News

Dear Friends, 

On Monday, May 31^st the 87^th Legislative Session came to a close. 1,159 bills made it to Governor Abbott’s desk for review.  The Governor has until June 20^th to sign or veto this legislation. 

Texas is a rarity in that our Legislature meets for 140 days every odd year.  Given that we are the second largest state and the ninth largest economy in the world it’s getting more and more difficult to complete our work in that short 140 day timeframe.  Because of this the governor must often call additional 30 day special sessions.  I have attended 13 special sessions so far during my time in office. I expect at least one special session to be called by Governor Abbott this summer and another in the early fall. 

As you can imagine, COVID-19 and Winter Storm Uri further stressed the 140 day session this year.  Nonetheless, there were many, many accomplishments for Texans to be proud of that I will be detailing for you over the coming weeks.  For example, we saw huge victories in defense of the unborn and religious liberty, in securing 2^nd amendment rights, advancing healthcare, codifying state government spending limits, electricity reform and business liability protection just to name a few.  However, it is not lost on me that several priority bills did not make it across the finish line. I look forward to completing that important work in the soon coming special sessions. 

Unlike the 140 day regular session, in a special the governor alone gets to set the agenda by limiting what topics can be taken up.  I will be urging Governor Abbott to not just address election integrity and bail reform as he has already noted but to add other key priorities to the call like prohibiting gender modification of children, which I believe to be child abuse.  I’ll also request one of my priority bills, SB 14, that died when the Democrats walked out, breaking the constitutional quorum on the last day of session.  SB 14 is a top priority for small business owners throughout the state. 

I want to be mindful of your time.  So, for the next several weeks, I will be sending you short summaries every few days detailing the key legislation passed this year.  As always, I really appreciate hearing from you and I am eager to listen.  Your calls and emails during session were a tremendous help.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone again in Parker and Wise counties before special session starts.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can ever be of assistance. 

 Sincerely,

This week, we passed some of the strongest, most conservative pieces of legislation in Texas history.

Election Integrity

On Thursday night, the Texas House debated the election integrity priority bill, SB 7, until 3:00 a.m in the morning.  After a marathon debate with over 17 hours straight on the floor, it was finally passed on Friday, marking a huge victory for Republicans.  This bill will now convene a conference committee for both chambers to resolve any differences.

I know many of you have called to express your concerns over the security and validity of the 2020 election.  That’s why I co-authored this benchmark bill, and fought off any attempts by democrats to weaken the bill or include any loopholes.  I can confidently say this bill will go a long way in increasing transparency in our voting process and ensuring that voters can have confidence when casting their ballot.

Voting is our greatest privilege and most powerful tool we have.  It is fundamental to  healthy democracy.  SB 7 is for all Texans.  It creates consistency, produces reliability, and restores trust.
Here are a few key provisions in this bill:

• Prohibits public officials from unauthorized altering or waiving of an election procedure or practice.
• Ensures that voter registration is legitimate and accurate by requiring a list of deceased voters to be sent to the appropriate authority within 7 days of being created.
• Requires elections to be conducted in a consistent manner throughout the entire state.
• Makes certain that poll watchers are able to properly observe the activity or procedure for which they have jurisdiction and verifies that poll watchers will not disrupt the delivery of marked ballots.
• Updates the oath of assistance to protect voters who are unable to write or see due to a physical disability from being improperly swayed by an election assistant, and provides that falsifying the oath of assistance amounts to perjury.
• Provides additional protection to voting by mail by adding a section for voting assistants to attest that they do not receive compensation in return for assisting a voter with their ballot.
• Prevents election fraud by prohibiting voting in more than one state, the alteration of a ballot, and vote trafficking.
• Prohibits local governments from spending tax dollars to solicit or distribute applications to vote by mail.
• Prioritizes cases involving election integrity and ensures these fraud cases are free from potential judicial bias by randomly assigning the cases to a court.
• Prohibits poll watchers from harassing voters and prevents poll watchers from being removed without cause.

Historic Pro-Life Victories

Not only did we make great strides in securing our elections, but we also made monumental changes to protect life.  

SB 8 is the Texas Heartbeat Bill which bans abortion after a baby’s heartbeat has been detected.  Currently, abortions may be performed in Texas up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy.  With a fetal heartbeat potentially detected at six weeks of pregnancy, this marks a major advancement in the prohibition timeline.  Passing this bill is a huge step forward to saving lives and abolishing abortion here in Texas.

