Tiffany Reed-Villarreal & Lindsay O’Leary Meet with State Representative Dennis Paul

This month Texas Section Vice President for Professional Affairs, Tiffany Reed-Villarreal PE, and Texas Section Executive Director, Lindsay O’Leary PE, met with State Representative Dennis Paul PE, District 129, Harris County to discuss priorities for the upcoming 87^th Legislative session. The ASCE Texas Section representatives were accompanied by representatives from TSPE, SEAoT, and ACEC Texas.

Items discussed in the meeting included:

1. Storm Surge Protection (Coastal Spine) – A Proposal from Texas A&M University at Galveston seeks to add surge gates to the Galveston sea wall and extend protection to the entire Houston-Galveston region during hurricanes. ASCE Texas Section strongly supports efforts to develop storm and flood resiliency and these improvements will drastically improve our State’s ability to withstand these weather events.
   
   To learn more about the Coastal Spine see http://www.tamug.edu/ikedike/
   
   
2. Licensure and Advanced Credentials – ASCE is a founding member of the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensure (APRL), a new coalition that includes NSPE and NCEES, and associations representing other professionals such as architects, landscape architects, and accountants. ARPL is composed of national associations that represent highly complex, technical professions, and their state licensing boards. Members of ARPL are licensed in all 50+ US states and territories. APRL promotes a responsible, balanced approach to professional licensing that aims to educate policymakers and the public on the importance of high standards, rigorous education, and extensive experience within highly complex, technical professions that are relied upon to protect public safety and enhance public trust.
   
   To learn more about this coalition please see Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing.
   
   
3. Resiliency/Envision –  In Houston, Precincts 1 and 2 are pursuing Envision project verification for several projects..

CALL TO ACTION: ASCE Texas Section is developing a Committee for the 2021 Infrastructure Report Card for Texas, which evaluates all categories of infrastructure every 4 years with a letter grade system. The Government Affairs Committee will be tasked with assisting in this important initiative for the Texas Section, and we are currently looking for motivated and hard-working individuals to join our team in this effort. If you are interested in assisting with this assignment, please contact the Government Affairs Committee Chair at [email protected].