Hello ARAWC Members,
As I stated in my last update, the House Committee assignments came out this past week. The Business & Industry committee looks good for us.
Chairman: Chris Turner (D) - Tarrant County
Vice-chair: Cole Hefner (R) - Mount Pleasant
Appointments:
Jared Patterson (R) – Frisco
Hugh Schine (R) - Temple
Briscoe Cain (R) - Deer Park (near Houston)
Stan Lambert (R) - Abilene
Senfronia Thompson (D) - Houston
Claudia Ordaz Perez (D) - El Paso
Jasmine Crockett (D) - Dallas
Chairman Turner is a political strategist, and runs other members' campaigns when not in session. He is very smart and chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the House.
Cole Hefner is a solid rural Republican from East Texas. He will need to be educated on our issues, but he'll be willing to learn.
Jared Patterson is the ARAWC cheerleader on this committee and will work hard for us. He appreciates the support he received from ARAWC members during his primary race last spring,
Hugh Shine is a fixture on the committee, and was there for the original reforms in the late 80s. He likes the current system and does not want mandatory comp.
Briscoe Cain is very close to the Speaker and gained his first committee chairmanship this cycle. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which is a group of the roughly 10 or so of the most conservative members, but has ingrained himself with party leadership anyway.
Stan Lambert likewise will likely pick it up quickly. He was on the Insurance Committee for the last several sessions.
Senfronia Thompson was the chair of Public Health last session, so like Rep. Lambert will come in some background that will make it easier for her to pick up our issues quickly if she chooses to engage.
Claudia Ordaz Perez and Jasmine Crockett are both freshmen House members, and both Democrat. Ordaz Perez was endorsed by TLR.
I do not know Rep. Crockett yet, but she and Ordaz Perez are close, and will likely vote together on most bills. I am looking forward to getting to know her.
The filed bill list regarding workers' compensation related bills can be found here. To date there have been 19 filed, which is a lot. There are several related to COVID-19 presumptions for different employer classes. As always let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Ryan Brannan
ARAWC Government Relations Consultant
