SIT-REP WITH REP. TERRY WILSON

by Ann Marie Kennon • annmarie@lhtxdigest.com

2021 sit-rep

2021 “Sit-Rep” with Representative Terry Wilson

News of the 2021 Texas legislative session took a back seat to Winter Storm Uri last month, but Colonel Terry Wilson (State Representative for House District 20) is steadfastly attending to issues related to both, often at the same time, every day.

Our publisher was pleased we were able to spend an afternoon with the Representative to talk about State issues and his eagerness to keep Liberty Hill constituents informed. “There is no question Texas met many challenges in February,” Rep. Wilson said. “I am pleased to know Liberty Hill has a local magazine that provides balanced information about what is going on in the community.”

TEXAS ENERGY

Since power seems to be on everyone’s mind, Rep. Wilson talked about Texas energy up front. “Storm hearings are happening now,” he said. “The Governor convened us, specifically, to investigate failures that occurred with ERCOT and across the board, and while we have no idea how long it will take, we will not leave until it is done. Rest assured that we all happily accepted the task, knowing we will be learning many things over the next few weeks and we do not expect corrections to happen on the turn of a dime.”

Conversely, he was pleased to know there were also companies state-wide who were ready for the storm, and the legislature expressed thanks for their preparedness. The task, now, is to determine where the various responsibilities lie, discuss solutions, and set a path forward. “I do believe that, regardless of where faults exist, we need to shore up the process; summer is right around the corner and we are quite familiar with our energy needs in hot weather. We continue to be very concerned for citizens’ utility bills moving forward.”

STORM RECOVERY

During and after the storm, Colonel Wilson contacted city council members, school officials, law enforcement, and mayors, including Liberty Hill Mayor Liz Branigan, to discuss the wellness of our citizens, as well as property and agricultural losses. “Most of the calls my office received from the Liberty Hill area were regarding water. We helped coordinate supply chains with nearby Georgetown because that is the primary water source. We will continue to assess and investigate the needs of the city as recovery continues.”

He expressed concern over the stories that will continue to be told, and the stress the damage will certainly put on families and local economies that have been in a down-revenue year already. ►

2021 sit-rep

“Our aggregate losses are worthy of great attention,” he says. “Many citizens lost more than pipes or property; they lost livestock and crops. People need to be aware, we were only able to save 40 percent of our current citrus harvest, and this will play out as a loss for next year’s harvest because the trees were just beginning to bud.”

On a positive note, the Representative gave high praise to Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason and Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd, who traveled many roads on his behalf to determine a safe route for trucks to transport an energy transformer and supplies from Florence to Liberty Hill. “We told both Sheriffs about the plight of the people in Liberty Hill who had no water or food. [Williamson County] Judge Bill Gravell also pushed a road and bridge crew out for us to treat roads along the route for the emergency package.”

SCHOOLS

Always a Colonel, Rep. Wilson and his staff are pushing the envelope when it comes to his battle command philosophy of leadership. “We expect the population of Texas to grow by 70 percent by 2050, and Liberty Hill ISD is a great example of the ‘why’ for that growth. The ISD is being innovative about career and technical education, and adapting the skill sets of students for explosive future success. I highly respect [Superintendent] Steve Snell, and I count on him for feedback when we have school-related bills,” he says. “I maintain a text connection to all my superintendents so I can communicate with them in real time during the session.”

He explained the need for these direct connections because, while House members know when a bill will be up for discussion or vote, there is no way for them to know what amendments will be included ahead of time. Rep. Wilson says, “I send a message to all 25 of our superintendents to let them know a bill is coming up. They send me their thoughts—pro and con—on the bill via email, which are prepared for correspondence when the bill is heard. This is where my team shines; they built me a system in which, when the amendments start flying, I text the superintendents from the floor, and their responses are fed into a spreadsheet in real time so I can reference them during the debate.”

