The Texas Legislature is in full swing as we head into our fourth week here at your state capitol. The House is organizing into committees so that we can begin hearing legislation on the Governor’s list of emergency items. If you remember from my previous editorial, I explained that the legislature cannot hear any legislation in committee for the first 30 days or on the chamber floors for the first 60 days, unless the subject matter of a bill makes it on the Governor’s list of emergency items. I expect the Governor to announce the date of his State of the State address any day now, but based on his remarks at his inauguration on January 17th , we can infer a few of his priorities. Governor Abbott mentioned school safety, following the horrific and devastating murders at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last May. School safety has been and will continue to be a top priority of mine as well. Also on the topic of schools and education, Governor Abbott discussed reforming school curriculum. He mentioned public safety and the support of law enforcement, as well as continuing our efforts on our southern border since the Biden Administration continues to fail in their duty of border security. Still, Texas will continue to spend over $4 billion dollars over the next 2 years to do what we can to manage the disaster the federal government has caused. Governor Abbott spoke about the fentanyl crisis and the state taking action against those who have harmed innocent families through these lethal drugs flowing across the border. If you recall, the first bill I filed this session was House Bill 513 which will provide for the creation of an offense for someone who distributes drugs that cause an overdose. We must protect Texans against the fentanyl crisis plaguing our state and nation. The Governor celebrated the strength of our economy, the innovation of Texas minds, and the freedom and security that make our state the very best in the country. I look forward to hearing Governor Abbott expand on his priorities in the coming days.
Recently, I filed more legislation that I wanted to highlight for you. Montgomery County is blessed to have some of the brightest, most efficient judges in the state serving in both our county and district courts. As our community has faced an explosion of growth in the last couple of decades, our local courts have wisely organized themselves to stay in step with that growth and move cases as quickly and expeditiously as possible. They have done this by specializing each court into various subject matter jurisdictions. One of our busiest local courts is County Court at Law 2 presided over by Judge Claudia Laird. Judge Laird has worked with our office for several sessions on guardianship and probate legislation and I appreciate the tireless work she does to advocate for some of our most vulnerable citizens. As you can imagine probate courts remain very busy because, to put it plainly, people die and their estates must be managed after their passing. Probate in Texas is the court-supervised proceeding to settle an estate and distribute assets to rightful heirs and beneficiaries. In cases where a will is present, probate validates the estate planning document. Probate also appoints a personal representative or an executor to finalize the probate process and oversee the distribution of assets. Probate is also used to manage guardianship proceedings when an individual becomes a ward of the state. Needless to say, the growth in our county has led to the need for a fully dedicated probate court to manage the caseload. To that end, I filed House Bill 1436 to redesignate County Court at Law No. 2 of Montgomery County as Probate Court No. 1 of Montgomery County. This legislation will not result in a new term of office nor a new judge. This simply converts County Court at Law 2 into the Montgomery County Probate Court 1.
The antiquated practice of "springing forward" and "falling back" and changing our clocks twice a year is frustrating to many people in modern-day society. Some medical studies even show it causes health issues including heart attacks and strokes by the altering of the body’s internal clock. Although I wish the daylight stayed as long as it does during the spring and summer months year round, we know that daylight is just shorter in the winter because the Earth tilts on its axis. However, like many of you, I have never been a fan of switching our clocks back and forth between daylight saving time and standard time, and to that end, I have filed House Bill 1422 to observe daylight saving time year-round. This would mean we permanently “spring forward” and keep our clocks as they are in the summer months and never change them again. Unfortunately, we would still need federal approval to do this, but it is far past time Texas takes a stand against the darkness of standard time and puts an end to the outdated practice of changing our clocks twice a year in today’s modern society. As you may know, in 2022 the US Senate passed the Sunset Protection Act which would make daylight savings time permanent in the United States for states who choose to observe daylight savings time year-round. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass the US House of Representatives at that time. Until the Sunshine Protection Act passes both chambers of congress and is signed by the President, I look forward to working here at the state level to pass this legislation in Texas.
I will keep you all updated from here at your state capitol as session moves along. It is an honor to serve you here and I appreciate you allowing me to represent our community.
