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Serving District 101
At Home
Strengthening Our Communities
- Secured $2 million in state funding for improvements to Grand Prairie’s Tyre Park, located in the historic Dalworth community
- Secured $750,000 in state funding for East Library and Recreation Center to provide East Arlington residents with computer and hot spot rentals
- Cracked down on predatory lenders by working with local organizations and churches to push for the adoption of a payday and title lending ordinances in both Arlington and Grand Prairie, increasing local oversight of this issue and protecting consumers by limiting fees and loan amounts
Improving Public Safety & Transportation
- Increased safety and accessibility for pedestrians by securing $5.2 million of pedestrian safety enhancements along Pioneer Parkway in East Arlington, including the addition of ADA compliant sidewalks.
- Played a key role in the expansion of State Highway 360, which is creating a tremendous economic impact on Arlington, Grand Prairie and surrounding communities
- Worked with TxDOT to ensure secure sound walls and security fencing would be installed along 360 Toll
- Passed the measure to name the portion of 360 Toll in House District 101 the Rosa Parks Memorial Parkway; honoring the importance of this civil rights icon in our country’s history
- Working with local leaders and interested parties to find solutions to address the lack of public mass transit options in our community
Protecting our Environment
- Helped stop a proposed gas injection well at Lake Arlington, which supplies drinking water to a large portion of House District 101
- Helped stop the proposed concrete batch plant near Grand Prairie’s Dalworth neighborhood
In Austin
Leading the Fight
- As Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, Chris has led his Democratic colleagues in the fight against several mean-spirited measures, including efforts to further limit reproductive healthcare, make it harder to vote, discriminate against LGBT families, repeal the Texas Dream Act, and pass terrible anti-worker and anti-consumer laws
- Led the 38-day quorum break that brought national attention to the need for federal voting rights protections and led to action by Congress
Helping Texas Public School Students Succeed
- Brokered the deal to end the stalemate on Texas’ major school finance legislation by crafting a statewide teacher pay raise plan that was ultimately supported by both the House and Senate; two years later, Chris passed an additional measure to ensure that the pay raise would remain in place
- Sponsored a law to help homeless students transition to new schools, as well as apply for college and scholarships
- Co-authored the measure that reduced the number of end-of-course exams required of high school students from fifteen to five
- Passed a measure into law that requires charter school principals to have a bachelor’s degree
- Passed a measure allowing greater communication between high school counselors and students applying to college
- Played a key role in increasing funding for the TEXAS Grants and Texas Educational Opportunity Grant programs
Fighting for Higher Education & UT Arlington
- Passed several transformative higher education policies, including SB 25, which improves the transferability of college credits among institutions of higher education.
- Played a key role in fighting for long-overdue Tuition Revenue Bonds for public universities, which resulted in $70 million for UT Arlington for a science and education innovation and research building
- Helped secure over $60 million from the University of Texas System for UT Arlington’s new School of Social Work & Smart Hospital Building
- Helped UTA receive $3.77 million for the UT Arlington Research Institute (UTARI)
Fighting for Our Veterans & Their Families
- Authored and passed the law creating the Veterans’ Cash lottery scratch-off, which has raised over $165 million to help veterans and their family members with help to pay bills, mental health services, peer support, transportation to VA facilities, and much more
- Authored and passed the measure that extended the 100% property tax exemption to surviving spouses of service members killed in service to country
- Worked with his colleagues to help keep the promises made to our veterans and their families by opposing restrictions being placed on the state’s Hazlewood Legacy program
- Authored measures to help veterans and service members obtain new jobs more quickly, using the skills and knowledge they gained while serving our country in uniform
Combating Discrimination
- Helped block the discriminatory “Bathroom bill” by combating Republican attempts to discriminate against transgender Texans
- Introduced a measure to prohibit employment discrimination by state contractors based on sexuality and gender identity
- Helped lead the opposition against Senate Bill 4, the “Show Me Your Papers” law
Protecting Texans
- Increased safety on college campuses by passing a measure to ensure that students found responsible for sexual assault, battery, arson, terroristic threats or other violent or destructive behaviors aren’t able to enroll at a new school while concealing their previous expulsion.
- Passed a measure updating Texas’ “duty to report” laws by requiring computer technicians to report instances of child pornography that they discover in the scope and practice of their work
- Passed a measure overhauling the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) Program to better ensure children aging out of foster care are prepared for life outside of state’s care
- Passed an amendment to ensure that car seat safety is taught in driver’s education courses
Protecting Homeowners & Tenants
- Sponsored the 2021 law that puts several protections in place to safeguard homeowners in HOAs
- Worked closely with tenant rights groups and the City of Arlington to ensure that residents living in multi-family units receive advance notification of a utility cut off so that they may make other living arrangements
Supporting Law Enforcement
- Passed a law that protects police officers from forms of online retaliation and retribution
- Passed a law to help municipal law enforcement agencies that patrol Texas lakes by allowing citations issued on waterways to be heard in municipal court; this was a key measure for Grand Prairie
- Played a key role in passing Senate Bill 22, ensuring first responders who suffer injury or death from front line work during the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for benefits.
Increasing Ethics & Transparency
- Wrote and passed the law to ban the practice of statewide elected officials “double dipping” a salary and a pension at the same time, ending this unethical practice
- Passed a measure to prevent state agencies from using “emergency leave” as a form of severance pay
- Passed an amendment to require agencies notify the Legislature if a state contract exceeds $1 million of the contracted amount