With the month of September just around the corner, school is officially underway, football stadiums will light up the Friday night sky, and sportsmen and women will finally have a chance to get back in the field with a shotgun for dove season. With that in mind, I want to encourage all of my fellow hunters to download the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Outdoor Annual App on your smartphone. This handy application allows you to purchase your license online, access information about hunting season dates and bag limits for each county, view game tagging instructions, and even provides a link to report your hunt harvest. For more information visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s website at tpwd.texas.gov.
With that here’s this week’s legislative update. . .
Legislative Update
As I mentioned in my last column, starting this week I’ll be diving into each of the propositions that voters will see on the ballot in November to hopefully provide some clarity about what the effect of these propositions will be.
Proposition 1 proposes a constitutional amendment permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time. Many of our smaller municipalities lack willing or qualified individuals to serve as a municipal judge, which impedes these municipalities’ ability to deal with cases such as ordinance violations and other fine-only misdemeanors. Current law allows appointed municipal judges to serve more than one municipality, but this authority does not extend to elected judges. This proposition seeks to make it easier to fill the municipal judge office in smaller municipalities, thus improving public safety and creating a more efficient judicial system.
Proposition 2 proposes a constitutional amendment allowing the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to issue bonds under $200 million to support current or future projects in economically distressed areas. In certain areas of the state, lack of adequate sewer and water services has led to sewage runoff, septic tank overflow, and public health problems. The Economically Distressed Areas Program (EDAP) provides financial assistance to these areas to supply water and improve water quality. This proposition would allow additional funding – through general obligation bonds administered by the TWDB – to EDAP without straining our state’s existing revenue sources. Further, a reliable, sustained funding source for the EDAP incentivizes economic development, investment, and job growth in underserved communities.
Reminders
The mobile office is on the road this month and looks forward to seeing you on the following dates, in the following locations: August 28th at the San Augustine County Courthouse in San Augustine from 9:00-11:00am.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if we can help you in any way. Our District office may be reached at (936) 634-2762, or you can call my Capitol office at (512) 463-0508.
