By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
AUSTIN – Former science teacher and a six-year member of the Texas State Board of Education, Aicha Davis hit the ground running in Austin during her first year as a State Representative for District 109.
No stranger to education, she was well-appointed to the Committee on Human Services and the Committee on Higher Education.
During the 89th Legislative Session, Davis passed 14 bills out of the House of Representatives with 11 of those also passing the Texas Senate and heading to the Governor’s desk.
Davis was one of the top three Democrats that passed bills during the 89th Legislative Session.
“This was my first session as a member of the Texas House of Representatives,” Davis said. “My focus was to set up Texans for success from pre-k to professional training and everything in between. I know we need more jobs, more healthcare, higher wages, and to cut costs at the gas pump, grocery store, and pharmacy. I am proud to have gotten 11 bills passed and signed into law. These bills make significant improvements to our foster care system to ensure kids are safe, families are reunited, and state contractors are held accountable. The bills help college students graduate on time with minimal debt and create incentives to get more Texans into the mental health fields for which our state faces severe workforce shortages. I was able to secure grants and other funding for the district including $1 million for a senior center in Cedar Hill and $12 million in capital investments and new jobs in Wilmer.”
Also, notable was the fact of the 11 bills, six were bills authored by Davis with identical language filed in both chambers.
The remaining five bills were measures sponsored by Davis in the Texas House.
In addition to the bills she authored and sponsored, Representative Davis also contributed to numerous other bills as a co-author ensuring that Texans received another historic property tax relief package, and that the homestead exemption increased for all, especially senior citizens. She also co-authored legislation to provide significant funding for public schools, teacher raises, safe learning communities, establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas; and a bill for significant funding increases for Texas State Technical College to train the state’s workforce.
Davis secured $1 million for a senior wing at Alan E. Sims Recreation Center in Cedar Hill as well as supporting the award of a Texas enterprise fund grant to John Paul Mitchell Systems, which was pivotal in their decision to relocate a corporate headquarters and distribution center to Wilmer.
“We got a lot of great policy wins for Texas while we also fell short in other areas,” Davis concluded. “Our schools continue to be underfunded and taxes remain too high. We failed to increase teacher pay and school funding by the levels we should’ve. All this to say, that while I was able to get many things done in my first term, the work is just beginning. I thank my constituents for trusting me to be our community’s voice in the Texas House and look forward to continuing my service.”
Rep. Davis’s office sent this summary of bills passed in which she was the primary bill author or sponsor:
● HB 4129 / SB 2033 – Relating to the contract requirements for a contract between a single source continuum contractor and the Department of Family and Protective Services.
● HB 4130 / SB 2032 – Relating to certain requirements regarding a contract between a single source continuum contractor and the Department of Family and Protective Services.
● HB 4131 / SB 2034 – Relating to the receivership of a single-source continuum contractor providing child welfare services. Strengthen state’s mental health workforce:
● SB 646 by Senator Royce West – Sponsor: A. Davis – Relating to repayment of certain mental health professional education loans.
● SB 1401 by West – Sponsor: A. Davis – Relating to the creation of the Texas Mental Health Profession Pipeline Program by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
● SB 672 by Hughes – Sponsor: A. Davis – Relating to a requirement that certain hospitals submit a summary of parts of their emergency operations plans to the Health and Human Services Commission.
● SB 2995 by West – Sponsor: A. Davis – Relating to the displacement of student financial aid at a public institution of higher education.
● SB 3039 by West – Sponsor: A. Davis – Relating to the transfer of students in public higher education and to transparency regarding certificate or degree program requirements.
● HB 4127 / SB 599 (West) – Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to regulate a licensed, registered, or listed group day-care home or family home.
● HB 4869 / SB 1923 (West) – Relating to the modification of certain orders providing for the support of a child.
● HB 5064 / SB 2790 (West) – Relating to the designation of a portion of U.S. Highway 67 in Dallas and Ellis Counties as the Eddie Bernice Johnson Memorial Highway.
