By: Matt Dotray
Lubbock Avalanche Journal

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announced House committee assignments for the 85th Legislature on Thursday, and South Plains area lawmakers were given a few high-profile positions.

Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock, will again have a chairmanship, but this time on the Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee. He will also sit on the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee. Last session, Frullo was the chairman of the Insurance Committee.

On the licensing committee, Frullo will oversee legislation relating to the oversight of business, industries, general trade, and occupations regulated by the state. And as chairman, he will oversee policy matters related to development, promotions, state parks and historical resources in the state.

“I am honored Speaker Straus has entrusted me to carry out these important roles,” Frullo said in a statement. “There are many pressing issues related to culture, recreation and tourism. I look forward to getting to work.”

Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, will serve on the Agriculture and Livestock Committee as well as the Investments and Financial Services Committee. Last session, Burrows was appointed to the County Affairs Committee and the International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

Burrows said he’s excited to join the chairs in service on these committees.

“These committees are chaired by two colleagues who I admire very much,” he said in a statement. “These committees are aligned with issues front and center for all West Texans — agriculture for the critical function our farmers and ranchers fulfill, and, for financial services, insuring our banks — particularly those in our rural areas – are provided the tools they need to grow and service their customers.”

Drew Springer, R-Muenster, was appointed vice chair of the County Affairs Committee as well as given seats on the Redistricting Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.

Ken King, R-Canadian, will serve on the Calendars, Public Education, State Affairs and the State and Federal Power and Responsibility Committees.

Read more here: http://lubbockonline.com/local/2017-02-09/area-state-representatives-tapped-committees

The Brownfield News

Members of the Terry County Farm Bureau Board traveled to Austin recently for the Farm Bureau State Convention.

Barrett Brown, Mason Becker and Kyle Kelly made the trip down and had a chance to learn about some proposed legislation and other items that are of  concern to area producers and consumers.

Now, more than ever, producers have to stay involved in the government processes that affect their livelihood. These young guys are trying to stay on top of everything that comes out of Washington that has the potential to have an impact on the farm.

One topic that came up was Ag Liens. In the past, with certain commodities, producers brought their crop to the handling facility and then ended up losing their product when the company could not pay for the product.

Legislation is being introduced which would keep the producer as the primary lien holder until they have the check in their hands.

This would keep the producer from losing their commodity with no recourse to get it back or receive payment for the product.

This has been an issue on a couple of occasions in Terry County in which farmers ended up in court trying to regain their rights to their product or receive payment for that product.

They also had the opportunity to meet with State Representative Dustin Burrows.

Burrows is working on introducing legislation that would give more clarity to commodity contracts.

Mason stated, “This is all about producer protection. This is about clarity between the per bale contract as opposed to the per acre contract. Many times a producer signs a per bale contract and then is left holding the bag when his production is not up where it needs to be to match the contract. This legislation would help protect the producer in this situation.”

The per bale or per pound contract is usually a bit more lucrative than the standard per acre contract but is also much more risky.

Congressman Charles Perry spoke to the guys about water rights. “He is trying to be sure that our water rights in Texas are always protected,” stated Barrett. As the Ogalala Aquifer water level continues to go down, water rights could become an increasingly important topic to everyone, not just producers.

Mary Kay Thatcher, who is the American Farm Bureau Senior Congressional Relations Director also addressed the group.

Kyle stated, “She told us not to expect any Farm Bill without nutrition as a part of it. And 76% of the bill is nutrition and not directly related to farming as so many people assume.”

She also pointed out to the group that the last 10 year average data indicates there has been a 46% drop in farm income. Cotton has dropped 1.6% in price and peanuts have dropped 24%. This was, of course, not news to the group as most of them are living this.

Thatcher told the group that there is a chance in late April to have cottonseed oil reconsidered for seed oil designation. This would be a part of the second reconciliation bill. Reconciliation is a legislative process of the United States Senate intended to allow consideration of a budget bill with debate limited to twenty hours under Senate rules.

The guys also attended the Young Farmer and Rancher Conference while there and learned methods to get more people involved in learning about farming and ranching and  also how to keep more farm kids on the farm.

Barrett stated, “This was about showing the many different opportunities there are for younger people to be involved in agriculture.”
The average age of the American farmer is rising each year. The average age currently is 57. According to data produced by the National Geographic, only 6% of American farmers are under the age of 35, while 62% are age 55 are older.

