Dear John,

The Texas Legislature has adjourned sine die, meaning without any further date. This is the final edition of the multi-part, Sine Die Bucy Bulletin. We've covered cover big items like the budget, the electric grid, and the state of voting rights, as well as discussed the good, bad, and ugly of the 87th Legislative Session. Today's version highlights some of our favorite moments, constituent services, and local and constituent bills.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve you, House District 136, and the people of Texas. Please do not ever hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments or if there is anything my office can do for you.

All the best,

John H. Bucy III

State Representative

House District 136

This legislative session was a tough one for voting rights. As legislators, we spent most of our time debating bills that ultimately restrict voting and make elections more complicated. However, I am proud that in the midst of this fighting, we were able to get a ballot by mail tracker bill signed into law by the Governor. Too often, it can be difficult to know the status of mail-in ballots and applications. There is currently no system where you or I can go online to see if they have been received and accepted by election officials. H.B. 1382 requires the Secretary of State to create an online, state-wide tracker for applications and ballots by mail, similar to how you would track the status of a package. This bill also includes provisions from H.B. 3527, another one of my bills, which requires counties to upload data to this new database in a timely fashion.

I’m so thrilled to see all the support and love the people of Austin have for Austin FC. It’s clear Austin is ready for major professional sports, especially now that we have a new, state-of-the-art sports venue in Q2 Stadium. I want the city to take advantage of everything that stadium has to offer, which is why I was happy to pass H.B. 1472. This bill adds the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup to the list of events eligible for the Major Events Reimbursement Program (MERP). With this funding eligibility, Austin is better situated to host the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July, bringing economic benefits to the city and more opportunities for all of us to enjoy live sports.

The City of Leander was named the fastest growing large city in America in 2020 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Specifically, our population has increased by 143 percent in the last 5 years. With this unprecedented growth, it’s no secret that Leander needs infrastructure improvements and to provide opportunities for the people living and moving here. My bills, H.B. 1851 and H.B. 4638, do just that. H.B. 1851, which was amended onto H.B. 4103 by Chair Dustin Burrows, allows Leander to retain a larger portion of the local Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue collected in the city. This revenue will be used for economic development and job creation, and to ensure that the great people of Leander can work in the city they call home. Similarly, H.B. 4638 creates the Leander Municipal Management District No. 1. MMDs are common tools used by local governments to help raise revenue for infrastructure improvements and other services to accommodate growth. These laws guarantee that Leander will continue to thrive and remain one of the most desirable cities to live in in the country.

Just as important as passing good bills, the role of a legislator can often be to fight and kill bad bills. By now, you might have read about how Texas Democrats joined together this last legislative session to break quorum and walk out on S.B. 7, one of the most restrictive pieces of election legislation to have moved through the Legislature in many years. Breaking quorum like we did is not something I took lightly at the time. Undoubtedly, this was a drastic action for us to employ. However, in the face of what S.B. 7 means for Texans’ voting rights -- how this bill adds obstacles to voting at nearly every step of the election process -- what we did was necessary, good trouble. It was our responsibility to protect the people of Texas by any means necessary, including this constitutionally protected, parliamentary procedure used only in the most dire of circumstances. If bills like S.B. 7 come back up in an upcoming special session or a regular legislative session down the line, I’ll continue to fight for your voting rights using every tool at my disposal.

This law addresses an issue that is extremely important to me. So many of us know someone with a serious medical condition who could not get the medical care they needed during Winter Storm Uri and the February power outages. H.B. 3711, which we amended onto S.B. 869 by Chair Lois Kolkhorst, ensures that we have a registry going forward of people defined as “medically fragile.” With this registry, we can ensure that the people who need medical care the most, including those with Alzheimer’s, dependent on oxygen, who receive dialysis, with debilitating chronic illnesses, or who have medical conditions that require 24-hour supervision from a skilled nurse, will receive consistent wellness checks during times of disaster to ensure continuity of care and access to electronically powered medical equipment. Read more here.

The most vital part of any legislative office isn't the policy, it's constituent services. This session we continued our Food & Wellness Program, assisted constituents with government agencies, and answered thousands of calls and emails with respect to the legislation being heard in committee or on the House floor.

