By Sen. Carlos Uresti  

When Gov. Rick Perry laid out his goals for the 83rd Legislature in his State of the State address, he called for tax cuts, more school choice, infrastructure investment, a pro-business climate, and a rejection of Medicaid expansion called for by the Affordable Care Act.   Important issues all. But just as important is what the governor left out of his biennial report to state lawmakers — any mention of sanctuary cities, Voter ID, or other legislative initiatives targeting Texas' growing Hispanic population.   The omission was welcome to lawmakers like me who fought hard in the last session against such measures.  When the 2011 session began, sanctuary cities and Voter ID were declared emergencies that required immediate attention. Both houses passed the Voter ID bill and, later, redistricting plans that ignored the population gains of Latinos across Texas. Sanctuary cities passed the Senate in a special session, but stumbled in the House.   The legislative victories of Voter ID and redistricting were short-lived, however. The courts rejected Voter ID as unconstitutional and ordered adjustments in the political boundaries that were used in the 2012 election.   Given the legislative majority's zeal to pass these measures two years ago, one might expect an aggressive attempt to reverse that 3-0 record in the current session. Fortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case. While these issues could still resurface, they are certainly not a priority.   With Texas' Hispanic population continuing to grow into a potent political force, it is not surprising that there is so little appetite this time for such divisive immigration proposals in the Legislature. Also, the 2012 election showed that minorities are already exerting their influence at the ballot box nationally, and polls indicate that most Americans are eager for immigration reform that's not just strict, but also fair and compassionate.   There is a growing realization that Hispanics in Texas are not going to listen to a wider Republican message that is tainted with the anti-immigrant attitude that pervaded the last legislative session.   Steve Munisteri, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, recently told The Dallas Morning News: “If somebody thinks you don’t like them because of their race or ethnic background, it doesn’t matter if they agree with you on 99 out of 100 issues. They’re not going to vote for you. We have adopted a change in tone, hopefully, and a reexamination of how we were messaging, and we did that way before the election.”   As chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus, I welcome that change of tone, even if it was spurred by nothing more than political necessity. It will make it easier for lawmakers of both parties to come together on a whole range of important issues as the session proceeds.   A good deal of the governor's State of the State address was great to hear, but when he didn't raise those issues that are so offensive to Hispanics, the silence was golden.

AUSTIN

Gov. Rick Perry will travel to San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County, departing Sunday, February 10 and returning Wednesday, February 13, to meet with business leaders in the high tech, biotechnology, financial, insurance and film industries. The governor’s trip will be paid for by TexasOne – no tax dollars will be used for his travel and accommodations. This business recruitment trip follows a week-long radio ad buy in the Golden State promoting Texas’ job creation climate. The 30-second spot has been running on six radio stations in the San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Inland Empire and San Diego media markets. To hear the ad, please visit http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/ca.php. The governor, along with Texas Economic Development Corp. Chair Bruce Bugg, several local economic development officials and business representatives, including Oncor, BNSF Railway, and the cities of Allen, Amarillo, Austin, Brownsville, Conroe, DeSoto, Frisco, Houston, Lubbock, Midland, McKinney, Pflugerville, San Antonio and Schertz, will also host a reception for some of the business leaders who have contacted the Governor’s Office through TexasWideOpenForBusiness.com since the ad began running.

Staff -Eagle Pass

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be in Maverick County, specifically in Precinct 1, to highlight a program for low-income families who qualify to repair their homes.      Oscar Cantu, Director of Projects for Precinct 1, informed The News Gram that interested parties can come by the Precinct 1 offices on Bibb Ave. where they will receive assistance in filling out the necessary paperwork to do so.      It is expected that by the end of February the first families who will be the beneficiaries of this program will be informed.      Cantu stated that these types of programs have been in existence for some time now, but they are now looking to bring them t Maverick County.      You can come by the offices of County Commissioner to find out more.      Cantu concluded that they will indeed continue to seek out these types of programs both state and federal to aid local families that need the assistance.