Rep. Wilson retired from the Army after serving more than 30 years.* He was a highly regarded senior leader within the Department of the Army. He is well versed in major weapons systems development, as well as command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. As a DoD Acquisition Executive, he managed research and development programs with multi-billion-dollar budgets and partnered in systems development with major corporations and universities.

He is eager to see the arrival of Army Futures Command in Central Texas, as well as the Prototyping and Testing Evaluation Center. “People in Liberty Hill will actually see it all around them. This command will determine the future of our Army because the primary mission is research and development. That means discoveries. Those discoveries will require manufacturing, which means high-tech jobs, and a shift in what we teach in our high schools, community and technical colleges to fill those jobs. The technology and the ability is here, and that’s why they chose Central Texas as the location.”

EDUCATION FINANCE REFORM

Rep. Wilson is proud of the work being done in 2021 to implement last session’s landmark education finance reform package, which, for the first time, addressed issues at the state level without the court system having to force the change. He says, “It has been talked about for years, but we have been working without actually finding solutions.” He refers to the state attaching school taxes to private property, which he believes pits schools against the community; i.e., those who pay taxes but have no children in public school. “We are removing the anguish

*Terry Wilson is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

2021 sit-rep

associated with that bill by slowing the ability of the tax rate to increase. The bottom line; while local governments are not satisfied with the new caps on their revenue, taxpayers benefit because we increased the state’s share of public school costs to fill the gap, which increased our schools’ budgets without raising property taxes again.”

WATER

Rep. Wilson is confident that even with the significant growth in Liberty Hill, the city will be able to maintain infrastructure and water supply. “We have made great efforts for the sake of smart growth, keeping in mind that Liberty Hill has two sources for water; Georgetown and Aqua. We have held town hall meetings to address residents’ concerns where there is a shortage, and our staff has made significant efforts to make sure our plan for growth is solid.”

He went on to say that, in Texas, water tends to be political, and it takes courage to address needs versus wants. “When we look at growth, we have to first focus on efficiency and not hurt others in our use of it. For Liberty Hill to prosper and control their own destiny, we need to understand where the water is, how much we can use, and how surface water works with ground water. The science is not always sexy, but at the end of the day, it is the bread and butter for communities to prosper, chambers to grow with new business partners, and our children to attend great schools like we have in Liberty Hill.”

STUDIES AND SCIENCE

Despite what we see in the movies, drilling a well does not always guarantee water, and there are gaps in our understanding of it. Rep. Wilson says, “When looking at the data in municipalities that have water districts, we realize the data calculation is dated. Unfortunately, the studies that exist are only for individual water districts that can afford to pay $300,000-$500,000 for results. It is critical to remember water doesn’t honor county boundaries, and because of that, I find these studies potentially incomplete.”

He explained that what water data we do have is siloed with different agencies that do not share information easily. TCEQ keeps data on surface water, Texas Water Development Board has groundwater data, and our universities research all areas of water including soil moisture. “We want to bring all that data together, see the whole picture, identify gaps and build models to benefit the whole State.

“Basically, we have a lot of ingredients, and now we need to make a cake. For instance, we would not tell farmers how to use their own water, but we can provide them with volumes of information that will enable them to make informed decisions, take the guesswork out of their plans, and enable them to better forecast usage.”

INDUSTRY

While growth and expansion are a win for Liberty Hill, maintaining safety and quality of life is also paramount in the Representative’s day-to-day work.

“We recognize that with growth comes the need to increase our road capacity, but also to maintain the integrity of existing roads. We regularly look at roads showing signs of wear, but we are also working with TXDOT to add left turn lanes and acceleration/deceleration lanes on SH-29 for driver safety.”

Wilson is concerned about the growth of aggregate (stone) and mining in and around Liberty Hill. “Williamson County is number one in the state for current and planned mining, and Burnet County is number two, but I do not want our local economies to be bookended in a negative way.”

He explains that although mining means revenue and jobs for localities, we can not change where stone is in order to keep trucks and dust away from residential areas. “With aggregate, our work is about protecting neighborhoods from ‘bad actors’ who will plant themselves between two new housing developments. We have been working with constituents to make sure protections are in place so we don’t allow mining operations near schools or hospitals.”

