by Legislative Media | Apr 22, 2015 | Politics
Featured: Air Force Staff Sgt. Rosemery Aragón signals as airmen load simulated patients during a readiness training exercise in Alexandria, La., March 13, 2014. Aragón, an aeromedical service superintendent, is assigned to the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.
U.S. Air Force photograph By TECH. SGT. MATTHEW SMITH
Veterans or current members of the U.S. armed forces – mostly women – who were victims of sexual trauma, such as rape, during their military service, then wind up breaking Texas laws as a direct result of that anguish would be able to receive proper treatments under court supervision rather than going to jail, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, has proposed. House Bill 1958 by Canales would allow such victims of sexual trauma, including those who were sexually harassed during their time in the military service, to have their cases heard by a growing number of specialized judicial forums in Texas, known as veterans courts. His measure was heard at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, April 8, 2015 by the House Committee on Defense & Veterans’ Affairs. “In 2010, women in the military had a higher chance of being raped than being killed in combat. In 2014, 48 percent of women in the military said they experienced sexual harassment, while 8.2 percent experienced unwanted sexual contact,” Canales reported. “Sexual trauma is a very deeply distressing experience, and the terrible and often long-lasting shock of such events can have the most dire consequences.” Texans will get their first in-depth look at Canales’ HB 1958 during the committee hearing, which will take place as the U.S. Department of Defense observes Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Currently, about 15 veterans courts, which were authorized several years ago by the Texas Legislature, are operating in Texas, including in Hidalgo and Cameron counties. “Veterans courts are designed to provide intense treatment programs to veterans suffering from medical and emotional catastrophes, specifically brain injury, mental illness, or mental disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Canales. “Veterans and active military personnel who are victims of sexual trauma stemming from their service also should be allowed to receive the specialized medical services they, too, need and deserve, rather than being cast to jail with no regard to what they have suffered.” In order to qualify for treatments through a veterans court, the local district attorney must agree that the veteran’s criminal behavior was significantly affected by trauma directly related to their military service. A December 5, 2014 account by MilitaryTimes.com supports Canales’ concern that sexual trauma does indeed continue to affect many military personnel. “The number of rapes and violent sexual assaults is significantly higher than previously thought, according to new data released by the Defense Department and the Rand Corp.,” Patricia Kime, staff writer for MilitaryTimes.com wrote in her story, “Incidents of rape in military much higher than previously reported”. According to Kime, “preliminary findings of an extensive survey of 170,000 troops released Thursday (December 4) revealed that 20,000 service members said they had experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual contact in the past year, representing nearly 5 percent of all active-duty women and 1 percent of active-duty men.” Her story noted that many of the 20,000 assaults in 2014 “were violent, probing acts. Nearly half the assaults reported by women and 35 percent reported by men were ‘penetrative sexual assaults’ — crimes that include rape and penetration with an object.”
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by Legislative Media | Apr 19, 2015 | Politics
Featured on Wednesday, February 26, 2o14 accepting a Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court proclamation in support of the creation of a South Texas College branch campus for the Delta Region are, front row, from left: Cynthia (Cindy) Garza-Reyes, Interim District Director of the Edinburg Office for Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes; Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya; and Alex Ríos, District Director for Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. Back row, from left: Hidalgo County Commissioner Joseph Palacios; Hidalgo County Judge Ramón García; and Hidalgo County Commissioner A.C. Cuellar, Jr.
