How Valoree fights for you in Austin:

• Valoree voted for Senate Bill 1 in 2021, which allocated millions of dollars to enhance the Public Utilities Commission and other regulatory response to oversight of ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) activities.
• Valoree supported a package of bills in 2021 to reform ERCOT and other agencies and fix the grid. It will take time for these reforms to be implemented, but the work is already starting:
  • Senate Bill 2 reforms the governance of ERCOT, requiring every member of the governing body to be a Texas resident.
  • Senate Bill 3 helps ensure the reliability and resiliency of the ERCOT Grid, making certain Texas is better prepared for future extreme weather emergencies by addressing some of the key issues that arose during and after Winter Storm Uri.
  • House Bill 16 protects consumers from sky-high electric bills by banning the sale of wholesale indexed products to residential customers, which can leave them vulnerable to extreme fluctuations in electricity prices.
  • House Bill 17 ensures homeowners, builders, and businesses have the ability to decide how best to met their energy needs by preserving customer choice and access to energy sources in Texas.
  • House Bill 1510 provides the funding mechanism to ensure winterization of the power grid.
  • House Bill 1520 provides securitization financing for gas utilities to recover extraordinary costs from Winter Storm Uri and requires a study of measures to mitigate similar future costs.

Cutting Spending and Property Taxes

• Valoree voted for Senate Bill 1 in 2021, which cut government spending by $13.5 Billion and still leaves a balance of $11.6 Billion in the Rainy Day Fund.
• Valoree co-sponsored and voted to pass SJR 2 during the Third Special Session, which will raise the homestead exemption on school taxes from $25,000 to $40,000 if approved by the voters in May 2022.
• Valoree voted for House Bill 1 in 2019 to enact a fiscally responsible, balanced budget.
• Valoree co-authored and voted for House Bill 3 in 2019 to provide for $5 Billion in property tax relief.
• Valoree co-authored and voted for Senate Bill 2 in 2019 to cap the growth of local government taxes and create more transparency in the property tax system.

Sealing the Border and Ending Sanctuary Cities

• Valoree voted for Senate Bill 1 in 2021, which allocates more than $1 Billion for border security. A majority of this funding goes to the 700 National Guard members deployed, the DPS operations on the border, and surge operations when additional personnel are needed for border protection efforts.
• Valoree co-authored and voted to pass House Bill 9 in the Second Special Session of 2021, which provides and additional $1.8 Billion for border security funding.
• Valoree co-authored and voted for Senate Bill 4 in 2017 which banned Sanctuary Cities in Texas.
• Valoree voted for $800 million in border security spending in the Texas budget (House Bill 1, 2019).

Standing with our First Responders

• Valoree coauthored and voted to pass HB 1900 in 2021, which prevents municipalities from defunding the police. She also cosponsored and voted to pass SB 23 in 2021, which triggers an election if county governments try to cut public safety funding.
• Valoree co-authored and voted to pass House Bill 9 in 2021, which enhances the criminal penalties for rioters blocking the roadway.
• Valoree wrote and passed House Bill 2446 in 2019, which protects our emergency personnel from stalkers and criminals by exempting their home addresses and work schedules from public information.

Protecting our Neighborhoods from Future Flooding

• Valoree voted for Senate Bill 1 in 2021, which provides $3 Billion for disaster recovery related to Hurricane Harvey
• Valoree supported a package of flood relief and mitigation in the 2019 session including:
  • House Bill 5 – establishes debris management plans so our local communities can respond more quickly and simplifies the FEMA reimbursement process;
  • House Bill 6 – tasks Texas Division of Emergency Management with developing a Disaster Recovery Task Force to assist individuals with specialized assistance, including financial issues and federal assistance programs, and communities with recovery and resiliency planning to streamline and speed recovery at the local level;
  • Senate Bill 7 – requires the Governor’s Office to compile and maintain a comprehensive list of all the regulatory waivers needed during a disaster so the state may be able to expedite suspensions in any future disaster;
  • House Bill 13 – creates the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) for statewide regional flood planning, mitigation, and infrastructure projects.
  • Senate Bill 500 – allocates $2 Billion for disaster grants and Hurricane Harvey recovery.

Blocking Low-Income Government-Subsidized Housing

• Due to overwhelming community opposition, Valoree has written letters against each proposed development in House District 150 since taking office in 2017. As a result of her letters, none of these developments was approved or constructed.
• Valoree has fought tirelessly to protect the voice of the voters in the process of approving or disapproving these developments by killing every piece of legislation that would have removed State Representatives’ ability to give binding input.
• In the 2021 session, Valoree led the House in killing one very bad piece of legislation in particular which would have stripped all community involvement in the process.

Fixing School Funding Formulas to Strengthen our Public Schools

• Valoree co-authored and voted for House Bill 3 which provides $3.5 Billion to cut down on the wildly unpopular “Robin Hood” recapture system by 47%, provides $4.5 Billion in transformational education reforms, and provides $2 Billion for pay raises.

Defending 2nd Amendment Rights

• Valoree coauthored, for the third term in a row, Constitutional Carry legislation (HB 1927 in 2021), which is now law, and which provides that any person over 21 who can legally own a firearm can legally carry it without having to pay the government a fee. Texas is now the 21st Constitutional Carry state!
• Valoree wrote and passed House Bill 121 in 2019 which provides a defense to prosecution to lawful gun owners who unknowingly enter establishments that have posted signage banning the carrying of handguns.

Defending the Unborn

• Valoree co-authored and voted to pass Senate Bill 8, the Texas Heartbeat Act, which stops abortions after a baby’s heartbeat is detected.
• Valoree co-authored and voted for Senate Bill 22 in 2019 which bans any government entity in Texas from doing business with abortion providers.

Supporting Current and Retired Teachers

• Valoree co-sponsored and voted for Senate Bill 12 which makes the retired teacher pension fund stable and solvent and, given funding from Senate Bill 500, provides for a 13th Check to retirees!

Keeping our Elections Fair and Secure

• Valoree co-authored and voted to pass Senate Bill 1 in the Second Special Session in 2021, the landmark election integrity bill that made national headlines.
• Valoree wrote and passed House Bill 88 which prevents ballot preparers from laying out ballots in such a way that benefits any particular candidate or political party.
• Valoree wrote and passed House Bill 273 which increases efficiency of administering elections and cuts down on the potential for ballot harvesting.
• Valoree wrote and passed House Bill 4130 which sets security standards for electronic poll books and requires the machines be certified by the Secretary of State.
• Valoree co-authored and voted for House Bill 1888 in 2019 which ends the practice known as “rolling polling” whereby entities used to move polling locations around throughout the day which raised concerns about targeting specific voting populations.