HB 1280 is the Trigger Bill that was also passed this week.  It sets the stage for Texas to institute a prohibition on abortions upon the U.S. Supreme Court overturning its Roe v. Wade decision.  The bill states that 30-days after the courts overturn the landmark case, Texas will immediately institute a ban on the practice of abortions.  The ban will limit the procedure to being performed by licensed medical professionals, and only in times of medical emergency or necessity to save the mother’s life.  This bill is another crucial step Texas has taken and is reflective of our deep commitment to valuing life above all else.  

How to Protest your Appraisal

I know many of you just received your appraisal in the mail and have questions or are shocked by a very high increase in your appraisal.  I’d continue to encourage you to protest your appraisal.  If you are interested in learning more on how to do this, visit the appraisal district website for Parker County HERE or Wise County HERE.  There will be step by step instructions with a protest form to complete.  I also found this document Property Taxpayer Rights & Remedies helpful for what you need to know when protesting an appraisal.  

Property Tax Relief Legislation Advances to Senate 

 In an effort to reduce the property tax burden, I authored HB 3833.  Yesterday, this bill became the only property tax cut bill to be passed on the floor this session.  HB 3833 standardizes and extends the same 3 year reduced rollback tax penalty we did for open space land and timber land to all other properties that can get penalized when a change of use occurs.  In addition to that, we completely eliminated any interest from being charge in connection with a rollback tax.  This was a huge victory for landowners.   

The cost of the rollback tax is a strong deterrent for landowners to try and find the best use for their land.  It should be the landowner’s decision for what is best use of their property and it should be their decision without a penalty.  I look forward to one day completely getting rid of this excessive tax burden all together.  

Texans need and deserve tax cuts. No one should be taxed out of their home.  We will continue to look for meaningful ways to reduce this burden.  

Protecting Oil & Gas Interests

I am proud to report that on Tuesday the House passed SB 13, a bill that I carried, that will ensure Texas does not give business to financial institutions that are actively trying to harm Texas oil & gas companies.  Over the past few years, in the name of extreme environmentalism, some financial institutions have announced their intention to divest from and financially harm companies in the oil and gas sector.  This is a direct affront to the lifeblood of the Texas economy and has made it much more difficult for Texas oil and gas companies to secure financing, thus harming many hard-working Texans. 

SB 13, a bill that Senator Brian Birdwell and I authored together, will ensure that Texas does not give it’s business to firms who are complicit in harming the Texas miracle.  Next stop, Governor Abbott’s desk!

And in case you missed it, here’s an interview I did earlier this week on the bill.

Priority Legislation

Two of my priority bills that I filed this session have passed the Texas House and are now over in the Senate.

HB 2283

Did you know that Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, poured over $350 million into the 2020 election cycle to help conduct the elections? Turns out this money was being largely funneled to urban and mostly democratic stronghold counties with essentially no transparency or accountability. Some rural jurisdictions did apply and received funding but their allotment was pennies compared to the urban jurisdictions. Dallas county received $15 million and Harris county received $9.6 million. Our elections must be fair and equal across the board and avoid any appearance of undue influence from a third party. That’s why I filed HB 2283 to prohibit private money to local election offices.

This bill is a huge victory in ensuring election integrity by preventing corporations or dark money from donating millions to our local elections. HB 2283 ensures that our elections are fairly funded, free of “ZuckBucks”, and remain a transparent and equitable process moving forward. I am proud to be the author of this very important bill, and grateful to my colleagues in the Texas Legislature for supporting it. To read more about it, click HERE.

HB 323

This bills creates a grant program to provide financial assistance to law enforcement agencies in Texas to become accredited. Accreditation will help professionalize the industry, streamline communication between the local community and officers, and ensure the highest standard of excellence in law enforcement.

Having been a police officer for almost 15 years and a reserve office for another 20+ years, I know the importance and value of having trusted, highly skilled workers in law enforcement. I authored this bill so law enforcement agencies in Texas have the funding, incentive, and tools necessary to become the leading example for all other agencies in the nation to follow. It’s time we invest in our law enforcement not defund them and ensure they become recognized for their exceptional work and service they provide.

