Politics

AUSTIN (AP) ― A year after legislators decided to review what items should be included in a sporting-goods sales tax, work has yet to begin because Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst hasn't named any senators to the task force.

Dewhurst, as president of the state Senate, and House Speaker Tom Craddick were supposed to name four legislators each to a joint House-Senate panel created a year ago. That panel is supposed to review the list of items included in a sporting-goods sales tax and recommend changes to the Legislature when it convenes in January.

Besides reviewing the definition of sporting good items, the task force is to recommend how much sporting goods tax money is needed to support parks and historical sites and whether some money should be used on other projects, such as combatting beach erosion.

"I'm waiting for the lieutenant governor," said state Rep. Harvey Hilderban, R-Kerrville, named the House presiding officer of the panel when Craddick made his appointments in September. "We need to have at least three committee meetings, and maybe four" before the panel's report is due Dec. 15, Hilderbran said.

Dewhurst must name four appointees to the panel, including a Senate presiding officer.

Four hours after being first contacted by The Associated Press, a Dewhurst spokesman said the lieutenant governor would likely make the appointments by the end of the week.

Spokesman Rich Parsons at first wouldn't comment on whether Dewhurst had already planned to make the selections this week, even before he was contacted by the AP. Later, he said those plans had been under way: "Yes, as I understand it."

"There wasn't a timeline, and there's not a timeline," Parsons said. "We expect to make the appointments by the end of the week."

Asked why it has taken so long for Dewhurst to act, Parsons said: "The lieutenant governor wants to make sure the right people are in the right positions to address the various important issues on various commissions and task forces."

The panel should have enough time to complete its assignment this year, he said.

Once all sporting goods task force members are named, the joint committee can move ahead with its business, said Todd Kercheval, clerk for the House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which Hilderbran chairs.

"I don't want us waiting so long that we're forced to throw something that's not as well thought out together," Kercheval said. "This is an extremely important issue."

The sporting goods tax generates more than $100 million per year, according to the comptroller's office, but not all of that money has been spent on parks. The tax covers apparel and footwear "suitable only for use in a sport or sporting activity" and excludes board games, electronic games, aircraft and powered vehicles.

Parks funding was a major issue in the 2007 legislative session, brought to light by complaints about a lack of money for the state's crumbling 600,000-acre parks system. Lawmakers heard stories about cabins built in the 1930s that still have original plumbing systems and electrical wiring and about failing park drinking water and wastewater systems.

The sporting goods tax is an estimated portion of the state's existing 6.25-percent sales tax. The sporting goods tax fund for parks was created in 1993, but lawmakers limited what could be spent on parks to $32 million and spent most of the money elsewhere.

Last year, the Legislature arranged for approximately $180 million over the two-year budget cycle. But there was no long-term assured funding for parks.

The Legislature assigned the House-Senate task force to look at the issue.

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