ALSO: Appropriations Committee News from Austin
By State Rep. Raul Torres
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Last week the Chairman of the Redistricting Committee Burt Solomons released the states initial redistricting maps deciding where the district lines will be drawn and set for the next 10 years. I want to be very clear about two things:
- There are many steps in the redistricting process. The release of the initial map is only the first step.
- Where the lines are drawn carries huge economic political educational and even medical consequences to every citizen in Texas.
This is why this issue is such a big deal this year.
According to the initial map released for Nueces County I am very disappointed to hear that the Coastal Bend may end up losing one state representative. One less representative means less representation in Austin and this cannot be good for the area.
In the initial map that was released last week Rep. Connie Scott and I are scheduled to be in the same district area and Rep. Todd Hunter is in the other district.
Nevertheless our Coastal Bend delegation which includes Todd Hunter Connie Scott and I are committed to work together through this difficult and long legal process until the final maps are decided up either by the Legislator Redistricting Board the Department of Justice or the federal courts.
I want to personally thank the Redistricting Committee staff and Chairman Rep. Burt Solomons for all their hard work and patience in dealing with all 150 of the legislators during this very critical process.
If you have any concerns or questions about the issue of redistricting please call our Capitol office at 512-463-0483.
News from Austin
Appropriations Committee Update
During our meeting on Monday we voted on six bills that either generated additional revenues reduced spending or moved money from other funds into General Revenue account. We are scheduled to meet again this Thursday to vote on more pieces of legislation.
Insurance Committee Update
Last week we heard testimony on 27 bills. We are scheduled to vote out of committee many of last weeks bills.
House Floor Update
This week is expected to see a lot of smaller non controversial bills. Next week we should see the Sanctuary City bill and the introduction of the Redistricting bill. These two will light up the House with fireworks.
All committee meetings can be either viewed on live streaming video or they are archived. To watch one of our meetings log on to:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/video-audio/
Update on Torres Legislation
Economic Development: We have finished presenting all of our three Economic Development bills and are now just waiting for them to be released to the House floor by the Calendars Committee headed by Todd Hunter.
Elections: We are waiting for the Calendars Committee to release our bill out to the House floor for debate.
Insurance: On Tuesday I am scheduled present the public adjuster bill. This is our last piece of legislation for this session. This bill establishes a set standard for the amount of fees that industry can charge the public when they provide insurance adjusting services. This will ensure that the public will not be taken advantage of by these service providers.
Government Reform: Last Thursday I presented HB 3149 which is a government reform bill that if approved by the Legislature will mandate the setting up of a pilot program that will implement new management methodology based on the Lean Six Sigma training program. This program has been found to be very effective at eliminating unnecessary financial waste and improvement the delivery of government services. For example the City of Irving Texas saved $20 million in two years after they had implemented the principles found in Lean Six Sigma.
