Bills filed would raise wages and annuities, increase healthcare access, and protect the freedom to vote
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2022
AUSTIN — John Bucy III (D-Austin), State Representative for House District 136, today filed 27 pieces of legislation to increase healthcare access, raise state employee wages, provide for a cost of living adjustment for retired teachers, improve public school funding, and protect the freedom to vote. With pre-filing for the 88th Legislative Session beginning on Monday, November 14, these are his first bills filed.
“Medicaid expansion and voting rights continue to be critical fights for the people of Texas,” Rep. John Bucy III (D-Austin) said. “Next session, with a record budget surplus and over $13 billion in the ‘Rainy Day Fund,’ we must make needed and long overdue investments in public education, healthcare, and our workforce. Anything else is absconding our duty as public servants.”
An increasingly large part of Rep. Bucy’s planned legislative agenda will be devoted to expanding healthcare access, especially for children and underserved populations. Earlier this year he was appointed to the Select Committee on Health Care Reform and remains optimistic about opportunities to make progress in the 88th Legislative Session.
“There are nearly 400,000 children in Texas currently eligible for Medicaid or CHIP who are not yet enrolled, and we must get them access to care,” Rep. Bucy said. “We also must ensure 12 months postpartum coverage becomes law. Additionally, we need to invest in mental health services and harm reduction, address the 16-year backlog on the waiver interest list for Texans with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, and improve Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers.”
Rep. Bucy also serves on the Committee on Elections and the Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies. In his two sessions in the Legislature he has established himself as a leading voice opposing voter suppression schemes while championing reforms that make it easier to vote, including putting election information and polling places online, creating a statewide mail in ballot tracking system, and ensuring voters with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.
“The freedom to vote is non-negotiable,” Bucy said. “We must continue to modernize our elections, while making it easier to register to vote and cast a ballot. No one should be afraid of increased voter participation, it’s good for democracy.”
Bills filed by Rep. Bucy on the first day of pre-filing include:
- H.J.R. 7 & H.B. 132 – would allow Texans to vote to expand Medicaid
- H.B. 160 – would provide a 10 percent Cost of Living Adjustment for retired educators and require a biennial study on the effects of inflation on annuities
- H.B. 202 – would provide for a $10,000 raise for state employees
- H.B. 212 – would allow Texans to register to vote online
- H.B. 241 – would allow any Texas voter to vote by mail without excuse and repeal penalties for governmental officeholders or employees providing information or applications to vote by mail
- H.B. 281 – would allow for same day registration at polling places
- H.B. 296 – would improve in-person voting, curbside voting, and ballot by mail for voters with disabilities
- H.B. 302 – would make Election Day a state holiday
- H.B. 310 – would require the state to notify formerly incarcerated persons when they have regained the right to vote
- H.B. 317 – would extend early voting to include the weekend leading up to Election Day
- H.B. 323 – would make Fine Arts part of the Foundation Curriculum for Public Schools
- H.B. 333 – would establish a task force to study and address the shortage of school psychologists
- H.B. 337 – would eliminate any standardized testing requirements that go beyond federal law
- H.B. 342 – would establish eligibility for full day pre-K for every Texas student
- H.B. 348 – change school funding from attendance based to enrollment based, with regular snapshots
- H.B. 349 – would allow cities to exempt seniors, those with disabilities, veterans, or active duty members of the armed forces from all or part of municipal drainage fees
- H.B. 354 – would allow college student, tribal, or state employee IDs to be used as Voter IDs
- H.B. 357 – would simplify access to the statewide Ballot By Mail Tracker created last session
- H.B. 359 – would expand in person return of Ballot By Mail to allow for earlier return by a voter
- H.B. 364 – would require school districts to work with county clerks to provide practical education on voting
- H.B. 365 – would allow individuals who are absent from a county to receive their ballot by mail electronically
- H.B. 371 – would standardize the dates of run-off elections to ensure multiple jurisdictions in a geographical area do not have concurrent elections on different dates
- H.B. 374 – would require voters who vote by mail in an election to opt out of receiving a ballot in the case of a run-off election as opposed to having to opt in to receiving one
- H.B. 377 – would establish a joint select committee to study the feasibility of a Cost of Living Adjustment for Teacher Retirement System of Texas annuitants
- H.B. 378 – would codify existing case law protecting Texans ability to register and engage voters at their residence
- H.B. 380 – would create an online database of candidates, officeholders, and elections to increase transparency and accessibility of the electoral process