The HD-20 office works with companies to ensure, if they are going to relocate, they choose a site that can accommodate truck traffic without putting unreasonable stress on nearby roads and bridges. “Many county roads are not made to handle the weight required to transport rock, and even the

2021 sit-rep

smallest operations require 200 trucks per day. First, this is a hazard in places that do not have left turn or acceleration and deceleration lanes. These trucks take much longer than passenger vehicles to change speed. Second, average wear and tear on a given road is $.26 per mile for an 80,000 lb. truck, and more on bridges, across the state. We only receive $.03 in return for gas taxes, and smaller towns do not have sufficient tax base for that level of road repair.”

Aside from road integrity, Rep. Wilson also seeks to protect trees and livestock from the dust nuisance created by this industry. “We insist on maintaining a good quality of life in our communities and I wish all companies operated like Texas Crushed Stone; they are the gold standard in aggregate and we are asking everyone to follow their example.”

COVID VACCINE

Initially, when vaccines were made available, Williamson County was authorized to receive them as part of the Austin hub. Rep. Wilson’s office, in cooperation with Williamson County leadership and health officials, was able to help establish a vaccine hub within Williamson County. “What that means is our county receives a designated amount of vaccine rather than requiring our citizens to travel to Austin to get their shots. Our clinics, in return, have provided vaccines to any eligible person who walks in the door, as long as they have proof of Texas residency. We worked very hard to ensure we would have our own shots, our own supplies, and could manage our own clinics.”

CONSTITUENT OUTREACH

With regard to his work in the 2021 legislative session, he reiterated that much of his work at the state level is constituent-driven or, at a minimum, initiated by a citizen inquest or suggestion. “I would put that number at 80-85 percent this year,” he says. “For example, we are working on a bill that will provide property tax exemptions from local tax entities for senior citizens. Residents of Sun City have brought to our attention, many times, that part of their tax bill includes things like hospital districts.”

In prior years, the State did not provide a means for local entities to exempt anyone from these fees. This year, the State will provide local, discretionary allowances to allow those exemptions via age bracketing. Rep. Wilson explains, “What we are doing is homestead protection. Our elderly, particularly those for whom social security is their only income, are very vulnerable. It is untenable for seniors, who have worked hard and paid the full mortgage on a home, to have to sell or have their property seized— compromising their independence—because they can not afford to pay the taxes on that home.”

To affect this change, when homeowners reach age 65, their tax rate will be frozen; at age 70 they will receive a discount, which will then increase every five years.

He adds the purpose of this legislation is not to hold back money owed to the government, but it does put the government on the same level as other creditors. The state may put a lien on a homestead, but can not evict a homeowner for non-payment. When the homeowner sells or passes away, the taxes and any penalties will be collected at that time. The State is paid when the property transfers.

LEGISLATION

Bills Representative Wilson is sponsoring on or supporting:

7 Criminal Justice

4 Aggregate Industry 6 Property Tax 4 Education

2 Family Law, dealing with incidents in which CPS overstepped its authority. 3 Utilities, addressing utility requirements imposed on constituents 4 Agriculture 6 Local Government

HELP FOR CHILDREN

Rep. Wilson is very pleased about the progress from HB-2783, establishing the PANS Advisory Council. There is a great deal of science underlying the effort so he explained the benefits of the bill in terms of one family he is familiar with in his district.

2021 sit-rep

Photo by Todd White

PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) is the name for an emerging field of medicine that investigates immune responses that mimic serious neurological disorders, which are then misdiagnosed and treated improperly. For instance, a child he knows experienced behavior changes and developed physiological tics. His physician diagnosed ADHD and recommended medication, but further investigation showed the child simply had a serious imbalance in his gut flora. After temporarily weaning him off of eggs, milk, and gluten for 90 days, he returned to normal daily function. Doctors traced the source of his symptoms to a series of ear infections for which he was treated with antibiotics, which caused the imbalance.

