The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration. Records comprise memoranda, letters, clippings, lists, reports, press releases, agenda, legislative records, and printed materials of the of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush, 1995-2000. Vance McMahan was the head of the Policy Office under Governor Bush. The records are predominantly composed of staff member and office memoranda, some of which are annotated by the governor and some of which have been stamped Governor Has Seen. When a memo has been annotated by the governor, it is often a photocopy of the original. Occasionally a letter that resulted in a policy discussion has been included with the memoranda; some of these letters are copies of letters found in the Policy Office series Correspondence or the Correspondence/Constituent Services series Central correspondence file. Additional letters, draft response letters, clippings, and other items providing background information or support for the stated position can also, on occasion, be found with a policy memo.

Staff memoranda were created by the staff members of the Policy Office. Many memoranda were routed to Governor Bush through higher level officials such as Joe Allbaugh (Executive Assistant to the Governor), Vance McMahan (Head of the Policy Office), Al Gonzales (General Counsel), and Albert Hawkins (Head of the Budget and Planning Office). Other memos simply passed between staff members. 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.

Office memoranda generally originated in one of two ways. In some cases, the memos were generated by other branches of the Governor's Office and were sent to the Policy Office either as a part of a general distribution or as items sent to Vance McMahan as head of the office. In other cases, Vance McMahan generated the memos and sent them to heads of other branches of the Governor's Office. Occasionally a memo or letter from an outside party, such as Patrick Wood, head of the Public Utility Commission, has been included.

Subjects of the memoranda cover a wide variety of federal, state, and local issues and have been listed in detail, below. The researcher should note that major subjects are listed in the order in which they were first encountered within the files; no attempt has been made to use a controlled vocabulary in the process of selecting terms. General topics included in the files cover juvenile justice, criminal justice, prison overpopulation/construction, tort reform, Medicaid, Medicare, environment, faith-based service providers, transportation, low level radioactive waste, welfare reform, pollution, economic development, business enterprises, the Texas/Mexico border region, and abstinence.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration; it also helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. The office was organized around specialized issues such as education, criminal justice, health and human services, natural resources, and economic development. Records are correspondence, memoranda, reports, printed material, speeches, maps, court documents, and an executive summary, 1970, 1983-2000, bulk 1997-2000, maintained by the Governor's Policy Office during Governor George W. Bush's tenure. The series mainly consists of incoming letters addressed to or forwarded to Policy Office staff handling specific issues. Subjects include agriculture, criminal justice, defense, economic development, environment, housing, insurance, international affairs, military, technology, transportation, volunteerism, welfare reform, and workers' compensation. Correspondents include Governor's Office staff, state and federal agencies, businesses, organizations including the National Governors' Association, and concerned citizens.

Under Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Policy Office within the Office of the Governor helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. The Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission was charged with developing an economic development strategic plan for Texas and providing a fresh vision for the Texas Department of Economic Development. The Governor's Office was to create the commission and ensure that its recommendations were implemented. Records comprise proposals, meeting supporting documentation, videocassettes, audio cassettes, memoranda, correspondence, minutes, agenda, notes, reports, lists, resumes, applications, drafts, and press releases, dating 1982, 1989, and 1996-1998, of the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission as maintained by the Governor's Policy Office under Governor George W. Bush. The Governor's Office liaison to the commission was Policy staff member Jimmy Glotfelty.

The first set of files contains general information on the formation and background of the Commission. Memoranda, bill copies, and other documents detail the history and intended functions of the Commission at, and shortly after, its legislative creation. Letters from Texas state agency heads assist in developing topics for Commission consideration. A few files contain background information on Texas economic development issues, while others contain multiple annotated drafts of the Governor's Office's request for proposal [RFP] and a vendor consultant proposal received prior to the official RFP process. Finally, a number of resumes, applications, and lists provide information on the Commission board members.

Additional files contain information on the RFP process used to select a vendor consultant. The materials include a copy of the Governor's Office's original request for proposal, notes on the merits of the received proposals, evaluation forms for each of the received proposals, and finally the proposals submitted by various vendor consultants. The successful proposal submitted jointly by Deloitte & Touche, LLP and Angelou Economic Advisors, Inc. is not present in the files.