An Additional $11.2 Billion in Federal Funds for Texas Schools Announced

On Wednesday, Governor Abbott announced that the state would release $11.2 billion in federal funding to public schools through grants administered by the TEA. With the release of these funds, schools will be able to address key losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds will go a long way in alleviating any learning loss from the past year and make sure that every child gets the support they need. I am extremely committed to our public schools and ensuring that Texas students teachers, and families have the tools and resources they need to succeed.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The following day after the announcement several of our superintendents from Region 11 were at the capitol to visit with legislators and we discussed what a difference these additional funds are going to make as well as other legislative priorities for public schools.

It is always great to get to see and spend quality time with community leaders such as our superintendents at the capitol during session. In attendance were Aledo ISD, Millsap ISD, Azle ISD and Boyd ISD represented from HD 61 at the capitol.

More 2nd Amendment Priority Legislation Passes Texas House

Two weeks ago the Texas House passed HB 1927, the permit-less carry bill. The Senate held a hearing on it and it is one step closer to being signed by the Governor. This past week, we passed HB 2622, that makes Texas a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State. I supported this legislation to make sure that Texans are able to defend themselves and exercise their right to keep and bear arms.

29 Days of the 87th Legislative Session Remain

We are now in the last month of session. This next few weeks are going to be very long and arduous. We still have many priority issues to address. Now that the budget has passed both chambers and we are in conference committee working out the differences, we will start to see the very political bills hit the floor. We will likely have some very difficult and very partisan arguments in the coming weeks on issues like ending abortion, fairness in women’s sports, critical race theory, election integrity and ending taxpayer funded lobbying.

This is the time of session when emotions are high, there is a lot of pressure to get things done and we are all operating off very little sleep. I ask that you keep me and my office in your prayers. This is very serious and important work that you elected me to do and it is also the most trying time of the session. Pray for all of us to stay healthy, that I make the right choices for the district, to have patience and treat others the way we want to be treated.

As always, I really appreciate hearing from you and am eager to listen. Your calls and emails to the office are a tremendous help as I am often reviewing and voting on hundreds of measures just in one day. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can ever be of assistance.

Health Care Reform Passes the Texas House 

We have made large strides for Texans on the path to health care reform.  Two key pieces of health care reform policy that will help Texans have more options to access care and reduce the cost of prescriptions for Texans in need have passed the Texas House.  Last session we banned surprise medical billing and this session we are building upon that success by pushing for more transparency in medical billing, more affordable plans and expanding access to care.    
 HB 18, more widely known as the Texas Cares Act, helps uninsured and underinsured Texans by lowering the cost of prescription medicines through a self-supported fund. This self-sustaining fund would be restored by annual rebates, which come from the use of existing market tools.

HB 4 ensures that Texans have the option to receive health care services through telemedicine and tele-health services.

First Meal Delivery: Tarrant Area Food Bank West in Parker County  

Yesterday I was honored to participate in the first-ever distribution of food to moms and their families with the Governor of the Day, Senator Brian Birdwell at the new Tarrant Area Food Bank West Distribution Center located in Weatherford.  We were also joined by Senator Drew Springer, Congressman Roger Williams, Mayor Paul Paschall and Mayor Marc Povero.  

Vote on Budget Amendment

I’ve been asked why I voted as I did on an amendment to the budget that came before the Texas House Thursday night. We have taken a number of important votes this week on very critical topics that range from taxes to schools to transportation to health care. But what is generating the most questions at home is one of private school funding.

The question of taxpayer funding of private schools or “school choice” came up in a roundabout way during the 250+ amendments considered yesterday as we debated the appropriations (budget) bill. I have been asked why I voted a “yes” on an amendment that said, in essence, that no taxpayer funds in this budget would be spent on private school funding.

Given the circumstances my “yes” vote was the correct vote. The budget did fully fund the only school choice program in Texas which is our charter schools, which I support. There is no other private school funding program in Texas. No bill to create a taxpayer funded school choice program—beyond that of charter schools —will be created this year. My larger concern is that we fully met our funding commitment to public schools when we have an almost $1 billion dollar deficit. At the end of the day, ALL members of the Texas House voted “yes” on the appropriations bill which included the amendment I supported.

