Legislative Update

This month, the House passed, and I supported, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This legislation will bring over 80,000 jobs to Texas and increase middle-class families’ after-tax income by $2,558 a year. By reducing the number of tax brackets from seven to four, and lowering middle-income families’ tax burden, this pro-growth legislation greatly simplifies our tax code. In fact, under the House’s tax plan, you could file your taxes on a post card.

Congress also fulfilled our promise to rebuild America’s military after 8 years of budget cuts have left our Armed Forces with aging equipment and a smaller force. The National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $699.6 billion for America’s Armed Forces to ensure that they have technologically advanced and lethal equipment to keep our country safe. For the men and women at Ft. Hood, this legislation means modernizing our heavy equipment so they are successful on the battlefield. This legislation also provided the largest pay raise for our troops in the last eight years.

Big news! The House unanimously passed my bill, the Veterans Transplant Coverage Act, to change current law so that veterans receiving an organ transplant from a non-veteran are able to receive VA care. This common sense legislation is headed to the Senate and will hopefully be signed by the President, so that our veterans receive the care they need and deserve.

I also introduced bipartisan legislation to support technical education and credentialing programs for our military men and women. This legislation will help prepare our Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Sailors for careers once their military service has ended.

Finally, as a result of my legislation, the POLICE Act, which passed Congress last year, the Department of Justice awarded $5.4 million to Texas State University’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program. This program provides top-notch training to our first responders, so they can effectively respond to active shooter emergency events.

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