E-mails tend to be between Margaret LaMontagne and the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel. Notes are in the handwriting of both the counsel and Margaret LaMontagne. Many of the incoming letters are copies of logged correspondence, and some of the letters are the originals of logged correspondence. In either case, file numbers assigned by Bush staff have been included in the folder listing. Some letters do not appear to have been logged at all. The first file in the series contains copies of item-level inventories of some of these records, prepared by staff of the Governor's Office. | |||||||||||||
| Among the numerous topics covered by these files, the following are especially well-represented: advanced placement, character education, charter schools, ECS [Education Commission of the States], Hopwood, literacy (including adult literacy), military tuition, property tax, reading (including the Governor's Reading Initiative), school finance, School-to-Work, special education, standards, SBEC [State Board for Educator Certification], teacher preparation, and TAAS [Texas Assessment of Academic Skills]. | |||||||||||||
| These records are the first of two groups of similar files. Except for correcting some obvious misfiles, the State Archives has maintained the original order of these records. The second group is the larger of the two (more than twice the size), and there is some overlap in dates. The difference (if any) between the two groups of records is not readily apparent. The researcher should be cautioned to search both groups, as well as any related records. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid . If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records, Education issues files I). | |||||||||||||
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Education issues files II, 1986, 1988-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 36 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and memos; notes; newsletters, brochures and other publications; newspaper and magazine clippings; copies of bills and other legislative records; attorney general opinions/advice and litigation documents; press releases and speeches; reports (both narrative and statistical); policy development files; agenda and minutes; resumes; executive orders; conference packets; videotapes; and audiotapes. Records date 1986, 1988-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000). They comprise subject files for the office of Senior Advisor to Texas Governor George W. Bush relating to education, covering the first half of the alphabet (Academics 2000 - Lyceum). Many of the files were created by the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel, Michelle Tobias, later Jennifer Piskun and Debbie Esterak. Most of the incoming correspondence is addressed to Margaret LaMontagne but then was assigned to her education policy staff to work on; some items are addressed to Governor George W. Bush. Correspondents include organizations dedicated to educational issues, state and federal agency officials and employees (especially the Texas Education Agency's Commissioner Mike Moses), professional educators, corporations, consultants (such as Darv Winick and Sandy Kress), and private citizens interested in education. E-mails tend to be between Margaret LaMontagne and the counsel. Notes are in the handwriting of both the counsel and Margaret LaMontagne. Many of the incoming letters are copies of logged correspondence, and some of the letters are the originals of logged correspondence. In either case, file numbers assigned by Bush staff have been included in the folder listing. Some letters do not appear to have been logged at all. | |||||||||||||
| Among the numerous topics covered by these files, the following are especially well-represented: accountability, advanced placement, bilingual education, character education, charter schools, early childhood development, Head Start, reading (including Reading Initiative), school safety, school finance, School-to-Work, social promotion, special education, TAAS [Texas Assessment of Academic Skills], TEKS [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills], and vouchers/school choice. Organizations and agencies well represented include the Association of Texas Professional Educators [ATPE], Education Commission of the States [ECS], Educational Testing Service [ETS], Fordham Foundation, the Governor's Business Council [GBC], Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, National Education Goals Panel, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory [SEDL], Southern Regional Education Board [SREB], State Board of Education [SBOE], State Board for Educator Certification [SBEC], Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board [TIF], Texas Association of School Administrators [TASA], Texas Association of School Boards [TASB], Texas Business and Education Coalition [TBEC], Texas Education Agency [TEA], United States Department of Education, and the University of Texas System. | |||||||||||||
| This finding aid has been split into two parts due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you are reading this electronically, click on the links to go to the full finding aids. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aids are found at separate dividers within the binder. (Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records, Education issues files II (Academics 2000 - Lyceum) and (M.A.D.D. - Zero Tolerance)) | |||||||||||||
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Education reference materials,
1988, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-1997), 24.67 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and memos; notes; newsletters, brochures and other publications; newspaper and magazine clippings; copies of bills and other legislative records; attorney general opinions/advice and litigation documents; press releases and speeches; reports (both narrative and statistical); policy development files; agenda and minutes; resumes; conference packets; videocassettes; and audiocassettes. Records date 1988, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-1997). They comprise reference files for the office of Senior Advisor to Texas Governor George W. Bush relating to education. The difference is unclear between these files and the Education issues files (I and II) previously described in this finding aid, except that these reference files are less organized; they often were not originally in file folders. At any rate, they supplement, and may often duplicate, the Education issues files. Correspondents include organizations dedicated to educational issues, state and federal agency officials and employees, professional educators, corporations, consultants, and private citizens interested in education. Topics include Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Home Rule school districts, the Education Commission of the States, Chapter 37 (school discipline), charter schools, Senate Bill 1, accountability, Goals 2000, the Governor's Business Council, higher education, school finance, school reform, School-to-Work, the State Board of Education, the State Board for Educator Certification, technology, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Board (TIF), and textbooks. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at a separate divider within the binder. (Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records, Education reference materials) | |||||||||||||
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Debbie Esterak's issues files,
1986-1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1999-2000), 6 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, e-mails to and from the Public Education/Special Projects Counsel, memos, notes (in the counsel's and Margaret LaMontagne's handwriting), printed materials, publications, clippings, legislative records, press releases, minutes, agenda, and policy development files, dating 1986-1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1999-2000). They comprise education issues files from the office of Senior Advisor Margaret LaMontagne in the Texas Governor's Office, created during Debbie Esterak's tenure as Public Education Counsel. Many of the documents have "Debbie" written in LaMontagne's handwriting. Subjects of these files include assessment (including testing), accountability (including teacher report cards), character education, charter schools, home schools, school safety, special education, master reading teachers, teacher shortages, teacher quality, dropouts, pay for performance, etc. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records). | |||||||||||||
|
Miscellaneous education files,
1964, 1982, 1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 3.67 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, e-mails, faxes, and memos; notes; newsletters, brochures and other publications; newspaper and magazine clippings; online articles; copies of bills and other legislative records; press releases and speeches; reports (both narrative and statistical); drafts and other policy development files; resumes; agenda; mailing lists; conference packets; travel documentation; purchase documentation; and forms. The records date 1964, 1982, 1987, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000). They comprise files for staff of the office of Senior Advisor relating to education. | |||||||||||||
| The exact provenance of these miscellaneous education files is uncertain. They appear to have been separated from the other series in the records of the Senior Advisor's Office and transferred at a later date. They may fit into one or more of the existing series ( Education issues files I, Education issues files II (Academics 2000 - Lyceum) and (M.A.D.D. - Zero Tolerance), or Education reference materials), but this is uncertain. Therefore they have been kept distinct. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records ). | |||||||||||||
|
Education bill files, 1998-1999 (bulk 1999), 0.5 cubic ft. |
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| These records include copies of proposed legislation, some floor amendments, a few copies of engrossed bills, plus a small amount of related records (memoranda, correspondence, a Legislative Budget Board working paper, a press release), dating 1998-1999, mostly 1999. They comprise Senate bill files relating to education for the 76th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (1999). The occasional piece of correspondence is addressed to Margaret LaMontagne. The bills (most marked "filed") are sometimes annotated, although not heavily; often the only annotation indicates the corresponding House Bill number. Twenty-five of the original file folders were labeled with Jennifer Piskun's name, and a couple more were labeled with Susan Jones'. The rest were simply coded "EDU/" (for education). Quite a few folders are empty and have been removed, but the bill number, sponsor, and caption of all bills are listed below in the container listing; notations indicate which were empty. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records). | |||||||||||||
|
Margaret LaMontagne's
correspondence, 1995-2000, undated (bulk 1998-2000), 0.67 cubic ft. |
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| These records include correspondence, drafts of correspondence, resumes, applications for employment, memoranda, faxes, newsclippings, publications, etc., dating 1995-2000 and undated (bulk 1998-2000). They comprise correspondence to and from Margaret LaMontagne, with occasional items addressed to others (including Governor George W. Bush, and members of Margaret LaMontagne's staff) and forwarded to Margaret LaMontagne. Correspondents include state and local officials, educators, prospective job applicants, prospective appointees, and private citizens. The subject of most (but not all) of the files in the first group in this series is education. The subject of most (but not all) of the files in the second group is future employment of job applicants. Resumes, recommendations, and inquiries about potential employment are especially numerous in this second group. Also numerous throughout are thank-you letters for gifts, meetings, and information. | |||||||||||||
| Researchers should be aware that additional correspondence to and from Margaret LaMontagne is located in most of the other series in the Senior Advisor's Office records, described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records). | |||||||||||||
|
Appointments files, 1948, 1965, 1987, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 2.5 cubic ft. |
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| These records include lists of appointees, resumes, correspondence (especially letters of recommendation), memoranda, e-mails, mailing lists, legislation, press releases, newspaper clippings, copies from the Guide to Texas State Agencies, reports, executive orders, Attorney General opinions, maps, forms, procedure manuals, notes, etc. The records date 1948, 1965, 1987, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000). They comprise appointment files of the Office of the Senior Advisor, including general files as well as files specific to agencies, boards, and commissions. Many, but not all, of the appointments are to educational-related boards and commissions. The correspondence is usually to and from Governor Bush regarding appointments, although some of it is to and from Senior Advisor Margaret LaMontagne. Most of the memoranda and e-mails are to and from Margaret LaMontagne, her assistant Shannon Smith, or Appointments Director Clay Johnson. These records deal with all issues regarding appointments, both generally (including policies and procedure, and legal aspects) and specifically (individuals seeking and receiving particular appointments). | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records). | |||||||||||||
General Counsel files,
1886, 1892, 1903,
1912-1921, 1925, 1932, 1939-2000 (bulk 1986-2000),
| |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, memoranda, legal opinions and advice, execution case files, offers for claims settlements, death penalty protest letters, litigation files, policies and procedures, clippings, and desk calendars of the staff. These are files of the Office of the General Counsel of the Texas Governor's Office during the terms of George W. Bush. Dates covered are 1886, 1892, 1903, 1912-1921, 1925, 1932, 1939-2000 , the bulk dating 1986-2000. Functions of the office documented in these files include tracking and analyzing the cases of prisoners on death row; handling and advising the governor on pardon and executive clemency requests; providing legal opinions and analyses to the Governor's staff on a variety of questions, including statute interpretations, claims filed against the state, contracts, deeds, appointment questions, and other issues; answering public information requests; and litigating for the governor's office. | |||||||||||||
| Correspondents include the General Counsel, Alberto Gonzales and his successor, Margaret Wilson; deputy and assistant general counsels Pete Wassdorf, Stuart Bowden, Donna Davidson and others; executive staff of the Governor's Office, including Joe Allbaugh; state agencies; federal and local government agencies; and the general public. | |||||||||||||
| This finding aid is a work in progress. Some series have been processed, others are still undergoing processing. All series yet to be processed are included in the framework of the finding aid. As these series are processed, this finding aid will be updated and links will be provided to separate finding aids containing detailed descriptions and folder listings. | |||||||||||||
| Division History | |||||||||||||
| The General Counsel position within the Texas Office of the Governor was created in October 1973 when the Executive Director of the Governor's Criminal Justice Division appointed an individual as General Counsel, to assist him in providing statute interpretations and in other matters relating to policies and procedures. Today the Office of the General Counsel is a separate division in the Governor's Office. During the Bush Administration, Alberto Gonzales served as General Counsel, succeeded in 1998 by Margaret Wilson. | |||||||||||||
| Duties of the General Counsel include providing statute interpretations; tracking inmates on death row as their cases move through the judicial process including all appeals to the governor for commutations or stays of execution; handling pardon requests sent to the governor; reviewing proposed settlements, land patents, grant requests, contracts, easements, and deeds for the governor; analyzing proposed legislation and regulations for validity and legal effect; assisting appointments staff in determining eligibility and other legal issues related to proposed appointments; handling extradition and requisition matters; coordinating ethics guidelines and training for the governor's office; advising the governor on federal programs administered by the state; coordinating the governor's criminal justice policy with the governor's Policy Director; and providing legal advice and handling litigation filed against the governor or the Governor's Office, in conjunction with actions of the Attorney General on the governor's behalf. | |||||||||||||
| Organization of the Records | |||||||||||||
| Series listed below as [in process] have not yet been prepared for research and are not fully described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into 11 series: | |||||||||||||
| Legal opinions and advice, 1892, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1932, 1942-1944, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1963, 1965, 1968-1969, 1972-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 14 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Execution files, 1992-2000, 68.24 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Executive clemency files, 1961, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1983-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 1.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Litigation, 1995-2000, 25 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Claims against the state, 1990-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 3.6 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Settlements, 1995-1996, 7 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Legislation, 1999, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Public information requests, 1995-2000 (bulk 1998-2000), 46 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| General correspondence, 1963-1964, 1975, 1985-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 6.4 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Agency rules, policies, and procedures, 1995-2000, less than 0.5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Calendars, 1998-[2000?], fractional [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Related Materials | |||||||||||||
| The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. | |||||||||||||
| Texas State Archives | |||||||||||||
| Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division, Records, 1969-1980, 37 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division, Records, 1973-1990 (bulk 1987-1990), 28 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division, Records, [1977?], 1983, 1986-1995 (bulk 1991-1995), 97 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M University, Sterling C. Evans Library | |||||||||||||
| Official State Papers of Texas Governor William P. Clements, Jr., General Counsel's Office Records, 1987-1991, 57.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Legal opinions and advice, 1892, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1932, 1942-1944, 1948, 1954, 1956,
1963, 1965, 1968-1969, 1972-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 14 cubic ft. |
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| This series consists of correspondence and memoranda of the Office of the General Counsel in the Texas Office of the Governor during the terms of George W. Bush, dating 1892, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1932, 1942-1944, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1963, 1965, 1968-1969, 1972-2000, the bulk dating 1995-2000. The majority of the items are memoranda from the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel to the Governor, his executive assistants, including Joe Allbaugh, or staff in other divisions of the office, such as Grants, Office of the First Lady, etc. There are also memos between Deputy General Counsels and/or Assistant General Counsels and the General Counsel. The General Counsel during this period was Alberto (Al) Gonzales, succeeded by Margaret Wilson. Other staff names appearing frequently in these records include Deputy General Counsels Pete Wassdorf and Stuart Bowden, and Assistant General Counsel Donna G. Davidson. The memos contain analysis, opinions or advice on a variety of issues handled by the governor's office, including executions, appointments, policy matters, settlements, contracts, grants, deeds, easements, litigation, bond issuance, ethics, legislation, child support, gambling, intern research, cession of state land to the federal government and retrocession of such land back to the state, certification of local workforce development boards, functions attended by the first lady, and education, including school education vouchers and an investigation of the state's higher education system by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights. | |||||||||||||