Further Reductions in Clawback Tax

Last session we were able to significantly reduce a substantial penalty on landowners when they decide to change the use of his or her open space land from agricultural uses to something else.  A “rollback tax” or what I would refer to as a clawback tax is imposed where a landowner must pay local taxing entities 5 year clawback on the market value of the property as if it never held an agricultural exemption plus 7 percent compounded interest.  We reduced that to 3 year clawback with 5 percent compounded interest.           

This clawback tax substantially hinders your property rights and there is simply no justification for this excessive penalty that prevents properties from advancing to their highest and best use. This session I filed HB 3833 that harmonizes the clawback for other types of land that also incur the clawback tax when a change of use occurs.  HB 3833 was voted out of the Ways & Means committee with unanimous consent and is heading to the House floor.  It applies to airport property, restricted use timber land and recreational, park or scenic use land.  My goal is to over time completely eliminate the rollback tax on all types of land that incur this excessive penalty.       

Appraisals and Tax Rates

Many of you have called our office to share your frustrations about your recent appraisal.  I completely understand and share your frustrations. I appealed our home and business appraisal last year and I encourage you to do the same if it is high.  Property tax bills are skyrocketing and the state is looking for ways to provide relief.  But I will remind you, the state Legislature is limited in what we can do because only local authorities can levy property taxes.    Appraisals are to be a reflection of the true market value of a property and our counties are growing very fast.  The demand is very high in our area and our supply is not keeping up with the demand so we are seeing the market value of homes increase significantly.

Last session we implemented SB 2 which limits property tax growth by setting a 3.5% cap in property tax revenue over the previous year.  We sought to clarify the property tax process and provide taxpayers more opportunities to get engaged to ensure their voices were heard in the process local elected officials follow to set tax rates which determine property tax bills.  So what is critical now is what tax rates are set at the school, city and county level.  Just because your appraisal has increased doesn’t mean the taxes you will pay should increase and that is what SB 2 is trying to ensure is limited.  Because jurisdictions are now capped on how much they can grow their revenue, jurisdictions may be in a position to reduce their tax rates providing relief to homeowners while still maintaining the same level of revenue.  Just because the appraisals are growing doesn’t mean the tax collections should continue to increase.   

We do still need additional reforms on appraisals process and making sure true market value is assessed and applied equally around the state.  The number one call I still get is how homeowners are being taxed out of owning their homes.  Much of the property taxes you are paying is school district taxes.  The state and local share of funding our schools has been a difficult balance to strike with no perfect solution.  I have filed bills over the years to completely eliminate school property taxes which is such an unfair regressive tax and swap with a consumption based tax like sales tax.    

If you have more questions about your appraisal or wish to protest your appraisal, visit the appraisal district website for Parker County HERE or Wise County HERE.  

As always, I really appreciate hearing from you and am eager to listen.  Your calls and emails to the office are a tremendous help as I am often reviewing and voting on hundreds of measures just in one day.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can ever be of assistance.  

People are always surprised to learn how much work goes into being a legislator.  This is my reading and study material just for yesterday.  This week I will be presenting five of my bills in committee, three of my bills on the House floor as well as a number of floor amendments.  

Parker County Day at the Texas State Capitol 

We had a great event in Austin hosted by East Parker County Chamber of Commerce, Weatherford Chamber of Commerce and Springtown Chamber of Commerce.  We conducted a private night tour of the capitol and had an in depth legislative discussion.  Often issues that on their face seem so simple are actually very complex once you learn all the details.  The local delegation had many productive meetings with various legislative offices.  It was so great to see everyone and have friends and local elected officials come visit and see the legislative session in action. 

HB 1115 is Heard and Passed Out of Committee 

I laid out a bill to rename a portion of Hwy 114 in Bridgeport as the Sergeant Randy D White Memorial Highway to honor his life and service to the citizens of Bridgeport.  Sergeant White was killed in the line of duty and his end of watch was on April 2, 2009.  He had served 5 years with the Bridgeport PD and was a loving husband and father and a courageous officer.  The committee not only heard the bill but also voted it out of committee the same day (which is very unusual) with all members of the committee standing as they cast their vote as a sign of respect and gratitude.   I was joined by Chief Steve Stanford and Sergeant White’s widow Janet and daughter Jadyn.  

