Texas House Speaker Joe Straus made three new appointments to the Sunset Advisory Commission on Monday and chose Rep. Larry Gonzales of Round Rock to serve as the Commission’s new Chairman.
Speaker Straus appointed Reps. Dan Flynn of Van and Senfronia Thompson of Houston to the Commission. He also named William Meadows of Fort Worth as the House’s public appointee. Meadows is Chairman Emeritus of HUB International Insurance Services.
The three new appointees will join Gonzales, as well as Reps. Cindy Burkett of Sunnyvale and Richard Peña Raymond of Laredo, as the House’s representatives on the Commission.
“These appointees have a very important job,” Speaker Straus said. “I am confident that their review and recommendations will help state agencies serve taxpayers better. Their work will also help the House continue to make state government more transparent and efficient.”
The Sunset Commission was created so that legislators and members of the public could periodically review state agencies and decide whether they should continue to exist. The Commission’s work provides the foundation for legislation that is needed to keep the agencies operating. The process also allows legislators to reform agencies’ operations and review their core missions.
“I’m going to work with the Members of the House to ensure that Sunset bills stay specifically focused on improving the agencies that have been under review,” Speaker Straus said. “These agencies serve important functions, and we don’t often get the chance to give them this kind of comprehensive review. We owe it to taxpayers to make sure this process is only about making our government operate better.”
The Commission will review 24 agencies in the current cycle, including the Texas Department of Transportation, the Railroad Commission and the Texas Medical Board.
“We will be rolling out in the next few months recommendations we feel make Texas government more accountable, transparent and efficient,” Chairman Gonzales said. “I look forward to the public’s input when we hold public meetings later this year.”
The House appointees will join the following Senate appointees on the Sunset Commission – Sens.: Van Taylor, Vice Chairman, Robert Nichols (fulfilling the unexpired term of Senator Jane Nelson), Kirk Watson, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, Charles Schwertner, and public members: Lt. Colonel Allen B. West (ret.), Pres. & CEO, The National Center for Policy Analysis
