This week both Governor Greg Abbott and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht addressed the Legislature during the State of the State and State of the Judiciary, respectively.

Governor Abbott delivered his biennial State of the State address in the Texas House Chamber to members of the Texas House and Senate, along with officials from the state executive and judiciary branches. Flanked by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Governor Abbott outlined emergency legislative priorities such as reforming the byzantine and dysfunctional school finance system, boosting teacher pay raises, and providing meaningful property tax relief for Texas homeowners and small business owners.

Also included at the top of the governor’s priority list are partnering with our local school districts and law enforcement agencies to ensure that our students and teachers are safe, assisting our cities, councils, and tribal communities restore from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, and helping our fellow citizens heal from behavioral and mental health challenges. By designating these and the aforementioned policy areas as emergency items, the Texas Constitution allows lawmakers to tackle these pressing issues sooner than the mandated constitutional limit that prevents the Legislature from passing bills within the first 60 days of the session.

I wholeheartedly agree with Governor Abbott in his mission to target education funding. We must do better. According to the Governor, “only 40 percent of third-graders are reading at grade level by the end of their third-grade year…and less than 40 percent of students who take the ACT or SAT are prepared for college.” “[F]or where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Academic achievement is like any other human endeavor. You value what you prioritize. The greatness and prosperity of Texas depends on how we develop and nurture our children intellectually, physically, and spiritually, and at least intellectual development requires a first class education.

On the property tax reform front, leaders from both the Texas House and Senate laid out identical property tax reform bills that would help lift the burden of skyrocketing property taxes. I previously explained these proposals in my weekly legislative update.

In terms of school safety, Governor Abbott praised a bill filed by Senator Jane Nelson that would create a broad-based mental health consortium. By supporting improved mental health services for students, as well as rewarding the best teachers and hardening our schools against mass shootings, Governor Abbott has set the tone for the coming session. Chief Justice Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court also addressed the Legislature. On Wednesday, he delivered his State of the Judiciary address highlighting the major issues facing Texas’ courts.

Chief Justice Hecht called on the Legislature to reform a system he called “among the very worst methods of judicial selection.” In our state, judicial seats are determined by partisan elections. In a political atmosphere as harsh and partisan as ours, judicial elections result in more political judges. Judicial independence weakens in the process. Simply put, straight-ticket voting fuels a system wherein inexperienced judges ride the coattails of candidates higher up on the ballot.

The Chief Justice also brought up Texas’ bail system. He claims that our bail system encourages the wrongful detainment of the justice-involved simply because they are too poor to pay bond amounts for their release from jail before trial. I look forward to seeing the reform that Senator John Whitmire and Representative Andrew Murr will introduce to address this issue. Obviously, jailing the accused who pose no risk to the public because they are indigent is already unconstitutional and very costly for city and county property taxpayers, who provide the revenue for their local jails.

This week I had the opportunity to preside over the Correction Committee’s first organizational hearing for the session. The committee heard testimony from criminal justice agencies responsible for ensuring community safety.

I am incredibly thankful for Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ) Chairman Dale Wainwright for attending our hearing and providing us with the knowledge of his authority over our state’s criminal justice system. The board has direct and independent oversight over the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), which provides confinement, supervision, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the state’s justice-involved population. Additionally, the board has general oversight over the hiring of the superintendent of the Windham School District (WSD). During his testimony, Chairman Wainwright did a remarkable introduction of our agency directors and staff.

Bryan Collier, the Executive Director of TDCJ, provided an extensive and thorough update on the operations, facilities, and programs of the state’s corrections system. Another critical aspect of TDCJ is community supervision or probation. One goal of our criminal justice system is to punish the wrongdoer that threatens our life, liberty, and property. We also focus on restoring the victim. However, we must also ensure that we effectively rehabilitate the justice-involved individual, because one day in the future, a vast majority of the incarcerated justice-involved population will return to free society.

Former Corrections Chairman, Jerry Madden, also testified and gave the members his perspective not only on the work that will need to get done now but the impact many of the items that went through the committee in past have had in our state’s current criminal justice system. I am honored to have served as a member of the Corrections committee under the outstanding leadership of Chairman Madden. His advice is valued always and I consider him to be a remarkable friend.

