State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa announced his reelection bid for District 20 in a news release Wednesday.
Hinojosa, D-McAllen, advocated for the previous work he accomplished during his term regarding health care, education, job creation, infrastructure and developments in the ERCOT system to help prevent a repeat of this year’s winter storm repercussions.
As vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence, Hinojosa worked with members of the committee to address the shortfalls that came from the February winter storm, which left Texans freezing and without power for up to weeks.
Hinojosa said many of the structural reforms to ERCOT and the Public Utilities Commision were discussed and passed out of his committee.
“The changes we made will help our electric grid be ready for another storm,” he said in a news release announcing his reelection.
Hinojosa touted his role as lead author of legislation in 2013 that created the UTRGV School of Medicine.
The state senator said even before the pandemic, the medical school was making developments with the number of specialized doctors in the Rio Grande Valley.
While the school continues to serve as an important asset to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hinojosa said this is only the first step.
He hopes to bring a cancer treatment center to South Texas to help save more lives in the community.
In light of the pandemic, Hinojosa said he worked with state agencies and advocated to secure the necessary healthcare workers, equipment and resources to combat the coronavirus.
“I worked with my colleagues to enact policies that will help us not just return to normal but emerge stronger than before,” he wrote in the news release.
Protection seemed to be a consistent theme throughout Hinojosa’s news release, not only from the COVID-19 virus and severe weather storms, but also economically protecting the money of citizens.
According to the news release, the 87th legislative session proved faithful in its promise to protect investments made by public school educators and employees such as increases in teacher salaries.
The state senator also addressed his efforts in fixing Hidalgo County’s drainage issues as well as obtaining safe drinking water for residents in colonias.
In an effort to relieve flooding in the county, Hinojosa wrote in the new release that he worked with the Hidalgo County Drainage District No.1, Texas Water Development Board and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Hinojosa says he’s committed to continuing to fight for his district and meet the needs of his constituents.
“While we had a busy and productive regular session, elections have consequences, and several pending issues will be brought up in at least two special sessions,” Hinojosa said. “In this political environment, we need legislators who can work across the aisle to address issues and put people over politics and govern with compassion.”
