State Rep. Erin Zwiener
With the 89th legislation in full swing, Hays County’s two representatives in the Texas House – Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, and Carrie Issac, R-Wimberley – have authored 34 bills between them. Zwiener represents House District 45, which incorporates the south eastern portion of Hays County, including the cities of San Marcos, Kyle and Buda. Below is an overview of some of the bills that Zwiener is prioritizing this session.
HB 2346
On the top of Representative Erin Zwiener’s list is HB 2346, which aims to give Hays County the ability to establish water conservation measures. Currently, counties in Texas do not have the authority to manage water conservation, unlike cities, which control water conservation inside city limits. Zwiener said that the rapidly growing population in Hays County, especially in housing developments built outside of city limits, results in large usages of unregulated water conservation.
“We don’t have enough water to go around, and we’re already seeing the effect of over-tapping our aquifer on our streams and our springs,” Zwiener said. “This would give counties an essential tool to work with developers to make sure that they’re building in the most water-wise way possible, so we can protect our water supply and protect our quality of life here in Hays County.”
HB 1256 AND HJR 88
Another Zwiener bill tapping into water conservation, HJR88 would make it constitutionally legal to exempt property owners from being taxed for adding rainwater collection systems or other water conservation systems on their property valuation. HB1256 is the House bill that would enact this piece of legislation.
“If somebody goes and invests several thousand dollars in their property in order to put some rainwater collection in, we don’t want our taxing entities to look at that and go, ‘Oh, look, there’s a rainwater collection tank. That’s a new building we’re going to add to the property valuation,’” Zweiner said. “We don’t want that to happen because we want people to be incentivized to conserve water.”
HB 2705
Zwiener’s bill aims to protect free speech rights at institutions of higher education, including the prosecution of offenses of trespass, damage and defacement at certain institutions of higher education, as well as criminal trespass.
Inspired by police reaction to protests on the University of Texas at Austin campus last May, Zwiener said the bill is meant to preserve the right to free speech on college campuses.
“Freedom of speech is incredibly important, and college campuses have historically been an important place to do that,” Zwiener said. “We wanted to make sure that people don’t end up criminalized for speaking out about their political views on campus, so the bill is designed to provide a defense against being arrested for trespassing or whatnot if you’re attending an institution of higher education and protesting at it.”
HB 2007
This Zwiener bill would limit where billboards can be placed, with the goal of preserving scenic drives in Dripping Springs and rural roads where views are key draws for both residents and tourists.
“Hays County relies on a lot of tourism, and the Hill Country relies on tourism,” Zwiener said. “People come to the area to spend the day, spend their money supporting local businesses because, partially, it’s a beautiful drive. So us making this drive not beautiful causes problems.”
Unlike Highway 290, which is recognized as a scenic highway, many stretches in Hays County are unprotected from billboard placements.
“The hope is that we could give the county commissioners some oversight on this,” said Zwiener, who acknowledges the weight of the billboard lobby. “They could make sure that if a billboard is going up on those roadways, it would be appropriate for those communities.”
HJR 125
This joint resolution, which proposes a constitutional amendment requiring the state to pay at least 50% of the cost of maintaining and operating the public school system and prohibiting the comptroller from certifying legislation for public education funds unless the requirement is met.
Citing a decrease in state funding and increased dependence on property tax for school funding, Zwiener said this bill would relieve the burden for property taxpayers.
“We need the state to have a hard line put in the constitution to make sure that we fund our public schools fairly from the state, instead of going back to the property taxpayer again and again and again,” Zwiener said.
A full list of bills authored by Zwiener can be found on her profile at house.texas.gov
