You will miss many wonderful educational offerings and social events if you do not attend the 2007 TOA Annual Meeting May 10-13 at the Austin Four Seasons Hotel.  Although you should have received the preliminary program through the mail, you can view the entire program and register here.  The Four Seasons cut off date is this Friday - April

Republican State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg is serving her third term in the Texas Legislature.   She represents the Northern and Eastern areas of Collin County including portions of Plano and Sachse and all of Anna, Blue Ridge, Celina, Fairview, Farmersville, Josephine, Lavon, Lowry Crossing, Lucas, Melissa, Murphy, New Hope, Nevada, Parker, Princeton, St. Paul, Weston, and Wylie. Additionally, Jodie represents all of Rockwall County, which includes the cities of Fate, Heath, McLendon Chisholm, Rockwall and Royse City.

As Vice Chairman of the House Public Health Committee and as a member of the Local Government Ways and Means Committee, Jodie stands firm for conservative principles and the unique needs of the growing communities across her district.

Rep. Laubenberg has strongly supported key accomplishments of the Texas Legislature during her first two terms in the legislature:  landmark tort reform that has become a model for the nation; closing huge budget shortfalls without raising taxes; strengthening private property rights; major telecommunications reform which led to an $800 million investment in Texas; and instituting an aggressive economic development program which brought the nation’s largest job announcement in four years to North Texas.  Jodie also worked to strengthen parental consent laws and strongly supported giving Texas voters the right, in a statewide election, to affirm traditional marriage.

Jodie has earned a reputation as a hard-working, effective representative of her district.  She has been recognized by the National Federation of Independent Business – the nation’s largest small business advocate – as a Guardian of Small Business, 2006.   Based on her 93% voting record, she was named to the Texas 2005 Honor Roll by the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT), and was recently asked to serve on the YCT Board of Advisors.  In 2003, she earned the Fighter for Free Enterprise Award from the Texas Association of Business, and in 2005 received their most prestigious Champion for Free Enterprise Award.  In October 2006, she was honored by Heritage Alliance with their  Conservative Texas Leader Award.

A graduate of The University of Texas, she has been called an “emerging leader” by the Dallas Morning News, and she was named one of “21 Leaders for the 21^st Century” by Inside Collin County Business.   A strong supporter of excellence in education, she was named a “Friend of Lovejoy ISD”, for her efforts on behalf of the Lovejoy Independent School District.  In 2004, she earned a community service award from the Princeton Area Chamber of Commerce.

Jodie lives in Parker, where she previously served as a member of the city council.  She and her husband Bob, have two children:  David, a senior in college, and Liz, a college freshman.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey recently said, “In Austin and here at home, Jodie Laubenberg has proven she is a leader that the people of Collin and Rockwall Counties can count on.  She has consistently taken stands on behalf of conservative principles and the taxpayers of District 89.”

Email Jodie Laubenberg to thank her for her work!
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By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate / Memos: Thu Apr. 5 & Tue Apr. 3, 2007
TOA Online Version: All Memos

April 5, 2007, Thursday
On Wednesday the Senate passed a bill that would increase transparency in toll road contracts. Another toll road bill, requiring a two

year moratorium on toll road projects, was voted out of committee yesterday with amendments and is headed to the Senate floor for debate.

The House spent Wednesday afternoon debating two energy bills related to competition, customer choice, and the role of the state in regulating energy company buyouts. Both bills were pulled down on points of order and will go back to committee for correction.

The Senate adjourned Wednesday for the Easter Break, while the House of Representatives worked through Thursday before adjourning for the long weekend. This will be the last break of the session. With only 54 days left in the session, we can expect the Legislature to start working through the weekends soon.

April 3, 2007, Tuesday
It’s a short week since the Legislature will not be in session on Good Friday. However, legislators have packed this four day work week with floor debate and hearings that will go late into each and every evening. The House is debating a bill relating to the Children’s Health Insurance Program on the floor today and we expect they will debate electricity bills on Wednesday.

The Senate will continue to have brief floor sessions, allowing more time for committees to meet.

The House passed its version of a budget bill last Friday morning after 19 hours of debate. The Senate is on course to pass its budget in the next couple of weeks.

Also this week, House committees debate a myriad of bills related to abortion as well as bills to make additional changes to the franchise tax adopted by the Legislature in special session last year. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will focus on Medicaid reform this week.
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