by Legislative Media | Jun 6, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Some of the latest high-technology used by Santana Textiles that has helped it become one of the world leaders in the manufacture and development of different and innovative denim fabrics. Santana Textiles’ vertically integrated production process includes R&D, spinning, dyeing, weaving and finishing. The principal manufacturing plants include modern, automated and integrated yarn spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing facilities. Santana Textiles can produce approximately 100 million meters of denim fabrics annually.
Photograph Courtesy SANTANA TEXTILES
Santana Textiles, a world leader in the manufacture and development of different and innovative denim fabrics, will be hosting a job fair on Wednesday, June 17, at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, with a goal of hiring up to 300 employees for its upcoming start-up operations, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. The EEDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council. Santana Textiles, based in Brazil, along with the EEDC and Workforce Solutions, are sponsoring the event, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The job fair at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, which is located at 118 Paseo Del Prado by the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance complex in the southwest part of the city, is free and open to the public. “We are happy to share the long-anticipated and very welcomed update that Santana Textiles will complete construction and begin their spinning operations this summer,” Mayor Richard García, who also serves as President of the five-member EEDC Board of Directors, revealed during his State of the City Address, which he delivered on Thursday, May 21, at the Edinburg City Auditorium. “This is just the beginning,” the mayor added. “Over the next few years, we anticipate 800 employees will eventually be on payroll at Santana Textiles when they reach their full capacity here in Edinburg. The additional economic impact of that workforce will create more than 3,000 indirect jobs, not to mention the investment for the facilities and equipment by Santana Textiles.” The estimated total financial economic impact of the new manufacturing conglomerate in Edinburg will be about $180 million, and reflects the EEDC’s and city council’s successful strategies to bring new employers to the community, the mayor said. According to the company, Santana Textiles is seeking energetic, self-motivated, and safety-oriented individuals for entry-level industrial maintenance technicians to highly experienced personnel. Duties will vary based on job description from basic knowledge of hand and power tools to experienced technicians with knowledge of electronics, PLC, automation, and testing equipment. “This job fair will focus in hiring individuals in the positions for the following areas: production, logistics, supervision, maintenance, environmental health and safety, security guards, and accounting, among others,” said Janette García, Human Resources Coordinator for the local Santana Textiles complex. Interested individuals will also have the opportunity to apply online, she added, by logging on to http://www.SantanaTextiles.com, and clicking “Careers”. She also can provide more information for interested applicants by contacting her through [email protected] or by calling her at 956/618-0097: ext: 8008. More than seven million meters per month of different basic denim fabrics are manufactured by the brands Santana Textiles, Loco Serious Denim and BEM – Bi-Elastic Movement. “The Santana Textiles manufacturing plant is located on a 33-acre site which is part of Edinburg’s 150-acre North Industrial Park, which is next to Interstate 69 Central, about three miles south of the South Texas International Airport at Edinburg, which makes it accessible to both ground and air transportation,” the mayor emphasized. “The North Industrial Park was formerly agricultural property which was purchased by the EEDC more than a dozen years ago, with the goal of bringing new businesses or helping existing companies expand in Edinburg. It has proven to be a very wise investment for our community.”
