There are two bills pending in the Texas House and Senate that will either abolish HCDE (SB2311 and HB4625), or put HCDE up for sunset review (SB2312 and HB4626). We should call our State Senator and State Representative, asking them to vote No on these bills.
State Senator Joan Huffman (District 17) – 512.463.0117, joan.huffman@texas.senate.gov
State Representative Gina Calanni (District 132) – 512-463-0528, gina.calanni@house.texas.gov
State Representative Jim Murphy (District 133) – 512-463-0514, jim.murphy@house.texas.gov
State Representative Sarah Davis (District 134) – 512-463-0389, sarah.davis@house.texas.gov
State Representative Jon Rosenthal (District 135) – 512-463-0722, jon.rosenthal@house.texas.gov
Script with optional talking points:
Hello, my name is _____________, and I’m a voting resident of Senator/Representative _____________. I’m calling to urge the Senator/Representative to vote no on SB2311 and SB2312 / HB4625 and HB4626.
Harris County Department of Education has been funded 72% by Federal grants, local school district service fees, and a cooperative purchasing program. Only 28% of funds came from property taxes. HCDE serves 30,000 students. HCDE provides vital services, such as therapy in local schools, 17 Head Start centers for early childhood education, after-school programming in dozens of community and school settings, and the largest Texas adult education program.