The Texas House is firing on all cylinders. As we approach the last five weeks of the 89th Legislative Session, the House is considering bills Monday through Friday, with workdays on Saturdays and Sundays on the horizon. This week alone, the House took up over 200 bills for consideration. With crunch time upon us and the end of session sight, I’m laser-focused on delivering the results you sent me to Austin to accomplish, and I’ll work tirelessly from now until June 2nd to do just that.
With that, here’s an update from your State Capitol…
Capitol Update
This past week, the House passed a package of bills that focus on helping rural Texas.
HB 18 identifies, develops, and implements program and services to help rural counties retain their hospitals by establishing the State Office of Rural Hospital Finance, the Texas Rural Hospital Officers Academy, the Financial Stabilization Grant Program, the Emergency Hardship Grant Program, the Innovation Grant Program, and the Rural Hospital Support Grant Program.
Additionally, HB 18 dedicates over $90 million in state and federal funds to implement the provisions of the bill and provide much-needed relief to our rural healthcare systems. I am very grateful for Chairman Gary VanDeaver’s leadership on this bill and am proud to serve as a joint author of this critically important piece of legislation that will improve access to healthcare throughout rural Texas.
The House also passed House Bill 43, which delivers critical updates to the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority (TAFA), offering much-needed relief to farmers and ranchers facing persistent economic and environmental challenges. The bill removes outdated age restrictions for key financial programs, allowing all producers – not just those under 46 – to access interest rate reductions and grant support. HB 43 also boosts the Young Farmer Grant Program by increasing the maximum amount of the grant from $20,000 to $500,000 and slashing the matching requirement from 100% to 10%.
These changes come at a time when Texas agriculture is reeling from consecutive years of natural disasters and soaring input costs. With over $14 billion in losses since 2022 alone, HB 43 will modernize the financial tools available to our ag community and ensure production agriculture remains viable. I was proud to co-author this consequential piece of legislation that will bring much-needed relief to the hardworking farmers and ranchers across Texas.
Finally, I had the opportunity to present one of my own bills, House Bill 1507, before the House this week. House Bill 1507 seeks to provide an educational incentive for volunteer firefighters to help our rural volunteers recruit and retain more firefighters by providing a tuition exemption for active volunteer firefighters who are enrolled in fire science courses at any of our colleges and universities. I’m pleased to report this bill passed out of the House without a single no vote and is on its way to the Senate for consideration.
The mobile office is on the road again in May and looks forward to seeing you on the following dates, in the following locations: May 7 at the San Augustine County Courthouse from 9:30-11:30 am, May 14 at the Polk County Commissioner’s Court Room in Livingston from 9:30-11:30 am, or at the Tyler County Courthouse in Woodville from 1:30-3:30 pm; May 21 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. 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/.