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by Legislative Media | Jun 4, 2015 | Politics
Four new members of the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation are now bringing their vision and considerable skills to one of the most influential public bodies in deep South Texas, Mayor Richard H. García has announced. García also serves as President of the five-member governing board for the EEDC, which is the jobs-creation arm for the Mayor and Edinburg City Council. Under the bylaws of the EEDC, the Mayor is always President of the EEDC Board of Directors, while the four other members of that leadership group are appointed by the mayor and city council. Rolando “Ronnie” Guerra, Sr., Broker/Dealer with Voya Financial Advisors, Mark Iglesias, Environmental Manager at S&B Infrastructure, Ltd., and Harvey Rodríguez, South Texas Operations Manager with CAS Companies, LP, were selected by the mayor and city council on Thursday, May 21. On Tuesday, June 2, Richard W. Ruppert, owner of Santa Cruz Land Sales, became the fourth new appointee to the EEDC Board of Directors, following the required approval of the mayor and city council, and setting into motion the most recent team of EEDC board members to their respective two-year terms. “I congratulate these outstanding community leaders who have agreed to serve our city as Edinburg continues this incredible journey of landmark advances and proven progress,” said García. “But I also want to thank our immediate past board members, whose legacies will feature helping make Edinburg one of the best cities in Texas in which to live, work, and play.” Business leader Fred Palacios, Dr. Havidan Rodríguez, the President Ad Interim for The University of Texas-Pan American, prominent attorney Felipe García, and Steven Cruz, II, Director of Operations for Precinct 4 County Commissioner Joseph Palacios, are coming off very successful terms on the EEDC Board of Directors, the mayor noted. “From our legislative efforts that have helped result in the completed and ongoing construction of the $42.7 million Performing Arts Complex, the $54 million Medical Education Building, and the $70 million Science Building at the University of Texas-Pan American to the upcoming construction of the $68 million Bert Ogden Arena – and many other very important achievements – Fred Palacios, Havidán Rodríguez, Felipe García, and Steven Cruz, II, under the leadership of the Edinburg City Council, have made a tremendous positive impact on our hometown,” the mayor said. “Now come Rolando “Ronnie” Guerra, Sr., Mark Iglesias, Harvey Rodríguez, and Richard Richard W. Ruppert, who surely will add their distinguished names as the latest architects of Edinburg’s great and immediate future,” García predicted with pride and confidence. “They will bring honor to themselves and their families through this public service, and that is why they were chosen to serve our community.”
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by Legislative Media | Jun 1, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Lucille D. Wood, Clinical Professor at The University of Texas School of Law, whose research in a 2012 study helped lead to the passage of House Bill 311 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, and Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville. HB 311 will help protect thousands of low-income families, especially those who live in colonias, who purchase their homes through non-traditional financing known as contracts for deed. Photograph Courtesy THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW
Thousands of Texans who purchase their homes through non-traditional financing known as contracts for deed would be better safeguarded from losing their investment under legislation by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which was approved by the Legislature on Saturday, May 30. The measure, House Bill 311, whose Senate sponsor was Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott for his approval. “I am honored to announce that House Bill 311 has been passed by the Texas Legislature, ” said Canales. “This important legislation will help protect Texas homebuyers from unscrupulous sellers. For most Texans, our home is the most expensive purchase we will make in our lifetime and it is paramount that we protect that investment.” Contracts for deed oftentimes are used when traditional financing, such as mortgages through a financial institution, is not available. Many of the estimated half-million Texans who live in colonias are at risk because they buy their homes through a contract for deed. The legislation’s major goals include streamlining the title conversion process for contracts for deed so title is conveyed to the purchaser, giving the purchaser protection, and the seller still retains a lien on the property at the same terms of the original contract. “This puts these properties back into the real estate market, allowing them to be properly sold and allows the homeowner to take out a loan on them,” Canales said. HB 311 also will encourage contracts for deed to be recorded so that other buyers, lenders, and title companies know that a property has been sold. Contracts for deed, also known as executory contracts, are contracts for the sale of land – usually residential property – where the seller keeps title to the property until the buyer has paid the full contract price. “Most of these contracts are long-term arrangements, lasting eight to 10 years on