100 Black Men of America

Wednesday marked the 100th day of the 85th legislative session. As a proud member of 100 Black Men of America Houston Chapter, I was excited to have my fellow brothers here at the Texas Capitol to represent and advocate for "100 at the Capitol Day". 100 Black Men of America is a men's civic organization and service club whose stated goal is to educate and empower African-American children and teens. The organization's mission statement is "to improve the quality of life within our communities and enhance educational and economic opportunities for all African Americans." The organization's mottos "real men giving real time" and "what they see is what they'll be" describe the organization's goals of providing positive role models and leaders to guide the next generation of African Americans and other youth. The members are predominantly African-American professionals, businessmen, civic leaders and administrators, educators, as well as people from other walks of life. I'm proud to be a joint author of HR 1343 honoring 100 Black Men of America for its service to African American youth.

The agenda for 100 Black Men of America's policy day included visiting State Representatives and Senators to advocate for support of bills that promote criminal justice reform, education reform, and economic development opportunities. These legislative priorities are urged on behalf of not only African American Texans, but of all Texans.

Thank you brothers for your time and diligence at the Capitol as you shed light on important public policies. Continue to speak truth to power.

Texas Legislative Internship Program

Tuesday morning I enjoyed speaking with Texas Legislative Internship Program (TLIP) students at a breakfast meeting. I got my political career started as an TLIP intern back in 1995. I commend and salute Commissioner Rodney Ellis for keeping the TLIP program going so that minority students like me have an opportunity to experience the legislative process.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Capitol Day

The Texas Capitol was filled with members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Monday as they celebrate Red and White Day at the Capitol. As such, I wore my red and white as I passed HR 242 in memory of my dear friend Dedré Jefferson of Alief. I found it very befitting to commemorate the life of a great woman on the same day as her beloved sorority. Dedré was the essence of what Delta Sigma Theta stands for-- illustrious, resilient, and impactful public service.

As an Alpha man, I am honored to know the Delta women in my life. Special shout out to my friend and colleague, Rep. Toni Rose, for hosting such a successful and energetic lobby day for the divas of DST. Thanks Cynthia M. Ginyard and Becky Boykin for driving down to join me on the dais of the house floor for the presentation.

Visit with Pastor Matthew Davis

I enjoyed visiting with my friend and constituent Pastor Matthew Davis at my office in the Capitol. Pastor Davis is a great pastor and very active in my district

Visit with HUB Coordinator

It was a pleasure to meet and discuss with the Manager of the Statewide HUB Program, Laura Cagle-Hinajosa of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. A few of my economic empowerment bills concern the rights of HUBs. As such, it was helpful to discuss current HUB policies and best practices.

Visit with FBISD

Since education is one of my top legislative priorities, I am always excited to discuss updates concerning the school districts of HD 27. Thank you to the FBISD Superintendent, Charles Dupre, and Trustee, Kristin Tassin, for taking time out to visit the Capitol office for an informative discussion. Currently, FBISD is working towards providing a wage increase for principals and teacher to maintain a high quality workforce. Also, FBISD is striving for an overall decrease in tax rates. Further, I was excited to receive great news from our visit. FBISD recently gave a $10,000 raise to each principal. Progressions such as this is the epitome of what Fort Bend County is all about-- always growing and advancing.

Visit with Houston Community College

I enjoyed the dialogue with HCC Chancellor Dr. Cesar Maldonado and HCC Trustee Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz about the 85th Legislative Session priorities of Houston Community College District. I currently have 2 HCC campuses in my district and will continue to support HCC and each of their legislative priorities

Legislative Tracker

Reynolds Rap is now featuring the Legislative Tracker! Each week, updates regarding some of Representative Reynolds' bills and debatable bills that are to be considered by the House will be highlighted here. See something that sparks your interest? Follow these bills and more by following this link.