Constitutional Carry Advances to the Senate 

This week I was proud to cast my vote for House Bill 1927, the Constitutional Carry bill I co-authored to ensure our Second Amendment Freedoms. The day featured more than 7 hours of debate, and I was honored to work with gun rights organizations to help ensure passage. The bill – a top conservative priority for this session – was voted out of the Texas House, taking us one step closer to becoming the 21st state to allow permitless carry.

Budget to be Heard on House Floor 

On Thursday, April 22nd, the Texas House will debate the draft budget, SB 1.  Unlike in Washington, the Texas Legislature passes balanced budgets using four Constitutional limits on spending and growth.  This keeps our spending in check every two years.  Last year, Texas was expected to have up to a $5 billion budget shortfall in response to the pandemic.  But based on the Biennial Revenue Estimate released in January, the real number is closer to $1 billion.  Below is a summary of the base budget bill we will be debating on the House floor this Thursday.

Texas Responds to Border Crisis

The Biden administration has failed on every level to secure our border. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary admitted that apprehensions could reach levels not seen in almost 20 years. This is a rapidly growing humanitarian crisis at our border that must be addressed. With a surge of migrants, influx of COVID-19 cases, and a rising threat of drug cartels and human trafficking, Texas is stepping up (once again due to lack of federal support) to take care of our residents and the unaccompanied minors who are at severe risk of being trafficked and endangered.

Efforts to address this crisis are well underway. Texas has currently deployed over 1,000 DPS troopers, agents, and Texas Rangers as part of Operation Lone Star to help secure the border, combat human trafficking, and protect Texans. We are augmenting with tactical resources from Special Operations Groups and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle teams.  Texas has also received authorization for National Guard to establish operations along the river.  The Texas Department of Public Safety is also conducting interviews with unaccompanied minors coming into our country to identify instances of trafficking and acquire intelligence that will lead to the arrest of these heinous criminals.

We are also investigating the conditions at facilities where the migrant children are being sent to ensure they have access to safe drinking water and a suitable living environment. In addition, the Texas Department of State Health Services has been deployed to investigate and prevent the spread of COVID-19 at these migrant facilities.

In total, we have appropriated $800.6 million in Texas for border security funding to be utilized in the current biennium.  We have also added 250 new Troopers and provided over $22 million in additional funds to fight human trafficking and anti-gang activities, improve and install border cameras, and establish a new tactical training facility in Cameron County.  

While it’s clear the Biden administration has shown egregious inaction and inability to secure our border, Texas is taking tangible and substantive steps to fill the gaps and accomplish what our federal government cannot. I want you to know, we are 100% committed to keeping our citizens safe, and our families cared for. We will defend Texas from this growing threat.  And we will deploy any necessary resources to help secure the border although it is a federal responsibility.  

This Week in the Texas Legislature 

We celebrated World Down Syndrome Day at the Texas Capitol by wearing brightly colored, mismatched socks.  Traditionally it is celebrated on March 21 because people with Down syndrome have 3 copies of their 21st chromosome.   

When session adjourned my colleagues and I went to visit with Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Three of my priority bills were heard in committee this week.  One that was implementing tools for transmission and distribution utilities to help restore power in the event of widespread power outage.  The other two were law enforcement related and Chief Steve Stanford from Bridgeport PD and Sheriff Lane Akin of Wise county joined me to provide expert testimony. 

I also had a great visit in my capitol office this week with Aledo ISD Superintendent Susan Bohn to discuss upcoming education issues the legislature will be addressing.  I always enjoy my visits with constituents and leaders from the district and appreciate hearing from you through emails and phone calls to the office.  

The House Committee on State Affairs met for over 20 hours starting Thursday morning at 8:00 am and ending around 5:00 am on Friday.  Topics for discussion included disallowing local jurisdictions to defund police and a statewide preemption bill to ban homeless camping in public places.  We also heard several religious liberties bills where local jurisdictions cannot prohibit worship service at churches during a disaster.  Bills were heard to require transparency and reporting of registered lobbyists and to end taxpayer funded lobbying.  Other committees this week heard bills on police reform and 2nd Amendment rights like constitutional carry.  To date, committees in the House have heard over 580 bills.  Many have been passed out and are heading to the House floor to be debated.  