| Some memos have attachments, including correspondence (usually with state or other governmental bodies), copies of laws and statutes, printouts of the results of on-line legal research, legal documents (largely deeds, easements, land patents, and some contracts), bonds, certifications, and resolutions. | |||||||||||||
| Some memos to the governor require his approval or denial and his signature, such as those concerning settlements, deeds, grants, and the certification of local workforce development boards. The vast majority of the grants memos concern grants handled by the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's Office. See also the series of Grants Team files in the records of the Governor's Budget and Planning office. Memos with more detail on settlement offers as well as supporting documentation can be found in the series Settlements, in the General Counsel files. | |||||||||||||
| Of special note are the execution summaries prepared by the general counsel for the governor to review. The summaries are found in two series. The ones in the Legal opinions and advice (LOA) files are mostly the originals, with a space for the governor to note his executive clemency decision - deny or grant - and with his signature. Some originals are present in the Execution case files, though most are copies. | |||||||||||||
| The Legal opinions and advice files were housed generally in large wallets that were broken into smaller files during processing. The titles of the wallets are retained as group headers. Folder titles and dates in the inventory listed under each header were added by processing archivists. Notes are present in the folder inventory for most groups of files in this series that provide additional information about the subjects, records types, and other highlights of files in the groups. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's legal opinions and advice ). | |||||||||||||
|
Execution files, 1886, 1892, 1903, 1912-1921, 1925, 1932, 1939-2000 (bulk
1986-2000) 68.24 cubic ft. |
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| Records are execution case files, death penalty protest letters, and death penalty notebooks, 1886, 1892, 1903, 1912-1921, 1925, 1932, 1939-2000 (bulk 1986-2000), of the General Counsel to the Governor of Texas. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Execution Files ). | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into three subseries: | |||||||||||||
| Execution case files, 1995-2000, 39.24 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Death penalty notebooks, 1995-2000, 5.76 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Death penalty protest letters, 1991-1995, 23.24 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
|
Execution case files, 1995-2000, 46 cubic ft. |
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| The files consist of execution case summaries; memos and correspondence; court documents (judgments, opinions, appeals, petitions, motions, orders, etc.); notes; police reports; medical or psychological summaries or reports; crime lab reports; investigative reports of detectives; Texas Department of Criminal Justice disciplinary reports and other internal reports about specific inmates; criminal history reports; clippings; and occasionally, crime scene and/or autopsy photos. Dates covered are 1995-2000. These are the files of the General Counsel to the Texas Governor that were created to track the cases of death row inmates and document intervention by the courts and the governor through appeals, requests for stays of execution, or clemency. Correspondents include staff of the General Counsel's Office, the Governor, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Department of Criminal Justice, appeals courts, district attorneys, and inmates or their attorneys. The majority of the letters are directed either to the General Counsel or to the Governor. While many of the letters are directed to the Governor, they are stamped General Counsel's office and there is no indication that the Governor reviewed them. What the Governor did review are the execution summaries prepared by the General Counsel for the Governor. Most of these have a place for the governor to check deny or grant and for him to sign. Some of these are originals, most are copies. | |||||||||||||
| Execution case summaries are also present in the Legal Opinions and Advice series of the General Counsel's Office. The majority of the summaries in the LOA records have the original signature of the governor. Although the inmates were executed, some materials are still confidential - medical/psychological reports; any reports or documents produced by TDCJ, such a disciplinary reports on the inmates; files gathered by the Board of Pardons and Paroles for its review; crime scene reports if the crime is a rape and the victim is alive, etc. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Execution Files: Execution Case Files (Adanandus through Kitchens) and Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Execution Files: Execution Case Files (Lackey through Woods) ). | |||||||||||||
|
Death penalty notebooks, 1995-2000, 8 cubic ft. |
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| This series consists of 16 binders of death penalty information, dating roughly 1995-2000. Two of the notebooks contain clippings and reports about the death penalty and related topics. The remaining fourteen notebooks are divided into death penalty cases, each case having a separate section. Files for each case include a memo from the General Counsel to the Governor about the scheduled execution in this format: I. Brief summary of the facts. II. Background information and personal history. III. Previous criminal history. IV. Summary of proceedings. V. Brief discussion of applicable law. VI. Legal claims. VII. Clemency request. VIII. Conclusion. Other items present may include clippings about the scheduled execution, and a copy of the petition for a reprieve before the Board of Pardons and Paroles. A petition may contain numerous attachments, including correspondence, medical and mental health treatment plans, parole placements, parole summaries, letters in support of clemency, and competency evaluations by a doctor. | |||||||||||||
| Although the inmates were executed, some materials are still confidential - medical/psychological reports; any reports or documents produced by TDCJ and files gathered by the Board of Pardons and Paroles for their review. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Execution Files ). | |||||||||||||
|
Death penalty protest letters,
1992-1994, 1998-1999, 27 cubic ft. |
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| These are letters written to the governor to protest the execution of inmates on death row. These letters are dated 1992-1994 and are directed to Governor Ann Richards, except for a couple of folders of letters in the files of Joseph S. Faulder dated 1998-1999 directed to Governor Bush. The letters were written by members of Amnesty International and similar groups and by citizens throughout the country and the world. Protest letters that were sent to Governor Bush are largely in the series Correspondence/Constituent Services, Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Capital punishment correspondence. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Execution Files). | |||||||||||||
|
Executive clemency files, 1961, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1983-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 1.5 cubic ft. |
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| These are clemency applications presented to Texas Governor George W. Bush by his General Counsel's office for prisoners or convicted felons out on parole wishing a pardon, asking to have their sentence commuted, asking for an emergency medical reprieve, or asking for a pardon/commutation under Senate Concurrent Resolution 26 (passed by the 72nd Legislature in 1991), which requires the Governor to focus special consideration upon pardon applicants whose crime arguably was a response to severe spousal abuse. The files contain a pardon application tracking form; an executive summary from the General Counsel (GC) to Bush stating a summary of the facts, evidence, proceedings, the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommendation, the GC recommendation, and the Governor's decision - deny or grant (these are initialed by the Governor); or memos with facts about the applicant, not including voting information. Dates covered are 1961, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1983-2000, the bulk dating 1995-2000. There are voting memos present for most cases, some that list multiple cases. These memos were sent to the governor and contain a minimum of facts about the case with the GC's recommendation (deny/grant). Also present may be notes about the case, pardon proclamations, correspondence of trial officials and attorneys with the governor and/or the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP), court records, BPP voting summaries, BPP case file materials, Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) inmate records, criminal histories, law enforcement records, press releases, clippings, and petitions for pardons based on innocence, such as DNA testing in old rape cases that exonerates the inmate. The petitions often include medical reports, crime summaries (which may include the name of a rape victim), victim impact statements, etc.; most of those materials are confidential, as well as TDCJ inmate files, letters to the BPP, BPP case file material, law enforcement records, and criminal histories. See the Restrictions statement for further information about confidential records. | |||||||||||||
| Files of prisoners denied pardons usually just have the pardon application tracking form, a voting memo, notes, and/or the executive summary from the GC to the governor. Usually multiple cases are filed together under the date the pardon was denied with all such cases being listed on the governor's voting memo. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Executive Clemency Files ). | |||||||||||||
|
Litigation, 1995-2000, 25 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Types of records include correspondence, court filings (briefs, orders, etc.), proposed/final settlement agreements, press releases, news clippings, attorney's notes, affidavits, deposition transcripts, research materials, exhibits, videocassettes and audiocassettes, 1995-2000. These are litigation files maintained by the General Counsel for the Texas Office of the Governor. The largest number of records involves the tobacco lawsuit. There are also 12-15 other cases covered in these files. Topics of cases include redistricting, creation of new federal judgeship districts, school prayer, equality of financing between black state universities and other state universities, firing of employees, a whistleblower case, and a case involving the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the return of funds to the federal government after the addition of several thousand education employees to the Uniform Group Insurance Program (UGIP). | |||||||||||||
| Two of the cases are mislabeled on the boxes and in the box and folder inventory. Curbo vs. Fundderburger is actually Curbo and Fundderburger vs. the State of Texas. A related case, listed as McDaniel vs. Curbo, is actually McDaniel vs. the State of Texas. Two employees in the Criminal Justice Division were fired (Curbo and Fundderburger), they felt unfairly. They asked the head of the Texas Crime Stoppers Program, Ms. McDaniel to look into the case. She did and filed a complaint about the way they were fired and the reasons for the firing. A few months later she was fired. She filed a suit claiming she was fired because she was a whistle blower. Because these were personnel cases, there is much documentation from the personnel files of all three employees present, most of it containing their Social Security numbers. | |||||||||||||
| Tobacco litigation spans 11 cubic ft. It includes information about the tobacco litigation case that the State of Texas filed against several tobacco companies and about the national lawsuit the federal government was attempting to file. The federal government wanted some of the money gained by various successful state's lawsuits to pay for Medicaid costs. But, the records largely pertain to the intervention of Governor Bush and several legislators in the state's tobacco lawsuit to reduce the attorney fees the state was to pay to private legal counsel used during the lawsuit. It contains court filings (briefs, orders, etc.), separating out in some cases filings by the Attorney General's office (documents filed by Morales, the former Attorney General), documents filed by Bush, documents filed by Legislators; outside legal counsel agreements/contracts; items used in arbitration of the case; and the proposed settlement. | |||||||||||||
| This finding aid is a work in progress. Some series have been processed, others are still undergoing processing. All series yet to be processed are included in the framework of the finding aid. As these series are processed, this finding aid will be updated. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by case. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Litigation, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Claims against the state, 1990-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 3.6 cubic ft. |
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| These records are court filings (motions, briefs, requests for writ of mandamus, affidavits, bills of review, complaints, petitions, interrogatories, depositions, orders, and judgements), press releases, notes, reports (to/from court generally), memos from General Counsel's Office (GC) to Governor or between GC staff about the case, memos or letters from the Attorney General to the GC or the Governor about the case, and correspondence between the GC or Attorney General and plaintiff's attorney's or parties in the claim, dating 1990-2000, the bulk dating 1995-2000. Many of the letters are a notification to the governor's office that a claim has been filed against the state, often with no further documentation about the claim. The files comprise records of claims filed against the state of Texas handled by the General Counsel's office of Texas Governor George W. Bush. Claims were filed in district, state or federal court against the state, state agencies, state agency heads or other state personnel by individuals, businesses, organizations, local or federal government agencies, and in some cases the state petitioned the court for intervenor status. In a few instances files concern claims filed by the state against the federal government. | |||||||||||||
| Claim topics include tort claims, injuries, medical treatment for prisoners, wrongful termination, care of patients in state hospitals, local jail conditions, backlog of state prisoners in county jails, abortion, treatment of prisoners, gambling on Texas Indian reservations, removal of the executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, and the school finance system. Correspondents include the Attorney General's office, other state agencies, federal or local government agencies, and plaintiffs and/or their attorneys. | |||||||||||||
| Settlement offers are generally not present in the files. Some settlement offers for 1995-1996 can be found in the series General Counsel's settlements. Settlement offers also present in the series General Counsel's legal opinions and advice for the years 1995-2000. | |||||||||||||
| The settlement offers may concern some of the claims in this series. An item level index to portions of the General Counsel's records, created by the Governor's Office, is available on CD ROM. Contact Texas State Archives staff for assistance. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's Claims against the state ). | |||||||||||||
|
Settlements, 1995-1996, 7 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| This series consists of memos detailing settlement offers prepared by the General Counsel of the Texas Governor's office for the Governor's review, including a summary of the case with the General Counsel's recommendation to accept or decline. Other items include correspondence from the Attorney General and the General Counsel or Governor (usually the General Counsel) regarding claims, judgements from court, and letters from the General Counsel to the Attorney General listing settlements approved by the governor. Dates of the records are 1995-1996. Claims were submitted by either individuals or companies. Types of claims include property damage, physical impairment, violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, denial of unemployment benefits, wrongful arrest, alleged sexual assault by coworker, and wrongful termination. The governor's decision to approve or not approve the settlement is not noted in these records. In the Legal opinions and advice, Settlement files are the memos where the governor checks "accept" or "deny" and signs the offer. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged roughly in two runs, 1995-1996, 1996, alphabetically by claimant; with one box in reverse chronological order by the date of the memo to the Governor from the General Counsel. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Settlements, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Legislation, 1999, 1 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| This series contains the bill files, dating 1999, of James Hines, the Public Information Officer, in the Texas Governor's General Counsel office. The folder labels contain the bill number, the sponsor, and topic of the bill. The files contain a copy of the bill. Most also contain a bill analysis, a fiscal note, and perhaps a committee report. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| The files are separated into Senate and House bills, filed by bill number within each group, though not in numerical order consistently. . | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Legislation, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
General correspondence, 1963-1964, 1975, 1985-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 6.4 cubic ft. |
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| This series consists of general correspondence of the Texas Governor's General Counsel's office, dating 1963-1964, 1975, 1985-2000 (bulk 1995-2000). There is correspondence with constituents and topical files - consular matters, inmate correspondence, executive clemency requests, Texas Department of Criminal Justice correspondence, ethics, Attorney General correspondence (includes files on claims and child support), and personnel correspondence (generally letters of resignation of appointees from committees and boards). Most of the files consist of incoming letters, there is not much outgoing except for constituent correspondence, which is incoming and outgoing. Correspondents include state and federal officials, legislators, local officials, law firms, citizens, inmates, companies, board and commission members, and the General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel or other General Counsel staff. Also present are cover letters for executive orders that were issued and some correspondence between the Attorney General and the General Counsel or Governor Bush. The orders are not present. Most of the outgoing letters are signed by the Deputy or Assistant General Counsel - a few are signed by Al Gonzalez. The constituent correspondence covers a wide variety of issues, usually involving legal issues or a request handled by the General Counsel's office, like requests for pardons or paroles. Topics covered in other types of requests include disciplinary proceedings, Internet privacy, complaints against the textbook adoption process, medical malpractice claims, interstate child custody court jurisdiction, gambling indictments, and development of the Texas Legal Service Plan Special Committee. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's general correspondence ). | |||||||||||||
|
Public information requests,
