Bill Text: TX HR2726 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Commending Sandra Talton for her service as committee director for the House Select Committee on Mental Health and for the House Committee on Public Health.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-31 - Reported enrolled [HR2726 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR2726-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Commending Sandra Talton for her service as committee director for the House Select Committee on Mental Health and for the House Committee on Public Health.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-31 - Reported enrolled [HR2726 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR2726-Introduced.html
85R34624 BPG-D | ||
By: Price | H.R. No. 2726 |
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WHEREAS, Sandra Talton rendered outstanding service as the | ||
committee director for the House Select Committee on Mental Health | ||
during the 2016 interim and for the House Committee on Public Health | ||
during the 85th Legislative Session; and | ||
WHEREAS, While serving the select committee, Ms. Talton ably | ||
assisted its chair, State Representative Four Price, and the | ||
members of the committee; she helped them conduct eight | ||
comprehensive days of hearings, which covered every aspect of the | ||
mental health and substance use disorder issues that the committee | ||
was assigned to study; the members heard testimony from the public | ||
and expert witnesses from diverse professional fields, including | ||
health care, law enforcement, and the judiciary, and Ms. Talton | ||
provided crucial support in securing input from urban, suburban, | ||
and rural areas alike; in carrying out its duties, the committee | ||
examined a wide range of subjects, among them the early | ||
identification of mental illness, insurance, and access to | ||
treatment; moreover, she assisted in the committee's study of | ||
specific populations, such as children, veterans, the homeless, and | ||
persons incarcerated in the criminal justice system or confined to | ||
state mental facilities; and | ||
WHEREAS, Ms. Talton made on-site visits to several state, | ||
county, and private mental health treatment facilities throughout | ||
the state, and she conducted numerous meetings with stakeholders, | ||
including county and law enforcement associations and mental health | ||
advocacy organizations; in addition, she served as initial drafter | ||
and editor of the comprehensive report that the committee produced | ||
summarizing its findings and recommendations; the report contains | ||
the signatures of all committee members, and it received widespread | ||
acclaim from media and behavioral health stakeholders; and | ||
WHEREAS, In her role as committee director of the House | ||
Committee on Public Health, Ms. Talton ably assisted Chair Price | ||
and the members in hearing 161 items of legislation, including more | ||
than half of all filed sunset bills; the committee had a total of | ||
329 bills and resolutions referred to it, the third-largest total | ||
of legislative measures referred among all house committees; it has | ||
jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the protection of | ||
public health, mental health, the development of programs, and the | ||
prevention and treatment of mental illness, as well as oversight of | ||
the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas | ||
Department of State Health Services, and 22 other health or | ||
health-related state agencies; and | ||
WHEREAS, Prior to these committee director assignments, | ||
Ms. Talton assisted Representative Price as lead staffer in his | ||
work as chair of the Article II Subcommittee of the House | ||
Appropriations Committee and in his work as co-chair of the Health | ||
and Human Services Transition Legislative Oversight Committee, | ||
which is monitoring the reorganization of the Texas Health and | ||
Human Services Commission; and | ||
WHEREAS, A graduate of Harding University, Ms. Talton was a | ||
member of its honors American Studies Program, and she also holds a | ||
master of business administration degree from Texas State | ||
University; she is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society; and | ||
WHEREAS, Throughout her service as committee director, | ||
Sandra Talton demonstrated consummate professionalism and | ||
consistent and stellar dedication to the public policy of Texas and | ||
to the well-being of the state's citizens, and she is indeed | ||
deserving of thanks and acknowledgment for her accomplishments; | ||
now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby commend Sandra Talton for her exemplary service | ||
as committee director for the House Select Committee on Mental | ||
Health and for the House Committee on Public Health and extend to | ||
her sincere appreciation for her contributions; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for Ms. Talton as an expression of high regard by the Texas | ||
House of Representatives. |