The 82nd Texas Legislatiure: August 29, 2011

August 29, 2011

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to announce the official opening of my district office and to celebrate, I am hosting an open house. You are all invited so please save the date! The open house will take place on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Please stop by my Dallas office anytime between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to join me for light refreshments and a tour of my new office. The office is located at 7616 LBJ Freeway, Suite 675, Dallas, TX 75251. I look forward to seeing you there!

(Building is on the south side of LBJ Freeway between Hillcrest and Coit)

Labor Day Parade Invitation: Monday, September 5

The Labor Day holiday is right around the corner and I will be celebrating alongside the Garland Jaycees this year. For over 65 years, the Jaycees have been putting on a spectacular parade and I want to encourage all for you to come out and experience it for yourselves. As a parade participant, I’d like to invite all of you to walk along with me on the parade route. Free t-shirts will be provided for all that participate. The parade begins at 9 a.m. and will start at Fifth Street at Walnut Drive and will go through downtown Garland. We will meet in Garland High School’s Williams Stadium parking lot at 8:15 a.m. Just look for the purple t-shirts and signs! The Stadium is located at 510 Stadium Drive, Garland, TX 75040, at N. Glenbrook Drive and Stadium Drive. Please email me at district102.carter@house.state.tx.us if you plan to walk with me on September 5.

District Happenings

This month I have had many opportunities to interact with constituents and immerse myself in community events. Several weeks ago, I hosted a post-session breakfast for local supporters and provided them with a breakdown of the legislative session. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, if you are interested in having me speak to your group about the session, please contact my office to arrange a time and a date.

Rep. Carter visits with constituents at her post-session breakfast.

On August 6, I joined fellow House Representative Angie Chen Button at her Third Annual Senior Awareness Day in Richardson. This fantastic event is free to the public and provides assistance to seniors in House District 112, which is next door to my district. A few days later, I attended the 53rd Annual New Teachers’ Luncheon at the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Each year this special event recognizes new teachers entering the Richardson Independent School District and demonstrates

the business community’s support of quality education. The event was a great success and I truly enjoyed meeting all of our new educators

Rep. Carter converses with attendees of Rep. Angie Chen Button’s Third Annual Senior Awareness Day in Richardson.

Rep. Carter speaking with Former Councilman Luna and a constituent at the Richardson New Teachers’ Luncheon.

This week, I was honored to join the Northwood Republican Women for its Senatorial Forum. This event gave citizens an opportunity to meet the various candidates vying for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Texas. The forum was informative and truly educated attendees on the platform of each

candidate. Great work, ladies.

Rep. Carter, Laura Leppert & Nancy Natinsky at the Northwood Republican Women Senatorial Forum.

Finally, I had the pleasure of visiting the NETWORK of Community Ministries this week. This organization provides health and emergency services to children, low-income families, and senior citizens in need within the Cities of Richardson and Dallas. I met with NETWORK CEO Alice Mae Britt and NETWORK Board Member and architect Chris Barnes to discuss NETWORK’s expansion plans. I also took a tour of the NETWORK’s Food Pantry. You can see pictures of my visit to the NETWORK by visiting neighborsgo.com. You can view updates from me on neighborsgo.com as well by clicking
here and selecting the “view all content by this member” link below my profile picture.

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Summit

This month, I had the opportunity to attend the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Summit in San Antonio. NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the nation’s 50 states, its commonwealths and territories. NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues. Each year, the Summit is held in a different state and this year, Texas had the honor of hosting the event. It was a huge success and gave lawmakers from all over the country the ability to come together and share ideas about how we can improve as a nation.

As a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Agriculture & Energy Committee, I discussed the energy policies of our state and of others. Texas is the top producer and consumer of energy in the U.S. so we have a obligation to lead the way in developing innovative solutions to our nation’s increasing energy needs. I am looking forward to the committee’s next meeting so we can continue to discuss energy improvement initiatives.

Internship Opportunities

I believe it is important to encourage our local youth to get involved in their government. I have always been a proponent of internship opportunities and after I took office, I had the pleasure of hosting a number interns in my Austin office during the legislative session.

Once again, I am looking for smart and eager young people who are interested in learning more about our state government. There are internship opportunities currently available in my Capitol and District offices. If you, or someone you know, is interested in an internship with my office, please email your resume, along with your hours and days of availability, to me at district102.carter@house.state.tx.us. Please write “Internship Opportunity” in the subject line and specify which office you are interested in joining.

As a former intern myself, I understand how invaluable internship opportunities can be, and I encourage anyone interested to take advantage of this opportunity to serve your community and gain valuable work experience.

Future Leaders Program in House District 102

Along with internships in my legislative office, I am eager to get local businesses involved in the internship process as well. I am developing a Future Leaders Program of House District 102, which will offer internships to local high school and college students and have an educational component by providing guest speakers. Currently this project is in its early stages and I am seeking help with planning or getting local businesses involved.

Eligible students will be those who are currently a junior or senior at Richardson High School, J.J. Pearce High School, Berkner High School, as well as any student attending the University of Texas at Dallas, and Richland College. If you know of a business that would be interested in placing an intern in the summer of 2012, please contact my office at (972) 661-9649.

Legislative Initiatives

Although the next legislative session is over a year away, I am already identifying issues and exploring legislative solutions to these issues. At the beginning of the month, I submitted two interim study ideas to Speaker Joe Straus. The first idea calls on the Legislature to review the need for the continuation of
constitutional officeholders at the county level such as in Dallas, Texas. Amid tough economic times, the Texas Legislature should be exploring ways in which we can produce significant savings.

Over the last decade, numerous Dallas County constables have allegedly engaged in illegal activities such as bribery, tampering with government records, and official oppression. Some constables have even faced felony charges for their indiscretions. Taxpayers should not be responsible for funding positions that may be unnecessary or highly abused. As counties like Mills, Reagan and Roberts have demonstrated, these positions could be absorbed by other county personnel such as sheriff’s departments. We should study how to resolve some of the serious issues at the Constable’s Office as well as the effect of abolishing it.

The second interim idea asks the Legislature to review ways to lower driving while intoxicated fatalities such as through ignition interlocks. Texas leads the nation in alcohol-related vehicle fatalities. Unlike in many states, Texas law does not require ignition interlocks on first-time offenders’ vehicles, even though first-time offenses can be serious indicators that a person is likely to become a repeat offender. In addition, ignition interlocks have reduced repeat offenses by 67 percent on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Considering the potential severity of driving while intoxicated, the Texas Legislature should examine the benefits of requiring the installation of ignition interlocks in the vehicles of first-time DWI offenders.

The study should also explore how to achieve this end without imposing a significant financial burden on the state, as well as examine the potential effects of requiring ignition interlocks in conjunction with a DWI conviction (e.g., HB 506) versus deferred adjudication (e.g. HB 189).

In addition to my interim charge submissions, I am considering other legislation I will file in the 83rd Legislature. One bill I will file is legislation to prevent fraud in summer food programs. Current law does not require criminal background checks for those operating summer food programs, and this vulnerability has created a recent situation in which an ex-convict received more than a million dollars since 2009 from the State of Texas to run two separate programs. Subsequently each program has failed and an investigation has been launched to determine where the money went. You can read more about this issue in my latest press release by clicking here.

I encourage you to stay in touch by visiting my House website and my Facebook page. As always, I’m honored to be your voice in Austin.

Sincerely,

Stefani Carter
Not Distributed at Taxpayer Expense