Here are some highlights with respect to constituent services:

• Received over 12,500 emails and calls about legislation, including 5,500 communications from constituents and roughly 6,500 communications from outside of House District 136 dealing primarily with elections and transportation
• Met with over 30 local community groups and hundreds of constituents about policy matters or community concerns
• 45 constituents helped with the Texas Workforce Commission, bringing the total served since the pandemic began to 300 cases
• 10,000 meals delivered as part of our monthly food program, which we began in March 2020 as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Filed and passed 41 resolutions celebrating milestones and championships, memorializing those who have passed, and honoring constituents who went above and beyond during COVID-19, the winter storm, or otherwise
• During the Winter Storm, we liaisoned with the Texas Department of Emergency Management and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to help restore power to critical infrastructure in Leander, assisted in securing diesel for Brushy Creek MUD's backup generator for their water plant, worked with Hill Country Ministries to provide boxed meals and a water filing station, coordinated shipments of bottled water for dispersal by local communities, and helped deliver non-potable water to apartments and retirement communities

This session we filed 57 bills dealing with the winter storm, public education, and voting rights as well as constituent matters such as healthcare for medically fragile kids, taxes and affordability for seniors, and cannabis reform. We also worked with our local jurisdictions on bills to support jobs and economic development in House District 136.

One of the most important things to me as a public servant is to solicit constituent ideas and concerns and turn them into a portion of my legislative agenda. I want to thank those who reached out at one of our town halls or who followed up with my office during the last Interim. Below you can read more about some of these bills and their outcomes. 

H.J.R. 62/H.B. 1061 - Would authorize a special district such as Water Control Boards, MUDs, and Emergency Service Districts, to establish a limitation on the amount of property taxes that the political subdivision may impose on persons who are disabled or elderly and their surviving spouses.

H.J.R. 79/H.B. 1420 - Would make the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services who was killed or fatally injured in an incident related to their service while on active duty, exempt from the ad valorem taxation of their residence. The Senate version, S.B. 611, which I was proud to co-sponsor, was signed into law by the Governor, subject to ratification of the corresponding constitutional amendment.

H.B. 824 - Would allow cities to waive all or part of their drainage fees for the principal residence of a person aged 65 or older, who is disabled, a veteran, or on active duty. Passed out of the House, but died in the Senate.

H.B. 1014 - Would require public school ID cards to have the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Crisis Text Line printed on them, starting in 6th grade. Also would allow institutes of higher education to include contact information for campus police departments or health clinics. Amended into S.B. 279 by Sen. Hinojosa, which was signed into law by the Governor.

H.B. 1851 - Would permit the City of Leander to keep a larger portion of the Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue collected in the city for the purposes of local economic development and job creation. Amended into H.B. 4103 by Chair Burrows, which passed into law.

H.B. 3148 - Would provide detailed guidelines relating to the creation and implementation of Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavioral Intervention Plans for students with an individualized education program who have exhibited consistent and persistent maladaptive behaviors.

H.B. 3149 - Would restrict state agencies and local governmental entities from drug testing or implementing drug testing policies for its employees based off the use of low-THC cannabis or hemp, with the exception of employees required to comply with U.S. DOT drug testing regulations.

H.B. 3631 - Would encourage the use of the most current and best practices on substance use and addiction treatment as provided by the American Society of Addiction Medicine by allowing the adoption of a memorandum of understanding with state and local agencies.

H.B. 3667 - Would establish a school psychologist shortage task force to study the issue related to the shortage of school psychologists among school districts, including supply and demand issues for school-based psychological services.

H.B. 4310 - Would establish a grant program under the Health and Human Services Commission to help families pay the costs associated with providing specialized nutritional support for certain medically fragile children with a rare or unique disease, including enteral nutrition.

H.B. 4311 - Would create a wraparound program to provide certain services, including physical or occupational therapy, speech therapy, music therapy, aqua-therapy, hippotherapy, and specialized nutritional support, to medically fragile children with a rare or unique disease.

H.B. 4312 - Would generate a funding multiplier of 0.1 for students who have been identified as medically fragile. The added allotment may be used to provide supplemental services to the student.

H.B. 4638 - Would create a Municipal Management District for the City of Leander to help facilitate infrastructure improvements and services to accommodate growth. Passed into law.

Political advertising paid for by John Bucy Campaign, Hon. Heather Jefts, treasurer.