Records for each of the documented Commission meetings frequently include minutes and agenda, followed by handouts and statements distributed as a part of the testimony given during the course of the meeting and some occasional working files. The Committee held meetings each month between December 1997 and July 1998, but the meetings originally planned for June and July, at which public testimony was to be heard, are not represented in the files. The records of the meetings held in December 1997 and January and February 1998 have only been maintained in paper format. Record of the March meeting consists almost exclusively of a videotape of the proceedings. The April meeting is documented in paper files, on video, and, uniquely, on audio tape. The May meeting is represented exclusively in video format. Topics discussed in the meetings included workforce demographics, workforce development, education, methods of attracting business to Texas, taxes and tax policy, technology, agri-business, marketing, tourism, tort and regulatory reform, transportation, telecommunications, and the Texas economy.

Finally, the records include older reports proposing strategic economic plans for Texas that may have been submitted to the Commission during its meetings, but were filed and maintained separately. The final item in the series is a copy of the Commission's final report, submitted on October 30, 1998. No record of the August-October report drafting process appears in these files.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. The Governor's Task Force on Faith-Based Programs was created in May 1996 through Executive Order (GWB 96-5) to survey Texas' legal and regulatory landscape to identify obstacles to faith-based groups, and recommend ways Texas could create an environment in which these groups could thrive, free of regulations that dilute the faith factor. Records consist of printed materials, correspondence, lists, minutes, agenda, meeting supporting documentation, clippings, pamphlets, reports and studies, notes, copies of executive orders, publications, newsletters, and memoranda dating 1993, 1996-1998 and undated, bulk 1996-1997. The records were maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office under George W. Bush and document the Governor's Advisory Task Force on Faith-Based Community Service Groups and the implementation of charitable choice. Policy Office staff member Don Willett was the Governor's liaison to the Task Force. Records concern improving the ability of faith-based groups to provide social services and the implementation in Texas of the federal charitable choice program.

As maintained in the Governor's Office, the materials fall into what seem to be three general sections, though some files in each section contain records relating to all three areas. The initial records primarily concern the establishment, composition, and activities of the Governor's Advisory Task Force on Faith-Based Community Service Groups. (Note that the body is also known as the Governor's Task Force on Faith-Based Programs and other variants using some combination of the terms Faith-Based and Task Force.) The files contain organizational materials, background materials, contact information for members, correspondence and memoranda concerning the various opinions and perspectives of the Task Force members.

The Task Force held four meetings, on June 11, July 16, August 8, and August 27, 1996, in which the members addressed issues including the role of state licensing and contracting in faith based service ministries, child day-care, crime and substance abuse, health care, implementation of the Congressional Charitable Choice Act, and self-help initiatives and community development corporations. The June and July meeting files contain minutes and agenda, the August 8th meeting file contains only agenda, and the August 23rd meeting file contains neither. The August 8th meeting does not appear to have been open to the public and only part of the August 23rd meeting may have been open to the public, no minutes from either of these two meetings are included in these files. The records include copies of both the full and executive summary versions of the Task Force's December 1996 final report.

The next set of records provides information on the concept and origination of charitable choice, evidence of the efforts in Texas to implement the theory, as mandated by Bush's Executive Order GWB 96-10, and the development of a state legislative agenda to create changes recommended by the Task Force. Materials include copies of executive orders, agency correspondence regarding their implementation plans and activities, clippings, and even a few draft versions of the Task Force's final report. A substantial implementation plan from the Texas Department of Human Services [DHS] is present, as are materials relating to the April 9, 1997 DHS conference on the implementation of charitable choice.

