Too many teachers are leaving the profession, and too few college students are choosing to go into teaching. Low pay, excessive paperwork, constant testing and safety concerns are some of the factors causing teachers to leave. School districts are struggling to give necessary raises since the Legislature has not taken inflation into account in the funding formulas.

Vikki’s Priorities:

• Ensure the basic allotment reflects the rising costs of providing education by accounting for inflation. To retain teachers and substitutes, additional funding is needed to provide raises to compete with private sector jobs.

• Require TEA to stop labeling education dollars as “surplus” which allows the state to absorb money intended for our schools into other budget items.

This session the Legislature voted to provide a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for our retired teachers. Legislators were not able to pass a bill to increase the basic allotment as it was tied to a voucher scheme that would send public tax dollars to private schools. The majority of legislators voted against vouchers showing bi-partisan support for public schools.

Too many Texans lack access to basic, primary health care due to not having health insurance. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured, a statistic we can change by adjusting the qualifications for receiving Medicaid coverage. Texas has not taken advantage of the opportunity to expand Medicaid, so people are left without the health care they need. Additionally, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has led to adverse outcomes.

Positive steps from the 88th Session:

• Greater transparency in medical billing.

• Women who have just given birth may stay on Medicaid for twelve months rather than six months after birth.

Vikki’s accomplishment:

• Passed a bill to expand Acudetox in Texas. This treatment has been available to people with chemical dependency, but now with the new law, it will also be available to people with stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD or other mental health issues. The bill also expands who can be trained and certified to provide treatment.

The number one cause of death among our youth is gun violence - accidental or intentional. Gun deaths have surpassed deaths caused by car accidents in recent years. Even gun-owning Texans believe in some sensible gun regulations, and Vikki has worked tirelessly on this issue during her time in the Legislature. This session Vikki’s bills would have closed background check loopholes, required a waiting period when purchasing guns, and created a statewide extreme risk protective order. These bills did not pass into law.

In the wake of Uvalde, several gun safety bills were proposed. Unfortunately, the “Raise the Age” bill that Uvalde families focused on did not pass into law, but there were two bills that did become law. The first requires a judge to submit information to the NICS background check system about anyone 16 or older who is committed to a psychiatric hospital and who loses the privilege of owning a gun as a result (current law requires reporting only 18 and older). The second increases the penalty for a mass shooter even if only one person dies in the shooting.

In 2019, the state funded a “Safe Storage and Suicide Prevention Public Awareness Campaign,” which has been developed through the Texas Department of Public Safety and encourages gun owners to store their guns in a gun safe.

In 2023, we did see a slight movement toward passing some gun safety bills, including a straw purchase bill that passed the House, and a “glock switch” ban which also passed the House. Additionally, two Republican members voted for the “Raise the Age” bill to get it out of Committee.

Vikki’s accomplishment:

• The Natalia Cox Act became law in May, 2023. This law directs the state to provide information to people who have been threatened or involved in domestic violence. The information includes resources such as organizations that can help the victim, information about protective orders, and information about exiting a lease when the residence is no longer safe.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. It is one of the leading causes of death for children over 4, and it is preventable. The De la Peñas lost their daughter Cati in a drowning accident and together we developed legislation to prevent other families from experiencing a similar tragedy.

Vikki’s accomplishment:

• Cati’s Act became law in June, 2023. This law directs child care providers to ensure children who can’t swim are wearing a life jacket when they are at a pool or other body of water, if the parents have indicated the child can’t swim.

In the 88th Session, Vikki was successful in passing a bill which establishes the Texas Food System Security and Resiliency Planning Council. The bill seeks to address concerns about the vulnerability of the state's food supply chain. The Council will help farmers, food banks and address the issue of food deserts.

With a huge, $33 billion surplus, the Legislature chose to use about $18 billion on a property tax reduction for homeowners with it’s Property Tax Relief Act. While helpful to homeowners (and businesses due to other provisions in the bill), it did not help renters who make up about half our state population. To address this omission, I am filing the “Fair Rent Incentive Act” next session to ensure renters have some benefit, too.

One of the most significant bills that passed in the 88th Session is a sales tax exemption on diapers (including adult) and feminine hygiene products. This will help countless women, parents and senior citizens.

