This legislative proved to be a session where much was accomplished, although we left some unfinished business to complete. I am extremely proud of my accomplishments this session. I worked hard to make the lives of District 146 residents better, and will continue to do so.
This session I successfully passed 5 Bills into law, in a range of areas from increasing access to healthcare to making sure industrial companies are not getting extra-undeserved tax credits to protecting our citizens from "homeless" sex offenders to making sure there is continued funding for crime victims so that they can recover in the aftermath of a crime.
Here is a brief snapshot of the bills I authored that were successful into passage:
HB 2154 by Rep Al Edwards
This historic piece of legislation provides significant loan repayment assistance to Primary Care Physicians who agree to practice in underserved and needy areas. In fact areas of District 146, such as the Central Care Community Health Center, are designated as underserved areas, which is why I fought so strongly for this legislation. This bill will help Community Health Centers attract doctors to serve, thereby leading to better health care for the most needy residents of our area.
This bill gets its funding source from changing the method of taxation on chewing tobacco, which will generate the state an additional $105 million over the next two years. What makes this piece of legislation even more important is that the extra funds in excess of loan repayment program are going to provide the much needed and heralded Franchise Tax Exemption for small businesses up to $1 million.
The importance of this bill is hard to underestimate. This bill provides a boost to healthcare and businesses in this state, directly impacting our citizens in two of the most critical areas of our lives.
HB 3206 by Rep Al Edwards
This successful bill establishes a framework for industrial companies to apply for and receive pollution control equipment tax credits on a fair and equitable basis. The bill sets up a TCEQ regulator-driven formal application process to ensure that evaluation methods for the tax credit applications is based on the actual pollution control usage of the equipment in question. This will stop industrial companies for receiving tax breaks on equipment that is used to make profits and not control pollution, which has been costing our school districts, counties, and even homeowners by not requiring these companies to pay their fair share.
HB 2153 by Rep Al Edwards
Another key piece of legislation, I passed HB 2153 to help protect our children from the horrors of sex offenders. This bill closes a loophole in the sex offender registration laws which previously did not allow for the tracking of sex offenders who claimed to be "homeless". Our police had no way to know where these sex offenders were. With the passage of this bill, a sex offender who claims to be "homeless" would be required to physically check-in to law enforcement authorities where they are located at least once every 30 days and give a description of the location or area in which they are staying. This new piece of legislation will significantly help law enforcement to protect citizens from sex offenders.
SB 1377 authored by Senator Harris, sponsored by Rep Al Edwards
I sponsored this successful piece of legislation which is designed to ensure that the Crime Victims Compensation Fund remains a solvent source of funds to provide victims of crime financial assistance to help get their lives back in order. This bill provides a mechanism so that 50% of year-end balance funds greater than $5 million which accumulate in the Crime Victims Compensation Auxiliary Fund are automatically directed to the main Crime Victims Compensation Fund. This great bill will ensure that payments to victims for costs incurred as a result of a crime committed such as medical bills or counseling are available to be made. In recent years the Crime Victims Compensation Fund had been in danger of insolvency, with this bill's passage in the future this will no longer be the case.
More important legislation I helped pass:
SB 1206- authored by Senator Hinojosa, sponsored by Rep Al Edwards I also sponsored this necessary piece of legislation to reduce the delays for the processing of parole for incarcerated persons. This bill only affects inmates who had been granted parole contingent upon completion of a rehabilitation program. Offenders were completing all their necessary programs and requirements needed to be released, however they were doing so earlier than their estimated completion date. The delays in releasing these offenders for parole limited bed capacity and causing a back log in the system producing further unnecessary expenses. The bill, as passed, allows a range of dates to release these offenders only once they've completed their approved rehabilitation program, in a range of time which is 15 to 45 days prior to the established target completion date. This streamlining process will help save the state $13.5 million over the next two years.Unfortunately, this bill was vetoed by Governor Perry even though it passed both chambers of the legislature with overwhelming support.
In addition, I also helped pass another bill SB 1206 which would have ensured that would have eliminated parole process delays for worthy incarcerated inmates who had fulfilled all their required duties and programs as outlined by the Board of Pardons & Paroles but are unable to be released because they finished the required rehab or treatment program a little earlier than expected.
This is snapshot of some of the important bills I passed this legislative session. I will provide more updates of other important legislation that passed this session in order to keep my readers informed.
For more information, please feel free to contact my office at 512.463.0518.
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