Read more here: http://brownfieldonline.com/area-news/austin-trip-informs-local-farmers/

Fox 34

Austin, TX – Today State Representative Burrows (Lubbock) was elected to the Texas House Republican Caucus Policy Committee by his Republican colleagues for the duration of the 85th Texas Legislature.

The Policy Committee is comprised of sixteen members of the House Republican Caucus. Members of the Policy Committee are responsible for making legislative recommendations in the form of a daily floor report provided to all 95 Republican members of the Caucus. This session the House expects to address such issues as public education, child protection and mental health.

“I’m honored to be asked by my colleagues to join the Caucus Policy Committee and I look forward to being a voice on the Committee for West Texas during the 85th Session. Issues and legislation affecting our rural communities will be my main focus as I work with members of the committee,” said Burrows.

The Texas House Republican Caucus is comprised of all Republican Members serving in the Texas House of Representatives. The purpose of the Caucus is to provide research, education, policy development and other support to our Caucus Members and their staff. The Texas House Republican Caucus works to promote limited government.

Read more here: http://www.fox34.com/story/34347832/burrows-elected-to-the-house-caucus-policy-committee

Full video of Evan Smith’s 1/19 conversation with state Reps. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, on the campus of Howard College in San Angelo. Topics discussed: the state budget, school finance, school choice, the so-called “bathroom bill” and border security.

Click here for more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/01/19/darby-and-burrows/

KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock
Shaley Sanders

LUBBOCK COUNTY, TX (KCBD) – The Texas State House and Senate have released their proposed budgets for 2018 and 2019, and they are billions of dollars apart.

The Senate is proposing a roughly $213.4 billion budget while the House is proposing about $221.3 billion.

District 83 Representative Dustin Burrows said the next step is meeting with agencies and taking a close look at their programs.

“We are going to go through their programs and find out if they are really necessary, if they are needs or wants. We are going to work our way back down to make sure we find something everyone can agree on,” Representative Burrows said.

Some of Representative Burrows’ top priorities are CPS reform, financial support for rural schools, I-27 expansion and making healthcare more affordable.

We asked him if he thinks those goals are still feasible under this proposed budget.

“Absolutely, in fact the House has set aside some money that I think would be a great opportunity to help rural schools,” he said.

“One of the really great line items in the budget right now is the House leadership heard that we need some more veterinarians in this area, and so I am very proud we have a line item in there for a Texas Tech vet school,” Representative Burrows said.

Right now, the only veterinary school in the state of Texas is at A&M.

“We do not have enough large animal veterinarians. The industry is crying out for it. Texas Tech has a phenomenal idea on what they can actually accomplish. It would be more affordable, provide better services,” Representative Burrows said.

When it comes to CPS reform, Representative Burrows said the changes need to start with lowering the case loads.

“The number one thing we have got to do is make sure we have more case workers. Number two, is we have got to pay them more. The House budget actually provide for those things,” Representative Burrows said.

Representative Burrows is also filing bills to make changes when it comes to healthcare.

“The absolute biggest issue that I see overtime is we have stopped being concerned with what the overall cost of healthcare procedures are and in some ways you are price insensitive. In emergency situations you are not going to care what the price is, but in non-emergency situations, if we can get people back engaged as consumers where they actually know what the costs of things are and then we incentivize them to go shop around, over time we will start bringing down healthcare costs,” Representative Burrows said.

“It will be a conservative budget, it will be a budget that is going to grow Texas without raising taxes and it is going to have a lot of good things in there for West Texas and our districts, our schools, our roads and other things that are critical concerns,” Representative Burrows said.

Copyright 2017 KCBD. All rights reserved.

Read more here: http://www.kcbd.com/story/34303949/rep-burrows-talks-dueling-budgets-plans-for-texas-tech-veterinary-school

San Angelo Live
By: Joe Hyde

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Austin-based non-profit state news website Texas Tribune held a lunch on the Howard College campus at noon today. The main event during the luncheon was a political discussion with Texas Tribune’s publisher Evan Smith and two west Texas state representatives.

Rep Drew Darby of District 72 and Dustin Burrows of Lubbock’s District 83 engaged in a spirited discussion about issues facing the legislature.

Smith began the discussion explaining that the Texas state budget is several billion short. “What are you going to cut?” he asked.

Burrows surprised the audience saying the Texas House budget addresses everything on his plate. “The priorities for my district are funded,” he said. Darby provided color, explaining that the House bill is $5 billion more than the Senate’s.

The legislature meets every two years, in odd years, and this session has just begun, so the representatives have not started “pulling the weeds from the garden,” as Burrows put it.

