Sen. Flores, Rep. Buckley discuss varied priorities during new legislative session

While backing Abbott’s and Patrick’s initiatives, Flores, who is the new senator for District 24, his focus is always with his constituents in mind.

“The way I vote is what’s good for the district first, and then what’s good for the state,” Flores, R-Pleasanton, said Thursday morning.

The former Texas game warden is in his second overall term. He won a special election in 2019 for Senate District 19 during the 86th Legislative Session and lost reelection for the seat in 2020.

Mostly in lockstep with the governor’s priorities, Flores said one way the state can use some of its historic, nearly $30 billion surplus is on infrastructure improvements, such as roads, that impact not only the next few years but the next few decades.

“Although this money is in surplus, we have to remember that it is not recurring,” Flores said. “We may have it now, but if the market changes in two years, it might not be there, so we want to be wary to not put it into any programs that do not require recurring funding but rather let’s invest in the infrastructure — like the grid or roads.”

Expanding on the grid, Flores said it primarily revolves around infrastructure improvements, which he said hasn’t been done for years.

“Most of those facilities were built decades ago,” Flores said. “That type of investment — working with industries — with the surplus that we have, to be able to build infrastructure to beef up the ability of the grid to withstand (extreme conditions).”

The stability and integrity of the power grid in Texas have been at the forefront of the minds of many Texans after extended blackouts during Winter Storm Uri in 2021 reportedly saved it from a complete failure, and cold snaps in February and December of 2022 had others nervous.

Buckley

One of Buckley’s main priorities is working to solve truancy problems in the state’s public schools. Truancy is a long-time absence from school without explanation.

Since returning to traditional learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts across the state — including Killeen and Copperas Cove — have battled high truancy rates.

During a school board meeting on Jan. 10, Amanda Crawley, Copperas Cove’s deputy superintendent of instructional services, told the board of trustees that the dropout rate has remained steady, meaning the students are staying enrolled but missing class for large periods of time.

“We’ve been concerned about our kids going to school,” Buckley, R-Salado, said Thursday.

Buckley explained that the Texas Legislature decriminalized truancy in 2015, so his bill — which is still being drafted — would continue the integrity of that decision while potentially giving parents the ability to take classes or training to understand why school attendance is important.

“It’s a school safety issue. It’s a student achievement issue,” Buckley said. “Their schools will be where the resources are, where they’ll be housed, that serve kids that have maybe mental health needs (or) that have other social needs.”

Buckley told the Herald that he has been working with Speaker of the House Dade Phelan to craft the language that will make it an effective bill.

In speaking with law enforcement officials and justice officials, Buckley said that it would take a community effort to combat the truancy issue.

“In the end, a (justice of the peace) in Bell County told me this: They said, ‘When I go out on an inquest that involves a teenager — whether a teenager that has shot someone or has been shot and killed — 90% of them had a truancy record,’” Buckley said. “That’s not acceptable. These kids … we’re not doing what we should be doing by them.”

Property Taxes

Both Flores and Buckley mentioned property tax reform as priorities.

On Wednesday, the Senate filed this year’s budget bill, Senate Bill 1, which includes such proposals as an increase from $40,000 to $70,000 on the homestead exemption and a greater buydown from the state on the maintenance and operations portion of property taxes that would ease the burden on homeowners.

The Herald will do a deep dive into their comments on the topic for Sunday’s edition.