average,” Canales, an attorney, explained. “In that time, lots of things can go wrong. Sellers die, get divorced, or just disappear. Buyers have a difficult time getting homestead exemptions for their taxes, buying insurance, refinancing, or doing other things property owners with a deed can do.” A deed is a written instrument that, when executed and delivered, convey (transfer) title to or an interest in real estate. HB 311 would automatically require contracts for deed to convey (transfer) the title to the homebuyer, and would encourage these contracts to be legally recorded, which establishes ownership of the residence. Canales said HB 311 would help improve “an outdated system of property transactions. Unfortunately, contracts for deed are structured in a way that allows for abusive practices to arise,” the House District 40 lawmaker explained. “Buyers who complete their payment are not guaranteed the conveyance of title, and if the buyer defaults, they may lose any payment that they have already paid. When not recorded, buyers face less protection and risk losing their property.” Robert Doggett, an attorney with Texas Family Council, which supported the legislation, agreed that the legislation modernizes this type of residential real estate transaction.“For many decades these transactions have caused problems for Texas homeowners because they delayed the buyer receiving title to their property for many years. Buyers who had to move in the middle of their contracts lost the value of all improvements and any equity they achieved because there was nothing for them to sell,” said Doggett. “Thanks to the continued efforts of Rep. Canales and his staff both this session and last, Texans with these contracts will actually become Texas homeowners simply by filing their contracts. HB 311 will truly help make the problems caused by contracts for deed a relic of the past.” Canales thanked the Texas Family Council and Randy Lee with Stewart Title Guaranty Company for endorsing the legislation, which Canales first filed in 2013. But the South Texas lawmaker also praised a 2012 study commissioned by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), which contracted with Peter M. Ward, C.B. Smith Sr. Centennial Chair in US-Mexico Relations at the LBJ School; Heather Way, ’96, director of the Law School’s Community Development Clinic; and Lucille Wood, 2011–2012 Research Fellow at the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, to direct the study. Their “invaluable research” found that despite these reforms, contracts for deed continue to be problematic transactions for consumers, the South Texas legislator noted. The research was extensive, according to a December 10, 2012 feature story by UT Law, The Magazine of the University of Texas School of Law, which chronicled the in-depth look at the problems of contracts for deeds among lower-income families ( http://www.utexas.edu/law/magazine/2012/12/10/colonias-contracts/ ).
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by Legislative Media | May 29, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville; Alma Ortega-Johnson, Area President South Texas Region for Wells Fargo; and Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, following the State Legislative Session Wrap-Up Luncheon, sponsored by the City of McAllen and the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, at the McAllen Country Club. Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
Several key projects vital to the Edinburg region – specifically the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, the UT-RGV Regional Academic Health Center Medical Research Division, a Texas Department of Public Safety multi-use training facility, a hanger for emergency first responder capabilities at the South Texas International Airport at Edinburg, and the South Texas Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence in Pharr – are included in the $209.4 billion two-year state spending plan that was approved by the Legislature on Friday, May 29, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, has announced. Those legislative priorities represent almost $100 million in state investments, beginning on September 1, 2015, that will be coming to the Rio Grande Valley in addition to a separate but enormous infusion of other state funding for the major functions of state government in the Rio Grande Valley. “The Valley legislative delegation played our roles in generating the political support from our 172 other colleagues in the Legislature for securing additional state funding for exciting new projects for House District 40 and for the rest of deep South Texas,” said Canales, who represents House District 40. House District 40 includes portions or all of Edinburg, Elsa, Faysville, La Blanca, Linn, Lópezville, McAllen, Pharr, San Carlos and Weslaco. “The special appropriations totaling almost $100 million were secured by Valley legislators, led by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, who was the only South Texas lawmaker to serve on a 10-member Senate-House panel that came up with the final version of the state budget,” said Canales. “Having Sen. Hinojosa on the conference committee was invaluable. He deserves congratulations for a job well-done.” Hinojosa, D-McAllen,was one of only five Senate appointees – and the only Democrat – selected on Thursday, April 23, by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, to serve on the Senate/House Conference Committee