Rep. Wilson explains, “This bill was created because one mom was committed to helping kids because she felt all we were doing was medicating them. The bill passed easily in both chambers, and the Governor is now being advised by experts on new and alternative treatments; addressing things we are seeing in our schools. It would truly be a tragedy if, say, a child with a strep infection is diagnosed with a secondary condition like schizophrenia rather than an autoimmune condition like lupus, but it is entirely possible. I am proud Texans have the vigilance, and ability, to correct childhood concerns at the source.”

MEDIA SOURCES

Rep. Wilson and his staff are committed to sharing information with constituents through reliable and professional print and social media channels. In addition to making himself available to the Liberty Hill Digest for interviews, he has also committed to contribute future “Sit-Rep” columns to ensure Liberty Hill residents receive information about HD-20 that is timely and unfiltered. He adds, “We do frequent virtual town halls, which are open to the public and feature various industry experts to engage on specific topics; industry, education, and the like. I invite all my constituents to call in any time to ask questions of me or my panels.”

The Representative also enjoys radio interviews, which are live, and allow him to respond directly to callers. For balanced news coverage about Williamson County and Texas, he recommends The Williamson County Sun and Community Impact.

As important as all of these issues are, nothing is more important to me, as your representative, than hearing your voice. No matter whom you supported in November, in January we come together as one district and work to better not just our district but our state and nation, as well. I want to hear what is important to you and why it is important. I read every communication, and do my best to respond in kind, so please email me at terry.wilson@house.texas.gov or call the office at 512-463-0309 to let me know your thoughts on upcoming bills and issues coming before the House.

advertorial

Helping the Community Thrive with Mental Health Care

Jenna Fleming says, “Finding a counselor shouldn’t be hard. We want to make getting help easy, because everyone deserves to love and be loved with a whole heart.” Inaccessibility of proper mental health care is a problem Jenna and her team of counselors are working to reduce.

The problem hits close to home for Jenna. “My mother was a beautiful human,” she explains. “Her anxiety, depression, and addiction resulted in mistakes that caused traumatic childhood experiences for me. Had she been given mental health support, it could have been different. I hope to give to the world what we all need at times— loving help. All of us, to various degrees, struggle with life’s stress and anxieties. At times, we all need support.”

SERVICE GAPS

Jenna experienced firsthand the challenge so many go through of finding a counselor who is a proper fit and available. In ten years as a school counselor, she ran into many blocks when working to connect families to mental health support. Long waiting lists, unreturned calls, and improper matches would often lead to frustration and feelings of hopelessness.

Jenna saw this issue as unacceptable and felt our community deserved better. Wanting to be the change she wished to see, Jenna opened Central Texas Child & Family Counseling in Georgetown in 2017.

Jenna and 20 other counselors, interns, and staff embody a Christ-centered, client-focused mission, serving children three years and older, adults, and couples. Counselors specialize in multiple areas; family communication, anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, and trauma. Shannon, their Care Coordinator, ensures calls are returned and clients are matched with the right counselor, even if it’s someone outside their practice. The goal, as Jenna says, is never to fill an empty slot, but to help the person in need.

She believes when people are healthy, families are healthy and the community is healthy; “We are constantly seeking ways we can make high-quality counseling more accessible and approachable to the community.”

Another way Central Texas Child & Family Counseling helps the community is through free mental health presentations, as well as $5 counseling with a counseling intern available for low-income clients.

GROWING NEED

With the increased need for counseling caused by more turbulence in the world, as well as the explosion of neighborhoods along the Ronald Reagan corridor, Jenna felt called to open a second location in Liberty Hill. Both locations currently offer virtual and in-person services.

CENTRAL TEXAS CHILD & FAMILY COUNSELING 14001 HIGHWAY 29 WEST, #101, LIBERTY HILL 418 WILLIAMS DRIVE, GEORGETOWN CALL 512-651-1009 • GTOWNCOUNSELING.COM