by State Representative Cody Harris

We had another busy week under the Pink Dome here in Austin. Governor Abbott gave his State of the State address, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht gave his State of the Judiciary address and the Energy Resources and Natural Resources Committees held a joint committee meeting. Also, over the weekend our District Director Angelia Orr attended the Hill County Fair to represent our office. You can look forward to seeing her at many upcoming district events.

We had a number of visitors stop by the office this week including: Judge Justin Lewis from Hill County, Judge Robert Johnston from Anderson County, a group of CASA volunteers from Hill, Anderson and Navarro Counties, and Miss Texas 2018 Madison Fuller of Fairfield Texas. Also, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas had groups of students and alumni stop by our office as a part of the Orange and Maroon Legislative Day. Our doors are always open to you, if you are ever in Austin please feel free to stop by.

On Tuesday morning, Governor Greg Abbott delivered his third State of the State address to a joint session of the 86th Texas Legislature. The Governor outlined his priorities and six emergency items in his address to lawmakers, including school finance reform, teacher pay raises and property tax relief. Also topping the governor’s priority list: school safety, disaster response and mental health programs. I’m confident that my colleagues and I will be proactive this session on these tough issues facing our great state.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht delivered the State of the Judiciary speech Wednesday during a joint meeting of the Texas House and Senate. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht specifically brought up an issue that has become a major focus for him: Texas’ bail system. Hecht called for lawmakers to pass bipartisan bail reform legislation filed this week better known as the Damon Allen Act which was authored by Senator John Whitmire and Representative Andrew Murr. He stated “It is time — it’s actually past time — to ensure that defendants who pose no risk to the public are not jailed, and that those who do, are.” I believe the Texas Legislature as a collective group will do what’s right and find the best solution for bail reform in the state of Texas.

This week I filed four pieces of legislation targeted at taking down the high-speed rail project and protecting private property owners in House District 8. The four pieces of legislation I filed are meant to strengthen protections for private property owners while discouraging the project from moving forward. Today’s action was just the first step to push back against the proposed high-speed rail project and protect private property owners and the citizens of House District 8.

The legislation I have filed this week:

–HB 1367 protects private property rights by specifying that a private entity does not have the power of eminent domain for the purpose of developing or operating a high-speed rail project

–HB 1368 will void any high-speed rail option contracts held by a high-speed rail entity upon a bankruptcy initiated by or against the entity

–HB 1369 prohibits the high-speed rail (HSR) from beginning any construction until they have acquired all of the property necessary to complete the project. The financial feasibility of the HSR is already highly questionable and we know they do not have the power of eminent domain.

–HB 1370 The purpose of this bill is to put up more roadblocks on the HSR by evaluating the feasibility of creating a statewide high-speed rail initiative through a public-private partnership

We also filed Resolutions to recognize the people of House District 8 as they travel to their Texas Capitol to represent Hill and Navarro County Days at the Capitol.

The Resolutions I have filed this session:

–House Resolution 73 is a resolution in recognition of Hill County Day on February 20th, 2019.

–House Resolution 80 is a resolution in recognition of Navarro County Day on March 6th, 2019.

–House Resolution 145 is a resolution in recognition of the Neches High School Volleyball Team.