Next week the House will be hearing on the floor several emergency electricity bills that came as a result of Winter Storm Uri.  I also have three more bills that I will be laying out in committees that include other priorities such as defining antisemitism and creating a commission to combat and educate on this issue and legislation that requires divestment in public funds of companies that boycott the energy industry.  

I am sharing with you today priority legislation with statewide impact that I have authored this session.  This list is not exhaustive – I have filed several other bills including ones brought to me by local leaders.  For now, I would like to outline the most critical measures with statewide significance that I am working on.  There are many other very important and pressing issues facing Texans that the legislature will be addressing, including measures that I support like the SREC Legislative Priorities.  It truly is the tyranny of the urgent.  We are working through concrete solutions on electricity issues, election integrity, religious liberties, pro-life measures, appraisal reform, limiting government overreach, police reform, budget, school finance, border security, redistricting and so many other prominent issues of equal importance.   

HCR 14 – Claiming Texas sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution
This concurrent resolution reasserts the balance of power between the federal government and Texas.  Regardless of who is in control, reaffirming the 10^th amendment sends a clear message that Texans’ rights shall not be infringed upon.  A limited, decentralized federal government has always been the intent of our founders and Texans hold the absolute authority. 

HB 2283 – Election Integrity: Fair Funding of Elections
This legislation will stop the unregulated private funding of county elections offices.  All elections would be funded only by taxpayer money through a fair and transparent process.  During the 2020 general election, a $250 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg was given to the Center for Tech and Civil Life which then dispersed the Zuckerbucks to county level elections offices for “COVID resources & protocols.”  For example, $10,000,000.00 was given to Harris County and $15.000,000.00 to Dallas County where they were used without adequate public oversight.  This is a very slippery slope and threatens election integrity.   

HB 323 – Investing in Law Enforcement: LEA Accreditation Grant Program
Investing in our law enforcement agencies by offering a grant program to facilitate professional accreditation.  Accrediting programs raise the bar in all aspects of law enforcement including recruitment, training, supervision, mission capabilities and community relations. Accreditation will help Texas law enforcement achieve the highest standards of excellence. 

HB 796 – Protecting 2^nd Amendment: Critical Reforms to Texas’ Self-Defense Law – McCloskey Act
Addresses a conflict between terms used in Texas’ justified defense and aggravated assault statues and adds the offense of arson to those violent crimes where Castle Doctrine style protections would apply when force or deadly force is used.  Most recently, we have seen cases like the McCloskey family in St. Louis where merely exhibiting (not discharging) a weapon in self-defense have been charged with a second-degree felony.  Although I hope this would never happen in Texas, this clarification in statute is critical. 

HB 1848 – Delaying the Primary Election in 2022
With Census data not expected to be delivered to states until September 30, 2021, we will have a very short timeframe to redistrict political district boundaries and ensure one person/one vote per the 14^th Amendment.  This bill allows the Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker to agree to delay the primary election no later than July 1, 2022 to ensure the Legislature has time to redraw Congressional, Texas House, Senate and SBOE maps. 

HB 2189 – Oil & Gas Investment Protection
Environmental activists are increasingly pressuring corporations to take action on political issues instead of prioritizing fiduciary responsibility. This legislation will ensure taxpayer dollars (public retirement funds, etc.) are not invested in entities with anti-Texan agendas that discriminate against theTexas energy industry killing jobs and deterring energy independence.  

HB 2843 –Restoring Service after Widespread Outage
Widespread electricity outages can have significant impact on constituents.  Recent hurricanes and winter storm events have shown the need for a transmission and distribution utility to have additional tools to avoid or reduce the duration or impact of such outages.  The potential for physical or cybersecurity threats also establishes this need.  This legislation provides new resources to transmission and distribution utilities with which to restore service after widespread outages. 

HB 2949 – ProLife: Opt-In Written Consent for Elective Abortion by Medical Resident
One of the most tragic things happening today and mostly unknown to the general public is in the training of new physicians in their residency program requirement to perform an elective abortion.  Currently, we are in an “opt out” method culture where you have to complete this abortion training unless you choose to opt out.  This legislation will take Texas back to “opt in” method where no one is expected or pressured to complete this training unless they choose to participate in abortion procedures.  

HB 3257 – Texas Commission on Antisemitism
American Jews face a higher percentage of attacks and hate crimes than any other faith group in the country according to the Department of Justice.  This legislation adopts the international definition of antisemitism and it’s examples.  Additionally, it establishes a Commission to study and identify educational opportunities to combat and reduce antisemitism. 