In addition, the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) provided an overview of the fiscal state of our corrections system. Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) Chairman David Gutierrez, testified on the current state of the agencies operations. I was very pleased that Chairman Gutierrez is focused on the concerns of victims and victims’ families, along with the concerns of our local officials in the criminal justice system. Dr. Clint Carpenter, the superintendent of WSD, gave the Committee an overview of the educational curriculum and programing the district provides at TDCJ facilities. Marsha McLane with the Texas Civil Commitment Office (TCCO) provided insight into their current charges and upcoming programming for civilly committed sex offenders. Due to overreaching interference by federal courts, Texas is required to release certain sex offenders into our communities. Despite this, the Legislature created the TCCO in order to provide optimum supervision and rehabilitation. Lastly, Jack Choate provided insight into the workings of the Special Prosecution Unit. The hearing was a very productive conversation with these outstanding agencies and I look forward to continuing to review and improve our criminal justice system.

I was thrilled to see many school teachers in our State Capitol over the week. Silsbee Independent School District Board Member Jim de Garavilla came to my office to discuss the importance of our state’s public education system and the critical needs it faces both in terms of funding and providing teachers the necessary tools to address the needs our children need to prosper. Dr. Kathryn Washington, Goodrich Elementary principal, came by along with a few other teachers from the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association. Dr. Washington is a high-energy, high-powered Texas educator and strong campus leader. I enjoyed listening to her insight on student-focused school safety. I am extremely honored to listen to these women and the challenges and expectations they have of our Texas public education system. She also gifted me a remarkable piece of art that students at Goodrich ISD put together that showcased their emotional state when Hurricane Harvey devastated their community. These young students experienced unparalleled trauma. I would like to thank Dr. Washington for allowing the students to have an outlet for their emotions and thoughts.

We had three outstanding public servants in town representing the people of Southeast Texas. Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette, Tyler County Commissioner Stevan Sturrock, and Polk County Tax Assessor-Collector Leslie Burks. I always enjoy meeting with them to address the needs of our local constituents and it was truly a pleasure to have them visit me during the legislative session.

Members of the Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, Jasper-Newton Electric Cooperative, and the Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative also came to my office to discuss the services they provide to residents in our districts. My staff and I always enjoy working with these folks and appreciate working with them to ensure that they provide the best service at a reasonable cost.

CASA of the Pines and CASA of the Sabine Neches brought by some of our strongest advocates for Texas children. I am proud to have earned the prestigious CASA “Big Voice for Little Texans” award and am always eager to work with CASA advocates in Southeast Texas. I have worked with Vicki Spriggs, CEO of CASA, for many years and am looking forward to passing meaningful reform that addresses the most critical needs of our most vulnerable children.

The Capitol of Texas belongs to you and visiting the Capitol during the biennial legislative session is a great experience. To assist in arranging your visit please call Saul Mendoza, my Chief of Staff, at (512) 463-0490. Or, you can email him at saul.mendoza@house.texas.gov.

With only 140 days in a regular legislative session in Texas, time is precious. This week, we pass the 40-day mark leaving less than 100 days to complete our business for the 28 million plus citizens who are blessed to call themselves Texans. Though each session is always a marathon, the first few weeks seem like a sprint, as lawmakers familiarize themselves with new committees, members, and issues. That said, with the amount of work we have ahead of us, the adjustment period is over and it’s full steam ahead.

With that, here’s an update from your State Capitol. . .

Meetings, hearings, and East Texans at the Capitol: This week, I met with Governor Abbott for an in-depth discussion about reforming our broken school finance system and providing much needed relief to skyrocketing property taxes across the state. We had a very productive discussion, and both agreed that these issues should be at the forefront of the work we do this session. While the devil is always in the details, I’m encouraged by the conversations that are taking place. It’s refreshing to hear the bipartisan support for improving our public schools and enacting reforms to our existing property tax system.

The House Committee on Public Education was hard at work this week, spending more time in the hearing room than any other committee in the Legislature. We heard testimony from various experts and superintendents from across the state about the distinct challenges that face the 1,000+ different school districts across Texas. I was delighted to have one of the Superintendents from House District 57 – Lacy Freeman of Buffalo ISD – come before the committee to share his unique perspective on what the state can do to promote greater equity in funding and academic success statewide.