1995-2000 (bulk 1998-2000), 46 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| This series consists of public information requests from individuals or companies and the responses of the Public Information Officer in the Texas Governor's General Counsel's Office, James Hines (at least for most of the period covered). Dates covered are 1995-2000, with the bulk dating 1998-2000. The vast majority of the records are filed by the name of the requestor. Most files contain the initial request, the response of the public information officer or other general counsel staff, and copies of the documents requested. Not all documents sent out to the requestor are present in the files. In a few cases there are memos from the General Counsel to Bush as to whether requested items should be released. Also included are internal, summary memos of requests, listing the date received, type of request, and who it was assigned to and a copy of the ethics advisory log, 1995-1998, containing the date of the question, date of response, what the question was, what the response was, and initial of the staff member handling the request. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| Most of the records are foldered by the name of the requestor, alphabetically within date runs for each year. . | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Public information requests, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Agency rules, policies, and
procedures, 1995-2000, less than 0.5 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are agency rules, policies, and procedures, 1995-2000, from the General Counsel in the Texas Governor's Office. Files are labeled Records retention schedule, Extradition information, Ethics, Lawsuit notification, and General. These files contain memos, handbook/manual excerpts and publications relevant to the folder titles. Most of these topics concern issues handled by the General Counsel, some are general in nature. The memos are addressed to either Al Gonzales or Margaret Wilson. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by subject. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Agency rules, policies, and procedures, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Calendars, 1998-2000, fractional |
|||||||||||||
| Records are four calendars, 1998-2000, for Margaret Wilson and other unidentified general counsel staff in the Texas Governor's Office. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Calendars, General Counsel files, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
Policy Office,
1982,
1989, 1993-2000, | |||||||||||||
| Records of the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush, 1995-2000, include policy memoranda; records of the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission; records of the Governor's Faith-Based Task Force and Charitable Choice; bill files; questionnaire replies; reports on, or related to, technology education and the need for a high-tech workforce; records regarding the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs' sunset process and low-income housing; and assorted pamphlets, publications, press releases, and photographs. The materials date from 1982, 1989, and 1993 to 2000. | |||||||||||||
| The series Memoranda is predominantly composed of staff member and office memoranda, 1995-2000, some of which are annotated by the governor and some of which have been stamped "Governor Has Seen." The documents were created to serve as briefing memos and policy recommendations in response to issues raised by forthcoming legislation, letters from the general public, letters from state and federal officials and agencies, and issues raised by corporations. The memoranda cover a wide variety of federal, state, and local issues. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission records dating 1982, 1989, and 1996-1998, were maintained by the Policy Office. The materials provide evidence of the actions taken by the Commission to fulfill its mandate to develop an economic development strategic plan for Texas and provide a fresh vision for the Texas Department of Economic Development. The Governor's liaison to the Commission was Policy staff member Jimmy Glotfelty. Files contain general information on the formation and background of the Commission, information on the request for proposal process used to select a vendor consultant, materials from a number of the Commission meetings, older reports proposing strategic economic plans for Texas, and a copy of the Commission's final strategic economic development report, submitted on October 30, 1998. | |||||||||||||
| Records documenting the Governor's Advisory Task Force on Faith-Based Community Service Groups and the implementation of charitable choice, dating 1993, 1996-1998 and undated (bulk 1996-1997), were also maintained by the Policy Office. Staff member Don Willett served as the Governor's liaison to the Task Force. Records concern improving the ability of faith-based groups to provide needed social services. Specifically, they provide evidence of the establishment, composition, and activities of the Governor's Task Force; provide information regarding the concept and origination of charitable choice and evidence of the efforts in Texas state agencies to implement the theory; and indicate the development of a state legislative agenda to create changes recommended by the Task Force. A number of files record the attendance of Don Willett at two workshops concerning faith based providers of social services and government cooperation with religious social ministries held at the Center for Public Justice in Washington D.C. | |||||||||||||
| Questionnaires seem to have been submitted by a variety of Texas and national organizations and businesses to George W. Bush during his first gubernatorial campaign in 1994. The replies were frequently printed on Bush campaign stationery and appear to have been considered the functional equivalent of press releases. The questions and responses include promises and position statements on a wide variety of subjects, including crime, education, health and human services issues, taxes, environment, African-American issues, abortion, immigration, agriculture, gambling, insurance, energy issues, tort reform, term limits, and economic development. | |||||||||||||
| A variety of materials, dating 1996, 1998-2000, regard the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) and problems within the agency identified by a highly critical 1999 State Auditor's report and the 2000 agency sunset review. The criticisms of the agency garnered national media attention during Governor Bush's presidential campaign. Legislation to change the operating structure of the agency was proposed and the Governor's Office became involved in the process. The materials provide considerable discussion of TDHCA areas concerned with possible corruption in the governing board and mismanagement of funds, low-income housing, community block grants, colonias, and manufactured housing. One other subject of discussion was the development of talking points, detailing TDHCA successes, intended for public release. | |||||||||||||
| Technology education reports and publications, dating 1998-2000, concern technology education, the need for a larger high-tech workforce in Texas, and recommendations to address the high-tech skills gap. The materials were created by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission, the Texas Governor's Council on Science and Technology, the American Electronics Association, and the Computing Research Association. Policy Office staff member Stuart Holliday appears to have worked with these materials, as his name appears in the only two extant memoranda. | |||||||||||||
| Finally, the records include some assorted materials concerning the Governor's interest in promoting adoption and First Lady Laura Bush's interest in promoting early childhood development and reading initiatives. Specifically, the materials include the 1996 Report of the Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption, conference proceedings from the 1998 Governor and First Lady's Policy Conference on Early Childhood Development and Brain Research, and four Take Time for Kids booklets published by the Texas Department of Health. In addition, five photographs depict Governor Bush at, at least, two events. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the Policy Office finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Policy Office records ). | |||||||||||||
| Policy Office History | |||||||||||||
| The Policy Office helps ensure that the governor's policies are implemented by state agencies and commissions. The office is organized around specialized issues such as education, criminal justice, health and human services, natural resources, and economic development. It advises the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and develops policy options for the governor's consideration. Directors of the policy office are the governor's liaisons to state agencies and board members, and they direct special committee projects authorized by the governor. The office also recommends candidates for appointments to agency positions and assists in evaluating potential appointments. The head of the Policy Office under Governor Bush was Vance McMahan. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into eight series: | |||||||||||||
| Memoranda, 1995-2000, 1.75 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission records, 1982, 1989, 1997-1998, 1.1 cubic ft., 19 videocassettes, and 7 audiocassettes | |||||||||||||
| Records of the Governor's Advisory Task Force on Faith-Based Community Service Groups and implementation of charitable choice, 1993, 1996-1998, undated (bulk 1996-1997), 1.25 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Questionnaire replies, 1993-1994, undated (bulk 1994), 0.25 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Bill files, 1995-1999, 54 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Records regarding the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, 1996, 1998-2000, 1.45 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Technology education reports, 1998-2000, 0.25 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Assorted, 1996, 1998-2000, undated, 0.05 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
Legislative Office,
1988,
1990, 1992-2000, undated (bulk
1995-2000), | |||||||||||||
| These records include bill files, correspondence (letters, memoranda, e-mail, and faxes), resumes, and subject files (containing notes, articles, newspaper clippings, press releases, reports, tables, issue papers, briefing documents, talking points, conference papers, procedure drafts, brochures, agenda, legislation, litigation, etc.). They comprise the records of the Legislative Office during the tenure of Texas Governor George W. Bush, dating 1988, 1990, 1992-2000, and undated (bulk 1995-2000). These records document the work of the Governor's office in promoting the passage of key legislation during the 74th, 75th, and 76th Texas Legislatures. | |||||||||||||
| The staff records processed so far (Director's correspondence, and Deputy Director's research/resource files) are particularly rich in documenting Bush's commitment to education (especially the promotion of literacy and reading, the "school-to-work" concept of matching education with society's demonstrated vocational/career needs, school finance reform, and charter schools). Also covered (although minimally so) are a variety of other issues: child support enforcement, border trade and transportation, unmarried teen parents, a statewide gang database, illegal gambling, welfare reform, sexual misconduct by clergy and mental health/health care professionals, prison overcrowding, tort reform, hazardous waste disposal, regulation of mortgage lenders, concealed handguns, initiative/referendum, etc. The most voluminous of this office's records are the bill files, which undoubtedly cover the full spectrum of legislative advocacy by the Governor's office. | |||||||||||||
| Legislative Office History | |||||||||||||
| The Legislative Office (also referred to as the Legislative Affairs Office) in the Office of the Texas Governor advises the governor on legislative matters and assists in developing and promoting the governor's legislative goals. Former State Senator Dan Shelley served as Legislative Director in 1995 and part of 1996; Terral Smith served as director from 1996 to 2000. Deputy directors (from one to three at a given time) were Stacie Lawson (1995-1996), Michael Jewell (1997), Greg Davidson (1997-2000), Lizzette Gonzales (1997-2000), and Laura Lawlor (1999). | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| Series listed below as [in process] have not yet been prepared for research and are not fully described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into four series: | |||||||||||||
| Director Dan Shelley's correspondence, 1994-1995 (bulk 1995), 0.2 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Deputy Director Lizzette Gonzales' files, 1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 2.8 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Bill files, 1995-1999, 115 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence with TNRCC concerning legislation, 1999, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Index Terms | |||||||||||||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | |||||||||||||
| Personal Names: | |||||||||||||
| Shelley, Dan. | |||||||||||||
| Gonzales, Lizzette. | |||||||||||||
| LaMontagne, Margaret. | |||||||||||||
| Corporate Names: | |||||||||||||
| Texas. Adult Education Accountability Task Force. | |||||||||||||
| Subjects: | |||||||||||||
| Literacy programs--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Educational law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Child support--Law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Gang prevention--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Teenage parents--Government policy--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Public welfare--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Gambling--Law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Transportation--Law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Sexual ethics for teenagers--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Places: | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment. | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Commerce--Mexico. | |||||||||||||
| Mexico--Commerce--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Mexican-American Border Region. | |||||||||||||
| Document Types: | |||||||||||||
| Resumes--Texas--Governors--1995. | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Clippings--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Reports--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Legislative records--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Press releases--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Functions: | |||||||||||||
| Analyzing legislation. | |||||||||||||
| Supporting legislation. | |||||||||||||
| Evaluating legislation. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), Legislative Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Tony Black, December 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Director Dan Shelley's
correspondence, 1994-1995 (bulk 1995), 0.2 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| These records include correspondence, resumes, press releases, and news clippings. They comprise correspondence of Dan Shelley, Director of the Legislative Office during the first year of Texas Governor George W. Bush's first term, dated 1994-1995 (some from December 1994, but mostly January-March 1995). Most of the correspondence is from private citizens and state elected and appointed officials, addressed to Dan Shelley (with a few items to Governor or Governor-elect Bush). The majority are requests for appointments, either by third parties recommending another, or by the job-seeker him/herself (hence the large number of resumes). A smaller number of items involve support for, or opposition to, proposed legislation, on a variety of issues: sexual misconduct by clergy, psychotherapists, and health care professionals; prison overcrowding; tort reform; hazardous waste disposal; regulation of mortgage lenders; concealed handguns; initiative/referendum; etc. | |||||||||||||
| Former Texas State Senator Dan Shelley was appointed Director of the Legislative Office (he was sometimes also referred to as Legislative Liaison) by governor-elect George W. Bush, and served during 1995 (and part of 1996). He was replaced as Director by former State Representative (1981-1991) Terral Smith, who served through the rest of Governor Bush's tenure. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent. | |||||||||||||
| Index Terms | |||||||||||||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | |||||||||||||
| Personal Names: | |||||||||||||
| Shelley, Dan. | |||||||||||||
| Subjects: | |||||||||||||
| Legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Places: | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment. | |||||||||||||
| Document Types: | |||||||||||||
| Resumes--Texas--Governors--1995. | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence--Texas--Governors--1995. | |||||||||||||
| Related Material | |||||||||||||
| The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. | |||||||||||||
| Texas State Archives | |||||||||||||
| None. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Access | |||||||||||||
| Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions including, but not limited to, social security numbers, personal family information (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.117), Texas driver's license numbers (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.130) and written or oral communications by citizens to members of the legislature (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 306.004), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records. | |||||||||||||
| Dan Shelley was a Texas State Senator until the start of the 74th Legislature (January 10, 1995); therefore all citizens' communications to him as legislator may be confidential. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Use | |||||||||||||
| None. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Director Dan Shelley's correspondence, Legislative Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Tony Black, December 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-5 | Alexander - Armstrong, 1995 | ||||||||||||
| Blair, 1994 | |||||||||||||
| Bookalam - Bickerstaff, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Czop - Calhoun, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Douglas - Dvorak, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Eversole, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Francis - Field, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Goolsby - Garlington, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| [Contains possibly excepted information: social security number, driver's license number] | |||||||||||||
| Humble Area Chamber of Commerce - Hunter, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| [Contains possibly excepted information: written communication by citizen to member of the legislature] | |||||||||||||
| Jackson, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| "K," 1994 | |||||||||||||
| [Contains possibly excepted information: written communication by citizen to member of the legislature] | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number: 9502030074] | |||||||||||||
| Keyser - Kelly, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Lipp - Lacy, 1994-1995 | |||||||||||||
| Moffat - Moffat, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Niziol, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Olivier - Ogg, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Pardue - Petty, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Ratliff - Rountree, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| [Contains possibly excepted information: social security number] | |||||||||||||
| Sanborn - Smith,
1995 [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| [Folder 3 contains possibly excepted information: social security number, Texas driver's license number, personal family information] | |||||||||||||
| Thomas, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Wyatt - Wilson, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Zacek, 1995 | |||||||||||||
|
Deputy Director Lizzette Gonzales'
files, 1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated (bulk 1998-2000), 2.8 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| These records include correspondence (especially memoranda, e-mail, and faxes), notes, articles, newspaper clippings, press releases, reports, tables, issue papers, briefing documents, talking points, conference papers, procedure drafts, brochures, agenda, legislation, litigation, etc. They comprise the records (mainly resource/research files) of Lizzette Gonzales, Deputy Director of the Legislative Office, dating 1988, 1990, 1992-2000, and undated (bulk 1998-2000). Topics of these subject files include education above all else (including literacy, school-to-work, school finance, and charter schools), but also child support enforcement, border trade and transportation, unmarried teen parents, a statewide gang database, illegal gambling, and welfare reform. | |||||||||||||