Smith was quick on his feet, and spoke quickly as the trio explored various issues facing Texas and how those issues match west Texas, or more rural priorities.

Among the issues discussed were budget, foster care, CPS funding, public school funding, school choice, border security, school accountability ratings (the “A through F” grading system of public school campuses), and transgender bathrooms.

Smith saved the transgender issue for last.

Attending the event were who’s who of San Angelo’s political class, including mayoral candidate Brenda Gunter who asked the first question. Last session, the legislature cut property taxes. “Why do citizens here feel like their taxes are still going up?” she asked.

Darby explained the increase in the amount of the statewide Homestead Exemption was only expected to put $100 into the pocket of every Texas family, so the impact was nil on citizens. But, he said, “It dug a hole for us to fill.” Darby said now the legislature needs to find a revenue source or spending cut to fill in for the lost revenue.

Even so, both Darby and Burrows were in favor of the increased Homestead Exemption.

Read more here: http://sanangelolive.com/news/politics/2017-01-19/texas-tribunes-evan-smith-talks-politics-darby-burrows-san-angelo

Rachel Glaser, Nexstar

AUSTIN (NEXSTAR) — State lawmakers face a big question mark during the 85th Legislative Session as legislators can only wonder how changes at the federal level might impact Texas.

“We watch Washington here very, very carefully because we need to know where they are going to mess things up next,” said State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo.

President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in Washington D.C. Friday.

“President-elect Trump campaigned heavily on border security, so hopefully we’ll get indications from that administration and D.C. that they are going to take it over,” said State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock.

Facing a tight budget, the state could save hundreds of millions of dollars if it relied on the federal government to secure the border. “That would be everyone’s fondest wish,” said Sen. Seliger. “Because are we going to have to put $1 billion of state money on the border, or is the federal government going to do what’s their job?”

The Director of the Texas Politics Project, Jim Henson, said state legislators “either have to trust the federal government or they’re going to have to play a waiting game.”

Henson added, “But certainly, they’re not going to get clear signals in the Texas legislature from Washington D.C. in time for a lot of these decisions to be made, unless we see unusually fast movement from Washington.”

Another key campaign promise, Trump repeatedly vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare.

Trump told the Washington Post Sunday that his Obamacare replacement plan includes “insurance for everybody.”

While the president-elect did not go into details about his plan, the comment suggests Trump could be moving toward universal healthcare. Republican leaders have outlined replacement plans that aim for “universal access,” not necessarily “universal coverage.”

Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders in Washington have suggested rolling back Medicaid expansions made under Obamacare, cutting the federal subsidies and sending the burden back to the states.

“I don’t want to wait on Washington,” Rep. Burrows said. The Republican out of Lubbock said he has some ideas that would allow the state to build its own path toward better healthcare with lower costs.

“And we don’t need D.C’s approval to do anything on that,” Rep. Burrows said.

Texas, which has the highest number of people without health insurance in the country, is one of a handful of states that did not expand Medicaid to help low-income Americans pay for health insurance.

Read more here:

On January 13th, 2017, Representative Dustin Burrows of Lubbock proudly announced his legislative staff for the upcoming legislative session.

Jeramy Kitchen will continue to serve as Representative Burrows Chief of Staff. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Political Science. A veteran, Jeramy served as a Military Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army and Texas Army National Guard and served two full tours of duty in Iraq. He has previously worked as a District Director for another area legislator. He has long been involved as a Conservative activist in local and state politics. Jeramy is a proud husband to his wife Joanna Kitchen and two beautiful daughters Kylie and Alexis.

“Though not originally from West Texas, I fell in love with the place when I first attended Texas Tech and I find it a privilege to be able to fight for the West Texas values I have such an adoration for down here in Austin”, said Jeramy.

Serving in the House District 83 District Office is Matt Crow. He will continue to serve as Representative Burrows Communications Director. Matt has worked in political communications his entire career to include serving in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations. On Capitol Hill, Matt worked for Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour and Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer.

“Texans — especially West Texans — are a special type of people and I am eager to help Rep. Burrows do the best job he can on their behalf. I am right where I want to be in politics – on the ground, among constituents who have new and helpful ideas to share.”

Representative Burrows has also named Richard Murad as his Legislative Director. A 5-year veteran of the United states Marine Corps, Richard Murad hails from Sugar Land, Texas.  He has served in uniform, studied in, or supported U.S. national security programs in Norway, Turkmenistan, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.  Richard is a recently-licensed Texas attorney and obtained his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law; Richard speaks Russian, and enjoys history, politics, hunting and the outdoors.

