UTMB can operate 500 to 600 hospital beds — enough to regain its Level 1 trauma center status and its prominence as a teaching and research institution, Callender said. He said, however, that some of those beds might not be on the island.

Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough urged committee members to remind their colleagues in Austin that even though almost four months have passed since Ike, Galveston and other coastal communities continue to struggle.

"It's going to be several years before we are close to normal, whatever normal might be," Yarbrough said.

He and Thomas urged the legislators to think boldly, perhaps tapping into the expected federal economic stimulus package to support projects such as extending the seawall, building new bridges to Bolivar Peninsula and the mainland and elevating FMthe state disaster contingency fund and were told that the Legislature hadn't appropriated any money for the fund.

Coincidentally, Gov. Rick Perry's budget director, Mike Morrissey, told a legislative seminar in Austin Wednesday that Perry would ask the Legislature to allocate $50 million to $150 million to the fund in the session that starts next week.

The governor views that as more of a long-term preparation for future hurricanes, spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger explained later.

Many of the Galveston residents who turned out for Wednesday's hearing seemed most interested in the UTMB controversy, which has generated suspicion and ill feelings since the layoffs were announced just weeks after Ike.

Thomas drew sustained applause and cheers when she pledged to do everything in her power to "restore UTMB's former world-class status." And Turner advised