Finally, a number of files record the attendance of Don Willett, of the Governor's Policy staff, at two workshops held at the Center for Public Justice in Washington D.C. The first workshop, in August 1996, discussed government cooperation with religious social ministries, while the second, in February 1997, was concerned with faith based providers of social services.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration; it also helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. Records comprise questionnaire replies and a few original questionnaires, 1993-1994, undated, bulk 1994, maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The majority of the documents appear to be photocopies and some are annotated. A few replies take the form of letters. 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. [See the folder inventory below for a complete list of the organizations represented in the files.] The replies were frequently printed on Bush campaign stationery and appear to have been considered the functional equivalent of press releases, particularly those responses to questions submitted by news media organizations. A number of the original questionnaires were not maintained, but the replies include copies of the original questions. A single document appears to be a summary of questionnaire responses. 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.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration; it also helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. Records comprise copies of bills, amendments, bill analyses, the legislation delivery sheet, the Governor's bill analysis, daily reports, fiscal notes, photocopied clippings, correspondence, notes, minutes, printed materials, reports, publications, agenda, legal documents and opinions, excerpts of bills, and photocopies of executive orders and proclamations, dating 1994-1999, that make up the bill files maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the tenure of George W. Bush, 1995-2000. The files cover the 74th through 76th Legislative sessions and include documentation of virtually every bill introduced during each legislative session. Numerous bills are represented only by a single House Research Organization bill analysis or a single copy of the bill. In many other cases, however, bills are presented in a number of versions, reflecting the changes and amendments made as they passed through the legislative process. The most common versions include filed, House/Senate committee substitutes, amendments, engrossed, enrolled, and as passed and sent to Governor. In addition to the bill copies, it is not uncommon to find bill analyses created by the legislative branches, legislation delivery sheets, the Governor's Office/Legislative Steering Group bill analysis, fiscal notes, committee reports, notes taken by Governor's office staff during committee hearings, version comparisons, correspondence (some copies, some original), and related clippings and printed materials. In addition, files from the 75th Legislature can contain notes taken by Governor's Office staff in legislative committee meetings, copies of minutes of legislative committee hearings, and, rarely, a copy of the Governor's veto proclamation. A few files contain House and Senate daily reports, standing committee hearing schedules, and copies of proclamations. Some of the records are annotated.

With a few exceptions, subjects of the bills are too numerous and varied to list, therefore access to the majority of the records is provided by bill number. The following link provides a variety of reports for each legislative session represented in the files and may aid researchers in searching for bills on relevant topics: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us. Each legislative session did have a general appropriations bill and numerous bills regarding criminal justice, education, and insurance. Additionally, at the end of the 75th Session, some bills are grouped by topics concerning managed health care, water management, and annexation. For additional records of legislative bills introduced during the tenure of Governor George W. Bush, see the series Bill files in the records of the Legislative Office.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. Records are reports, performance reviews, correspondence, memoranda, clippings, presentation materials, press releases, rules, legislative records, newsletters, drafts, minutes, organizational charts, and notes, dating 1996, 1998-2000, maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush. Records concern 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, especially Policy Office staff member Becky Armendariz. Correspondence and memoranda passed between staff members including Albert Hawkins, Vance McMahan, and Joe Allbaugh at the Governor's Office, Daisy Stiner (Executive Director of TDHCA) and other TDHCA staff members, legislators, and the Texas State Auditor's Office. A few items have been annotated, some by the Governor. 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 in the records was the development of talking points intended for public statements detailing TDHCA successes to answer the hypothetical question what has the Governor done to improve access to low-income housing.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration; it also helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. Records comprise reports, publications, web-page printouts, and two memoranda, dating 1998-2000, maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The materials concern technology education, the need for a larger high-tech workforce in Texas, and recommendations to address the high-tech skills gap. Some materials were created by Texas state agencies and advisory bodies, namely the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission [see also the series Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission records], and the Texas Governor's Council on Science and Technology. Other items were produced by the American Electronics Association and the Computing Research Association. One memo was sent to Policy Office Staff member Stuart Holliday from Scott Poole at the Bush School of Government and Public Services at Texas A&M regarding academic degrees in technology. The other memorandum was forwarded to Stuart Holliday by Vin Protho, Chairman of the Texas Governor's Science and Technology Council, and concerned the scores on Advanced Placement calculus exams in Texas. Several of the reports are slightly annotated.

The Policy Office under Texas Governor George W. Bush advised the governor on emerging problems and opportunities and developed policy options for the governor's consideration; it also helped ensure that the governor's policies were implemented by state agencies and commissions. Records consist of a report, publications, printed materials, conference proceedings, a clipping, an introductory biography of Mrs. Bush, a speech, a press release, five photographs, and a calendar, dating 1996-2000, and undated, maintained by the Texas Office of the Governor's Policy Office during the terms of George W. Bush. The records concern 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. The photographs, two color and three black and white, depict Governor Bush at, at least, two events. It is unclear whether or not the events are campaign related. The Governor is depicted in a school room with children and meeting with and speaking to residents of at least one disadvantaged neighborhood. The calendar notes appointments for Policy Office staff assigned to health and human services issues.