Starting Strong

The 80^th Session of the Texas Legislature has begun! In the House, members elected Tom Craddick as Speaker. Having now served under Lt. Governors Bullock, Perry, Ratliff and Dewhurst, I can tell you it is always tough to go through leadership changes.

I congratulate my friend State Representative Norma Chavez for her work in making sure that our community has a strong voice for our medical school in the Texas House.

In the Senate, we elected my friend Senator Mario Gallegos (on tour below in our Austin office) as President Pro Tem. During this session, five new Texas Senators start their careers in the Senate, including my good friends Carlos Uresti and Kirk Watson. Carlos was a State Representative from South San Antonio for ten years, rising to chair the House Health and Human Services Committee. He now represents one the largest Senate Districts in the US that stretches from San Antonio all the way to the outskirts of the City of Socorro. Kirk Watson served as one of Austin’s best mayors ever and recently ran statewide for Attorney General of Texas.

Both the City and County have crafted strong agendas, so now we must work together as a community to move issues and initiatives to reality. The Medical School and Ft. Bliss will be our top local priorities.

At the state level, we are committed to restoring CHIP and TEXAS Grant Funding and to fighting the extreme measures that some members have filed against immigrants.

Next week, both the Governor and Lt. Governor will be inaugurated, and soon we will have Committee assignments for all our delegation.

The 80^th should be an exciting session---one of the best ever for El Paso. Representing you in Austin is a real honor (and lots of fun!)

Keep the faith,

Tu Senador 

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