From Representative Ken Paxton
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas This week Speaker Joe Strauss announced the new committee assignments for members of the Texas House of Representatives. As the presiding officer of the Texas State House of Representatives the Speaker exercises a number of important powers including the power to appoint all House committee chairs and vice chairs appoint all members of the House procedural committees (Calendars House Administration etc.) and appoint members to the various substantive committees (Transportation Health etc.).
Per the latest assignments I have been assigned to the County Affairs Committee. This committee has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the following:
- Counties including their organization creation boundaries government and finance and the compensation and duties of their officers and employees;
- Establishing districts for the election of governing bodies of counties;
- Regional councils of governments;
- Multicounty boards or commissions;
- Relationships or contracts between counties and other units of local government; and
- The Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Additionally I will serve on the Urban Affairs Committee. The Urban Affairs Committee has jurisdiction over cities municipalities and town corporations including their creation organization powers government finance and the compensation and duties of their officers and employees.
I am looking forward to serving as Collin Countys representative on these two committees. Furthermore I am excited to work with my colleagues to provide local governments more flexibility to meet their citizens needs without raising taxes. Local governments suffer as a result of unfunded mandates and serving on this committee will provide me an opportunity to evaluate our current laws and remove some of the existing burdens on our local governments to provide them with more autonomy and flexibility.
For more information on committees and their members please visit
http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees.
