Last weekend, we recognized the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. We remember and pray for all the Americans who were killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93. Let us never forget.

Here are five things happening around your state:

We continue to hold our friends in Louisiana in our prayers after Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane this week. Texas was proud to send a Chinook helicopter, 14 crew members, 30 fire engines, and 132 firefighters to aid in hurricane recovery efforts.

On Aug. 27, 1908, Lyndon Baines Johnson was born near Johnson City. LBJ would go on to become a U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, the vice president under President John F. Kennedy, and finally the president of the United States. His birthday is celebrated as a state holiday.

Here are five things happening around your state:

1. Elections bill advances in the House.

The House is set to consider Senate Bill 1, the election integrity and security bill. It passed the House Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies chaired by Rep. Trent Ashby this week and will be voted on the floor soon.

The bill ensures that early voting hours are standardized and expanded statewide. It also protects the sanctity of the ballot by strengthening the requirements for mail-in voting by adding identification requirements to mail-in ballots. Voters would simply have to include either their driver’s license number or identification card number on their ballot and application. Those without either can use the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

The bill also bans drive-thru voting with exceptions for those with disabilities. This bill makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat.

2. Remain in Mexico policy reinstated by Supreme Court.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, that was first introduced by the Trump administration. It requires asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their claims are evaluated by U.S. authorities.

Earlier this month, Texas and Missouri asked a lower federal court to examine the process under which the Biden administration reversed the policy. That court found the Biden administration failed to follow proper procedures in canceling the policy and that the alternative of paroling asylum applicants into the U.S. may violate federal law.

Texas and Missouri argued at the Supreme Court that the MPP “eliminated the ‘free ticket’ into the United States” and “served to discourage such futile and dangerous journeys.”

3. Border security funding increases in House bill.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a nearly $2 billion increase in funding for border security efforts over the next two years. The bill would pay for prosecuting and detaining illegal immigrants on trespassing charges, building border barriers and deploying additional state troopers to the border to help with the crisis. This bill also would repay the transfer of $250 million that came from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in June that was a down payment for border wall construction.

In addition, Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed 2,500 National Guard members and 1,000 DPS employees to patrol the southern border region as part of Operation Lone Star. The increased funding would allow the state to stem the flow of illegal immigration and proactively build infrastructure to reduce an influx in the future.

4. Staying prepared during hurricane season.

As hurricane season continues, it’s important to always be prepared before a storm occurs Here are a few tips to prepare before the storm from the Texas Hurricane Center:

■ Put together an emergency supply kit

■ Create a communication plan with your family

■ Sign up for your community or county warning system

■ Know flood risks in your area

■ Know your evacuation routes

■ Keep important documents in a waterproof container

■ Follow weather alerts

As always, stay safe, follow local orders and be extremely cautious of any water on roads. Remember, turn around don’t drown.

5. Tax relief bills advance in the House.

This week the House considered three bills that would give property tax relief to elderly and disabled Texans and new home owners. Senate Bill 8, Senate Bill 12 and Senate Joint Resolution 2 all take aim at relieving the property tax burden many Texans feel.

Senate Bill 8 allows homeowners to claim their homestead exemption in the year they acquire the property, rather than having to wait until Jan. 1 of the next year. SB12 and the accompanying SJR 2 would extend the reduced tax rate passed during the 2019 legislative session to elderly and disabled Texans who did not receive that compression.

On August 17, 1786 frontier icon and brave defender of the Alamo, Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee. Throughout his life, he acquired a reputation as a sharpshooter, hunter, and outdoorsman. He left his home state of Tennessee when he was 49 and set out for Texas. He arrived here in February 1836 and joined the Texas Revolutionaries at the Alamo. On March 6, 1836, he died during the Battle of the Alamo.

Here are five things happening around your state:

1. Proposed amendments to Texas Constitution

This week, Governor Abbott announced a special election date for the eight proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. That election will be held on November 2, 2021. To be put on the ballot, a joint resolution has to be passed by at least two-thirds of the members in both the Texas House and Texas Senate. The proposed amendments are:

PROPOSITION 1: The constitutional amendment authorizing the professional sports team charitable foundations of organizations sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association to conduct charitable raffles at rodeo venues.

PROPOSITION 2: The constitutional amendment authorizing a county to finance the development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county.

PROPOSITION 3: The constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.

PROPOSITION 4: The constitutional amendment changing the eligibility requirements for a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of criminal appeals, a justice of a court of appeals, and a district judge.

PROPOSITION 5: The constitutional amendment providing additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct with respect to candidates for judicial office.

PROPOSITION 6: The constitutional amendment establishing a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation.

PROPOSITION 7: The constitutional amendment to allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse’s residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person’s death.

PROPOSITION 8: The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.

