Capitol Annex’s Press Room

[Press Release From State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville)]
Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. yesterday filed Senate Bill 1131 that would repeal tuition deregulation for higher education institutions in Texas and return control of setting tuition rates to the Legislature.

[Press Release from Congressman Nick Lampson (D-Stafford)]
Congressman Nick Lampson (D-Stafford) today offered an
amendment to legislation being considered by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which will provide much needed federal assistance to areas affected by
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The amendment offered by Congressman Lampson will ensure that Texas communities receive the same type of federal assistance […]

Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) filed HB 1256 which allows local law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants in city jails, fingerprint all minor offenders who do not have identification, and detain illegal immigrants who returned to the U.S. after deportation for criminal convictions or have defied previous deportation orders.

[Press Release from State Sen. Kevin Eltift (R-Tyler)]
Austin, Texas–Monday Senator Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, filed SB 742 which would repeal the authority of a gas utility to assess a surcharge for capital costs that many Texas customers have been paying.

[Press Release from State Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio)]
Today State Representative Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) filed legislation to encourage Texas school districts to use green building standards in the construction and renovation of schools. The bill, HB 1824, increases state aid to districts that meet guidelines established by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design […]

Press release here.

[Press Release from State Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston)]
(Austin)//Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) today passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 15, declaring February 20, 2007 as Vince Young Day at the Texas Capitol.

[Press Release from State Rep. Ellen Cohen (D-Houston)
(Austin) - Rep. Ellen Cohen urged lawmakers to put aside politics and work toward meaningful measures designed to combat sexual assault.  “Talking tough on crime is easy,” said Cohen, “but providing resources to local and state agencies should be our focus.”

[Press Release From Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.]
AUSTIN, TX— Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. joined his colleagues today in the Texas Senate as it suspended rules to meet
after they adjourned earlier in the day. Senate Resolution 384 passed with a majority vote.
Sen. Lucio thanked Sen. John Whitmire, author of SR 384, and other Senators for their leadership […]

[Press Release From State Rep. Solomon Ortiz, Jr. (D-Corpus Christi)]
State Representative Solomon Ortiz Jr. (D-Corpus Christi) announced today that he has filed HB 1957, which would require that all health insurance plans in Texas cover prenatal
care, labor and delivery.

[Press Release from Rep. Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen)]
State Representative Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen) has joint-authored the Texas Prevention First Act (HB 1842) which aims to reduce unplanned pregnancies and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Representative Gonzales stated HB 1842 will expand access to preventative health care services and education programs and save public health funds […]

[Press Release from State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio)
State Representative Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) voted for House Bill 2, which ensures that the public schools will receive the funding they were promised during the third Special Session in May.

Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) provided the following statement at the meeting of the Texas Southern University Advisory Council.

[Press Release from State Rep. Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen)]
AUSTIN– State Representative Veronica Gonzales D-McAllen joined her Democratic colleagues in unanimously voting for a constitutional amendment, (SJR 13) extending the tax cuts passed last year to include seniors and disabled persons. Though the amendment passed unanimously, it had been endangered last week when it was attached to […]

[Press Release from State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin)]
AUSTIN– Today State Representative Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) voted against the resolution to break the constitutional spending cap for the first time in Texas history.
SCR 20 allows the legislature to break the constitutional spending cap in order to pay for local school property tax cuts, however, with the passage […]

[Press Release from State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerville)]
Rep. Harvey Hilderbran’s bill which eliminates the cap on the sporting goods tax to fund state and local parks will go before the Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20.  The committee, which is led by Rep. Hilderbran (R-Kerrville), will hear testimony from […]

[Press Release From Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston)]
State Representative Sylvester Turner will appear before the Committee on Human Services today to lay out, HB 109, to return the Children’s Health Insurance Program back to it’s original design.

[Press Release from Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio)]
Representative Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) called for safer TASER use by filing H.B. 1535. H.B. 1535 will monitor, train and require registration for Texans who use TASERs.

Due to some technical difficulties, we’ve been forced to suspend posting new press releases until Wednesday afternoon. Thank you for your patience.

[Press Release From State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball)]
The House Committee on Jurisprudence unanimously approved a measure Wednesday that would deny parole to certain first-time sex offenders and put the death penalty in play for repeat offenders.

Here at Pressroom, we’re going to try something new this week. Instead of posting the complete press releases, we’re just going to post the first paragraph of the release and a link to a .pdf file of the releases. Every release we receive that isn’t a .pdf, we’ll turn into one. Let us know what […]

[Press Release from the Texas General Land Office]]
AUSTIN - On February 23, Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, will unveil a letter from the Land Office archives written more than 171 years ago. Patterson said the letter, written by a soldier fighting for independence from Mexico, is much like e-mail soldiers in […]

[Statement Of House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam (D-Waco)]
AUSTIN– State Representative Jim Dunnam issued the following statement today in response to the House of Representatives passing SCR 20, a resolution to exceed the state spending limit:

[Statement by former House Appropriations Chairman Talmadge Heflin]
“While conservatives are naturally hesitant to broach a constitutional spending limit that has been in place for 30 years, the goal of property tax relief justifies such a vote tomorrow.