Written for The Texas Observer legislative blog "Floor Pass."
For many, a trip to the Capitol doesn’t just mean sitting in the gallery for a few minutes until the applause is over, it can also mean a day of petitioning lawmakers to address issues vital to their communities. It can mean the difference between winning a new medical school or protecting a local water supply. Two such communities came to the Capitol on Wednesday, one from the Valley and one from Central Texas. At noon in the Capitol Rotunda,one could hear the joyous whoops of mariachi music, the dulcet tones of twenty or so classical guitars and the chattering of legislators, students, school officials and representatives from the University of Texas-Pan American and UT-Brownsville. Read the rest.