Photograph By HIDALGO COUNTY PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Legislation proposing the creation of a South Texas College branch campus in the Delta Region of Hidalgo County, with the proposed site to be located in Elsa or Edcouch, is scheduled for a public hearing before the House Committee on Higher Education for Wednesday, April 22, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, has announced. “South Texas College, which receives significant funding from all property taxpayers in Hidalgo and Starr counties, has an obligation to bring higher education opportunities and invest more of its resources in communities, such as in the Delta Region, which would most benefit from seeing a STC facility in its own backyard,” said Canales, whose House District 40 features portions or all of Edinburg, Elsa, Faysville, La Blanca, Linn, Lópezville, McAllen, Pharr, San Carlos and Weslaco. The measure, House Bill 382, would require STC “to operate a branch campus within the corporate limits of the municipality of Edcouch or Elsa.” The legislative committee hearing on Wednesday comes as Rio Grande City, McAllen, Weslaco and Pharr are positioned to reap the benefits of a $159 million bond election for new construction that was narrowly approved in early November 2013 by voters in Hidalgo and Starr counties. Canales’ proposal is listed as the second measure on the committee’s meeting agenda, and is one of several House bills that will have a direct impact on South Texas College. The committee is scheduled to begin its meeting at 8 a.m., and if needed, continue later in the afternoon once the full House of Representatives, which begins its work at 10 a.m., finishes up for that day. The session will be available for live viewing on the Internet, or afterwards as a video recording in its entirety, by logging on http://www.house.state.tx.us/video-audio/ by clicking the House Committee on Higher Education. For the past few years, Canales has been working with Congressman Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, to convince STC to establish a physical presence in that region. Longoria’s House District 35 includes Edcouch, La Villa, and Monte Alto. Hinojosa’s Congressional District 15, which covers Brooks, Duval, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Karnes, Live Oak, and Wilson counties, includes Edcouch, Elsa, La Villa, and Monte Alto. Both Longoria and Hinojosa have ties to the STC Board of Trustees – Hinojosa was a founding member and first Chairman of the STC Board of Trustees, and Longoria served on the STC Board of Trustees before being elected to the Texas House of Representatives in November 2012. Canales, Hinojosa and Longoria first publicly brought up the need for the Delta Region branch campus when they addressed the STC Board of Trustees on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. “We outlined a proposal that would benefit the people in the Delta Region. The presentation included statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureau highlighting population pockets within our district and their needs,” said Hinojosa. “During the (March 25) presentation, trustees heard well-formulated plans to create a STC satellite campus in the Delta region. With a college anchored in the Delta Region, students from surrounding communities such as La Blanca, San Carlos, Hargill, Faysville, Linn, San Manuel and Puerto Rico will also have the opportunity to attend a campus that is more accessible.” The Delta Region communities are connected by East State Highway 107 between Edinburg and Weslaco. Although Weslaco has the STC Mid-Valley Campus, located about a dozen miles away from Edcouch and Elsa, that site is land-locked with limited space to expand, Canales reflected. “The Pecan Campus, which is the northernmost campus of STC, leaves huge areas of Hidalgo County with long commutes to attend classes,” Canales said. “A STC campus in the Delta Region would be able to expand in order to serve not only the students from the Delta Region but also from Edinburg and for future students from northern Hidalgo County, where much of our population increases will occur in the coming years.”
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by Legislative Media | Apr 16, 2015 | Politics
Featured at microphone: Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, flanked by fellow House members and law enforcement leaders in the Speaker’s Committee Room at the Texas Capitol, addressing reporters on Wednesday, March 11, regarding his filing of House Bill 12, which targets Mexican drug cartels and related crimes along the Texas border with Mexico.
Photograph By HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Prosecutors and other law enforcement leaders along the Texas-Mexico border will have a stronger weapon against criminals, especially those tied into the deadly plots of Mexican drug cartels, under legislation by Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya, which was unanimously approved by the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday, April 9. His measure, House Bill 12, includes Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, as a co-author of the legislation. HB 12, which still must receive Senate approval and signed into law by the governor, would increase the ability of the Border Prosecution Unit to better coordinate efforts by local and state authorities to fight Mexican drug lords by improving on the Texas side of the border the prosecution of crimes and criminal enterprises, especially in more rural border counties, associated with drug cartels. “I am extremely pleased to announce that House Bill 12 has been voted out of the House,” Longoria said. “This legislation is important because it places the Border Prosecution Unit into statute, which better allows local officials to prosecute crimes, such as drug smuggling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering and human trafficking.” HB 12 would formalize the practices and procedures that the Border Prosecution Unit has been implementing successfully since 2009, when Gov. Rick Perry created the unit to aid in border security operations, according to the bill analysis by the House Research Organization, which is the research-arm of the House of Representatives. The House Research Organization, in its bill analysis of HB 12, also noted that border crime affects the entire state, but HB 12 would help prevent criminals from spreading deeper into Texas by stopping crime as close to the border as possible. But it also shielded the border region from claims that it is crime-ridden. “The border region has a low crime rate compared with the rest of the state,” the House Research Organization found. “El Paso has one of the lowest crime rates in the country compared with other cities of its size, and the Rio Grande Valley is safer than most U.S. cities.” The Border Prosecution Unit, or “BPU” as it has come to be known, is a history-making initiative involving the Texas Department of Public Safety and each of the district attorneys in the border jurisdictions of Texas, according to District Attorney Carlos Omar García of Jim Wells County. Stretching from El Paso to Brownsville and covering 49 counties along and adjacent to the Rio Grande River, the Border Prosecution Unit encompasses a network of 17 Texas district attorney offices, including García’s 79th Judicial District. In each of these offices, an assistant district attorney is assigned to handle a specialized caseload of border crime cases, García explains on his official web site. “The Border Prosecution Unit is vital in helping prosecutors screen cases, secure indictments and bring accused criminals to trial,” Longoria noted. “This bill will give our prosecutors the resources and support they need to ensure that those who enslave, exploit and endanger others are put behind bars where they belong.”
