By State Rep. Brooks Landgraf
As the dust settles on the 88th Legislative Session, I find myself compelled to take a moment and reflect on some of the legislative wins that we achieved for the great state of Texas. It is an honor to serve as your state representative in the Texas House, and I am proud to say the voice of the Permian Basin was heard loud and clear at the Capitol.
We passed several bills that stemmed from ideas provided by you – the constituents of House District 81. Your feedback and engagement played a vital role in shaping the law, and I am grateful for your active participation in the legislative process.
One of the significant legislative wins during this session was House Bill 3033, an important piece of legislation that emerged from the concerns voiced by constituents advocating for a more open and accessible government. This bill tackled the much-needed reform of the Public Information Act, promoting transparency and accountability in government.
House Bill 2083 was also a very big win. HB 2083 designates the stretch of Business I-20/Highway 80 in Ector County between Loop 338 and the county line as the “Wilson & Young Medal of Honor Highway.” This highway will now recognize the extraordinary valor and sacrifice displayed by Alfred M. Wilson and Marvin “Rex” Young while they served in Vietnam and pay tribute to their selfless service to our nation. This bill was inspired by the stories and experiences shared by John McCollum and Vietnam veterans groups in Odessa.
Another notable accomplishment was the passage of House Bill 64, which was an idea brought to me by Ector County Hospital District Police Chief, Kelly Cecil and his predecessor, Brad Timmons. Under the current law, ECHD police were not authorized to conduct police escorts, which is a vital safety function for law enforcement officers. In collaboration with Police Chief Kelly, we developed this legislation to ensure that our police officers commissioned by the Ector County Hospital District are eligible to conduct a police escort. Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis also helped support this bill at the Capitol.
Four years ago, my fellow lawmakers and I passed Monica’s Law, which established the Texas Protective Order Registry giving the public more information to protect themselves from perpetrators of domestic violence. A constituent alerted me to two accessibility issues with the Protective Order Registry. The Protective Order Registry did not provide a searchable filter whereby a member of the public, or a public official, could use a nickname to find an individual on the Public Order Registry. Secondly, magistrates had limited access to information available to other law enforcement. In collaboration with a constituent I proposed HB 3698 to fix both issues within the registry and ultimately help keeping Texans safe by providing access to critical protective order information.
I am incredibly proud of these legislative victories but none of this would have been possible without your support, involvement, and dedication to making our district and state a better place. Your ideas, concerns, and feedback continue to shape my legislative agenda, and I am grateful for the trust you have placed in me as your representative.
In future columns, I will address more of our legislative victories this year, but I wanted to take this time to highlight the victories that started as ideas from the people I represent. This is how lawmaking should work: of the people, by the people and for the people!
God bless Texas!
