On December 20, 2019, Representative Terry Canales, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation in the Texas House of Representatives, was tapped by Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen to sit on the powerful Sunset Advisory Commission.

Yesterday, Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen delivered interim charges to the House Committees, which includes the House Committee on Transportation that Chairman Terry Canales oversees.

The Watchdog loves it when folks get involved in their government by becoming fellow watchdogs and keeping a sharp eye on their leaders’ doings. I need the help.

That's why I'm pleased to tell you about a new state law that will change the face of all local governments in Texas.

This new law has gotten very little attention, but it's quite significant, even stunning.

Some residents across the Rio Grande Valley have been forced to endure a sort of battle of wits with elected officials who don’t seem interested in being responsive to those who elected them. Several elected bodies have restricted access to public comments during open meetings, or constantly changed the timing of comment periods in efforts to avoid certain speakers or certain issues.

Fortunately, a new law that took effect Sept. 1 should help make officials more accountable, and help standardize public meetings. State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, authored House Bill 2840, which requires a governmental body to allow members of the public to address any item on a meeting agenda before or during the body’s consideration of the item.

New legislation proposed by state Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg, which went into effect this month, is aimed at allowing people to make those memories just a little bit easier, by modernizing licensure requirements for hunters and anglers.

A law that went into effect today allows for Texas anglers and hunters to provide proof that they own a license through their phones, a move that helps modernize an age-old process. The bill, HB547, was put forth by District 40 Rep. Terry Canales. 

Without a doubt, our local leaders have the tools they need now to lessen the tough punishments that are on the books for cannabis. We would be well served to use this hemp misstep as an opportunity to implement cite-and-release policies and look at strategies to lessen the lifelong burden and implications a marijuana conviction can bring upon our young offenders.

Rep. Terry Canales heard the reports of children suffering in squalid conditions at Customs and Border Protection facilities and knew what he had to do.

The conditions that migrant children are being held in by the U.S. government are unconscionable. As reports of deplorable facilities at the border have trickled out, the Trump administration has tried to justify the conditions as the result of an influx of migrant crossings and a lack of funding.