that came up with a final state budget for the 2016-17 biennium. A conference committee is a special legislative panel appointed by the Lt. Governor and the Speaker of the House when there are differences between a Senate bill and a House bill that deal with the same issue, such as the proposed state budget that has been approved by the Senate and the proposed state budget that has been approved by the House of Representatives. Edinburg, where a major campus of the UT-RGV School of Medicine, now under construction, and the adjacent UT-RGV Regional Academic Health Center Medical Research Division are located, will see those two cutting-edge facilities share in $91.7 million in state funds over the next two years. The UT-RGV School of Medicine also includes a major presence in Harlingen, with the UT-RGV RAHC Medical Education Division, while the UT-RGV School of Medicine in Edinburg will provide the first two years of a medical student’s education, along with the groundbreaking studies at the neighboring UT-RGV RAHC Medical Research Division. From the $91.7 million in state funding, more than $60 million will go towards the School of Medicine, while $31.4 million will be invested in the UT-RGV Regional Academic Health Centers. The leadership of UT-RGV will decide what portions of that money will be invested in each of the facilities and their programs. New money for public safety and law enforcement – not counting hundreds of millions of dollars for border security measures that will come into the Valley – was approved for the Edinburg region. The South Texas International Airport at Edinburg picked up $3 million to help expand its hangar capabilities, which are needed by the Texas Department of Public Safety for emergency and first responders for staging and storage purposes. That money is coming out of a state highway fund that is reserved for public safety efforts at local airports throughout Texas. Also, $2 million has been set aside to build a Department of Public Safety multi-use training facility to be used by DPS, the Texas military forces, county and municipal law enforcement agencies, and any other military or law enforcement agencies, including agencies of the federal government, for training purposes. It is the intent of the Legislature that the governing body of the County of Hidalgo or the City of Edinburg may donate 200 acres of real property to DPS for the training facility. If donated, DPS shall accept 200 acres of donated land from the governing body of the County of Hidalgo or the City of Edinburg for the purpose of constructing the training facility. Edinburg’s neighboring community, the City of Pharr, picked up more than $1.5 million, effective on September 1, 2015, to help in the construction of the South Texas College Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence. That complex, to be built on a 50-to-60 acre tract of land to be donated by the City of Pharr, will “increase necessary access to training opportunities for officers in the Rio Grande Valley region and, in turn, improve public safety and border security,” said Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr., D-Mission, whose House District 36 includes most of Pharr. “The training provided at the regional center also would provide officers with college credit toward either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, while the four police academies in the area would not.” The state money would be in addition to $4.2 million already set aside by South Texas College for the construction of a 16,000 square-foot facility to include a vehicle driving range, outdoor shooting range, firearms simulator, mobile firearms simulator/live firing range, driving simulator, obstacle course, fitness rooms, classrooms and administrative offices. “The Regional Center for Public Safety Excellent will increase necessary access to training opportunities for officers in the Rio Grande Valley region and, in turn, improve public safety and border security,” Muñoz further explained. “The training provided at the regional center also would provide officers with college credit toward either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, while the four police academies in the area would not.” The state funding comes as part of House Bill 1887, which is well on its way to being approved by the Legislature. HB 1887, authored by Muñoz and sponsored by Hinojosa, amends the Education Code to create the Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence to provide education and training for law enforcement personnel in the Rio Grande Valley. “Having such an educational facility for our current and future law enforcement officials will be a tremendous benefit for the delivery of justice and the protection of all of us in deep South Texas,” said Canales, whose House District 40 includes 19 percent of the City of Pharr. “I appreciate Rep. Muñoz allowing me to sign on as joint author of HB 1887, and I appreciated working with him and the leadership of Pharr and South Texas College on this most important legislative effort.” Along with Canales, the other joint authors of HB 1887 are Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-San Benito, and Rep. Ryan Guillén, D-Rio Grande City.
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by Legislative Media | May 28, 2015 | Politics
Digital driver’s licenses, such as now set up in Iowa, could be studied for use in Texas under a bipartisan measure being considered by the Texas Legislature.