2. Hunting and fishing licenses now available

Hunting season is right around the corner and licenses are now available from Texas Parks and Wildlife. Annually, Texans buy over 2.7 million licenses. Those purchases fund a variety of conservation efforts at TPWD. You can purchase your 2021-2022 license online at https://tpwd.texas.gov.

3. COVID-19 vaccine information

This month, the CDC released data about how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are at preventing severe cases of COVID-19 that could lead to hospitalization or death. Currently the “breakthrough” cases are still rare and a small percentage of fully vaccinated Texans are getting sick. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are very effective at preventing hospitalization. The current increase in hospitalizations is driven primarily by unvaccinated Texans. In one survey of hospitals, 95 percent of people in the intensive care unit beds who are sick with COVID-19 were unvaccinated. Over 13 million Texans are fully vaccinated and I’m one of them. I received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this year and have had no complications at all.

4. Census data released

This week, the US Census Bureau released raw population data for the entire country. These data will be used later this fall when the Legislature begins the process of redistricting. Texas added 4 million people the last decade and will add two new US congressional seats because of it. The detailed information that will help the redistricting committee redraw the boundaries will be available next month and we will start that process then.

5. Special session continues

We are still in the second called special session of the 87th Legislature. On the days I do not have to be at the Capitol, I have made it a priority to travel to the district to visit with constituents. This week I was in Houston County, Trinity County, and Polk County. In the past three weeks, I will have visited 18 counties. It’s been great to travel around East Texas and visit with all of you about what you think we need to be working on.

Summer is drawing to a close and back-to-school season is here. TxDOT asks all Texans to be aware of school zones and school buses as children head back to campus. Remember to slow down for school zones and be prepared to stop for stopped school buses.

Here are five things happening around your state:

1. Second special session begins.

Gov. Greg Abbott called a second special session starting Aug. 7. For this special session, he added several more agenda items to the call from the first special. Some of the new additions include handling federal appropriations, shifting back primary election dates for next year due to the delay in census data, pre-empting local regulation of business practice, and education issues.

With these additions to the call, there are now 17 agenda items we will be working on. The Senate got right to it, holding committee hearings over the weekend and into this week.

I’m in Austin representing the people of Senate District 3 on these issues and ensuring their voice is heard.

2. Senate passes priority agenda items in first week.

With the start of the special session, bills were filed quickly and committees began to meet. This week I participated in a Senate Finance Committee hearing where we discussed bills to give our retired teachers a 13th check, appropriating funding for Article 10 of the budget that funds the Legislature, and a supplemental appropriations bill for other priorities for this session.

I also participated in a Business and Commerce Committee hearing where we discussed Senate Bill 14, which would ensure local municipalities and counties cannot pass ordinances that mandate employment benefits or practices.

On the floor this week, we voted on and passed legislation regarding bail reform, property tax relief, family violence prevention and education, banning critical race theory in schools, election integrity and much more. Many of these bills we considered in the regular session and passed in the Senate and in the first called special.

The Senate will keep working on these issues as special session continues in hopes they will all be finally passed at the end of this session.

3. Comptroller officially opens Broadband Development Office.

This month, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the establishment of the Broadband Development Office as created by House Bill 5, a bill I authored with Rep. Trent Ashby.

The BDO will award grants, low-interest loans and other financial incentives to broadband service providers who expand access to broadband service in underserved areas. The founding director of the new office is Greg Conte, who has worked in the comptroller’s office for the past five years.

The office will be in charge of developing a broadband accessibility map, creating and maintaining a statewide broadband plan, engaging in community outreach to encourage expansion and adoption of broadband and a clearing house for information about federal funding or grants available to local municipalities.

This office will guide our state as we navigate expansion of this essential service.

4. Cargill, Continental Grain acquire Sanderson Farms.

Cargill Inc. and agricultural-investment firm Continental Grain Co. announced the agreement to acquire Sanderson Farms for $4.5 billion this week. Sanderson Farms is the country’s third largest chicken producer and has 13 locations across the southern United States, including several locations in Texas.

In Senate District 3, Palestine is home to a Sanderson Farms’ hatchery, processing plant and feed mill. As a result of this transaction, Sanderson Farms will be combined with Wayne Farms, a subsidiary of Continental Grain.

Sanderson Farms started as a small, family-run supply store around 75 years ago and grew exponentially into the substantial poultry operation it is today. The new company will remain committed to supporting independent American farmers and the communities in which they live.

5. Alligator snapping turtles seized in illegal trafficking case returned.

Last week, 27 alligator snapping turtles were released back into East Texas after being trafficked to Louisiana several years ago. The turtles were seized by Louisiana law enforcement in 2016 after they were trafficked across state lines.

The turtles are a popular food item in Louisiana, where they can be harvested with a restricted limit of one per day. In Texas, alligator snapping turtles are a protected species and harvesting them is illegal.

The poached turtles were held at the Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery in Louisiana for the past several years where the Texas Parks & Wildlife Nongame and Rare Species program staff worked with turtle researchers to determine where they came from.