The highlight of my week though was getting to see so many constituents make their way to our State Capitol. I had the pleasure of meeting with teachers, students, nurses, business owners, ranchers, and industry representatives from every corner of House District 57. It always warms my heart to see folks from back home come to Austin to advocate for the issues they’re passionate about. As I’ve always said, the best way for me to know that I’m representing my district is to have constituents call or come by my office to voice their opinion. I’m hopeful that I will get to see many more familiar faces over the coming weeks and months.

Reminders: The mobile office is on the road this month and looks forward to seeing you on the following dates, in the following locations: February 20th at the Houston County Courthouse Annex in Crockett from 9:00-11:00am, or at the Trinity County Courthouse in Groveton from 1:30-3:30pm; and finally, on February 27th, at the San Augustine County Courthouse in San Augustine from 9:00- 11:00am.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if we can help you in any way. Our district office may be reached at (936) 634-2762, or you can call my Capitol office at (512) 463-0508.

A weekly column from Sen. Robert Nichols

After four weeks of hearing from every agency in the State, the Senate Finance Committee has finished the first step towards finalizing the state’s budget. We will now move into workgroups to work out the details.

Here are five things happening at your Capitol this week:

1. Rural Broadband: Beyond using it to shop online or watch Netflix, high speed internet has become an essential for everyday life and for businesses; from sales and ordering supplies, to logistics, medical recording, training and educational materials. There are large areas of rural Texas that do not have access to high speed internet or even cell phone coverage, many of them within Senate District 3. I have filed SB 14, which would help increase access to broadband internet for rural areas in Texas. This would be done through the help of Texas Electric Cooperatives (Co-Ops). These CoOps are member-owned non-profits, which have over 300,000 miles of distribution lines throughout rural Texas. By utilizing their existing electricity infrastructure, they would be able to deploy broadband to the members they serve and meet their need for high speed internet.

2. Sunset Bills: I wanted to update you on the continuation of the Sunset process. After about a year of review and hearings, the Sunset Advisory Commission makes recommendations which are incorporated into legislation for each agency. These pieces of legislation will continue through the Senate and House, like all other bills. As a member of the Sunset Advisory Commission, I will be filing bills for several agencies including the Texas Medical Board, Texas Real Estate Commission, Texas Finance Commission, and the Behavioral Health Executive Commission, which includes Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Professional Counselors and Social Workers. As these bills continue through the legislative process, I encourage you to take part and come to the Capitol to testify on these or any other bills when they are heard in committee. My five cents… A weekly column from Sen. Robert Nichols by Sen. Robert Nichols, Senate District 3

3. Property Tax Relief: Last week, I told you about the Senate Property Tax Committee hearing SB 2. This week it was passed out of committee on a 4-0 vote. This bill would prevent local entities, such as cities and counties from raising their property taxes more than 2.5 percent, without voter approval. Cities and counties can currently collect an additional eight percent in revenues without an election. With the provisions of this bill, if voters do not approve an increase, the entity would be forced to set a tax rate that only allows it to collect revenues from existing properties which are less than 2.5 percent over the previous year. This bill will now head to the Senate floor in the coming weeks. A similar bill has also been filed in the House.

4. Parents and Vaccinations: Texas is one of 18 states which allows parents to opt out of vaccinating their children because of philosophical or religious beliefs. There has long been many discussions and debates on both sides of this issue. Currently law requires a parent, who wants to find out how many students are vaccinated in their child’s school, to file an open records request. Senator Kel Seliger has filed SB 329, which would give parents the ability to obtain information on the immunization rate from their school districts, without an open records request. School districts would have to identify, by vaccine type, the number of students who do not have up-todate vaccinations, the number with medical and nonmedical exemptions, and those who have been admitted with pending immunization documents. The state health department would also have to produce a biennial report on the number of outbreaks in the State of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization rates. In addition, the Texas Education Agency would be required to produce an annual report on the immunization status of students for each school district and campus.

5. Nobel Prize Winner: This week, the Senate recognized Dr. James Allison, a world-renowned pioneer of cancer immunotherapy, on winning the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Dr. Allison is the Chair of the Department of Immunology, and the executive director of the Immunotherapy Platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was honored for his discovery of cancer therapies that stimulate the immune system to attack tumor cells. These treatments have extended the lives of thousands of people with advanced disease. The drugs he has helped to develop have been approved to treat melanoma, lung cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and cancers of the kidney, bladder, liver and stomach.