| Less than one-third of the material is labeled "legislative agenda issues" and contains notes, memos, correspondence, email, tables, articles, issue papers, reports, press releases, legislation, executive summaries, newspaper clippings, brochures, agenda, etc. These files date 1988, 1993, 1995-2000, and undated. Many of these files deal with education issues, which is also the overall label of the rest of the files, containing correspondence, e-mail, notes, articles, newspaper clippings, press releases, reports, briefing documents, conference papers, procedure drafts, legislation, litigation, etc., dating 1990, 1992, 1994-2000, and undated. | |||||||||||||
| Correspondents include Texas Education Agency (especially Mike Moses, Commissioner of Education), U.S. Department of Education, Texas Workforce Commission (especially Commissioner Diane Rath and Mark Butler, State Coordinator, School-to-Careers), Texas state legislators and legislative committees, staff of the Texas Governor's Office (especially Margaret LaMontagne, Ara Marjanian, Jennifer Piskun, Jim Underwood, Debra Esterak, Alberto Gonzales, Ashley Copeland, and Terral Smith), Governor Bush himself, the Adult Education Accountability Task Force, and education-related vendors and organizations. Deputy Director Lizzette Gonzales is either the sender or the recipient of most of the e-mail, and a few of the letters; the rest of the communications seem to have been either referred to her for response or copied to her for her information. Much of it went through Margaret LaMontagne. | |||||||||||||
| Lizzette Gonzales was one of the Deputy Directors of the Legislative Office during the tenure of Governor George W. Bush, at least from 1997-2000. Other persons who held one of the positions of Deputy Director were Stacie Lawson (1995-1996), Michael Jewell (1997), Laura Lawlor (1999), and Greg Davidson (1997-2000); however, none of them seem to be referenced in these files. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged in two groups: legislative agenda issues, and education issues. (The first group does contain some files that deal with education issues as well.) Within each group, arrangement is by topic, but there is neither an alphabetical nor a chronological order. | |||||||||||||
| Index Terms | |||||||||||||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | |||||||||||||
| Corporate Names: | |||||||||||||
| Texas. Adult Education Accountability Task Force. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Workforce Commission. | |||||||||||||
| United States. Dept. of Education. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Education Agency. | |||||||||||||
| Personal Names: | |||||||||||||
| Gonzales, Lizzette. | |||||||||||||
| LaMontagne, Margaret. | |||||||||||||
| Subjects: | |||||||||||||
| Educational law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Education and state--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Child support--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Transportation--Law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Sexual ethics for teenagers--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Gang prevention--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Gambling--Law and legislation--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Public welfare--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Literacy programs--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Places: | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Commerce--Mexico. | |||||||||||||
| Mexico--Commerce--Texas. | |||||||||||||
| Document Types: | |||||||||||||
| Reports--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Legislative records--Texas--Governors--1988, 1990, 1992-2000, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Related Material | |||||||||||||
| The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. | |||||||||||||
| Texas State Archives | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records, 1948, 1964-1965, 1978, 1980-1983, 1986-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 88 cubic ft. [specifically Education issue files I and II, Education reference materials, and Education bill files] | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Access | |||||||||||||
| Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions including, but not limited to, Texas driver's license numbers (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.130), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Use | |||||||||||||
| None. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Deputy Director Lizzette Gonzales' files, Legislative Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Tony Black, December 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Legislative agenda issues, 1988, 1993, 1995-2000, undated | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-3 | Child support proposals,
1997-1998,
undated [7 folders] |
||||||||||||
| Eliminate Internet access tax, 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| Border issues, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| [Subjects include: border trade and transportation.] | |||||||||||||
| Governor's reading initiative (latest drafts),
1996-1997 [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| H. B. [House Bill] 107: Reading, 1997 | |||||||||||||
| Public ed[ucation]: Governor's reading initiative,
1996-1997 [5 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Public education: school finance,
1988, 1995-1997,
undated, [8 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Public ed[ucation]: S.B. [Senate Bill] 7, 1993, 1995: | |||||||||||||
| School Finance Handbook, June 1993 | |||||||||||||
| School Finance: Three States' Experiences with Equity in School Funding, December 1995 | |||||||||||||
| May-June 1995 | |||||||||||||
| Last chance homes,
1997-1998,
undated [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| [unmarried teen parents] | |||||||||||||
| Statewide gang database,
1998-1999,
undated [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Ready To Read grants proposal,
1998-2000,
undated [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Welfare-to-Work legislative package,
1999,
undated [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Gambling bill: Outlaw 8-liners,
1997-1999,
undated [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| [includes report of Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling] | |||||||||||||
| Education issues, 1990, 1992, 1994-2000, undated | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-3 | Adult ed[ucation], 1998-2000: | ||||||||||||
| 1999-2000 | |||||||||||||
| [Contains possibly excepted information: Texas driver's license number] | |||||||||||||
| Houston READ Commission, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||||||
| What Jobs Require: literacy, education, and training, 1940-2006, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1998-2000 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Adult Ed[ucation Accountability] Task Force,
1999-2000,
undated [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Adult Ed[ucation]: follow-up,
2000 [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Adult ESL [English as a Second Language]: BiLing[ual], 1990, 1997-2000: | |||||||||||||
| "Survey of Displaced Workers' Views about their ESL classes," 1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1999 | |||||||||||||
| It's Never Too Late To Learn, 2000 | |||||||||||||
| Equipped for the Future: A reform agenda for adult literacy and lifetime learning, 1997 | |||||||||||||
| "Family Literacy and Adult Education," 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1990, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number: 9908200240] | |||||||||||||
| Adult [Education] Acc[ountability Task Force]: literacy, 1995-2000: | |||||||||||||
| 1999-2000 | |||||||||||||
| 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| Houston READ Commission, 1997-1999 | |||||||||||||
| Increasing the Percentage of Adults with a High School Diploma, September 1999 | |||||||||||||
| Assessment and Accountability Forum, summer 1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1995-1996, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-4 | School to Work '99, 1998-1999: | ||||||||||||
| 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| Texas School-to-Careers Substate Application, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Survey of Displaced Workers' Views about their ESL classes, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Expanding Your Options: ...A Directory for Workforce Development Coalitions, 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Work, 1996-1999: | |||||||||||||
| 1996, 1998-1999 | |||||||||||||
| 1997-1998 | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Work: The Coming Collision, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Response to Texas Education Agency rebuttal of Design for Mediocrity, March 1998 | |||||||||||||
| STW [School-to-Work], 1995-1997, 2000: | |||||||||||||
| 1995-1997 | |||||||||||||
| 1995-1996 [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| [Folder 1 contains correspondence assigned the following unique numbers: 9511070042, 9510050017] | |||||||||||||
| [Folder 2 contains correspondence assigned the following unique number: 9607260079] | |||||||||||||
| Career Academies: Impacts on Students' Engagement and Performance in High School, March 2000 | |||||||||||||
| STW [loose material], 1995-1999: | |||||||||||||
| "School-to-Work in Texas: Showcase for National Education Reform," April 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1996-1998 | |||||||||||||
| "Report to Congress: Implementation of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994," 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1996, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Work System Solutions to State-level Problems, 1995 | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Various websites, March 1998 | |||||||||||||
| 1997-1998 | |||||||||||||
| Texas Workforce Commission, Grant Performance and Financial Status Reports, May 1998 | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Careers activities, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| STW, 1998: | |||||||||||||
| Texas Workforce Commission, Grant Performance and Financial Status Reports, May 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Second Year State Application draft materials, May 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Texas School-to-Careers Substate Application for Year-Two Implementation, April 1998 | |||||||||||||
| STW '99, Pt. II,
1999-2000 [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| STW [School-to-Work] conference, 2000, undated: | |||||||||||||
| June 2000 | |||||||||||||
| [web pages] | |||||||||||||
| Tech prep and School-to-Work guidebook, undated | |||||||||||||
| Education That Works, November 2000 | |||||||||||||
| STW, 1992, 1995-1999, undated: | |||||||||||||
| 1995-1996, 1998 | |||||||||||||
| National Center on Education and the Economy, [1995] | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Work: What Does Research Say About It?, undated | |||||||||||||
| 1992, 1996, undated | |||||||||||||
| Lessons That Last a Lifetime; Parents' Handbook for Successful Schools, 1998, undated | |||||||||||||
| 1996-1997, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| School-to-Work,
1998-1999 [5 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-5 | STW (fall 2000), 1998-2000: | ||||||||||||
| 1998-2000 [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Linking School-to-Careers with Economic Development, August-September 2000 | |||||||||||||
| 1999-2000 [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| From Innovative Programs to Systematic Education Reform, April 2000 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||||||
| Charters issues (fall/winter 2000): | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||||||
| Broken Promises, September 2000 | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | |||||||||||||
| [Draft report on evolution of Texas charter school application and selection process], May 2000 | |||||||||||||
| [Formal complaint], September 2000 | |||||||||||||
| The charter selection process,
1999-2000,
undated [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Charter Association, 1998-2000 | |||||||||||||
| Charters: Special, 1999-2000 | |||||||||||||
| Charters: articles, surveys, etc.,
1998-2000 [4 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Charters: management companies,
1999-2000,
undated [3 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Montessori questions, 2000 | |||||||||||||
| The State of Charter Schools, 2000 | |||||||||||||
| Texas Open-Enrollment Charter Schools: Third Year Evaluation, March 2000 | |||||||||||||
| [Charter schools statistics], 1999: | |||||||||||||
| Item 1 | |||||||||||||
| Item 2 | |||||||||||||
| Item 3 | |||||||||||||
| Item 4 | |||||||||||||
| Items 5-6 | |||||||||||||
| Item 7 | |||||||||||||
| Item 8 | |||||||||||||
| Items 9-10 | |||||||||||||
| Item 11 | |||||||||||||
| Item 12 | |||||||||||||
| "Special" issues:
Texas charters,
1999-2000 [5 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| School choice,
1999-2000 [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| School Choice: What's Happening in the States, 2000 | |||||||||||||
| After school,
1999-2000 [5 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| [Texas After-School Initiative for Middle Schools] | |||||||||||||
| Lone Star Leaders: after school programs,
1998-1999 [2 folders] |
|||||||||||||
| Ed[ucation] publications, 1999: | |||||||||||||
| Working Toward Excellence: examining the effectiveness of New American Schools designs, February 1999 | |||||||||||||
| No Excuses, by Samuel Casey Carter, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| Promising Initiatives To Improve Education in your Community, 1999 | |||||||||||||
| Gen[eral] Ed[ucation] stuff: SB 7 report, Dan [Shelley?] stuff, etc., 1994-1997, 1999-2000: | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | |||||||||||||
| "Why Education Experts Resist Effective Practices," 2000 | |||||||||||||
| Report of Joint Select Committee to Review the Central Education Agency [Senate Bill 7], December 1994 | |||||||||||||
| 1995-1996, 1999 | |||||||||||||
|
Bill files, 1995-1999, 115 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are bill files for the 74th, 75th, and 76th Legislature, 1995-1999, maintained by Governor Bush's Legislative Office. Bill files for the 74th Legislature, 1995, usually consist of two folders per bill. It appears only the bills actually signed by the Governor are included in the files documenting the 74th Legislature. The first file can contain the following types of materials (though few files contain all of these items): correspondence between the Governor's Office and the bill author re: bill signing; copy of the Governor's signature sheet (with his signature as well as the Lieutenant Governor's, the Speaker's, and the Clerk's); Governor's action report; Governor's Legislative Steering Group (LSG) bill analysis; Legislative Information System (LIS) bill history; a copy of the enrolled bill; and memoranda. The second file can contain the following types of materials (though few files contain all of these items): a red delivery sheet (bill has been delivered to Governor's office) with a timeline for the Governor's signing process; LGS bill analysis; copy of the bill as passed and sent to the Governor; House Research Organization (HRO) bill analysis; bill amendments; LIS House Committee bill analysis report; copy of the initial bill; copy of engrossed bill; and enrolled bill memorandum checklists. Very rarely, some files contain a subject file on the topic of the bill, as, for example, the Clean Air Act. Such files can contain notes, press releases, clippings, memoranda, correspondence. | |||||||||||||
| For the 75th Legislature, 1997, it appears as though all (or at least the vast majority) of the bills introduced during the 75th Legislature are represented in bill files documenting that session. Bills that were not signed contain far less, often minimal, documentation. The legislative process in the Governor's Office is best documented by the bill files created during this Session. The most minimal bill files can contain only a single copy of a filed bill. Other, more complete files can contain some combination of the following: Enrolled bill memorandum checklist; Legislation delivery and timeline sheet; LIS bill history; LIS House Committee bill analysis report; LIS Senate committee witness list report; LIS House committee witness list report; Legislative Budget Board (LBB) fiscal note; LSG - bill progress tracking chart, bill survey form, Senate committee report analysis form, Senate passed analysis form, House committee report analysis form, House passes analysis form, conference committee analysis form, final bill analysis form with signing recommendation (all the LSG documents were created by the Governor's Office to analyze the bill); HRO bill analysis; copies of the various stages and evolutions of the bill and attachments; correspondence (some copies of letters); memoranda (from agencies, others); bill signing ceremony request form, and the Governor's signature sheet. | |||||||||||||
| For the 76th Legislature, 1999, it appears as though all (or at least the vast majority) of the bills introduced during the 76th Legislature are represented in bill files documenting that session. Bills that were not signed contain far less, often minimal, documentation. Materials typically found in these files are LBB criminal justice policy impact statements, fiscal notes, actuarial and funding impact statements; copies of bills at various stages; and copies of correspondence. Some files contain only a single copy of the bill in question, some contain the majority of the documents listed, but the average file contains simply several bill copies, the legislation delivery and timeline sheet, and a copy of the Governor's signature sheet. Bill analyses from any of the bodies involved in the legislative process appear to be missing. The information documenting the decision making in the Governor's Office seems to be largely absent. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by legislative session, then type (House or Senate bill or resolution), and then numerically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Bill files, Legislative Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Correspondence with TNRCC
concerning legislation, 1999, 1 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, March to May 1999, between the Governor's Office and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) concerning proposed legislation that required TNRCC review under a constitutional amendment. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by bill number. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Correspondence with TNRCC concerning legislation, Legislative Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Accession Information | |||||||||||||
| Accession number: 2003/026 | |||||||||||||
| These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Office of the Governor on October 9, 2002. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
Budget and Planning Office records,
1967-2000,
undated (bulk 1990-2000),
| |||||||||||||
| Records include correspondence, memoranda, tracking slips, reports, statements, plans, proposals, manuals, opinions, printed material, legal documents, questionnaires, contracts, organization charts, notes, publications, memorandums of agreement, executive orders, bylaws, policies and procedures, drafts, budgets, legislative records, speeches, clippings, and a single floppy disc, dating 1967-2000, undated, (bulk 1990-2000), created and/or maintained by the Texas Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. Albert Hawkins was the Director of the Budget and Planning Office during Bush's terms in office. | |||||||||||||
| Administrative correspondence comprise the Budget and Planning Office "central files" and contain predominantly incoming and outgoing letters and memoranda that passed between the Budget and Planning staff and various other staff members in the Governor's Office, state agencies, federal agencies, corporations and consultants, state legislators and members of Congress, and various state officials. The subjects of the correspondence concern the development of the state budget and the financial needs and plans of Texas agencies and other state funded institutions, including appropriations, exempt salary issues, consultant contracts pursuant to Wagner-Peyser 7(b) allocations (a program providing employment related services to veterans), emergency grants, applications for federal funds, allocation of additional full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, receipt of grant funds and other payments from federal bodies, Year 2000 transition costs, and disaster funding. General subjects include welfare to work, tax reform, the funding of public education and distressed communities, and managed care. A few memoranda concern internal Budget and Planning Office polices. | |||||||||||||
