Highlights from the Texas Legislature
© 2009 The Associated Press
Feb. 4, 2009, 3:12PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6246564.html
AUSTIN — The Legislature took on a somber tone Wednesday as lawmakers honored the family of a man who died in prison, only to have DNA testing show years later that he did not commit the rape he was convicted of.
Tim Cole and his relatives for years claimed he was innocent in the rape of a Texas Tech University student in 1985. But until DNA from the crime scene was tested last year, no one else believed them.
Cole died in prison in 1999 at the age of 38. His family will ask an Austin judge on Thursday to overturn the conviction.
Cole's family visited the House and Senate as both chambers passed resolutions honoring Cole. A few of them wiped tears from their eyes.
"It is a sad story, a story of a young man with all the hope in the world," said Sen. Robert Duncan, a Lubbock Republican. "A story of a young man whose life was cut off, literally, by an error in the criminal justice system."
The resolutions noted that Cole refused to plead guilty in exchange for probation. And once in prison, he refused to say he did it when it could have earned him parole. He also declined to attend his stepfather's funeral because he didn't want to attend in shackles.
Cole refused to confess to a crime he didn't commit, said his brother, Cory Session.
"He said he'd rather serve his entire 25-year sentence. That's courage and conviction a lot of people don't have," Session said.
If the Austin judge rules the conviction should be overturned, it would be first step toward earning a pardon from the governor and having the criminal record expunged, Session said.
According to attorneys for the Innocence Project of Texas, Cole's case would be the first posthumous DNA exoneration in the state.
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WATER SHORTAGES
Texas could lose $466 million in tax revenue in 2010 and up to $5.4 billion by 2060 because of reduced business activity caused by insufficient water supplies, Comptroller Susan Combs warned in a report Wednesday.
By 2060 there could be more than 46 million people living in Texas and a 27 percent increase in demand for water, Combs said.
Besides population growth, Texas' vulnerability to drought makes long-term water planning imperative and difficult, she said. Each of the one- or two-year droughts in Texas during the past decade has cost agricultural producers and businesses between $1 billion and $4 billion annually.
Combs' report, titled "Liquid Assets: The State of Texas' Water Resources," recommends state officials consider a dedicated funding source for water development.
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GALVESTON HOSPITAL
Rep. Craig Eiland, a Galveston Democrat, introduced a resolution Wednesday honoring Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston, which specializes in pediatric burn care but has been shut down since September because of damage by Hurricane Ike.
The hospital announced in January it was suspending operations, a moved Eiland called "another bad blow to Galveston." He said there are efforts to reverse the hospital's decision, but hurricane damage combined with a decline in the hospital's endowment fund in the troubled economy have hit the hospital hard.
Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston had about 320 employees, who are being paid until March 29. The hospital had 30 inches of water in the building after Ike struck Sept. 13.
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COMMUNITY COLLEGE DAY
Hundreds of community college students joined the hustle and bustle of the Legislature on Wednesday to talk about their higher education concerns with lawmakers. The Texas Association of Community Colleges hosted the day, which featured speeches and photos in front of the Capitol.
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COLOR OF THE DAY
Quite a few women legislators wore red Wednesday to show support for the American Heart Association and to recognize that heart disease is the leading killer of women.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Timothy Cole was a veteran. He was someone that served his country. He wanted to live the American dream." — Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, introducing a resolution honoring Cole, who died behind bars in 1999 years after he was wrongly convicted of rape.
