I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July weekend. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to attend festivities in the district and to spend time with family and friends. I was honored to speak at the City of Richardson celebration along with Congressman Pete Sessions and Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel. The 4th of July is a time to be grateful to those who sacrificed their lives and freedom, so that I might have mine.

I have truly enjoyed spending time at home in the district. Although the regular legislative session came to an end June 1st, it has been a very busy month. I have met with constituents and updated various groups on the accomplishments of the 81st Legislature. I had the opportunity to speak at the Richardson Chamber of Commerce as well as the Optimist Club of Richardson. I was pleased to attend the Richland College Garland Campus dedication ceremony and the Achievement Center of Texas ceremony honoring the service of Roger C. Jahnel.

If you have any questions or concerns or would like for me to provide a legislative update to your organization, please let me know.

Roundtables

During the month of June I held a session of my quarterly constituent roundtables and held an Advisory Committee meeting. These roundtables are made up of constituents divided into different subject areas to discuss opinions, provide expertise, and address concerns about various issues with me and my staff. I divided up June’s roundtables between two Thursdays. On June 18, I joined constituents for my business, multicultural, public safety, immigration, and education roundtables, and on the 25th, I held my energy, transportation, senior citizens, water & natural resources, women’s business, and health & human services roundtables. If you are interested in participating in these roundtables or if you have a specific topic or problem you would like us to work on, please let me know.

Fiscal Responsibility

One of the promises I made to you when I came to Austin was to keep a close eye on government spending and the use of your tax dollars. I am pleased to say that Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has awarded me with the 2009 Taxpayers' Advocate Award.

During the 81st legislative session, I authored HB 1530 which moved the licensing and regulation of health-related pest control to the Department of Agriculture. According to Richard Briley, Managing Director of Health for the City of Garland, "The city was able to trim licensing costs because of Representative Button’s and Senator Deuell’s hard work on HB 1530. Garland is just one of hundreds of municipalities, counties and districts that are able to reduce tax payer expenses because of the agency change this bill will bring about." Last week, Richard Briley, Jason Chesser, and Steve Killen joined Senator Deuell, Governor Perry, and me for a bill signing ceremony for HB 1530.

Special Session

Governor Perry called Texas legislators back to Austin to address three specific issues: (1) the authorization and appropriation of Proposition 12 transportation bonds and creation of the Texas Transportation Revolving Fund; (2) the Sunset scheduling bill; and (3) the extension of certain specific comprehensive development agreements (CDA) to build roads. The special session began on Wednesday July 1st.

HB 1 was filed to address the first issue. Proposition 12 transportation bonds were an initiative previously passed by the legislature and approved by you, the voters. This bill simply provided the funding for the pre-approved initiative. Because of HB 1, many Texans who are hard at work building and improving the roads in our state will remain employed and some of your transportation needs will be addressed. Although the governor included the creation of the Texas Transportation Revolving fund in the call, this initiative was ultimately removed from the bill because I, along with several of my colleagues in the House, expressed concerns over the lack of oversight that would exist in the administration of these funds. It is your money and I believe you have a right to know how it is spent. After the amendments to the bill were approved by the House, HB 1 unanimously passed.

HB 2 was filed to address the Sunset review process and to change the schedule under which state agencies will be reviewed in the future. This bill passed without a hitch and will provide a workable schedule and appropriate timetable so these agencies can be properly examined.

Although HB 3 was filed to address the extension of certain comprehensive development agreements (public/private) to build roads, this bill did not pass. Both the Senate and the House had issues with this piece of legislation and transportation committee members never brought it to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.

I am honored to serve you in the Texas House of Representatives. Please express your views on any issue that is important to you and I assure you, I will take your views and the views of every constituent in District 112 into consideration.