| Records found in the State budget development files aid in documenting the development of the Texas state budget and were submitted by various state agencies to fulfill the reporting requirements of the General Appropriations Acts (House Bills 1) of the 74th and 75th Legislatures. The materials specifically concern, and can include copies of, rules review plans, biennial operating plans, capital acquisition statements and requests, salary level information, fee and tax collection income reports, cost containment reports, position classification statements, exceptional item funding requests, employee bonuses in return for Year 2000 conversion activities, service and population category information, contract approval requests, and various other subjects. Correspondence is frequently addressed to Albert Hawkins, but was logged and handled by the office staff, as indicated by the logging/tracking forms attached to the letters. The role of the Legislative Budget Board in the budget development process can be discerned in some of the materials. A few documents concerning agency exempt salary plans date from the term of Texas Governor Ann Richards and were written by Dale Craymer, her Director of Budget and Planning. | |||||||||||||
| Records in the Statewide cost allocation plan series concern the creation of plans that track the state's indirect costs and the recovery of those costs for the purpose of satisfying federal grant guidelines. The cost allocation plans were prepared by David M. Griffith & Associates, LTD and by KPMG Peat Marwick. Additional training materials, manuals, and proposals were submitted by David M. Griffith & Associates, LTD. Correspondence and attachments concern the plans and particularly involve communications with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the agency designated by OMB (U.S. Office of Management and Budget) as the cognizant agency responsible for negotiating indirect, fringe benefit (and other specialty) rates and issuing related rate agreements for a significant number of organizations receiving federal awards. Budget and Planning Office Grant's Team staff member Tom Adams figures prominently in the majority of the correspondence. Major subjects of concern in the records center around costs that the federal government disallowed, particularly charges regarding the Capitol Complex Telephone System and the Uniform Group Insurance Program (UGIP). Some of the materials date from the terms of Texas Governors William P. Clements and Ann Richards and involve Directors of Budget and Planning Sheila Beckett and Dale Craymer. | |||||||||||||
| Grants Team records of assistance to regional planning commissions, dating 1967-1999, document the activities of the administrations of all Texas governors from John Connally to George W. Bush in the origination, development, and functioning of Texas' regional assistance funding program and regional planning commissions. Staff member Tom Adams figures prominently in the records from the 1990s. Initial records contain founding executive orders and governing legislation, Attorney General opinions, speeches, early policies and procedures, proposals, rationales, and reports concerning the regional council/commission system and its relationship to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 701 program. The redelineation files concern the biennial reviews, beginning in 1971, of state planning region boundaries by the Governor's Office. The general files contain information about all of the regional planning councils, such as funding allocation formulas, general correspondence, requests for project funds, and the 1996 quarterly/annual reports for all of the councils. The final section of records consist of files for each of the individual planning councils. The files generally include reports, correspondence, and other information submitted to enable the councils to receive state planning assistance funds. | |||||||||||||
| Finally, the records of the Budget and Planning Office include eight publications maintained in the Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The publications concern proposed Texas state budgets, a budget policy message to the 74th Legislature in the form of a published speech, statewide strategic planning elements from 1998 and 2000, and property tax relief. | |||||||||||||
| Office of Budget and Planning History | |||||||||||||
| The Office of Budget and Planning supports the governor of Texas in his statutory role as chief budget officer of the state by providing advice on state fiscal matters. The office prepares the governor's biennial budget recommendations to the legislature, monitors state appropriations and operations, analyzes fiscal and economic issues, and performs other duties determined by the governor. It assigns each agency a budget analyst who is available to provide assistance on budgetary matters. The office includes the state Grants Team, whose records are described separately. Albert Hawkins served as the Director of Budget and Planning under Governor George W. Bush. | |||||||||||||
| The Grants Team is a part of the Budget and Planning Office within the Texas Office of the Governor. The team monitors the federal, state, and private funding information resources and alerts state agencies, non-profit organizations, units of local government and other entities to funding opportunities. The Grants Team: 1) provides technical assistance on federal funding matters to state agencies, subdivisions of government, Texas legislators, non-profit agencies, and individuals; 2) provides counseling on the availability and means of obtaining federal, state, and private funding assistance; 3) identifies federal and state funding opportunities and responds to inquiries about federal policies and agencies; 4) provides proposal writing support and review of applications; 5) collects and analyzed performance data from state agencies on maximizing federal funds; 6) compiles and distributes the Grant Alert, a fax newsletter about funding opportunities; 7) maintains a clearinghouse of information on the availability of federal, state, and private grants; 8) identifies and facilitates opportunities for collaboration among state agencies to seek federal discretionary funds; and 8) provides proposal writing training on a cost sharing basis. By law, the State Grants Team may charge fees to recover service costs. | |||||||||||||
| The Texas Review and Comment System is also a part of Budget and Planning and is run by the Grants Team. It provides state and local officials with opportunities to comment on state plans, applications for state or federal financial assistance, and environmental impact statements related to projects or funding that affect their jurisdictions before the proposals are approved or funded. | |||||||||||||
| Grants Team staff members in 1996 were (with their areas of responsibility): Denise Francis, Director - child care, criminal justice, employment and job training, health and human services, law enforcement and public safety, mental health, and substance abuse; Ron Ayer, Grants Analyst - agriculture, business development, disabilities, economic development, housing and homeless issues, telecommunications, and transportation; Clair Burleson, Research Assistant - academic research, education, energy, environment, historic preservation, Indian affairs, parks/recreation, and youth (non-incarcerated); and Mary Helen Rositas, Administrative Technician - compiled and managed the Grant Alert; database maintenance, document handling and administrative support; maintenance of reports from state agencies on receipt of federal funds. Over time, other staff members seem to have included Debra Mills, Jennifer Fisher, Rita Stephan, Reagan Swank, Matt Salazar, etc. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| Series listed below as [in process] have not yet been prepared for research and are not fully described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into nine series: | |||||||||||||
| Administrative correspondence, 1995-2000, 5.6 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| State budget development files, 1978, 1988-1999, undated, (bulk 1995-1999), 3.2 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Statewide cost allocation plans, 1971, 1989-1999 (bulk 1990-1998), 3.75 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
Records of the Grants Team, 1967-2001, approximately 17.25
cubic ft.
|
|||||||||||||
| Publications, 1995-2000, 0.2 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, April 2003, March 2004 | |||||||||||||
|
Administrative correspondence,
1995-2000, 5.6 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| Records comprise correspondence, memoranda, and tracking slips, with a few attached printed materials, reports, and publications, dating 1995-2000, of the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. Albert Hawkins was the Director of the Office during this time. The records comprise the Budget and Planning Office "central files" and contain predominantly incoming and outgoing letters and memoranda that passed between some members of the Budget and Planning staff and various other staff members in the Governor's Office, state agencies, federal agencies, corporations and consultants, state legislators and members of Congress, and various state officials. The subjects of the correspondence concern the development of the state budget and the financial needs and plans of Texas agencies and other state funded institutions, including appropriations, exempt salary issues, consultant contracts persuant to Wagner-Peyser 7(b) allocations (a program providing employment related services to veterans), emergency grants, applications for federal funds, allocation of additional full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, receipt of grant funds and other payments from federal bodies, Year 2000 transition costs, and disaster funding. General subjects include welfare to work, tax reform, the funding of public education and distressed communities, and managed care. A few memoranda concern internal Budget and Planning Office policies. | |||||||||||||
| Many of the incoming letters are copies of logged correspondence, some of the letters are original logged correspondence, a few letters do not appear to have been logged at all. The copies of logged letters frequently have attached data entry and logging/tracking forms. Note that some of the correspondence was copied with post-it notes obscuring the text of the letter, for the full text the researcher may need to try and locate the letter in the Central correspondence file series. [See the series Central correspondence file for further infomation on logged correspondence.] Letters sent to the Governor's Office by state agencies and other bodies include attachments, though the amount of such material is not large. Such attachments include required agency financial reports and statements, and instructional materials from the federal government. | |||||||||||||
| Albert Hawkins' files differ from the staff files in that they contain a higher percentage of policy and personnel issues, provide greater evidence of contact and discussion with other sections of the Governor's Office, and include a cross-section of material found in the individual staff member's files, particularly items that passed through or came from him. The records of the staff members show somewhat more evidence of direct involvement with state agencies and the files contain a higher percentage of original, as opposed to copies of, correspondence. The researcher should be aware that a number of Budget and Planning Office staff members are not represented in the following correspondence. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Budget and Planning Office Records ). | |||||||||||||
|
State budget development
files, 1978, 1988-1999, undated (bulk 1995-1999), 3.2 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| The records consist of correspondence with attachments of plans, statements, reports, position classifications, and exceptional item funding information, dating 1978, 1988-1999, undated, (bulk 1995-1999), maintained in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The materials aid in documenting the development of the Texas state budget and most were submitted by various state agencies to fulfill the reporting requirements of the General Appropriations Acts (House Bills 1) of the 74th and 75th Legislatures. The letters specifically concern, and can include copies of, rules review plans, biennial operating plans, capital acquisition statements and requests, salary level information, fee and tax collection income reports, cost containment reports, position classification statements, exceptional item funding requests, employee bonuses in return for Year 2000 conversion activities, service and population category information, contract approval requests, versions of agency exempt salary plans, emergency deficiency grants, operating budget instructions, grants, foreign travel, and the Wagner-Peyser contract program that provides employment related services to veterans. | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence is frequently addressed to the Director of the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning (Albert Hawkins), but was logged and handled by the office staff, as indicated by the logging/tracking forms attached to the letters. Some files have attached tracking charts that record the Budget and Planning analyst assigned to the agency, the date on which materials were routed, and other general information. The role of the Legislative Budget Board in the budget development process can be discerned in some of the materials. A few documents concerning agency exempt salary plans date from the term of Texas Governor Ann Richards and were written by Dale Craymer, her Director of the Budget and Planning Office. | |||||||||||||
| These letters include both copies of logged correspondence and original logged correspondence, though other items do not appear to have been logged in the correspondence database. [See the series Central correspondence file for further information on logged correspondence.] On occasion, outgoing responses are attached to an agency's incoming letter. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Budget and Planning Office Records ). | |||||||||||||
|
Statewide cost allocation plans,
1971, 1989-1999 (bulk 1990-1998) 3.75 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| Records comprise cost allocation plans, correspondence, proposals, manuals, reports, opinions, printed material, memoranda, legal documents, questionnaires, contracts, organization charts, and notes, dating 1971, 1989-1999 (bulk 1990-1998), maintained in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The records concern the creation of cost allocation plans that track the state's indirect costs and the recovery of those costs for the purpose of satisfying federal grant guidelines. The materials are divided into three general sections: the actual cost allocations plans; reports, manuals, and proposals concerning the plans; and related correspondence. | |||||||||||||
| Cost allocation plans were prepared by David M. Griffith & Associates, LTD and by KPMG Peat Marwick at the request of the Office of Budget and Planning. The plans are divided into the following sections, with descriptive introductions: certification by the responsible state official; organization chart; summary of fiscal year fixed costs; and the actual cost allocation plan, a detailed analysis and allocation of agency costs based on actual allocations from the prior fiscal year. A slightly different report, the full cost allocation plan also reports statements of direct and indirect costs and has a format that simply includes an introduction and the detailed plan. The majority of each year's report concerns Section I costs, namely non-billed costs of certain eligible services provided to state entities by the central service agencies, particularly the Texas General Services Commission, the Texas Department of Information Resources, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's records storage program, and others. The records also include Section II plans for a number of fiscal years. These plans include central service costs that are directly charged/billed to agencies and universities. | |||||||||||||
| The second section includes copies of the proposals submitted by David M. Griffith & Associates, LTD in response to the Office of Budget and Planning's search for contractors to prepare the cost allocation plans. Only the proposals submitted in 1990, 1992-1994, and 1996 are present. Additionally the section includes training materials and manuals. | |||||||||||||
| The final section contains correspondence and attachments regarding the cost allocation plans. Much of the material involves communications with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the agency designated by OMB (U.S. Office of Management and Budget) as the cognizant agency responsible for negotiating indirect, fringe benefit (and other specialty) rates and issuing related rate agreements for a significant number of organizations receiving federal awards. Budget and Planning Office Grants Team staff member Tom Adams figures prominently in the majority of the correspondence. In 1990, Adams was selected to be the Texas Statewide Allocation Plan Project Officer, serving under then Director of Budget and Planning, Sheila W. Beckett and, later, Dale Craymer and Albert Hawkins, who also appear in the correspondence. The files include requests for proposals, rejected proposals and bids, consultant and interagency contracts and agreements, and related proposal correspondence. | |||||||||||||
| The correspondence centers around costs the federal government disallowed, particularly charges regarding the Capitol Complex Telephone System and the Uniform Group Insurance Program (UGIP). In the case of the telephone system, the OMB concluded that the billing rate included equipment and interest costs and provided for a reserve fund for growth and construction, all of which were unallowable. In addition, the fund balance exceeded the two months' operating expenses that the federal government considered reasonable. The Governor's office worked to resolve the problem by restructuring its billing rates and repaying the disallowed charges. | |||||||||||||
| Two major issues were involved in the matter of the UGIP. First, the federal government demanded reimbursement of $4.4 million for the unmatched contribution it made to UGIP (the state had failed to make a $22.2 million payment to UGIP in July 1993). The state conceded liability in this matter. The second issue concerned the assimilation of 50,000 higher education employees into UGIP in 1992. DHHS demanded the repayment of over $14 million, perceiving the assimilation to be a merger which not only required DHHS permission before implementing but that threatened the stability of the UGIP fund. The governor's office argued both that the assimilation was not a merger since all of the higher education employees entered the system as new employees without carrying over claims and that the fund had "prospered enormously as a result of the new membership." The dispute over the UGIP expansion issue was appealed to the DHHS hearing examiner in Washington D.C. The Appeals Board found that DHHS was correct in principal but had erred in determining the amount of the disallowance. The state appealed, but also determined that somewhat over $3 million would be the amount disallowed. In 1998 the Appeals Board overruled the state's motion of reconsideration and the state brought it's final complaint in 1999. Governor's office General Counsel staff members Stuart Bowen and Al Gonzales were involved in the process. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Budget and Planning Office Records ). | |||||||||||||
|
Records of the Grants Team, 1967-2001, approximately 17.25 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records include correspondence, memoranda, letters and memorandums of agreement, grant reference materials, casework, executive orders, strategic plans, evaluations, reports, publications, bylaws, policies and procedures, manuals, printed materials, calendars, drafts, budgets, performance measures, legislative records, speeches, opinions, clippings, web page printouts, forms, organization charts, mailing lists, notes, telephone directories, travel and purchase records, and floppy discs that date 1967-2001 and were maintained by the Grants Team in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the tenure of George W. Bush. The records of assistance to regional planning commissions document the activities of the administrations of all Texas governors from John Connally to George W. Bush in the origination, development, and functioning of Texas' regional assistance funding program and regional planning commissions. Denise Francis' files cover a wide range of subjects handled as head of the Grants Team. Casework records respond to requests for assistance in locating and obtaining grant funds. Training files document workshops presented by Grants Team staff around Texas from 1998 to 2001. The agency strategic plans and reports, 1995-1996, seem to have been submitted in 1996 in accordance with the responsibility of the Texas Governor's Budget and Planning office's Grants Team to collect and analyze performance data from state agencies on maximizing federal funds. General office files document the routine functions of the Grants Team administration. | |||||||||||||
