Local Texas legislators discuss issues concerning the RGV, state
State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen), state Representatives Oscar Longoria (D-Mission) and Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco) discussed priorities for the 88th legislative session concerning Rio Grande Valley constituents.
The Texas Tribune held the “Inside the Interim with Rio Grande Valley Lawmakers” event from noon to 1 p.m. last Wednesday at the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Conference Center in Edinburg. People could attend in-person or watch the event remotely.
Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith moderated the conversation.
Smith first asked the legislators their opinion on the trigger law that took effect last Thursday, making abortion illegal and punishable in the state of Texas. All three legislators voted against the law.
“Frankly, I don’t agree with an absolute ban,” Longoria said. “I think you need to really look at it in a broader scope. I mean, there’s definitely some instances where you have to kind of examine it.”
During the question and answer portion, The Rider asked about the legislators’ support for the sales tax repeal on feminine hygiene products, which all three legislators agreed they supported.
Longoria said other legislators support the tax repeal so its chances of being effective is likely.
Regarding the lost revenue on the sales tax, Hinojosa said the revenue would not be affected.
“The taxes are part of the whole overall budget of the state of Texas, so it’s not set aside for anything particular,” he said.
Another topic was that of gun laws and the Uvalde shooting, which took place May 24 at Robb Elementary School.
Hinojosa said they look forward to introducing bills in the next session for gun safety laws, such as raising the age rate for buying a military assault weapon to 21 years old.
Longoria elaborated on this issue.
“The fact that you can be 18 and buy an assault rifle, but you can’t buy a handgun is definitely a question that we really need to ask ourselves,” he said.
Longoria also said that an absolute ban is practically impossible due to the amount of people who already own firearms. He said their next step should be to reinforce school safety.
“You put that, along with the issues of being able to attack a problem quickly, where you see a student or someone that may be disgruntled and is facing some issues that may backlash at the community in the form of doing a mass shooting, and trying to prevent that,” Longoria said.
In an interview with The Rider, Martinez said that for the next legislative session he will focus on economic development in the RGV. He discussed the progress on Hidalgo County’s drainage system project, which took effect September 2021.
“When it comes to investing in infrastructure, drainage has to be one of the most important because you have so many people displaced from their homes and businesses because of the flooding events that happened to the mid-Valley,” Martinez said. “And if you actually look at the mid-Valley, it’s a bowl. That’s where everything accumulates, so we need to address it.”
Martinez also said he wants to push the idea of creating a law school in the RGV.
The idea was introduced in 2021 but did not advance from the Senate Committee on Higher Education.
“My definition of success is opportunity, but the only way we do that is through an education,” he said. “And I think that we need to provide those opportunities for our students here in the Rio Grande [Valley].”
Martinez said the medical school here in the RGV retains students in the area, so students going into law school should have that opportunity as well.
