Chris co-authored a $170 million tax cut which will exempt small businesses with less than $1 million of revenue from paying Texas franchise taxes.  Chris also co-authored legislation to expand the back-to-school sales tax holiday to cover school supplies.

AUSTIN- State Representative Chris Turner ended his first legislative session with the passage of several significant measures aimed to aid Texas veterans, protect consumers and enhance economic development in House District 96.

AIDING TEXAS VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Turner passed several key measures to aid Texas veterans and their families:

Turner filed and passed legislation that will generate up to $14 million over the next two years to pay for critical services for Texas veterans. This measure, which establishes a dedicated lottery scratch-off game to benefit the Permanent Fund for Veterans Assistance, was a top legislative priority for leading veterans’ organizations. Services that will be made possible with this bill include PTSD counseling, transportation assistance to VA health care facilities and job placement assistance.

Turner also passed legislation that will help ensure that our veterans and their family members are able to take full advantage of the educational benefits which they have earned by guaranteeing that there is a trained veteran’s aid specialist at every public Texas college and university.

Turner successfully passed legislation to allow state employees who take a leave of absence for military service to continue to accrue vacation and sick leave.

Finally, Turner’s measure to expand the Hazelwood college financial aid program to the spouses of service members who are killed or completely disabled as a result of their service is on its way to the Governor’s desk.

“With over 1.7 million veterans in Texas, I was honored to fight for our veterans to ensure that they receive the benefits they have earned and deserve,” said Turner. “With thousands of Texans fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we must do all we can to make sure that they will receive the help they need when they return home.”

As a result of Turner’s effective work on veterans’ issues, the bipartisan Veterans’ Caucus named Turner its “Freshman of the Year.” “I am humbled to have received this tremendous honor from my colleagues, and I intend to keep fighting for Texas veterans and their families,” Turner said.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Another of Turner’s key accomplishments this session was authoring legislation requiring electric utility companies to provide their customers with written notice that their contract is close to expiring, giving consumers time to shop around and find a reasonable electric rate. Turner passed his bill out of the House State Affairs Committee, but it was one of hundreds that was never scheduled for a vote on the House floor.

The legislation was ultimately passed as an amendment that Senator Wendy Davis added to another bill, and it will go a long way toward preventing huge, unexpected rate hikes on Texas families.

“For the past year, I have heard story after story of families’ residential utility bills doubling overnight as a result of a contract ending unexpectedly,” said Turner. “Texasfamilies don’t need or deserve huge rate hikes, especially in tough economic times. The utility companies need to be upfront with their customers and let them know when their rates may go up and by how much.”

HELPING DISTRICT 96

Turner’s top priority during the 81st Legislative Session was to stay in touch and work hard for the constituents he represents. Prior to the beginning of session, Turner met with city and local leaders to discuss issues affecting them and how he could help.

As a result of one such meeting, Turner filed and passed HB 1300, which creates the Kennedale TownCenter. Aimed to improve and diversify the economic base in Kennedale, the city and the Kennedale Economic Development Corporation, will create a mixed use development that will house retail, professional offices and restaurants.

“The TownCenter will provide much needed economic development and business revenue to the city and reduce the tax burden on homeowners,” said Turner. “My top priority has been and always will be to serve and be responsive to our district, and I remain honored and humbled to represent the families of southern Tarrant County in the Texas Legislature.”

STATE REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS TURNER’S LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS

• H.B. 1299 was amended to a Texas Veterans Commission bill, which passed on the last day of session. It will create one scratch off lottery ticket to provide and estimated $8 million annually for critical and emergency aid to our veterans through the Fund for Veterans Assistance
• H.B. 995 passed the House Committee on State Affairs unanimously (15-0) and was later amended onto another House Bill. The legislation will require retail electric providers to give their customers at least 30 days written notice that their fixed price electric contract is expiring.
• H.B. 1300 will create the Kennedale TownCenter Development District. The district will create a mixed-use commercial facility and will help lessen the tax burden on Kennedale homeowners.
• H.B. 2396 will require sex offenders who claim to be homeless to register with their local law enforcement agency every 2 weeks. The bill was combined with an identical piece of legislation during the committee process, which is now headed to Governor Perry.
• H.B. 1636 ensures that all state employees who are called to active military duty are able to continue to accrue their vacation and sick time and do not lose these benefits because they were deployed. The bill was the House companion to State Senator John Carona’s SB 833, which Turner sponsored in the House and has been sent to Governor Perry.
• H.B. 1637 adjusted the definition of the 40-hour work week as it pertains to the shared work unemployment compensation program making it possible for many of our large manufacturers and other employers who operate on swing shifts to take advantage of this state program. Turner passed this bill on the first day the House considered legislation. The measure has been signed by Governor Perry.
• H.B. 3951 requires state colleges and universities ensure a professional in their financial aid office is familiar with and trained on the major educational benefits available to veterans — particularly the GI Bill and the Hazelwood Act. The bill passed the House and Senate and has been sent to Governor Perry.
• H.B. 3952 extends the Hazelwood Act to the spouses of Texas military members who are killed in the line of duty or left completely disabled. Turner amended the measure to SB 93 and will be soon sent to Governor Perry for signing.
• Turner added an amendment to H.B. 1935 which establishes the Jobs and Education for Texans Grant Program. The amendment will ensure that those organizations that have programs benefiting veterans will be given priority in the grants awarding process.
• Turner authored and passed out of the House legislation requiring computer technicians to report the discovery of child pornography to law enforcement. This measure had strong support from law enforcement, but unfortunately the bill died in the Senate.

