Friends,
Thank you for reading. As always, you may contact my office with your views via phone (512-463-0661) or mail (P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768). If you have a question about a particular bill that passed this session, please do not hesitate to reach out. Here is what we have been up to these past few weeks in Austin and District 130.
The 86th Legislative Session Ends
On May 27th, the 86th Legislative Session ended. I am proud to report that during our 140 day session, we were able to pass many pieces of priority legislation benefitting the people of Northwest Harris County.
The Legislature was able to pass a responsible budget that meets many of our state’s needs, while remaining under our four limits – the debt limit, welfare spending limit, pay-as-you-go limit, and the spending limit. We also tackled school finance reform and property tax reform with an emphasis on transparency. Importantly, we took action on school safety and mental health issues plaguing our state and endangering our school children.
We worked hard to ensure we will have the resources we need the next time disaster strikes. The Legislature passed a number of bills aiming to shore up emergency preparedness. We have strengthened recovery functions and worked to better utilize the resources available to this state. The work to rebuild our community after Harvey continues and the legislature took big steps to get the job done.
Defending life and liberty remained a priority for our state. We were able to pass a number of bills protecting the lives of the unborn. We also worked to help eliminate the rape kit backlog and increased the statute of limitations of personal injury suits arising from childhood sexual abuse. The two bodies also sent several strong 2nd Amendment bills to Governor Abbott.
Governor Abbott’s Veto Deadline
After the legislative session concludes, Governor Abbott has twenty days to veto a bill. On June 16, the Governor’s veto period ended. This means that any bill sent to Governor Abbott that he failed to veto will become law. I am proud to report that Governor Abbott signed into law a number of bills I authored. I worked hard to follow through on the promises I made to my constituents and am pleased that I was able to accomplish so much for each of you.
Events in District 130
Since the legislative session ended, I have been back in District 130 full-time. It has been a pleasure to come back into our community and get to share the good work the Texas Legislature accomplished this session. On June 9th, I sat down with our Precinct Chairs to go through an end-of-session recap. I was also able to speak with the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce to discuss important legislation we worked on this session.
My Mention in Texas Monthly
Earlier this week I received the unexpected honor, for which I am very humbled, of being named one of Texas Monthly’s “Best Legislators” for this past legislative session. Of course, none of these important healthcare wins happened simply through the actions of one person. I was blessed to have colleagues like Senator Kelly Hancock, Senator John Whitmire, Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, and Representative Eddie Lucio III who worked tirelessly to make sure we got these bills done. Without their efforts, none of these victories would have happened. Thank you for giving me the chance to work on these issues in 2019, and I hope you will trust me to do so again as your State Representative in 2021.
Sincerely,