Photograph By DIGITALTRENDS.COM
Texans could one day soon have the option of carrying virtual version’s of their driver’s license on their smartphone under legislation by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, that is making its way through the state legislature. His proposal, originally contained in his House Bill 640, was attached as an amendment to Senate Bill 1934 on Monday, May 25. An amendment is a proposed change – either by adding new language and/or deleting existing language – to a bill or resolution as it moves through the legislative process. Canales was successful in adding the entire text of HB 640 to the language of Senate Bill 1934, by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, which deals with changing requirements for driver’s licenses, personal ID information. “Recently enacted legislation allowed drivers to show proof of auto insurance on their smartphones and reports indicate that other states have passed similar laws,” Canales said of his HB 640. “In an effort to continue this digital trend, my legislation requires the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct a study concerning the use of a digital image for identification and proof of licensure purposes.” Now, through SB 1934, which is awaiting a final vote by the House of Representatives, Canales’ idea would result in Texas developing a system where such digital driver licenses could become a reality in Texas within the next few years. “Other major states are looking at this option, and my amendment to SB 1934 would give us until the fall of 2016 to come up with the pros and cons, anticipate and fix any shortcomings, and protect the privacy of individuals who prefer to have digital versions of their driver license, rather than the plastic type,” said Canales. Iowa and Delaware are the first two states to set up such a system, while this spring, as of March 10, 2015, other states are also looking at similar measures, including Arizona, California, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Tennessee. Under Canales’ amendment to SB 1934: The DPS would be required to conduct a study determining the feasibility of establishing a system to allow a person to use a digital image displayed on an electronic device for identification purposes or to prove that the person has a driver’s license; The DPS would evaluate risks to personal information security that such a system might create; The DPS would survey and evaluate digital identification and proof of licensure policies in other states; and The DPS would be required, not later than September 1, 2016, to submit a detailed report of its findings and recommendations to the legislature.
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by Legislative Media | May 27, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, speaking from the back microphone on the floor of the House of Representatives in April 2015.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Texans’ Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure would be better protected under legislation sponsored by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which would require police to obtain a search warrant from a judge before being allowed to look at the contents of a cell phone or other wireless communications device belonging to individuals who are involved in a search incident to arrest. In general, a search incident to arrest, formally known as a search incident to lawful arrest (SITA) or the Chimel rule, is defined as a legal principle that allows police to perform a warrantless search of an arrested person, and the area within the arrestee’s immediate control, in the interest of officer safety, the prevention of escape, and the destruction of evidence. In addition to protecting Texans’ Fourth Amendment privacy rights, Senate Bill 1864 “gives our law enforcement officers a clean and clear description of how to handle the search of a cell phone,” Canales added. The measure, whose primary author is Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, passed the Senate on Thursday, April 30. Canales secured passage by the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence – of which he is a member – on Friday, May 21. Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, is a joint author of Burton’s SB 1864, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday, April 30. “Unless it is an emergency that involves the safety of our law enforcement officers, or the police reasonably believe the information in the phone is vital to saving someone’s life, a search warrant must be obtained before they can begin looking at all the information – some if it very private – that all of us have in our cell phones,” said Canales. He noted that when an individual is stopped for an alleged offense, police can examine a cell phone to make sure it can not be used as a weapon against them. “Police can look at the contents of a cell phone or other wireless communications device without a search warrant if the owner of the phone consents, the phone is reported stolen, or if the officer reasonably believes the phone is in possession of a fugitive from justice for whom an arrest warrant has been issued for a felony offense,” Canales added. According to U.S. Courts (uscourts.gov), the Constitution, through the Fourth Amendment, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The Fourth Amendment, however, is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law. Whether a particular type of search is considered reasonable in the eyes of the law, is determined by balancing two important interests, according to U.S. Courts. On one side of the scale is the intrusion on an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. On the other side of the scale are legitimate government interests, such as public safety. Burton characterized SB 1864 as “a privacy protection bill that takes proactive steps to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of not only Texans, but of all who come to our great state. We now carry around with us everyday items that contain more personal information, photos, contacts, and transcripts of conversations than most people kept in their homes just ten years ago. A police officer looking through a cell phone’s contents is as invasive a search as rummaging through every private paper and item in your home.” In June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that during a search incident to arrest, a warrant is required in order to search a cell phone or other wireless communication device. In his concurrence to that decision, Justice Samuel Alito called for legislatures to not allow privacy protections in the 21st century to rely primarily upon the blunt instrument of the Fourth Amendment, and to take up the challenge of placing into statue the protections necessary to guarantee those rights in this ever changing technological environment.
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