On the Senator’s desk....
Senate Bill 547, which Senator Eliot Shapleigh opposed, passed the Senate this week and will prevent 75,000 El Pasoans from being eligible to vote in all elections involving the management and supervision of the El Paso County Water Improvement District. "All El Paso should know what's behind this bill,” Shapleigh said. “Three families and their lawyers have run the water district for 26 years. The District controls half of all our water. Last year, the Board had real contested elections for the first time ever. So their response is to eliminate 75,000 people from voter rolls, and intimidate the remaining few with an inspection and registration at headquarters.”

Chamber echoes...
The Senate passed SB 851 to create a financial literacy pilot program in schools around the state. Residents in Texas face incredible financial hardship as a result of excessive credit card debt, bankruptcy, and an inability to make sound financial decisions about credit and savings matters. Young adults are particularly in need of the financial knowledge and sophistication that is necessary to make sound financial decisions. In fact, some statistics show that more people under the age of 25 are filing for bankruptcy than graduating from college. Incorporating basic financial literacy, personal finance and personal credit, and savings and investment components into the basic foundation that a student in Texas masters before graduating high school will help equip that young person to become a contributing member of Texas' economy.

Among those who visited Austin this week ...
On Wednesday on the Senator floor was El Pasoan Menandro Parazo, a survivor of the Bataan Death March and a part of a group of veterans being honored by the Senate. “I rise to honor a constituent of mine,” Senator Eliot Shapleigh said. Then he spoke about how Menandro was captured, escaped, captured again and tortured. “It is an honor to have you here on the Senate Floor.”
Other El Pasoans who were in Austin this week, were Armida Patino, Sofia Moreno and Annie M. Payton of Project Bravo; and Conrad P. Ramirez of the AARP, and Maria Higgis ont he TPTA.

In Committee this week...
The Senate Education committee is still taking testimony and finalizing its version of HB 2, the school finance bill. The Senate this week unveiled a version of the bill, but is still working on it. The House version of the bill is not good for El Paso and does not provide an equity education for all of the children in Texas.

Upcoming News...
Senator Eliot Shapleigh’s SB 852, which will regulate the use of “Push Polls,” was heard in the State Affairs committee on Thursday and is expected to be voted out on Monday. Push Polls are political tools used by candidates to pose a set of questions that are used to stigmatize or say negative things about another candidate during a telephone survey. Shapleigh’s bill treats push polls like advertisements and requires the caller to disclose who commissioned the poll and callers must have approval from a candidate for the poll.