| Grants Team History | |||||||||||||
| The Texas Legislature established a State Grant Writing Team in the Office of State Federal Relations in 1991 (Senate Bill 3, 72nd Legislature, First Called Session, 1991). In 1995, this Team became part of the Texas Governor's Budget and Planning Office (House Bill 1399, 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995). The Grants Team monitors the federal, state, and private funding information resources and alerts state legislators, state agencies, non-profit organizations, all subdivisions of government and individuals to funding opportunities. The Grants Team, specifically: 1) provides technical assistance on federal funding matters to state agencies, subdivisions of government, Texas legislators, non-profit agencies, and individuals; 2) provides counseling on the availability and means of obtaining federal, state, and private funding assistance; 3) identifies federal and state funding opportunities and responds to inquiries about federal policies and agencies; 4) provides proposal writing support and review of applications; 5) collects and analyzes performance data from state agencies on maximizing federal funds; 6) compiles and distributes the Grant Alert, a fax newsletter about funding opportunities; 7) maintains a clearinghouse of information on the availability of federal, state, and private grants; 8) identifies and facilitates opportunities for collaboration among state agencies to seek federal discretionary funds; and 9) provides proposal writing training on a cost sharing basis. By law, the state Grants Team may charge fees to recover service costs. | |||||||||||||
| The State Single Point of Contact is co-located with the Grants Team and provides grant applicants with information on how to comply with the intergovernmental review requirements of Federal Executive Order 12372 and the Texas Review and Comment System. During Bush's administration the Single Point of Contact was routed all targeted grant applications (and responses) that were subject to statewide or regional review and had been or would be submitted to the federal government. The Texas Review and Comment System [TRACS], run by the Grants Team, provides state and local officials with opportunities to comment on state plans, applications for state or federal financial assistance, and environmental impact statements related to projects or funding that affect their jurisdictions before the proposals are approved or funded. For further information on Texas grant and contract management see Texas Government Code, Title 7, Chapter 783: Uniform Grant and Contract Management. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Grant and Contract Management Act. | |||||||||||||
| Staff members in 1996 were (with their areas of responsibility): Denise Francis, Director - child care, criminal justice, employment and job training, health and human services, law enforcement and public safety, mental health, and substance abuse; Ron Ayer, Grants Analyst - agriculture, business development, disabilities, economic development, housing and homeless issues, telecommunications, and transportation; (by 1999 his responsibilities had evolved into disabilities, homeless issues, mental health, telecommunications and he seems to have been doing a substantial amount of proposal review and grant writing training workshops); Clair Burleson, Research Assistant - academic research, education, energy, environment, historic preservation, Indian affairs, parks/recreation, and youth (non-incarcerated); and Mary Helen Rositas, Administrative Technician - compiled and managed the Grant Alert; database maintenance, document handling and administrative support; maintenance of reports from state agencies on receipt of federal funds. By 1999 Clair Burleson seems to have left and the following staff members had been added: Jennifer Fisher, Grants Analyst - agriculture, rural development, business development, economic development, housing, transportation; Rita Stephan, Grants Analyst - academic research, education, energy, environment, historic preservation, Indian affairs, parks/recreation, and youth (non-incarcerated). Over time, other staff members and interns seem to have included Debra Mills, Reagan Swank, Matt Salazar, Maria Hernandez, Joe Castillo, Andres Alcantar, and others. Tom Adams was the State Single Point of Contact. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into six subseries: | |||||||||||||
| Denise Francis' files, [ca. 1994]-2000, 8 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Staff casework, 1991-2000 (bulk 1997-2000), 3.8 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records of assistance to regional planning commissions, 1967-1999, 3.25 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Training files, 1998-2001, approximately 2 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Agency strategic plans and reports, 1995-1996, 0.4 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Grants Team office files, 1994-1997, undated, 0.6 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Denise Francis' files, [ca. 1994]-2000, 8 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Materials include correspondence, memoranda, printed materials, grant reference materials, casework, general correspondence, day planners, manuals, web page printouts, notes, Grant Alert correspondence, federal grant alerts, fax cover sheets, salary schedules, the Xerox manual, travel reimbursements, publication purchase orders, and assorted other administrative files, circa 1994-2000. The records are the files of Denise Francis, Group Director of the Grants Team during the terms of Texas Governor George W. Bush. Francis was part of the State Grants Team while it was under the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations and moved with the Grants Team to the Governor's Office in 1995. A few records in these files document the Team while it was still under the Office of State-Federal Relations. Records contained within this group document many of the functions of the Grants Team. | |||||||||||||
| Of the Grants Team records transferred by Governor's Office, the records described in this series have the least well defined order. As a whole, the records appear to be the files of Denise Francis and/or portions of what might be a central filing system. Several boxes have partial, independant, alphabetical runs, while other boxes show no sign of not being in original order, though they do indicate the lack of an orderly filing system. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records have been left in their original order, to inform study of the functioning of the Grants Team. To aid in access, files have been provided with headings and some specific contents and subjects have been listed. Note that during the course of refoldering the records, the volume of material expanded from eight to nine and one-half cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Denise Francis' files, Records of the Grants Team, Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Staff casework, 1991-2000 (bulk 1997-2000), 3.8 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Printed materials, web page printouts, correspondence, memoranda, notes, drafts, grant proposals, draft publications, a speech, a travel requisition, a travel voucher, and a press release comprise the casework files of the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office Grants Team dating 1991-2000 (bulk 1997-2000). Casework records predominantly consist of correspondence and attachments that include and respond to requests for assistance in locating and obtaining grant funds. Many of the attachments are printed materials that provide information on the potential sources of grant funding that may apply to each request for assistance. Many letters have an attached cover sheet detailing the request for aid and the staff responses over time. Some letters were passed from the Correspondence Office to the Grants Team; a few of these letters were logged into the correspondence database. Some letters were originally sent to the "Bush for President" campaign office but were directed by the campaign staff to the Governor's Office for responses. | |||||||||||||
| Most prominent in the records is casework assigned to Grants Team staff members Ron Ayer and Debra Mills, who were assisted by a number of interns. Casework of Denise Francis, Rita Stephan, and Tom Adams may also be found. On numerous occasions the requests for assistance were passed between staff members to ensure that the requests were answered by the person with the most specialized knowledge. The requestors include state agencies, county and local subdivisions of government, Texas legislators, non-profit agencies, for-profit businesses, and individuals. The correspondence requests assitance in finding funds for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, establishing, maintaining, or assisting small businesses, homeless shelters/halfway houses, community and youth recreation facilities, care facilities and programs for the elderly and disabled, group homes, veterans, police and fire departments, animal shelters, charter schools, municipal facilities, local economic devevelopment projects, and clean water supplies. The Grants Team staff also provided assistance with grant proposa; development by reviewing grant proposals, either prior to the proposals submission to a funding agency or post-rejection, to provide suggestions for future improvement. A few files concern the Team's computer information tracking system ADIS [Agency Designation Information System]. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| The records remain in their original order. The first third of the records are in no discernable order, though a portion of the files regard the forthcoming 75th Legislative Session. The last two-thirds of the records are filed alphabetically from A to I; the existence and/or location of the L to Z files are unknown. Within each alphabetic section the files are in no discernable order. | |||||||||||||
| These records have been heavily weeded to remove non-archival and transitory information, including items such as travel vouchers, birthday lists, change of address notifications, and empty folders. Note that in the course of weeding the E and J sections were removed entirely. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Staff casework, Records of the Grants Team, Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Records of assistance to regional
planning commissions, 1967-1999, 3.25 cubic ft. |
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| Records include correspondence, memoranda, memorandums of agreement, printed materials, executive orders (one with an original seal and signature of Dolph Briscoe), reports, publications, bill copies, bylaws, policies and procedures, publications, drafts, budgets, legislative records, speeches, opinions, clippings, organization charts, and a single floppy disc that date 1967-1999 and were maintained by the Grants Team in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the tenure of George W. Bush. Staff member Tom Adams figures prominently in the records from the 1990s. The materials document the activities of the administrations of all Texas governors from John Connally to George W. Bush in the origination, development, and functioning of Texas' regional assistance funding program and regional planning commissions. (The regional planning commissions are also referred to as regional councils of governments, councils of governments, development councils, and associations of governments.) | |||||||||||||
| Initial records contain Governor Connally's founding executive order, materials concerning founding and governing legislation, Attorney General opinions, speeches, early policies and procedures, proposals and rationales, and reports concerning the origination and early years of the regional council/commission system and its relationship to the HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] 701 program. The next section of records, the redelineation files, concern the biennial reviews, beginning in 1971, of state planning region boundaries by the Governor's Office. A significant portion of the redelineation files concern a 1975 meeting held in Crowell, Texas on the subject of the potential reorganization of regional associations affecting a number of North Texas counties. Other materials, found in the files titled 388.16 Consultants findings, 1968, discuss comprehensive health planning and the development of the Interagency Health Planning Commission, concepts furthered by the recent creation of the regional planning councils. The section of general files contains information about or concerning all of the regional planning councils, such as issues regarding funding allocation formulas, general correspondence, requests for project funds as well as copies forms for requesting funds, and the 1996 quarterly/annual reports for all of the councils. | |||||||||||||
| The final section of records consists of files for each of the individual planning councils. The files generally include reports, correspondence, bylaws, and other information submitted to enable the councils to receive state planning assistance funds. The bodies represented include Alamo Area Council of Governments, Ark-Tex Council of Governments, Brazos Valley Development Council, Capitol Area Planning Council, Central Texas Council of Governments, Coastal Bend Council of Governments, Concho Valley Council of Governments, Deep East Texas Council of Governments, East Texas Council of Governments, Golden Crescent Council of Governments, Heart of Texas Council of Governments, Houston-Galveston Area Council, Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, Middle Rio Grande Valley Development Council, North Texas Council of Governments, Panhandle Regional Planning Commission, Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission, Rio Grande Council of Governments, South East Texas Regional Planning Commission, South Plains Association of Governments, South Texas Development Council, Texoma Council of Governments, West Central Texas Council of Governments, and West Texas Council of Governments. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Budget and Planning Office Records ). | |||||||||||||
|
Training files, 1998-2001, approximately 2 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Files contain correspondence, Letter Agreements for Services, travel requisitions, programs, printed materials, evaluations, request for training forms, etc. and training performance measures and other manuals and reports documenting training workshops given around Texas from 1998 to 2001. It is not known if the records are complete, or if they include all workshops from that time period. | |||||||||||||
| The Governor's Office of Budget and Planning State Grant Writing Team provides grant proposal writing training to state agencies, political subdivisions of the state, and other entities on a cost recovery basis. The Grants Team's proposal writing training workshop is designed to familiarize novice and intermediate-level proposal writers with the various aspects of proposal writing: researching funding--federal, state, and private; how to plan projects that meet agency goals and constituency needs; and the "how-to's" on writing successful grant applications. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by date of training session. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Training files, Records of the Grants Team, Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Agency strategic plans and
reports, 1995-1996, 0.4 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are agency strategic plans, quarterly federal funds financial reports, and state agency evaluations for federal funds assistance, with accompanying memoranda and correspondence, dating 1995 and 1996, maintained by the Texas Governor's Budget and Planning Office's Grants Team during the term of George W. Bush. As one of its responsibilities, the Grants Team was to collect and analyze performance data from agencies on maximizing federal funds. In 1996, this responsibility was partially met by the requirement that, as a part of the statewide governmental strategic planning process, all Texas state agencies were to submit quarterly federal funds financial reports and one copy of their 1997-2001 strategic plan to the Grants Team and three copies to the larger Budget and Planning Office. The strategic plans and quarterly reports descrbed here cover state agencies in an alphabetic range from G to La. The location, and/or existance, of the alphabetic sections A to G and La to Z is unknown. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged alphabetically by agency name. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Agency strategic plans and reports, Records of the Grants Team, Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Grants Team office files, 1994-1997, undated 0.6 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records comprise newsletters, printed materials, mailing lists, notes, forms, memoranda, legislative bill copies, correspondence, telephone directories, and a sunset evaluation report, dating 1994-1997 and undated. The records document the routine functions of the Grants Team administration and were maintained by the Grants Team in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the tenure of George W. Bush. The files reflect the Grants Team's work with and interest in agency federal funds coordinators, the legislative budget and appropriations process, and the collection and/or dissemination of information of use to or about its service populations. Files also include records of the division of work among Grants Team and Budget and Planning Office members, some general office policies, staff contact information, and a minimal amount of casework. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| The records remain in their original order. The first third of the records are in no discernable order, though a portion of the files regard the forthcoming 75th Legislative Session. The last two-thirds of the records are filed alphabetically from A to I; the existence and/or location of the L to Z files are unknown. Within each alphabetic section the files are in no discernable order. | |||||||||||||
| These records have been heavily weeded to remove non-archival and transitory information, including items such as travel vouchers, birthday lists, change of address notifications, and empty folders. Note that in the course of weeding the E and J sections were removed entirely. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Grants Team office files, Records of the Grants Team, Budget and Planning Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Publications, 1995-2000, 0.2 cubic ft. |
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| Materials consist of eight publications, dating 1995-2000, maintained in the Texas Office of the Governor's Budget and Planning Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The publications concern the Texas state budget proposed by the Governor to the 75th and 76th Legislatures, a budget policy message to the 74th Legislature in the form of a published speech by the Governor, statewide strategic planning elements from 1998 and 2000, and property tax relief. | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Budget and Planning Office Records ). | |||||||||||||
Executive Office,
1994-2000,
| |||||||||||||
| Records are Transition Office correspondence, speeches, schedules, out of state letters, autograph and photograph requests, gift logs, visitors registers, and Press Christmas party photographs, 1994-2000, kept in the Executive Office of Texas Governor George W. Bush. | |||||||||||||
| Executive Office History | |||||||||||||
| Ofelia Vanden Bosch served as Governor George W. Bush's administrative assistant, handling his in office schedule. Israel Hernandez traveled with the Governor and maintained the speech file. Logan Walters was responsible for maintaining the gift log. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| Series listed below as [in process] have not yet been prepared for research and are not fully described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into nine series: | |||||||||||||
| Speeches, [ca. 1994]-2000 (bulk 1995-1999), 4.71 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Schedules, 1995-2000, 5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Transition Office correspondence, 1994-1995, less than 0.5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Out of state letters, 1995-1999, fractional [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Autograph and photo request correspondence and logs, 1995, 1997-2000, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Photo op requests, 1996-1999, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Gift logs, 1995-2000, 7 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Visitors registers, 1995-2000, less than 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Press Christmas party photographs, [1995 or 1996]-[1998 or 1999], less than 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), Executive Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Speeches, [ca.1994]-2000, (bulk 1995-1999) 4.71 cubic ft. |
