Dear friend:
It’s hard to believe but another legislative session is fast approaching⎯the 84th Texas Legislature convenes just after the holidays, on Jan. 13, 2015.
Prior to each legislative session, lawmakers are permitted to “prefile” bills from the first Monday after the general election to opening day in January.
So in the first week after the Nov. 4 general elections, I filed 16 bills that promote investment in education, equality, worker’s rights, and protections for survivors of sexual assault. I also filed bills to allow our regional universities, UTEP and Texas Tech, to construct much-needed buildings. And I filed a bill to make communities safer by making clear that police officers’ job at a crime scene is to protect victims and witnesses, not inquire as to their nationality. As sheriffs and police chiefs have testified, this is a public safety measure that makes it more likely that people who have vital information will cooperate with law enforcement investigations.
I am in the process of filing, or soon will file, additional bills to make health care more accessible and to reform the criminal justice system, among other issues.
You can review my filed bills by clicking on this link.
Of the ones already filed, I’d like to highlight two bills that are key for El Paso schools: Senate Bill 159, which maintains our cutting edge dual-language education programs, and Senate Bill 161, which ensures the state invests in students who start with a language other than English, who are crucial to Texas’ long-term economic future.
Language proficiency=opportunity for Texas
Demographic changes in our country require a different approach when educating large numbers of children who are not proficient in English. These children, who will make up our future labor force, will be either limited in English proficiency or will be proficient in two or more languages. We have the opportunity to choose which one will serve us better.
S.B. 161 boosts the state funding formula for English Language Learners (ELL). Experts recommend an additional 30 to 40 percent in funding for students in bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. However, today’s state funding formula, which hasn’t been updated since 1984, only adds 10 percent. S.B. 161 raises that to 25 percent.
According to the Texas Education Agency’s March enrollment report, English Language Learners (ELL) make up 15 percent of the Texas student body, which is higher than the national average of about 10 percent. In communities along the border, the number is nearly 30 percent. These percentages will only continue to increase. This poses a challenge for Texas, and an opportunity. Numerous studies show not only the cognitive, social and health benefits of being bilingual, but the economic benefit as well.
S.B. 159 is a technical-sounding item, but it illustrates perfectly the importance of legislative detail.
Dual language programs typically immerse students in instruction that is half in one language and half in the other. In the type of dual language programs prevalent at the El Paso Independent School District and many others around the state, the teacher of the English-language component of the program is certified in English as a Second Language (ESL) but typically not certified in Bilingual Education.
Due to changes made by TEA when two parts of the Education Code were combined several years ago, teachers in the English-language component of the dual-language program are now required to be bilingually certified. This requires El Paso ISD and other school districts across the state to apply for an exception every year.
S.B. 159 would remove this unnecessary barrier and expand effective Dual Language programs throughout the state, which will benefit thousands of students and hundreds of teachers.
Higher Education
In order to support our two universities, UTEP and TTUHSC-El Paso, I filed S.B. 162 and S.B. 163.
S.B. 163 allows the University of Texas System to issue tuition revenue bonds in the amount of $110 million to construct a 250,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research facility on campus.
S.B. 162 allows the Texas Tech System to issue tuition revenue bonds in the amount of $115.92 million to construct Medical Science and Clinical Science buildings.
I filed a similar bills last session, but TRB legislation that included the requests failed when the House and Senate could not agree on bond amounts. Passage of these bills remains a top priority for the institutions and our community.
Additionally …
I also filed five bills that protect employees from retaliation if they file wage claims and ensure better working conditions and injury coverage. If passed, these bills would not only protect employees but level the playing field so that good employers are not penalized by unfair competition from unscrupulous employers.
Texas is one of the most dangerous places in the nation for workers in construction, and unfortunately, too many of those workers also have a hard time collecting owed wages. These bills go a long way toward ensuring better treatment for workers. In a state that values hard work as we do, this is something that all Texans should embrace.
For freedom
The same holds true of marriage equality. Texas is a state that values freedom; protecting the constitutional rights of all people to pursue life, liberty, and happiness should appeal to our state’s citizens.
However, some unfortunately hold on to notions that rationalize suppressing the rights of others — in this case, the right to make a legally-recognized commitment to the one you love.
This issue is of great importance, so I once again filed legislation that would allow voters to repeal the same-sex marriage ban in the Texas Constitution. Last session, the bill was S.J.R. 29; this session, it’s S.J.R. 13. Identical legislation was also filed in the House: H.J.R. 34 by Representative Garnet Coleman, who has filed the bill every session since the ban was put in place.
Texas is now only one of 18 states that deny legalized same sex marriage to its residents. This not only shows the rest of the country that we remain mired in our history of inequality, it sends the message that our leadership would rather listen to the voice of intolerance than provide many of its residents the dignity and respect that they deserve.
The time to change that is now.
You can follow the progress of these and all the bills I file by checking the state’s bill tracking system.
I encourage you to do so, and to contact my office with your thoughts on these proposals. In my first session, I passed 41 bills; and in the 2013 session, my second, I passed 50 bills and two concurrent resolutions. In each of these cases, I relied on stakeholders, experts, and concerned citizens like you to help guide the concepts and review the details.
That is also true of the bills filed for this session, particularly the ELL funding and dual-language certification.
Our democracy requires engagement, from voting to staying in touch with the actions of elected officials. Please call my office at 915.351.3500 and let me know what you think!
Sincerely,
