As January comes to a close, I’d like to point out that this past month was School Board Recognition Month. As a former school board member, I have a deep appreciation for the critical role our school boards play in shaping our state’s future by providing direction and leadership for our state’s 1,000 plus school districts. I hope you’ll take time to thank your local school board trustees for their dedicated service. With that said, here’s an update on what’s happening in Austin . . .
Meetings and Engagements
The Texas Association of Counties recently had their annual legislative day at the Capitol, and I had the pleasure of meeting with various county commissioners and judges from across our legislative district to discuss their priorities for this session. Locally elected county officials play such an instrumental role in the communities they serve, and having the opportunity to hear directly from them, is both extremely informative and helpful. I want to thank all of our local elected officials, as well as the many constituents who made it down to Austin, for participating in such an important event.
This past week I served as a panelist at The Conservative Roundtable of Texas Policy Summit to discuss health and education in our state. The discussion that took place was very productive and I was grateful for the opportunity to engage with a number of my colleagues, as well as attendees, about the importance of prioritizing education and healthcare reforms this session.
I also met with Dr. Bryan Shaw, Chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and representatives from the Texas Forestry Association, to talk about an issue of critical importance to East Texas and the entire state – prescribed burning. This group will be working closely with TCEQ to improve the agency’s proposed rules on this topic before they are finalized in a few weeks. While we hope a legislative remedy is not needed, I have a bill drafted and ready to go should the final rules not reflect what I believe are reasonable and common sense requested changes.
Reminders
The mobile office is back on the road in February and looks forward to seeing you around the district! Here’s this month’s schedule: February 1st from 9am – 11am at the Leon County Courthouse in Centerville or from 1:30pm – 3:30pm at the Madison County Courthouse Annex in Madisonville. You can also visit us on February 15th from 9am – 11am at the Houston County Courthouse Annex in Crockett or from 1:30pm – 3:30pm at the Trinity County Courthouse in Groveton. Finally, you can come see us on February 22nd from 9am – 11am at the San Augustine County Courthouse in San Augustine. As always, please do not hesitate to contact my office if we can help you in any way. My district office may be reached at (936) 634-2762, or you can call my Capitol office at (512) 463-0508.