Another great bill that passed will allow for a property tax exemption for child care centers. The exemption will be allowed, but it will be dependent upon the various taxing entities to provide the exemption. Austin has voted to provide the exemption, and other cities are following suit.

The state budget is over $300 billion, and is over 1,000 pages long. A few highlights of the budget include:

• Cost-of-living-adjustment for retired teachers

• Salary increase for state employees

• $1 billion for state parks

• Billions of dollars for infrastructure: water, broadband, roads

• Increased spending on community colleges and universities

While there are a lot of good things in the budget, it did not increase teacher pay nor the basic allotment for our public schools. This is a huge oversight, and school districts around the state are feeling the pinch. Many are using reserve funds to balance their budgets.

Technology allows us to be more efficient, and using technology for online voter registration makes sense. Unfortunately, the Legislature was not interested in addressing online voter registration this session, and in fact, a new law is taking the state out of a national database, ERIC, that helps minimize the risk of fraud. 

After successfully passing a bill last session that allows pregnant women or women who have just given birth to vote by mail, Vikki worked on a ranked choice voting bill this session. Allowing ranked choice voting in city elections would save money and would result in a greater number of voters impacting the results of an election. Instead, the Legislature attempted to ban ranked choice voting in the state. 

Vikki also attempted to reform campaign finance laws by enacting a limit on the contributions state candidates can accept. That limit would have been fifty times the limit for Congressional candidates, or roughly $160,000 per individual contribution. That concept was opposed by the majority of the House and did not pass.  

In the 88th Session, Vikki was a sponsor of a cottage food bill that would have made it easier for entrepreneurs to earn a living by making food products in their home kitchen and selling to individuals or in some cases to stores or restaurants. The bill had overwhelming support, and while the bill did not make it into law due to time constraints, Vikki will continue to work on this next session. 

Texas must protect the environment to preserve clean air, clean water, and green spaces, and the Legislature needs to have bipartisan conversations about ways to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Vikki is a member of the Caucus on Climate, Energy and the Environment. The goal of the caucus is to bring in members of both parties to have conversations about how to address environmental issues.

Vikki filed the Stewardship Amendment in the 88th Session, and will continue to advocate for regulations that address climate change and protect our environment for future generations.

The Austin metropolitan area has the fifth highest risk of wildfire in the nation, with the majority of that risk in western Travis County. The natural vegetation of Central Texas combined with our landscape— like rolling hills and the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve— create conditions that make it difficult to fight a wildfire and difficult to evacuate if needed. We need to give our cities and counties every possible tool to mitigate risk and prevent these devastating natural disasters, while also providing education to residents about wildfire safety for their homes and families.

In the 88th Session, Rep. Ashby passed HB 4609 which would have had the Texas A&M Forest Service conduct a study to determine the status and condition of fuel loading in wildfire risk zones in this state and the corresponding risk of wildfire to the residents, homes, businesses, and ecology of this state. Unfortunately, the bill did not make it into law.

“We the people” means ALL people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ability, country of origin, or faith. I will always:

• Treat all people with compassion, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

• Support anti-bullying efforts by educators and parents to squelch bullying in schools.

• Support the right of asylum-seekers to come to Texas and be treated with dignity and respect.

In the 88th Legislative Session, local control was severely, negatively impacted. HB 2127 by Rep. Burrows pre-empts city policies in the realm of: agriculture, business and commerce, finance, insurance, labor, natural resources, occupation and property. City policies must be consistent with the laws of the state, or they are otherwise invalid.

As people continue to move to central Texas, our need for improved transportation options grows. TxDOT is busy working on a number of road projects in House District 47, CapMetro is working on mass transit options, and Vikki is focusing on safety on our roads.

For three sessions now, Vikki has worked on a bill to create highway safety corridors in Texas. Unfortunately, the Legislature has not shown the will to pass this important piece of legislation. Vikki will continue to advocate for safety on our roads, and will work on new ideas to help solve this problem. 

Switching our clocks twice a year is a pain. Vikki filed a bill that would have allowed voters to choose - either Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time year-round. Unfortunately, that bill did not make it through the process, so we will go through at least another two years of clock changing.