With another school year upon us, I want to recognize the hard work, dedication, and passion of our dedicated teachers and support staff who work tirelessly to enrich, educate, and inspire our next generation. I hope you’ll join me in supporting and encouraging our educators, and praying for a safe and successful school year.
With that, here’s an update from your State Capitol…
Capitol Update
The past two weeks have been challenging in Austin. As many of you have likely heard, work in the House has come to a halt due to a number of my colleagues breaking quorum and fleeing Texas over a potential congressional redistricting map.
While I certainly understand and encourage ideological differences in the legislative process, I believe Texans deserve more than to have vital legislation, whether it be flood planning and relief, further property tax relief, or eliminating the STAAR test, indefinitely stalled just to make a point.
I commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have shown up and devoted their time and energy to the First-Called Special Session, and who share our commitment to delivering the results for the people of Texas.
That being said, I want to highlight two pieces of legislation I introduced last week to deliver flood relief to our neighbors in the Hill Country and protect groundwater in East Texas.
First, I filed House Bill 289 last week to expand the number of counties eligible for the Rural Infrastructure Disaster Recovery Program. As you may recall, I established the Program during the Regular Session to provide relief to rural communities following natural disasters. The Program provides grants to communities to replace and repair critical infrastructure damaged during disasters.
Additionally, I filed House Bill 290 last week, which amends the Texas Water Code to prevent groundwater conservation districts from issuing permits that exceed the state’s Modeled Available Groundwater (MAG) figures. This would ensure that groundwater permits do not surpass the levels deemed sustainable for an aquifer’s long-term health and future supply.
I filed this bill in direct response to the egregious groundwater production permits submitted to the Neches and Trinity Valley Groundwater Conservation District by Conservation Equity Management Partners. As you may recall, these applications would enable the extraction of over 15 billion gallons of water annually from the Carrizo and Wilcox aquifers, which would threaten the long-term viability of our groundwater supply.
I am proud to have filed these bills and will file them again in the upcoming Second Called Special Session..
The mobile office is still on the road again in August, and our District Director looks forward to seeing you on August 20 at the Houston County Courthouse Annex in Crockett from 9:30-11:30 am, or at the Trinity County Courthouse in Groveton from 1:30-3:30 pm.
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 and my Capitol office may be reached at (512) 463-0508. 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/.
