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State Representative Drew Springer hosts town hall

Fri, 10/21/2016 - 4:43 pm
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    State Representative Drew Springer, center, talks with Faith Community Hospital CEO Frank Beaman, David Spiller and Mason Spiller following the town hall meeting he hosted Monday in Jacksboro. Springer outlined issues he would like to see addressed in the upcoming 85th Legislative Session.

Rep. Drew Springer hosted a town hall meeting Monday afternoon in Jacksboro. The Texas District 69 Representative talked about the upcoming legislative session to begin Jan. 10 and sought feedback on local concerns from those who attended.

He said the House will have a more difficult time passing a budget in the upcoming session.

“This year will be a more challenging session than the 84th where we had a ton of money,” Springer said. 

He said the governor, lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house have asked all the agencies to look at taking a 4 percent cut in the budget excluding some agencies including those dealing with health care and education. 

Springer said he hopes to serve on the Ways and Means and Appropriations committees setting tax policy and the budget.

He also said in the 85th session, Child Protective Services will likely require more money.

“It’s been in the news. It definitely needs an overhaul,” Springer said. “It doesn’t just need money thrown at it, but it probably definitely will take money as well.”

Mental health is another item that needs work, he said. 

“We don’t have enough beds in the state of Texas for all the people that need to get help,” Springer said. 

“It costs you guys in Jack County more money because of the jail. We leave guys sitting in jail and ladies waiting for competency hearings. Then they don’t pass competency; that means they can’t stand trial. That means they’re waiting on a bed in Wichita Falls or Vernon to become eligible to go get the treatment they need to be able to come back and stand trial.”

He said the House will also address school finance.

“We didn’t do a lot my first and second sessions on reforming finance because we’ve been tied up in lawsuits,” Springer said. “The courts came back and ruled that it’s constitutional, but it’s not very good. The House has taken on the challenge and is saying, ‘We’re going to address it right now. We’re not going to just accept the system the way it is. We’re going to look and say how can we fix it?’”

To read the complete article, see the Oct. 21 edition of the Herald-Gazette.