This past week, as expected, Speaker Straus released the House Committee assignments. I am extremely grateful to have been reappointed to both the House Appropriations and Naturals Resources Committees, along with my new position as a member of the House Administration Committee. Serving on these committees gives me the best opportunity to protect and promote the interests of our district and rural Texas. Additionally, I was honored to be handed a key leadership role as the Vice-Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which will enable me to have an even bigger hand in protecting East Texas water and private property rights. 
While committee assignments were the highlight of the week, there were several other noteworthy happenings this week at your State Capitol...

Visitors
I can’t tell you how excited I am to continue having folks from across our district come by to visit their Capitol office. This week I had the pleasure of meeting with a number of constituents including a Grapeland family who came out to learn about, and participate in, the legislative process. Not only did mom and dad express an interest in state government, but the kids came prepared as well, with ideas for legislation in-hand. I was thoroughly impressed with this group, and hope that many more of you will be able to come out before the end of this session. 
I also had a positive and productive meeting with a number of our elected county officials. We discussed some of the major issues for the rural areas of our state, including: funding for our county roads; ensuring that our rural counties have access to the critical resources needed to service mental health patients; and how we can best protect local government control.

Pre-K Priority
There is growing, bipartisan momentum to improve early childhood education in Texas. Parents, teachers and administrators in our district have all expressed to me the need for reforms in our state’s pre-kindergarten approach. This is an issue that Governor Abbott has mentioned as a priority for this session. Already, legislation has been filed that promotes state incentive funding for full-day pre-k classes, and other proposals are expected to come before the bill filing deadline. Research has proven that early childhood education is key to the academic development and success of our schoolchildren.

Mobile Office
Our District Director, Linda Parker, began operating her mobile office last week. On February 18, she will be at the Houston County Courthouse from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and that afternoon at the Trinity County Courthouse from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. She will end the month at the San Augustine County Courthouse on February 25th from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.


As always, my staff and I are available during the week at (936) 634-2762 or (512) 463-0508. Please do not hesitate to call if we can ever be of assistance, and remember that our door is always open.