County hires firm to monitor Texas legislature
Hays County has once again hired the firm of Davis Kaufman on issues related to the next session of the Texas Legislature.
At its meeting on December 11, the county commissioners court approved an agreement with Davis Kaufman, which the county has used before. The firm will monitor legislation of interest to Hays County or that could affect the county, provide legal advice to Hays County regarding lobbying and advocacy and serve as a direct advocate for the county before the executive and legislative branches of the state government. The agreement is expected to cost the county more than $84,000.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell said that he agreed but that the firm’s services are important as special interest groups fight for influence. Without the services Davis Kaufman provides, he said, the county would have a hard time being heard. “I wish things worked differently at our capitol, but they don’t,” Shell said.
Shell said that during the 86th Legislature, he is expecting water issues and county regulatory issues to come up.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe said that county representatives should go to Austin themselves when possible.
“We do have a responsibility to, when we’re able, to go and present ourselves in front of the legislature,” she said.
Ingalsbe noted that she is currently president of the South Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association, so she will be present for some of the next legislative session.
Shell said that during the 86th Legislature, he is expecting water issues and county regulatory issues to come up.
In other business, the commissioners approved three grant applications concerning flood mitigation. The first is an application for a grant from the Texas Water Development Board for flood mitigation assistance. The second and third are applications for grants from the Texas Department of Emergency Management for pre-disaster mitigation funding for the Hays County Community Flood Mitigation Project and for the expansion of the current flood system infrastructure.