Valley state lawmakers oppose budget cuts for therapy services that help 60,000 disabled children and elderly Texans - including more than 26,000 in the Valley - says Rep. Canales

IBC Bank-McAllen hosted a flag-raising ceremony and Independence Day celebration July 3 at the main bank in downtown McAllen.

While subjects that spark heated debate, like border security and healthcare district legislation dominated headlines during the 84th legislative session, hundreds of other bills passed Gov. Greg Abbott's desk — signed and unsigned — and dozens were authored by political representatives across the Rio Grande Valley.

More than 1,000 immigrants have died in the Rio Grande Valley since 2005, the majority of whose bodies remain unidentified, because local authorities lack the resources to investigate their deaths and to extract their DNA.

A last-minute parliamentary move by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, will result in the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in property tax payments that will now be invested into jobs-creation and business development in the city, Mayor Richard García has announced.

A bill originally asking for a South Texas College campus in the Rio Grande Valley’s Delta region now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature to become law after it was amended to no longer require a campus location.

Texas lawmakers in both chambers on Friday overwhelmingly approved a $209.4 billion two-year budget, a 3.6 percent increase over the current one. It now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

It looked like the so-called “campus carry” bill — the measure that would allow people with concealed handgun licenses to carry their firearms on public college and university campuses — would fail in the Texas Legislature.

A bill attempting to push South Texas College to open a campus in the Delta region of Hidalgo County passed the Texas House and was received by the Senate on Monday.

Cynthia M. Sakulenzki, president/CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber was recently presented a resolution at the Texas House of Representatives by Rep. Terry Canales, celebrating her anniversary serving the RGVHCC.