HB 3471 – Ban Sale of Personal Data from Certain State Agencies
Governmental entities are selling, disclosing, and allowing resale of Texans personal information.  That information can include name, address and driver’s license numbers along with vehicle registration and title information.  This legislation restricts the disclosure of personal information to essential government agencies and forbids the redisclosure or resale to marketing and technology companies. 

HB 4466 – Distortion of Market caused by Intermittent Generation Resources 
Because wind is so heavily subsidized by the federal government, renewable energy can be sold on the grid at zero or sometimes even negative prices.  This creates a disincentive in the market for any additional thermal generation, which is the most reliable energy, to be built.  Over the years, ERCOT has needed to purchase more ancillary services (back up reserve power) because wind and solar productivity is intermittent and dependent on weather.  The costs of the ancillary services are shared across the grid (aka consumers).  This legislation would attribute cost of the reserve power required to back up intermittent generation to those generation resources. 
To read more about what bills I have filed, joint authored or co-authored, click HERE.  

I really appreciate hearing from you and am eager to listen.  Your calls and emails to the office are a tremendous help as I am often reviewing and voting on hundreds of measures just in one day.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can ever be of assistance.  

Power Closer to Full Restoration

Power has been restored to another 2 million homes across Texas. There are still hundreds of thousands to go. We know now that around 185 generation units tripped offline and today we still have 36,000 MW offline – 14,600 MW wind and solar and 21,400 MW thermal (nuclear, coal and natural gas).

At this time, if you are still without power it is possible that power lines are down or the provider needs to manually reconnect to get you power. Please contact your provider if you suspect this is the case. Every truck available for repairs should be dispatched working to fix any lines that remain down around the state.

More items have now been added to the Texas Legislature’s emergency agenda including mandatory winterization of power generators and systems. As I wrote yesterday this was a major cause of the failures this week. An estimated one-half the electric generation capacity went offline because plants and related facilities weren’t properly winterized.

Over the coming weeks as we investigate we will identify all of the causes, issue findings and propose solutions. Everyone wants to know who to blame. Please understand, there is not going to be a single person or agency bearing all the fault.

Much fault will be found at the regulatory levels of ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission. Some companies within the electric power industry will have failed. And there will be blame to lay at the feet of the Texas Legislature where I serve. The important thing is to correct this where it will never happen again. I commit to you that we will get this done.

Survey of Statewide Damage

At the request of Texas Division of Emergency Management, emergency managers across the state of Texas have been asked to collect damage assessment data for this unprecedented winter storm. The state will use the data they collect to attempt to open up disaster relief to citizens.

I encourage you to take the time to fill this out and share with friends and family. There is a request in to the federal government asking for a major disaster declaration. If this is granted, this will allow individuals to apply for assistance with FEMA to restore damage to homes if it is not covered by insurance.

If you have experienced damage, please click on the link below:
https://arcg.is/uOrOb

The attached QR Code will also take you to the link.

Insurance Tips Following Winter Storms

• Call your insurance company ASAP
• Document damage with lists, photo’s, etc.
• Take steps to further prevent damage
• Keep receipts of all related expenses
• Be ready for questions about damages
• Keep notes of conversations about your claim
• Ask if advance payment is required
• Ask if alternate living expenses are covered
• Try to be there when adjuster comes
• Save proof that you paid your deductible
• For more information and how to make sure to avoid fraud visit Texas Department of Insurance HERE.

Water Bills & Other Needs

I know many of you have expressed concerns over possible large water bills from this winter storm due to dripping faucets, leaks or busted pipes. I have talked to many of our local water providers and they have indicated they will be working with customers. Please be on the look out for more information.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to our office. We will try to assist in any way we can. There are a lot of local resources available if you are in need of food, water or any other critical provision at this time.

I am very proud of our local community for stepping up in this crisis. There are countless stories where our first responders, chambers, emergency managers, churches and local officials have risen up to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our citizens, friends and neighbors.

I hope you are safe and thawing out now. I’m nervous over a few of our yet frozen pipes and I am sure you are too. I know our well house has a large block of ice protruding from the booster pump! Not a good sign.