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by Legislative Media | Apr 15, 2015 | Politics
Featured, from left: Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; Dr. Francisco Fernández, Founding Dean, The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine; Mayor Richard García, who also serves as President of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors; and Richard Molina, Edinburg City Councilmember, at the UT-Pan American Ballroom on Wednesday, February 26, 2014.
Photograph By PEDRO PÉREZ, IV
Almost 10 years after the Texas Legislature first authorized the financing for its creation, the $42.7 million, 1,000-seat Performing Arts Complex at The University of Texas-Pan American will host thousands of area residents during a Thursday, April 23 debut with a Grande Premiere Concert, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (UT-Pan American will be renamed The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley in the fall.) UTPA and UT-RGV leaders are pulling out all the stops to showcase what will be a showpiece among the Valley’s increasing number of impressive centers for musical performances, sports events, and other major gatherings. The State Farm Arena in Hidalgo and the McAllen Convention Center – both publicly-owned entertainment facilities that can serve thousands of patrons per event – now share center stage with the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, the Bert Ogden Arena, set to begin construction in Edinburg, and now, the Performing Arts Complex that will serve as the heart of the local University of Texas System campus. UTPA officials on Tuesday, April 14, announced that in order to celebrate the highly anticipated grand opening of the state-of-the-art facility, they have planned a spectacular evening of the arts, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, and featuring performances by faculty and student artists from UTPA and The University of Texas at Brownsville. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the Grand Premiere Concert, and the public is invited to be part of the free festivities. For more information or if special accommodations are needed to attend the concert, call (956) 665-5301. Mayor Richard García, who also serves as President of the EEDC’s five-member Board of Directors, said the emergence of the Performing Arts Complex will have profound and long-lasting effects on the city council’s and EEDC’s vision for downtown revitalization. “It fits in with our master plan for cultural development for our city,” the mayor said. “With the $42.7 million Performing Arts Complex, as well as the coming construction of the $68 million city-owned Bert Ogden Arena, along with the $54 million UT-RGV School of Medicine’s Medical Academic Building now under construction, and a $70 million UT-RGV science building annex approved to be built on campus, we are making our hometown the center for high-quality, family entertainment venues and educational excellence that not only improve our quality of life, but make it that much more attractive for businesses to expand and locate in our city, and with it, create more jobs and economic prosperity. García also praised the Valley’s state legislative delegation for securing more than $30 million earlier in April for a new engineering building at UT-RGV in Edinburg, a tremendous funding boost that could result in the planned development of a $50 million complex. García, who has built a statewide reputation as a leader who always shares the credit with others on major successes, said he wants one person in particular to be forever linked to the Performing Arts Complex. “We wanted this facility badly, we needed this facility badly, and the big hero on that is Sen. (Juan ‘Chuy’) Hinojosa (D-McAllen),” the mayor said. “I would love to see that facility be named after him. I have told him that in the past, and I will lead that charge because he was largely responsible for the state funding, and fighting to keep that money for the Performing Arts C0mplex.” Hinojosa was the driving force in the spring of 2006, when the Texas Legislature was at work during a special session at the State Capitol. “He was the principal legislative architect who made the state financing possible for this landmark project,” García recalled. “He successfully attached an amendment to a statewide tuition revenue bond bill. His effective move provided the needed financing mechanisms to pay for the Performing Arts Complex, which represents one of the largest infusions of financial resources by the state for new construction at UT-RGV.” Hinojosa emphasized the positive impact of the Performing Arts Complex. “This facility will attract supporters of the arts, quality performers and outside visitors. These benefits will also radiate into the community in other ways,” said Hinojosa. “I am confident the Performing Arts Complex will be top-notch, and it will bolster the local economy by attracting jobs and investment, and enrich the cultural life of the Rio Grande Valley. Investments like these are particularly beneficial because they help boost UT-RGV’s profile in the region.”