“I hail from Sugar Land, Texas and have lived in six different countries over the course of almost a decade.  Having spent the better part of the last four years in Lubbock as a student–and now a proud graduate–of Tech Law, I am humbled, honored, and excited to play a part in representing the good people of West Texas’ House District 83 in the 86th Legislature of The Great State of Texas.”

Matthew Griego will also be a part of Representative Burrows legislative team and work as a Legislative Aide. Matthew is a graduate from Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Political Science. He worked as an intern in the legislature during his time at Texas Tech. He is an Austin native and is fluent in Spanish.

” As a Texas Tech Alumnus, I am looking forward to work my first legislative session with Representative Dustin Burrows. I am eager to learn many new things during the 85th Legislative Session.”

The final addition to Representative Burrows team is Joanna Kitchen who will serve as an Administrative Aide in the Capitol office. Joanna attended Texas Tech University. She is wife to Jeramy Kitchen and the proud mother of their two daughters to which she has been the caretaker of since they last lived in Lubbock where she worked as the front desk manager for a local women’s gym.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to serve the community which was so great to my young family.” Said Joanna.

On his staff hiring, Rep. Burrows stated, “I campaigned on fighting for West Texas values down in Austin and I believe I have selected the best team to do just that.  I believe my staff brings varying perspectives to issues that are never black and white and will give any legislation I vote on the diligence it deserves in making the best decision for West Texas.”

Dustin Burrows is the State Representative for House District 83. He will be a sophomore legislator and currently represents 6 and a half counties in the West Texas region.

Lubbock Avalanche – Journal

More than 15 years ago, a coalition was formed to initiate a movement to extend Interstate 27 beyond its current route from Lubbock to Amarillo. That coalition became known as the Ports to Plains Alliance and it is comprised of civic, government and business people from across West Texas.

The alliance’s goal was, and still is, to extend I-27 from Lubbock to Laredo on the border with Mexico as an effort to enhance trade in the West Texas region, giving the state and nation another connection as a trade route to Mexico. It is also envisioned as a means of alleviating traffic on Interstate 35 in the eastern and central parts of Texas, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the state.

But despite all the efforts of the alliance, there has been little actual movement in achieving that goal, until now. On Monday, state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock filed a bill in the Texas House of Representatives to direct the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study on extending I-27 along the Ports to Plains route.

We applaud Burrows’ action to address this issue and hope it will reignite the alliance’s efforts to see this project come to fruition. Almost two years ago, then-Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson spearheaded an effort to get TxDOT to conduct the feasibilty study, holding several meetings with that agency’s officials. Robertson was also involved in a series of meetings between West Texas officials and businessmen and TxDOT to get feedback on the interstate expansion. TxDOT agreed to conduct the study. But what is the status of that study today?

Burrows’ bill, if it passes through the Legislature, would direct TxDOT to make good on its promise to complete the study. It is not known how much the study would cost. The fact that the state is facing a budget shortfall this legislative session could complicate the issue as the state may not have the funds to forge ahead on this effort. We hope that will not be the case.

And don’t expect the study to be completed right away. When approached about the study two years ago, TxDOT acknowleged it could take several years to complete. Also, TxDOT spokesman Nick Wade said at the time that a study was conducted in the late 1990s, which determined extension of I-27 would cost more than it would be worth.

But things have changed since then. For one thing, I-35 gets more and more congested. Michael Reeves, executive director of the Ports to Plains Alliance, has pointed out that trade with bordering countries has increased and there has been an uptick in energy activities in West Texas. A second trade route to the border would help not only the state, but would give an economic boost to communities along the proposed I-27 extension.

However, even if the study is conducted in a timely manner and it is determined the project makes financial sense, the actual completion of the trade route could take years, even decades. And, who knows what the cost will be? Two years ago, TxDOT said its initial assessment of the project would cost $5.2 billion. That’s billion with a big B. With costs increasing every year for just about everything, that price tag will most likely be even higher if the project becomes a reality.

It’s never been satisfactory that I-27 only runs from Lubbock to Amarillo. Extending the highway southward would allow it to tie in with interstates 20 and 10, which run mostly east to west, giving Lubbock and West Texas even more access to other cities and trade opportunities. The possible economic benefits could be enormous.

We hope the Legislature sees fit to complete this stuck-in-the-mud feasibility study so we can stop guessing at the price tag and the worthiness of the entire project.

Read more here: http://lubbockonline.com/opinion/2017-01-13/our-view-burrows-bill-brings-plan-extending-i-27-back-spotlight