I know this has created dire situations for many of our residents and rest assured we will get to the truth and never let this happen again. I know for me this has been a reminder to be thankful for the many things I so often take for granted. We live in such a great time and place that we forget what a blessing it is to have simple things like heat in the cold and electricity and water in abundance.

Please pray for our State. Please pray for help for everyone with damaged homes and businesses. Pray especially for those who are most vulnerable and unable to easily recover.

Join me tomorrow morning on the Mark Davis show, 660 AM, at 8:35 am to talk about these blackouts.

Friends,

I wish I had better news to deliver but I fear we will not be back to normal power for a few more days. The hardships that Texans are enduring is completely unacceptable. Without a doubt, this crisis should have and could have been averted. The good news is when this does end, and it WILL, changes can and will be made to prevent large scale cold weather blackouts like this from occurring again.

More generation is coming online every few hours and we are getting closer to a more stable environment with scheduled outages but we aren’t there yet. Some improvements have already been made like Governor Abbott’s executive order requiring distributors selling natural gas to sell to Texas power generators and not send supply out of state so more generation can return online.

Texas’ electric power industry does a very good job preparing for and responding to other natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes. Texas actually has more natural disasters than any other state. But winter storms are a different matter.

Texas had a smaller but similar cold weather crisis in 2011. Then about 8,000 megawatts of power was lost and forced offline.(And we thought that was a crisis!) This time we lost about 45,000 megawatts which is over half of the total power available in Texas’ ERCOT power grid. Once these power plants shut down it created a cascade of secondary failures across the grid.
(ERCOT is the quasi-government organization that has, along with the Public Utility Commission, oversight of the generation, transmission and delivery of electricity.)

After the 2011 winter storm outage, the Legislature held hearings, passed legislation and we were assured the winterization problem was corrected. This wouldn’t happen again. Well, it’s Wednesday and power has been out at millions of homes since Sunday evening.

I sit on the Texas House State Affairs Committee and we will begin investigative hearings on this next week. I anticipate many days of hearings and workgroups. But when all the layers are peeled back, I suspect we will find three primary causes for the statewide blackouts:

1) Some power plants failed to winterize their water intake system thus shutting down the plant.
2) Other natural gas fired power plants failed to make sure they’d have sufficient natural gas available as fuel or their supplier was unable to deliver the fuel with the weather conditions. And,
3) There was unreasonable reliance on wind powered turbines and solar generation (that don’t perform reliably in cold/icing conditions or limited sun).

The frustrating thing is that these problems were not unforeseeable. In fact, much of this was revealed in 2011!

Most of the blame will lay with failed oversight by ERCOT and some also with the Public Utility Commission. We will no doubt find serious management deficiencies at ERCOT. But we may also find ERCOT and the PUC lack sufficient regulatory or enforcement authority. Winterization standards will have to be codified and strictly enforced. It will be the Legislature’s responsibility to make sure this type of cascade failure never happens again.

Please join me on the Mark Davis show, 660 AM, at 8:35 Friday morning to talk about these blackouts.

WARMING CENTERS

Wise County warming center is open at the Decatur Civic Center at 2010 W Business 380 Decatur.  For more information click HERE.  

Parker County

Hudson Oaks Site is now closed. 
Willow Park Christ Chapel in Willow Park Upper Level: 3906 IH-20 East Service Road Access Willow Park 76087. PETS IN CRATES ONLY. Hours of operation for this center are all day today thru 8AM Wednesday morning and a decision will be made to extend operations as needed. 
Weatherford WISD 9th Grade Center 1007 South Main Weatherford, TX 76086. Hours of operation for this center are NOON today thru 8AM Wednesday morning and a decision will be made to extend operations as needed. 
Azle The Church at Azle 1801 South Stewart Street Azle, TX 76020. PETS IN CRATES ONLY. Hours of operation for this center are NOON today thru 8AM Wednesday morning and a decision will be made to extend operations as needed. 
Springtown The First Baptist Church Springtown 500 N Main St, Springtown, TX 76082 Hours of operation for this center are all day today thru 8AM Thursday morning and a decision will be made to extend operations as needed. 
Springtown The Hilltop Church Springtown 1227 Old Cottondale Rd, Springtown, TX 76082. No Pets. Hours of operation for this center are all day today thru 8AM Thursday morning and a decision will be made to extend operations as needed.