I am pleased to announce that one of my county bills (HB 1107) has been unanimously voted out of the House. This newly engrossed bill is a local bill that would allow Fort Bend to be included in the list of those counties that the authority to prohibit roadside vending in the unincorporated portions of the country. This law is already effective in Harris and Bexar counties. It is my hope that the Senate and Governor continue the progression of this bill so that Fort Bend County can, too, have this authority.

Wednesday evening I went before the House State Affairs committee to lay out HB 1281. This bill enhance opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs). The HUBs program was created by the legislature in 1991 to increase participation of minority owned and women owned businesses in the state procurement and contracting process.

Although there has been an increase in overall agency spend on publicly bid contracts, the percentage of annual spend with HUBs has decreased in the recent years.

HB 1281 seeks to solve this issue by: improving the tools that state agencies can use in order to secure HUB partners; creating preference for in-state contractors; implementing vendor rotation to expand utilization of HUB groups; creating a joint venture policy for larger bids; and providing assessment of penalties against a supplier who fails to comply with the requirements of the program.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to lay out HB 1716 before the House County Affairs committee. HB 1716 relates to the territory of county assistance districts (CADs). This bill proposes non-adjoining CADs which will allow the county to annex and fund county roads, parks, and facilities with sales taxes reducing the use of property taxes. The alternative to this bill is creating new districts. However, creating a new district is costly to the taxpayers and very time consuming since they have to be voted on. Having these non-adjoining CADs will save time and will allow for more efficient use of the funds.

Wednesday morning I went before the House Ways and Means committee to lay out HB 1806. Current law allows a municipality located in a county with a population of fewer than 1 million to use local hotel occupancy tax revenue o fund certain expenses, including promotional expenses directly related to a sporting event. If adopted, HB 1806 would amend current law to provide an exception for Missouri City to use hotel occupancy taxes. This bill does not create a new tax nor adds to current tax. It simply allows Missouri City to use funds it already has for additional purposes. Approval of HB 1806 will give Missouri City the opportunity to direct its hotel occupancy tax funds to activities that will spur tourism in the City and, in turn, benefit the City's hotels, general economy, and its residents.

On Monday, April 17th, I laid out HB 2559 relating to the public inspection of annual mail ballot applications in the House Election committee. This bill will allow for a more efficient mail voting process. I look forward to working with my colleagues on getting this voter-friendly bill.

Tuesday morning I was proud to lay out HB 2682 before the House Environmental Regulation Committee. My bill deals with the extension and expansion of the Texas Emission Reduction Plan, commonly referred to as TERP. TERP is a major voluntary program designed to lower air pollution in our urban areas and protect public health by meeting strict EPA air quality standards. I will continue to fight for good public policies that protect public health and our environment!

Special thanks to my colleagues of the House Special Purpose Districts committee for allowing me the opportunity to lay out HB 2938. This bill relates to the Sienna Plantation Levee Improvement District of Fort Bend County.

Sienna Plantation is served by the Sienna Plantation Levee Improvement District ("Sienna LID"), which provides levee and drainage services in the area. Sienna LID plans to add more recreational areas and parks to its existing park system and will fund this expansion by issuing recreational facility bonds. However, current law constrains Sienna LID's plans by limiting the percentage at which Sienna LID can issue bonds to an equivalent to 1% of its property tax revenue.

My hope is that this bill will receive the committee's favorable consideration.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lay out two of my economic empowerment bills, HB 476 and HB 3740, before the House Economic & Small Business Development.

The intent of these bills are similar. Both HB 476 and HB 3740 aim to give small businesses and HUBs more opportunity for economic growth and experience. More specifically, HB 476 creates a preference to be given by state agencies for certain goods and services produced or offered by small businesses. HB 3740 relates to the sharing of information about historically underutilized businesses and the expansion of the Small Business Development Center Network.

As a small business owner and supporter, I hope the committee and my colleagues can also note the importance of these bills. I look forward to working with them and urging the passage of these economic empowerment bills.