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| Records are gubernatorial and political speeches written for and presented by Texas Governor George W. Bush. Speeches are mainly reading copies that were maintained in the Governor's Executive Office, ranging in date from pre-1994 to 2000 with the bulk dating from 1995 to 1999. Included are copies of his state of the state addresses and the 1999 inaugural address. The 1995 inaugural address is not filed in this series, but can be found in the Press Office series, Speech files, and a videotape copy is located in the Press Office series, Major speech information . | |||||||||||||
| Bush spoke at awards' dinners, bill signings, swearing in ceremonies, Boys' and Girls' State, border governors' conferences, chambers of commerce meetings, commencement ceremonies, conventions, funerals, literacy events, press conferences, and political fund-raisers. Speeches focus on subjects such as education, economic development, appointments, tax relief, adoption, faith-based initiatives, tort reform, literacy programs, juvenile justice reform, limited government, welfare reform, and relationships with Mexico. | |||||||||||||
| Notes included in the gubernatorial speeches detail the event, listing name, date, estimated number of attendees, who introduced or escorted, approximate length of remarks, and whether open or closed to the press. Also included are background information, draft remarks, fact sheets, and suggested talking points; as well as a lesser number of agendas, brochures, humorous anecdotes, press releases, programs, and publications. Bush revised many of his speeches with handwritten notes and annotations. Partial speech lists are included and filed at the end of the records. When the subject of a speech was not apparent from the title, topics were added in brackets | |||||||||||||
| If you are reading this electronically, click on the link to go to the full finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aid is found at at separate divider within the binder ( Texas Governor George W. Bush, Executive Office Speeches ). | |||||||||||||
|
Schedules, 1995-2000, 5 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Schedules, 1995-2000, of Texas Governor George W. Bush detail out of office activities and travel (prepared by the governor's Scheduling Office) and in office schedules prepared by Ofelia Vanden Bosch, Bush's administrative assistant. Includes some edited schedules and some handwritten schedules with plastic spiral binding, the rest are printed and filed in three ring binders. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Schedules, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Transition Office correspondence,
1994-1995, less than 0.5 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence to and from Governor-elect Bush dating November 1994 to January 1995. One group contains letters that are congratulatory, requesting or recommending appointments, or raising issues of concern. A number of Bush's responses to these are handwritten. Notes by Ofelia Vanden Bosch, Bush's administrative assistant, note disposition: material concerning appointments referred to Margaret LaMontagne, handwritten response by Bush, etc. Correspondents include campaign supporters, friends, and pastors of Austin-area churches. Second and third sets of letters contain requests for and copies of congratulatory letters from Governor-elect Bush for Eagle Scouts, birthdays, etc. Correspondents include the general public. There are also calendar pages for January 1-16, 1995. Some transition era correspondence has been filed in the Correspondence/Constituent Services, Central correspondence file. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged somewhat chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Transition Office correspondence, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Out of state letters, 1995-1999, fractional |
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| Records are copies of letters notifying the Lieutenant Governor or other acting governor of out of state trips for Texas Governor George W. Bush and the estimated time he would return to the state and resume his duties as governor, 1995-1999. See also the file "Lieutenant Governor Bullock" in Executive Assistant's Office files, Subject files for additional out of state letters. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Out of state letters, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Autograph and photo request
correspondence and logs, 1995, 1997-2000, 1 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Autograph and photo request correspondence and logs, 1995, 1997-2000, from the Executive Office of Texas Governor George W. Bush. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Autograph and photo request correspondence and logs, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Photo op requests, 1996-1999, 1 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence concerning requests for photo opportunities with Texas Governor George W. Bush, 1996-1999. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Photo op requests, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Gift logs, 1995-2000, 7 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence and print outs from a database, as well as a copy of the electronic database currently in Microsoft Access, 1995-2000, describing gifts sent to Texas Governor George W. Bush and the disposition of those gifts. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Gift logs, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Visitors registers, 1995-2000, less than 1 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are bound volumes of visitors registers, 1995-2000, of visitors who signed in while visiting the Texas Governor's Office. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Visitors registers, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Press Christmas party photographs,
[1995 or 1996]-[1998 or 1999], less than 1 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are photographs from the Texas Governor's Office Press Office's Christmas parties held at the Governor's Mansion, 1996-1998, with one undated set that is likely 1995 or 1999. Most are images of Governor's Office staff or members of the press and their families posing with Governor George W. Bush. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically by year. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Press Christmas party photographs, Executive Office records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
Appointments Office, Polly Sowell's correspondence,
1995-2000,
| |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, including letters to and from appointees and potential appointees, recommendations for and against certain appointments, and letters of appreciation and complaint, plus (although only occasionally) attachments such as resumes, press releases, and newspaper clippings, dating 1995-2000. These are files of Polly Sowell, Appointments Manager during Texas Governor George W. Bush's term in office. Most of the letters are addressed to or from Sowell, but some are addressed to the Governor or the Lieutenant Governor, or to the head of the Appointments Office Clay Johnson (later Ron Bellamy), and then referred to (or copied to) Sowell. A variety of appointments are covered in these records. The positions discussed range from regents of universities, to members of state boards and commissions, to appointees to such entities as the Faith-Based Task Force. A number of the letters have post-it notes attached detailing actions taken by or comments given by Sowell. These are the only files received from the Appointments Office for Bush's term. | |||||||||||||
| Appointments Office History | |||||||||||||
| The governor of Texas appoints the secretary of state, the adjutant general, executive directors of several agencies, members of numerous state boards and commissions, ship pilots and pilot boards at ports, and regents of universities; and fills vacancies in district attorney offices and judgeships, and various other posts. Most of these appointments require the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. The Governor's office then notifies the Office of the Secretary of State, who is responsible for issuing commissions to appointees. According to the Guide to Texas State Agencies, 10th Edition (1999), in a four year period, the governor may make around 3,000 appointments. | |||||||||||||
| Clay Johnson served as the director of the Appointments Office under Governor George W. Bush from January 1995 until the end of June 1999 when he became Executive Assistant to the Governor, replacing Joe Allbaugh. Ron Bellamy became Appointments director. Polly Sowell was an Appointments Office staff member during the entire time, holding the title Appointments Manager (at least during 1998-1999). | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged in roughly chronological order. Within the folders dating 1998-2000, items are in roughly reverse chronological order. | |||||||||||||
| Index Terms | |||||||||||||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | |||||||||||||
| Personal Names: | |||||||||||||
| Sowell, Polly. | |||||||||||||
| Places: | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment. | |||||||||||||
| Texas--Politics and government--1951- | |||||||||||||
| Document Types: | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence--Texas--Governors--1995-2000. | |||||||||||||
| Resumes--Texas--Governors--1995-2000. | |||||||||||||
| Clippings--Texas--Governors--1995-2000. | |||||||||||||
| Functions: | |||||||||||||
| Appointing Texas officials and employees. | |||||||||||||
| Related Material | |||||||||||||
| The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. | |||||||||||||
| Texas State Archives | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Press Office, Appointments news releases, 1994-2000, 13 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senior Advisor's Office records, Appointments files, 1948, 1965, 1987, 1990-2000, undated (bulk 1995-2000), 2.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Executive Assistant's Office, Correspondence file, 1995-1997, 0.5 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Correspondence/Constituent Services, Central correspondence file, 1995-2000, 1002 cubic ft. [Note: More than 9,700 items of correspondence logged into the Central correspondence file database pertain to the Appointments Office.] | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, General Counsel's legal opinions and advice, 1892, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1932, 1942-1944, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1963, 1965, 1968-1969, 1972-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 14 cubic ft. [appointment files date 1995-2000.] | |||||||||||||
| Texas Governor George W. Bush, Executive Office, Transition correspondence, 1994-1995, less than 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Texas Office of the Governor | |||||||||||||
| Appointments files [Note: Appointments files on individuals remain in the Governor's Office for use by Governor Perry and his staff. These files likely contain application forms, correspondence, biographical information sheets, financial statements, photographs, phone messages, questionnaires, and related materials.] | |||||||||||||
| Publications | |||||||||||||
| Texas Register, 1995-2000 [Gubernatorial appointments are published in this publication, produced twice a week by the Office of the Secretary of State since 1976.] | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Polly Sowell's correspondence, Appointments Office, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Access | |||||||||||||
| None found at this time (November 15, 2002). | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Use | |||||||||||||
| None. | |||||||||||||
| Processed by | |||||||||||||
| Tony Black, November 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Polly Sowell's correspondence, 1995-2000 | |||||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||||
| 2002/151-2 | April-December 1995 | ||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9504260027; 9512180231] | |||||||||||||
| March-May 1996 | |||||||||||||
| June-December 1996 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9605230203; 9606030167; 9603050248; 9605160167] | |||||||||||||
| January-June 1997 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9702270323; 9703190141; 9706130289] | |||||||||||||
| August-November 1997 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number: 9709260083] | |||||||||||||
| March-July 1998 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9803270440; 9805120002; 9805260070] | |||||||||||||
| June-December 1998 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9812030289; 9808050283; 9808130243] | |||||||||||||
| January-December 1998 | |||||||||||||
| February-March 1999 | |||||||||||||
| April-June 1999 | |||||||||||||
| [File contains correspondence assigned the following unique number(s): 9906030210; 9906100119; 9904270070] | |||||||||||||
| July-October 1999 | |||||||||||||
| January-October 2000 | |||||||||||||
Correspondence/Constituent Services Office,
1948-2000
(bulk
1995-2000), | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence/Constituent Services History | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence/Constituent Services is listed as a division within the Communications Office (also known as the Press Office). Shirley Green served as director of Correspondence/Constituent Services. The division was responsible for the mail log, the central correspondence file, honorary certificates, greetings, and proclamations. The Ombudsman/Citizens Assistance program was housed within this division. During Governor Bush's second term, the division also handled some of the scheduling functions. | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence with attachments including photographs, audiotapes, and videotapes, proclamations, research and background files, manuals and procedures, and weekly production reports, 1948-2000 (bulk 1995-2000) maintained in the Texas Governor's Correspondence/Constituent Services division. | |||||||||||||
| This series has not yet been prepared for research. A link to the finding aid will be added when processing is completed. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| Series listed below as [in process] have not yet been prepared for research and are not fully described in this finding aid. | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into 11 series: | |||||||||||||
| Central correspondence file, 1995-2000, approximately 1014 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, 1995-2000, approximately 36 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Pending correspondence, 1997, 4 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Proclamations, 1854, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1943, 1949-1950, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1980-2000, (bulk 1995-2000), 13 cubic ft. | |||||||||||||
| Robos research and background files, 1995-2000, 7 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Autopen copies of correspondence from other divisions, 1995-2000, 5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Director Shirley Green's files, 1995-2000, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| General office files, 1995-2000, 2 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Texas Navy file, 1948-1998, approximately 0.5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Photo requests, 2000, 1 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Weekly production reports, 1997-2000, 8 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Ombudsman's Office files, 1996-1997, 0.25 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item and cite the series), Correspondence/Constituent Services, Records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Access | |||||||||||||
| Records in process: Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions, an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records. | |||||||||||||
| Records series described in this finding aid have access restrictions specific to each of them. The terms of access are found following the series' descriptions. | |||||||||||||
| Restrictions on Use | |||||||||||||
| Researchers are required to wear gloves provided by the Archives when reviewing photographic materials. | |||||||||||||
| The researcher wishing to listen to any of the audio tapes should consult with the Archives' Preservation Officer. | |||||||||||||
| The researcher wishing to view any of the video footage should consult with the Archives' Preservation Officer and be aware that the archives does not currently own the equipment needed to view some video footage. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Laura Saegert, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Central correspondence file,
1995-2000, approximately 1014 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, including attachments, 1995-2000, sent to the Texas governor's office during George W. Bush's term. Types of letters and subjects include greetings from Governor Bush on anniversaries, births, birthdays, retirements, and weddings of honorees; welcome greetings for special events; letters of support or protest, concerning executions, Confederate plaques on the Supreme Court building, hate crimes legislation, teacher compensation, and environmental issues; letters of appreciation and thanks; letters of recommendation, appointment, and resignation; requests for auction items for charities. Correspondents include legislators and other elected or appointed officials, corporations, organizations, and the general public. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged numerically by computer generated number (combination of date entered and a sequential number assigned by the governor's staff). | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Central correspondence file, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Bulk mail not logged in the central
correspondence database, 1995-2000, approximately 36 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, state opinion ballots, and petitions, 1995-2000, sent to the Texas Governor's Office during George W. Bush's term in office. Much of the correspondence is protesting capital punishment in general and the death penalty for specific individuals. Other issues include sea turtles, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Network, Rio Grande Valley housing, death penalty for juveniles, United Nations, religious freedom, law enforcement, and parental rights | |||||||||||||
| This finding aid is a work in progress. Some series have been processed, others are still undergoing processing. All series yet to be processed are included in the framework of the finding aid. As these series are processed, this finding aid will be updated. | |||||||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||||||
| These records are organized into four subseries: | |||||||||||||
| Capital punishment correspondence, 1995-2000, approximately 20 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| State opinion ballots, 1995, 1998-2000, 9 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Texas congratulatory correspondence, 2000, 2 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Other bulk mail, 1995-2000, approximately 5 cubic ft. [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Capital punishment
correspondence, 1995-2000, approximately 20 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1995-2000, sent to the Texas Governor's Office during George W. Bush's term in office concerning protests against capital punishment/death penalty in general and in favor of sparing specific individuals on death row. Inmates who have a significant amount of correspondence concerning them include Odell Barnes and Stanley Joseph Faulder. Some correspondence is in Spanish. See also the series General Counsel, Execution files, Death penalty protest letters for correspondence opposing executions of inmates received during the years of Governor Ann Richards' term in office. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by name of individual on death row. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Capital punishment correspondence, Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
