BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — Our local elected lawmakers are gearing up for the special session, with more than a dozen items on their agenda.
- The special session will convene on July 21
- The agenda includes four items directly related to the recent devastating floods in Central Texas and the Hill Country
- Other items include banning tax-payer funded lobbying and title theft and deed fraud
- The special session is set to run for 30 days
Parts of Texas are underwater, and this historic flooding in parts of the state is on the minds of returning state lawmakers.
Governor Greg Abbott has 18 total items on the agenda for the special session, including four tied to the catastrophic flooding in the Hill Country.
But the other 14 issues will affect Texans as well.
Central Texas State Representatives Pat Curry from District 56 and Trey Wharton from District 12 tell 15 ABC they are both looking forward to eliminating the STAAR test and replacing it with something else.
“Getting rid of the STAAR test and reforming how we test our students is critical. one of the big things that we were able to do in the budget was put a lot of money in for special ed, a lot of money for mental health, a lot of money for also tutoring children from kindergarten through 3rd grade.”
Trey Wharton said he would like to see benchmarks in place.
“So, the House passed elimination of the STAAR test, and to put it back, where there's more, there's a benchmarking of each child to make sure there's growth, uh, in the child from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”
Rep. Curry tells 15 ABC he also wants to work to outlaw the sale of hemp-based products to anyone under 21 in Texas.
“So it won't be a path of banning for, for the adult public. Now, for children and, i think people under 21 is what he said in his charge, um, that he wants it banned, and I get that," Rep. Curry said.
Representative Wharton tells 15 ABC he has his eyes on working on lowering property taxes.
“Well, I think some more, uh, property tax relief. That was a good one to see. that's, something that we're all trying to work towards. We just have to have a source of revenue in order to replace it. So you can't just stop paying property taxes immediately. you have to have a revenue because that's an expense that's in perpetuity from now on. And so, you have to have something, to pay it back,” Rep. Wharton said.
