March 18, 2011
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STATE SOVEREIGNTY HEARING
One of the largest concerns across the nation
right now is the impact of federal health care
reform. This past Thursday a State Sovereignty
public hearing was held where I laid out House
Bill 335. My bill will to require state agencies to
submit a report to the Legislative Budget Board
prior to any implementation of a federal
healthcare mandate. This will insure that we as
a state know how much this federal mandate will
cost, and provide transparency to the taxpayers.
BENBROOK WATER AUTHORITY BILL
This past Tuesday a public hearing was held for
H.B. 2007, which I authored. This bill would
call for the Benbrook Water Authority to pay for
actual property damages that could be caused by
the Authority's sanitary sewage system when
back up occurs. The Benbrook Water Authority
asked me to file this bill so that they can
adequately take care of their customers. I am
proud to have such responsible actors in my
district that are looking out for the community.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WEEK
This past week I had the honor and the privilege
of recognizing the Lone Star chapter of The
National Multiple Sclerosis Society with a
resolution on the House floor. The Lone Star
group has been instrumental in raising
awareness and funds to assist in research and
treatment of this disease through events such as
Bike MS and Walk MS. It was a pleasure getting
to visit with them and I hope everyone takes a
moment to visit their website and become
informed on this serious condition that so many
live with. Multiple Sclerosis Lone Star Chapter
webpage:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/TXH
/index.aspx .
Mark.Shelton@house.state.tx.
VOTER IDENTIFICATION BILL
As mentioned last week, the House was
expecting to hear S.B 14, the bill requiring the
presentation of photo identification prior to
voting, this past Wednesday. However, this
measure was delayed until this upcoming
Monday. I am very excited to see this
legislation moving forward and know we will
see strong support across the board for this bill.
PUBLIC EDUCATION BILLS
As always, public education is a very important
issue to me. This past Tuesday, two bills I
authored, H.B. 1833 and H.B. 1834 were heard
in the Public Education Committee meeting.
H.B. 1833 removes the requirement that schools
have to post certain information in local
newspapers and replaces it with the option of
online placement. This is a cost to school
districts that is unwarranted and it is not the job
of our schools to fund the media. Additionally,
HB 1834 removes excess reporting requirements
from school districts to the Texas Education
Agency. This is an inefficient use of time and
resources. With our current budget shortfall we
must remove all unfunded mandates from our
public schools and promote local control.
Sincerely,
Representative Mark M. Shelton, M.D.
District 97
District Office Capitol Office
Peeler Howell Clayton Stewart
District Director Chief of Staff
1050 Forest Park Blvd. P.O. Box 2910
Suite 200 Austin, TX 78768
Fort Worth, TX 76110 512-463-0608
817-927-0061