State opinion ballots, 1995, 1998-2000, 9 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are form letters sent to the Texas Governor's Office, 1995, 1998-2000, with brief statements on selected issues, prepared by the National Write Your Congressman, Inc. There appear to be two versions in each of the three groupings. Issues listed on the 1995 ballots include tax reform, state treasurer position, welfare reform, initiative and referendum, term limits, concealed weapons, juvenile justice, and education reform. Issues on the 1998-1999 ballots include abortion, employer immunity, Olympics, and school vouchers. Issues on the 2000 ballots include same sex marriages, employment at will, and parental consent for abortions. Other information on the ballots includes date and name, occupation, and address of person filling out the ballot. Some of the 1995 ballots remain unopened. None are in folders. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged in three groups by year of ballots. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), State opinion ballots, Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Texas congratulatory
correspondence, 2000, 2 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Congratulatory correspondence to Governor/President-elect George W. Bush, dating November to December 2000, includes attachments such as clippings, photographs, audio cassette tape, and a CD. Correspondents range from friends, local officials, children, and other supporters, with a very few opponents. Includes letters that are post-election but before the outcome of the election in Florida was determined. Most have no date stamps, a few are entered in the Bush correspondence database, some are stamped GWB and the date, response is not attached, but GC-1 is written in and some have check marks and initials. None in folders. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are grouped in batches by when and who completed the responses. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Texas congratulatory correspondence, Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Other bulk mail, 1995-2000, approximately 5 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are form letters, petitions, and emails, 1995-2000, sent to the Texas Governor's Office, concerning sea turtles, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Network, Rio Grande Valley housing, death penalty for juveniles, United Nations, religious freedom, law enforcement, and parental rights. These were apparently not entered into the central correspondence database. None in folders. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by subject of petition or letter. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Other bulk mail, Bulk mail not logged in the central correspondence database, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
|
Pending correspondence, 1997, 4 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Photocopies of correspondence stamped pending, November to December 1997. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged numerically. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Pending correspondence, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Proclamations, 1854, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1943, 1949-1950, 1952, 1956, 1960,
1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1980-2000 (bulk 1995-2000), 13 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| Records are proclamations (copies of the official memoranda signed by the governor); memos to Joe Allbaugh, Executive Assistant, through Karen Hughes, Communications Director, from Correspondence/Constituent Services staff requesting approval for the proclamation (through mid-1999); yellow routing slips, initialed by Shirley Green, Correspondence Director, and staff from relevant divisions within the Texas Governor's Office (after mid-1999); proclamation drafts; correspondence with the requesting individual or organization; and press releases, clippings, printed material, and other background information on the organizations, issues, and events being recognized in the proclamations. These are proclamations and associate materials, dating 1854, 1923, 1926, 1929, 1943, 1949-1950, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1980-2000 (bulk 1995-2000). Included is a file of proclamations for 2001 events that were written in 2000. Proclamations are honorary documents signed by Texas Governor George W. Bush in observance of special days, weeks, months, and years, such as AARP Day, 4-H Week, and Adoption Awareness Month. Proclamations are issued for Texas non-profit organizations with statewide, or at least regional, interest, are occasionally issued in honor of deceased individuals, and never contain the name of a for-profit organization in the proclamation title. See the "Proclamation & Greeting Guidelines" document for details on the do's and don'ts of proclamation writing. The proclamation process was a routine function of the Governor's Office, though the materials submitted with the proclamation request bring together information on a variety of organizations, issues, and events. | |||||||||||||
| For the full finding aids for this series see Texas Governor George W. Bush, Correspondence/Constituent Services: Proclamations, 1995-1997 and Texas Governor George W. Bush, Correspondence/Constituent Services: Proclamations, 1998-2000. | |||||||||||||
|
Robos research and background
files, 1995-2000, 7 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are final versions and drafts of response letters and FAQs [frequently asked questions], originals and copies of incoming letters, clippings, printouts from Internet sites, emails, yellow routing slips, green Robo forms (listing author of letter, what division it belongs to in the Robo table of contents, main and second subjects, etc.), and memos of the Texas Governor's Office, Correspondence/Constituent Services division, dating 1995-2000. Files concern the development and revision of form response letters for topics that generated large volumes of mail for the Governor's Office. Karen Hughes, Communications Director, Vance McMahan, Policy Director, Margaret LaMontagne, Senior Advisor, and other Governor's Office staff provided input on the content and revision of letters. Subjects include border issues, child issues, economic development, education, employees, environment, energy, federal issues, government issues, greetings, health, crime, legal, budget, legislative, insurance, military, social issues, state agency issues, student letters, taxes, transportation, utilities, and welfare. There are also miscellaneous robo and mini-robo files, which may relate to issues of concern to a narrower constituency about which a number of letters were received. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged topically. Had originally been in binders, with a letter of the alphabet assigned to a broad topic, and then numbers assigned within for specific issues. Somewhere there may be a Robos table of contents listing the specific issues within the broad topics. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Robos research and background files, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Autopen copies of correspondence
from other divisions, 1995-2000, 5 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are copies of autopenned correspondence, photographs, legislation, applications, certificates, yellow autopen authority forms, memos and routing forms, dating October 1995-December 2000. Subjects include thank you letters, directives re: flying flags at half-staff, birthday greetings, requests to federal agencies for emergency assistance, certification as a presidential elector, grant awards, settlements, appointments, including those to private industry council, applications, legislation, bond issuance. The folders from 1995-1996 appear to be copies of the signed document plus the autopen authorization. Later files include the requests for the governor's signature, drafts of letters, and memos or other background information on the signature request. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically, one folder per month. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Autopen copies of correspondence from other divisions, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Director Shirley Green's files,
1995-2000, 1 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| There are weekly production reports, ombudsman's reports, policy and procedure materials, and post-election mail and phone counts of the Texas Governor's Office, Correspondence/Constituent Services division, 1995-2000. Weekly production reports duplicate those found in a separate series. Policy and procedure materials consist of directives and memos re: policies and procedures concerning items such as handling email, greetings, proclamations, nominations, political mail and legislative mail; data entry of correspondence; handling requests for items such as gifts, auction items, and autographs; and handling requests for Bush's attendance at political events. Dates of these materials are 1995-2000. There are also loose memos to Shirley Green giving daily post-election (November-December 2000) counts for email, faxes, regular mail, and phone calls. | |||||||||||||
| Shirley Green served as director of Correspondence/Constituent Services, reporting to Karen Hughes, director of Communications in the Texas Office of the Governor. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by type of material. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Director Shirley Green's files, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
General office files, 1995-2000, 2 cubic ft. |
|||||||||||||
| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records include manuals and procedures, form letters, Spanish translations, Texas Navy materials, public information requests, 1995-2000, of the Correspondence/Constituent Services division in the Texas Office of the Governor. | |||||||||||||
| Manuals and procedures include two editions of the Correspondence manual of the Governor's office, 1995 (with additions in 1996) and 1998. There are memos on writing style procedures, a style sheet for the Notes and Quotes Reports, an organization chart of the division, and a list of correspondence issues, listing the issues each staff member addressed. Also present is a 1986 manual - White House Correspondence Manual. | |||||||||||||
| There are two folders of form letters. The first contains notes, form letters, and memos re: the distribution of the end of the term report that Governor Bush prepared. Attached to the form letters is a list of the types of individuals to receive the report, using the various versions of the form letter, such as agency heads, legislators, employees of the Governor's Office, etc. The other folder contains form letters to be sent at the end of the term thanking the recipient for various state service during the Bush administration. Types of recipients include legislators, board and agency appointees, agency heads, etc. Attached to one form letter is a list of the addresses of the board and agency appointees. These records are dated in 2000. | |||||||||||||
| There is also a folder titled "Translations, Spanish." The folder contains typed copies of several letters, or summaries of information taken from the original letter, in English, with a routing slip attached - "Elsa, Please translate." The original letters and the Spanish translations are not present. These letters are dated in 2000. | |||||||||||||
| A group of files includes memoranda, correspondence, database printouts, etc. that make up the Governor's Office responses to requests for public information. Some of the memoranda document the amount of staff time and computer resources were spent responding to the request, some concern staff attempts to respond to the request. Nancy Newton seems to have been responsible for routing public information requests through the staff, Donna Davidson (Assistant General Counsel) also seems to have figured prominently. Memos frequently passed through Shirley Green, head of the Correspondence Office - Correspondence staffer Lisa Wright seems to have done much of the actual work. Subjects of requests include the numbers of letters received by the governor pro and con certain issues, the numbers of letters on a subject received from certain zip codes, correspondence between the governor and certain state agencies, utility deregulation, etc. | |||||||||||||
| Another group of files contains lists of the bills for each legislative session with the name of each staff member assigned, summaries of state opinion ballots, lists of letters received on the topics of certain bills and the staff members who were assigned to respond, robo forms and related letters/instructions, possibly for the entry of new files into a computer database system. | |||||||||||||
| Additional files include: Nicholas Kristof, public information request; Memorandum; Miscellaneous; Mail or mail log data entry; Press release; and Mass mail robos. The Memorandum file contains copies of speeches, memos on administrative office procedures (travel, e-mail use, etc.), constituent mail routing and responses (especially campaign versus Governor's Office), political activity by Governor's Office staff, etc. The miscellaneous files contains the birthday party list, lists of correspondence volunteers, an organization chart, phone directories and lists of post offices. The Mail or mail log data entry file contains the lists of inserts commonly sent out with correspondence, data entry instructions, staff duty assignments, list of "please cc: Budget on mail from the following agencies," notes from Scheduling, and instructions on routing political mail. The Press release files contains copies of selected 1997-1998 press releases. Finally the Mass mail robo file contains robo forms, incoming letters, and few responses in draft form. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged by type of material. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), General office files, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Texas Navy file, 1948-1998, approximately 0.5 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, internal memos, photographs, publications, printed material, copies of statutes, certificates, and articles of incorporation, concerning the "third" Texas Navy, dating 1948-1998, from the Correspondence/Constituent Services division in the Texas Office of the Governor. The materials dating 1948 to the 1960s are copies of military records, certificates as admirals in the Texas Navy, and other attachments to correspondence. Many of the letters and memos are from or about Joseph Jefferson Burris, who was commissioned an Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Price Daniel in 1958. Burris frequently wrote the governor's office with recommendations for admiral commissions and suggestions for procedures. A number of other letters are from John W. Thiele, Chief of Naval Operations for the Texas Navy, Inc. From its creation in 1958 until the 1970s, the Texas Navy was partially state-supported. It became a non-profit organization in the 1970s with the governor serving as the commander in chief. Apparently during Mark White's term as governor, the governor's name was removed from the letterhead. Several memos written by Governor Ann Richards' staff question the role of the Governor's Office in providing commissions in the Texas Navy. A letter from Thiele to Governor Bush's staff recounts the limits that Bush set on the admiral commissions. | |||||||||||||
| An additional folder about the Texas Navy contains some publications and information about the Navy and the commission of Admirals into the Navy. The bulk consists of letters with (and memos about) Dr. John Thiele, an Admiral in the Texas Navy, and his various requests for appointments of individuals to the Texas Navy Association. Dates of these records are 1983-1998, undated. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged in the order received. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Texas Navy file, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Photo requests, 2000, 1 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records are correspondence, photographs, staff email, and one autographed baseball, dating 2000, of the Correspondence/Constituent Services division of the Texas Office of the Governor. Letters request that Texas Governor George W. Bush or First Lady Laura Bush autograph an enclosed photograph. Extra copies of photographs are often included for the governor. The autographed baseball has an attached post-it note that an address is needed before mailing. This series is closely related to the series Executive Office, Autograph and photo request correspondence and logs. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are grouped chronologically in two-month increments. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Photo requests, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Tonia J. Wood, October 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Weekly production reports, 1997-2000, 8 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| The weekly production report is a statistical compilation of the types and subjects of mail received by the Texas Governor's Office of Correspondence and Constituent Services during that week. Dates covered are 1997-2000. The report starts with a section for Gubernatorial Mail (number of letters received, number received year to date). With that section the top issues of the week are listed (Education, etc.), further categorized as Pro, Con, Comments, with the numbers of letter received listed in each category. Another section is Form mail (categories of major issues, volume, week's total); Correspondence processed (categories of Gubernatorial Mail, Proclamations/special issues, Logged/forward to other divisions, giving the week's total and the year to date for each category). | |||||||||||||
| There are several documents that accompany the report. There is a list of major subjects, listing as many as 100 subjects or more, though usually less than 100, giving the categories of Pro, Con, N/A, give the total received that week in each category. Each month also has a cumulative report, giving the year to date totals instead of the week. A more detailed report lists these same subjects with subissues, following the same format. The more popular subjects may have several subdivisions or subissues, the less popular, none. | |||||||||||||
| Most months also have another report, the Ombudsman's Report. This lists the total calls received for the week and the year to date. Types of calls are listed with totals (casework, complaints, inquiries, opinions, issues, opinions, legislation). Further sections, with categories of Pro, Con, Comment, are the Top Issues of the Week, and the Top Legislative Issues of the Week. | |||||||||||||
| Another report present in most months is the Notes and Quotes. Sometimes these are present from different staff members; sometimes they just appear once. The reports lists quotes from letters and phone calls, usually citing the correspondence by initials last name, and locale. Some quotes do not have cites. | |||||||||||||
| Another report that is present for most months is the report of the mail analysts. They track the weekly total of mail received, number of letters in the backlog, total number of letters to be processed. They also track the weekly total of mail processed - the current backlog and list major and new issues. | |||||||||||||
| Another report is a count of letters routed to divisions. It lists the division and the number of letters requiring a response, number with no response, total count, pending county. Some lists just have numbers for that week, some for the year to date. At the end of each year is an annual report reproduced - generally the Weekly Production Report and the two lists of major issues. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged chronologically, foldered by month. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Weekly production reports, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Laura K. Saegert, September 2002 | |||||||||||||
|
Ombudsman's Office files, 1996-1997, 0.25 cubic ft. |
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| [in process] | |||||||||||||
| Records comprise correspondence, memoranda, casework summary forms, notes, etc., 1996-1997, of the Texas Governor's Ombudsman's Office. The Governor's Ombudsman during this time was Phil Sims, most of the materials were either sent to or worked on by him. The ombudsman took complaints from and listened to the concerns of Texas citizens and state officials and employees. Subjects include opposition to bills, grievances with state agencies, dissatisfaction with constituent services in the Governor's office, concerns for people housed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, power outages, sexual abuse of children, abatement projects, requests for general information, and placement centers for the mentally ill. | |||||||||||||
| The Ombudsman's Office is perhaps related to the Citizens' Assistance Office, which receives citizens' comments and complaints through its toll-free hotline. | |||||||||||||
| Arrangement | |||||||||||||
| These records are arranged in the order received. | |||||||||||||
| Preferred Citation | |||||||||||||
| (Identify the item), Ombudsman's Office files, Correspondence/Constituent Services records, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. | |||||||||||||
| Preliminary survey by | |||||||||||||
| Nancy Enneking, September 2002 | |||||||||||||