AUSTIN - Today State Representative Chris Turner passed his first bill in the Texas House of Representatives. Turner was the first freshman to pass a bill this legislative session, and did so on the first day the House considered legislation. Turner’s bill, House Bill 1637, was one of the first eight bills to be considered by the House in the 81st Legislature.

House Bill 1637 will enhance the Texas Shared Work Program, a Texas Workforce Commission program, which creates an alternative option to lay offs by providing proportionate unemployment compensation for a temporary reduction in work hours, rather than permanent job loss. Currently, the benefits provided by the program are based on a 40-hour work week. House Bill 1637 would amend the time frame from a one week period to an average of hours over two weeks. This would be beneficial to employees and employers in manufacturing fields as well as hospitals, where many workers have compressed schedules or work “swing shifts.”

“This is a pro-worker, pro-business bill. During challenging economic times, we need to give Texas employers and their employees as much support as possible,” said Rep. Turner. “So many companies are having to make the choice whether or not to downsize their workforce or cut employee hours. The Texas Shared Work Program aids employers and employees when they must cut hours, so they don’t have to make the tough decision to lay people off.”

When HB 1637 was heard in committee, representatives from the following organizations registered their support for the legislation: TECHNET, TechAmerica, Texas Association of Business, Texas AFL-CIO, Texas Association of Manufacturers and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.

More information regarding the Texas Share Work Program may be found by visiting the Texas Workforce Commission Website –
http://www.texasworkforce.org/ui/bnfts/sharedworkfaq.html.

As it is tradition in the House, Freshman members are hazed by their colleagues when passing their first bill. Rep. Turner received questions, most of which did not pertain to the bill, by several of his fellow members. The hazing topics included where Turner went to high school, if he knew anything about the appropriation of the Federal stimulus money and why his former boss, Congressman Chet Edwards, won by a larger margin after Turner left his office.

AUSTIN — There were barbed wisecracks about his culinary habits, his Dallas roots and his adeptness as a political tactician, but in the end, freshman Rep. Chris Turner of Burleson got the result he wanted as colleagues gave him his first victory on the House floor.

It was the inevitable roasting that rookie lawmakers have to endure to get a bill passed. Freshman Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, was also skewered by her colleagues in the Senate this week, and Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, another newcomer in the Tarrant County House delegation, is waiting his turn.

But on Wednesday, the good-natured assaults were reserved for Turner. He had the distinction of being the only freshman with a bill on the floor on the first day that the House began voting on legislation, 72 days after the start of the 2009 session.

Turner’s HB1637, designed to expand the pool of workers eligible for unemployment benefits if their hours are reduced, was the last of nine bills on the House calendar. And his colleagues were lying in wait as the first-term Democrat stood at the front of the chamber to try to explain it.

Surrounded by other grinning freshmen, Turner stoically fielded questions that had little to do with the substance of his bill. House members later rewarded Turner with a round of applause after voting 145-0 to advance the bill to the Senate.

Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, asked Turner whether he recalled a comment from a campaign supporter who said that, if elected, Turner would become “the greatest legislator in the history of this state.”

“For the benefit of the members, would you like to tell us who made that statement?” Raymond asked.

“That was my wife,” Turner said.

Then he added, “But I think she was joking when she said it.”

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, pressed Turner to reveal that he never fails to stop for kolaches in the town of West along Interstate 35 on the way to Austin. Veasey also asked whether Turner fully disclosed to voters in Tarrant County that he was from Dallas and attended school there.

Turner said that he “probably” disclosed it but that it wasn’t “a regular talking point.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” Veasey said.

Turner, a former aide and campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, was also grilled about the fact that Edwards got 40,000 more votes in a campaign after Turner departed than when Turner was on the payroll.

A hometown colleague, Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, jokingly asked whether Turner’s bill would affect legislative compensation.

“Do you think you’ve earned your pay since you’ve been here the last 60 days?” Orr asked.

“That’s probably open for discussion,” Turner said, “but I’m trying hard to earn it.”

“Welcome to the Texas House,” Orr responded.

Bill watch
HB1637 would modify the Texas Shared Work Program operated by the Texas Workforce Commission, which distributes unemployment benefits. The program is designed to let employers avoid major layoffs by allowing them to keep workers on the payroll at reduced hours. The workers are then eligible to draw partial unemployment benefits based on the lost wages. There has been no significant opposition.
How to track: Go to www.legis.state.tx.us and search for the bill number and status.