A New Legislative Year Begins Soon
Thank you for allowing me the privilege of once again serving the people of House District 32. I am proud to be a voice for the Coastal Bend and look forward to continuing that role during the 85th Texas Legislative Session, which begins on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
During the 84th Legislative Session in 2015, the Speaker of the Texas House appointed me as Chairman of the House Calendars Committee. This proved to be an important appointment for the Coastal Bend. I was also appointed to serve as Vice-Chairman of Urban Affairs as well as on the committees for Redistricting, General Investigating and Ethics and Criminal Jurisprudence. Additionally, I was appointed to co-chair the Joint Interim Committee on Cruise Industry Development and serve on the Joint Interim Committee on Advertising Public Notices.
Over the past year and a half, I have been proud to help organize a number of summits and conferences in and around the Coastal Bend, which provided a unique opportunity to discuss the key issues facing the state of Texas. These events covered a number of important issues, including Domestic Violence, Transportation, and Texas Music, to name a few. During this time, I also had the opportunity to attend a number of meetings, forums, and community events throughout the district and hear firsthand from the people of District 32 about the different challenges facing our community as well as ideas and potential solutions. The information gathered during these conversations is essential to the overall legislative process and will be extremely helpful to me as I work to address some of these issues during the upcoming session.
As I mentioned, the 85th Legislative Session will commence at noon on January 10, 2017. Session will end on May 29, 2017. The Texas Constitution stipulates that every regular legislative session officially ends 140 days after it starts. The first order of business on opening day will be the swearing-in ceremony for the members. For those that can make it to the Capitol on January 10th, I would like to personally invite you to join us in Austin for the opening day ceremonies. However, if you are unable to join us on opening day, I would still encourage you to visit your Texas Capitol sometime during the legislative session. My office is located on the First Floor of the Texas Capitol building in Room 1W.11. If you are unable to make it to Austin during session, I hope you will continue to stay engaged with my office. Your ideas and information are important forms of feedback and help ensure that the decisions being made will have a positive impact on your daily lives.
If you would like to follow the Texas House and learn more information on news, committees or other aspects of the legislative body, visit Texas House of Representatives. The site features live streaming from the House floor, committee hearings as well as access to a number of other resources. You can also follow the Texas Senate. The Texas Governor’s official website Office of the Governor Greg Abbott.
If you have questions regarding any of the information mentioned in this week’s article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. Please always feel free to contact my office if you have any questions or issues regarding a Texas state agency, or if you would like to contact my office regarding constituent services. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
– State Representative Todd Hunter, District 32
Rep. Hunter represents Nueces County (Part). He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.texas.gov or at 512-463-0672