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by Legislative Media | Apr 14, 2015 | Politics
Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, President Ad Interim for The University of Texas Pan American, and a Board Member for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, hands out more than 1,300 diplomas to graduates during two commencement ceremonies held on Saturday, December 13 at the McAllen Convention Center.
Photograph By JOSUE ESPARZA
The American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education recently selected Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, President Ad Interim of The University of Texas Pan American, to receive the prestigious Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr. Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award. The award is given to an outstanding administrator in the field of higher education who has demonstrated excellence in the profession. It is named after Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr., a research professor at Arizona State University regarded as a national leader, mentor and champion in higher education. Rodríguez also serves on the Board of Directors of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation (EEDC), which is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. Rodríguez, who picked up the award at the annual AAHHE conference in March in Dallas, was nominated by several UTPA faculty members and other distinguished faculty nationwide. In her nomination, Dr. Marie Mora, economics professor and Vice Provost Fellow for Faculty Affairs at UTPA, said Rodríguez inspired her to start pursuing an administrative career. “Seeing how active President Rodríguez continues to be in research and in his profession, and seeing how much of a positive difference he has made since coming here (to UTPA), has made me realize how much of a difference one person can make,” she said. “We really do need more passionate and effective leaders like President Rodríguez who can excite and inspire others.” Nominator Dr. Fernando I. Rivera, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida, once worked under Rodríguez as an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Applied Social Research, which Rodríguez headed at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. In his nomination letter, Rivera cited Rodríguez’ mentorship to him as a professor and Director of the American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program. “My experience is not unique, he has touched countless lives with his leadership and care for others. The thing about President Rodríguez is that everything he touches he makes it better, better students, programs and a better university experience,” Rivera said. Rodríguez said he was honored and humbled to receive the award and expressed the need to continue to work with others to increase the voice, visibility and impact of Latinos and Latinas in higher education institutions across the country. “Much progress has been made, but we have a long road before us. The AAHHE and other similar organizations play a critical role in helping us diversity our colleges and universities. It is also critical for us, as Latino and Latina leaders, to promote and pursue excellence in everything we do,” Rodríguez said. His dedication to the future of students at UTPA and UTRGV was reflected in all of his encouraging comments to the December 2014 graduation class, telling the graduates, who were joined by thousands of family members and friends, that with their degrees, they have the power to make a difference but it will take hard work, perseverance, commitment and a desire to serve. “A college degree is one of the most valuable assets you will ever own. It can be a powerful tool to transform your life, to benefit your family and to empower you to help your community, wherever that may be,” Rodríguez said. “I hope that each of you will remember this ceremony as the beginning of a very important journey.”
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by Legislative Media | Apr 12, 2015 | Politics
Featured, front row: As Valley lawmakers celebrate Gov. Greg Abbott’s promise to help deep South Texas, the governor gives an appreciative handshake to Ana María García, Regional Director for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, during the governor’s appearance at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Thursday, January 22, 2015. Back row, from left: Rep. Óscar Longoria, Jr., D-La Joya; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen; Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; and Sen. Sylvia García, D-Houston.
