Before state lawmakers convened to debate the issues of the 85th Legislative session, our multimedia team traveled across the state to hear what Texans were talking about. Many of those community concerns are the focus of our “State of Mind” video series, made up of six parts that were published throughout the first two weeks of the session.
“$800 million dollars was a record, and it’s $800 million more than any other state in the entire nation has ever spent in trying to meet the federal government’s requirement of securing the border.”
— State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton
“Transportation is a regional issue, and safety is a regional issue. The constituency of ride-sharing is larger than just a municipal vote.”
— State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown
“It’s a delicate balance between private property rights, renewable energy desires, and protecting your largest employer in the region. That’s going to be a difficult decision that’s going to have to be made.”
— John Burrus, Wichita Falls Aviation Director
"We have to define the fact that small counties, mid-size counties, 100 beds or less, do not have the same resources that other jails do. Without state funding of any kind, you’re looking at an unfunded mandate to a huge proportion to your county judge, your county commissions, and your constituency."
— Sheriff A.J. “Andy” Louderback, Jackson County
“The truth is there are no logistics to it. It’s purely based on emotion, mostly fear. I'm hoping that I can provide a somewhat logical voice but also provide a face to let people know how exactly this affects the people they’re attacking and segregating.”
— Garrett Gantt, transgender student
“The capacity crisis is probably the worse that I've seen. There's been once or twice in my career that I have seen the children sleeping in offices being an issue before. I think this is probably the longest that I remember it being an issue, and the most consistent, where they're every single day, for the most part, having a child sleep in an office.”
— Renee Price, Depelchin Children's Center