As we approach the 50-day mark of the 89th Legislative Session, legislators are putting the finishing touches on the bills they intend to file before bill filing deadline, and the hallways are bustling with visitors from across the state.
One of the highlights this week was welcoming the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe to Austin for their annual Legislative Day. It was so great to see so many warm faces from back home as the tribe graciously served the entire Capitol with great Texas barbecue.
It was also a special treat to see so many public school teachers and FFA students that were in town to celebrate National FFA Week. As a reminder, all of you are welcome at your Texas Capitol during the legislative session. Never forget that our beautiful Capitol belongs to every Texan, and if my office can help facilitate a visit, please don’t hesitate to contact either our Capitol or district office.
With that, here’s an update from your State Capitol …
The Texas House was hard at work this week as members of the House Appropriations Committee met multiple times to consider our state’s budget as it relates to higher education. The subcommittee heard testimony from the Texas Comptroller, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Water Development Board.
Each agency was given the opportunity to lay out its budget requests and answer any questions members of the committee may have. The committee will continue to hold similar hearings over the next several weeks as members work to finalize the House budget. Outside of the budget hearings, the workload around the Capitol is steadily increasing.
The Speaker of the Texas House recently unveiled four priority bills for this session. While these four bills are only a starting point, the Speaker will soon announce his complete list of priorities for the House. Two of these bills, House Bills 2 and 4, are critically important to our rural schools.
The first bill, HB 2, is a sweeping public education bill that expands teacher pay and retention incentives, increases the basic allotment for school funding, and expands pre-K access. HB 4 eliminates the STAAR test and reshapes Texas’s public school accountability framework. Additionally, the bill, while maintaining campus standards, implements long-term changes to our current school rating systems.
If you’ve been keeping up with my columns, you’re familiar with my passion for increasing services to the rural areas of our state. This week, I filed House Bill 3010, which will provide small rural counties and local governments with state assistance to repair critical infrastructure.
All too often in Deep East Texas, vital resources, such as roads and water treatment plants, are left in disrepair following an extreme weather event. Oftentimes, it can take weeks, months, or sometimes years to return those resources to working order due to a lack of resources. HB 3010 seeks to provide relief to our underserved folks in rural areas. I’m proud to work on this important policy initiative and will continue to prioritize legislative efforts that empower and serve rural Texans during this session.
The mobile office is on the road again and looks forward to seeing you on the following dates in the following locations: March 5 at the San Augustine County Courthouse from 9:30-11:30 a.m., March 12 at the Polk County Commissioners Courtroom in Livingston from 9:30-11:30 a.m. or at the Tyler County Courthouse in Woodville from 1:30-3:30 p.m., March 19 at the Houston County Courthouse Annex in Crockett from 9:30-11:30 a.m. or at the Trinity County Courthouse in Groveton from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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. Additionally, I welcome you to follow along on my official Facebook page, where I will post regular updates on what’s happening in your State Capitol and share information that could be useful to you and your family: https://www.facebook.com/RepTrentAshby/.