Photograph By MARK MONTEMAYOR
More than $30 million would be available to help build a proposed Interdisciplinary Engineering and Academic Studies Building at the Edinburg campus – currently The University of Texas Pan American – of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation have announced. UT-Pan American, along with The University of Texas at Brownsville and the Regional Academic Health Centers in Edinburg and Harlingen, are in the process of utilizing their assets and resources to create a new university, The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, which will include a full-fledged School of Medicine with campuses in Edinburg and Harlingen. The EEDC, which is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council, along with the mayor and city council, have made the construction of the new engineering complex one of their legislative priorities at the State Capitol. The proposed financing is included in a statewide measure, House Bill 100, of which Canales is a co-author, which received final approval in the House of Representatives on Thursday, April 9. An identical measure is being considered in the Senate. House Bill 100, whose primary author is Rep. John Zerwas, M.D., a Republican from Richmond – and Chair of the House Committee on Higher Education – authorizes the issuance of $3.1 billion in tuition revenue bonds throughout the state for institutions of higher education – including in the UT and Texas A&M systems – to finance construction and renovation of infrastructure and facilities “The UT System has plans for a $50 million, state-of-the-art academic complex that would help prepare more engineering students while also addressing space requirements for other academic disciplines as needed,” Canales said. “What the House has approved – $30.6 million – goes a long way toward helping the UT System reach this very important goal.” Canales noted this latest project is in addition to several major facilities already underway at the Edinburg campus. “In 2013, the UT System authorized funding for the construction of a $70 million Science Building Annex at UT Pan American and $54 million for a UT medical school academic building next to the Edinburg campus,” Canales said. “This is in addition to the $42.6 million, 1,000-seat Academic and Performing Arts Center at UTPA, also already funded, which is well on its way to being completed.” All higher education institutions seeking revenue through House Bill 100 had to settle for less than they had originally requested, but still are on the way to receiving major facility upgrades and new construction at their respective campuses, the House District 40 lawmaker explained. Canales said the UT System could provide the balance to reach the $50 million target for the new complex through numerous ways, including by using some of its own vast financial resources, through cost-savings at UTRGV, private contributions, or other options. “We have come up with most of the bonding authority requested by the UT System, and I am confident they will do what it takes to meet the needs of our best and brightest students,” Canales said. The $30.6 million for the new facility in Edinburg authorized by HB 100 would be raised in part through the use of tuition revenue bonds, which are funds generated from tuition charges levied against students or universities. As more students are enrolled, more money from tuition is generated that is used to help repay the debt from tuition revenue bonds. The majority of the money for the new construction, however, comes from funds provided by the Texas Legislature, not from the students. Canales gave credit to UT-RGV leaders, including President Guy Bailey and UT-Pan American Ad Interim President Havidán Rodríguez, as well as to the Edinburg mayor, Edinburg City Council, and Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, for helping rally legislative and political support for what would be the latest and one of the largest new facilities on the Edinburg campus. “Mayor (Richard) García, along with President Bailey and President Rodríguez, continue to play vital roles in helping the Valley state legislative delegation successfully fight for our fair share of state and UT System resources,” said Canales. “Once final legislative approval is secured, and we get the governor behind it, as I expect he will support this legislation, there will be another monument of higher education rising into the Valley skyline.” Mayor García also serves as President of the Board of Directors for the EEDC, which is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council. Agustín “Gus” García (no relation to the mayor), serves as EEDC Executive Director. “The decision of the House of Representatives to support UT Rio Grande Valley through $30.6 million in legislative funding for UTRGV’s Engineering and Academic Studies Building will enhance the learning experience for our students and greatly impact student success. We are thankful to Representative Canales for his commitment to UTRGV and the entire Valley delegation for their support on this endeavor and all of our major priorities for this legislative session,” said Bailey, the founding president of what will become one of the largest higher education systems in the state. Once the funding plan clears the Legislature, facility programming could begin in October 2015, with design development approval scheduled for August 2016, leading to occupancy by August 2018. “The University of Texas Pan American continues to experience an increase in its student population, and with nearly 30,000 students enrolling and transitioning to UT Rio Grande Valley, it is imperative that we address our critical need for space to support this enrollment growth,” said Rodríguez, who has the honor of being the final president of UT Pan American. Rodríguez, who also serves on the Board of Directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, will remain with UTRGV as its founding Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Enrollment in UTPA’s engineering programs has already exceeded 2,200; however, our current engineering building was only designed to accommodate about 1,400 students. UTRGV is the perfect steward of these state funds, which are going to be utilized in the best interest of our students and to ensure their success,” said Rodríguez. “The support of our legislators speaks volumes about our strong and ongoing partnerships and their interest in the success of our students in South Texas.”
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