Houston Lawmaker Receives Enthusiastic Endorsement of Leading Statewide Teachers Group

(Austin) -- One of the nation’s leading state teacher association has enthusiastically endorsed State Representative Hubert Vo in his re-election campaign for the Texas House, saying he “has the proven experience our public schools, educators, and schoolchildren need.”

“Hubert Vo’s record is one-hundred percent in favor of the issues that matter to public education in Texas,” said Rita Haecker, president of the Texas State Teachers Association. “Public schools, educators, and schoolchildren could not have a better friend that Hubert Vo. He is the kind of ally our public schools, our educators, and our schoolchildren need to keep working in the Texas Legislature to protect their future.”

Statewide Teacher Group Backs Houston Lawmaker as 'Leader Who Puts First the Interests of Public School Children'

(Austin) -- Calling on all champions for public schools to join them in working to ensure his re-election, a leading statewide teacher group has endorsed State Representative Hubert Vo in his bid for the Texas House, saying he is “a leader who puts first the interests of public school children.”

“Hubert Vo has seen first-hand the power of great public schools and dedicated public school teachers to make a dramatic difference in his life,” said Linda Bridges, president of Texas AFT, the statewide group representing more than 58,000 public school teachers and other education workers. “I think that’s why he works so hard to protect public education in Texas so that every other child can have the same chance to succeed.”

Lawmaker Echoes Call For State to Guarantee Electricity Supply

(ALIEF) — Texas State Representative Hubert Vo said the state’s Public Utility Commission should act immediately to protect Texans from having their electricity disconnected for any reason during the rest of the summer, when temperatures are hitting record highs and soaring utility costs are making it difficult for increasing numbers of elderly, low-income, and medically vulnerable citizens to pay their bills.

“A moratorium will save lives and buy time for families to make financial arrangements when the weather is cooler and their safety is no longer on the line,” Vo said.

Lawmaker Says Inadvertent Release of UH Students' Personal Data Reinforces His Previous Proposals for Greater Security

(HOUSTON) — Saying that the inadvertent public release of private data for more than 250 local university students proves the point, State Representative Hubert Vo today again called on fellow lawmakers to get behind his proposed initiative to protect student identities and other private data.

LAWMAKER CALLS ON COMMUNITY TO 'TAKE THE NEXT STEP TOWARD POSITIVE CHANGE'

(HOUSTON) -- Calling on the community to join him in taking "the next step toward positive change," State Representative Hubert Vo today launched his re-election campaign, filing papers while surrounded by family and supporters.

Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today said he will file legislation linking future increases in state lawmakers’ retirement benefits to the salaries of public school teachers, saying the action will underscore the need to pay educators like the professionals they are while giving taxpayers a more representative standard by which to measure legislative pensions.

“We have to focus attention on raising teacher pay to at least the national average,” Vo said.

Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today refiled legislation that failed to pass during the last regular session of the Texas Legislature, saying that recent incidents make the need even clearer for school districts to have defibrillators available on public school campuses and at athletic competitions.

Alief, Texas - Hubert Vo received the prestigious "You Make a Difference" award form the Alief Independent School District Board of Trustees this week for speaking out on important issues affecting the district and public education.

Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today said state leaders should either spend a dedicated Texas tax on the state's parks for which it was intended or abolish the tax altogether.

"Texans deserve truth in taxation," Vo said. "When it comes to this tax, Austin should use it or lose it."

Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today welcomed the decision by state officials to deny a leading insurance carrier the right to arbitrarily increase homeowners' insurance rates by as much as 39 percent along the coast in response to claims filed in the wake of hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

"This rate hike rejection will help families hold onto their homes," Vo said, adding that the denial is especially welcome news for homeowners in Fort Bend, Galveston, and Harris counties.

(ALIEF) - On a day that marks the official start of the 2006 hurricane season, State Representative Hubert Vo today called on state officials to immediately reject rate hike requests filed this week with the Texas Department of Insurance by the state's largest home insurer.

"Texas homeowners already pay twice the national average to protect their homes," Vo said. "The state should be demanding that Big Insurance lower its rates, not granting permission to raise them even more."

(ALIEF) - State Representative Hubert Vo today commended state officials for releasing the first of four installments in federal impact aid to help local public schools cope with thousands of students who were evacuated to Alief and other area districts after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"We appreciate this funding and consider it a great first step," Vo said. "Accommodating this unexpected influx of homeless children with no help has not been easy on educators or taxpayers."

(ALIEF) - State Representative Hubert Vo today said local public schools have yet to receive a single penny of the more than $18 million in disaster relief funds originally promised to help accommodate 3,000 homeless students who started classes in Alief classrooms in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"It is unfair to expect our schools to provide an adequate education to these newcomers when our local taxpayers are already stretched to the limit and public education dollars are scarce," Vo wrote this weekend in a letter to Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley. (see attached)

Vo said local school and community officials are increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of the federal bureaucracy in authorizing the funds and an apparent scheme by state leaders in Austin to retain up to half of the potential aid for schools like Alief if it ever does arrive.

(ALIEF) -- State Representative Hubert Vo today officially filed his papers for re-election, saying that it's critical to have an independent voice in Austin who can speak for the mainstream values of Texas House District 149.

"I hope to keep serving our community as we chart a new course based on our traditional values of family, fairness, and faith in the future," Vo said.

Vo said he will continue to be a strong advocate for small businesses, public schools, children's health, and property tax relief.

As a member of the House Committee on Business and Industry during his first term, Vo earned a reputation for pushing for streamlined regulations and increased consumer protections.

Alief, Texas - State Representative Hubert Vo today was honored by the Vietnamese Community of Louisiana for his ongoing efforts to find food, shelter, and relief for more than 20,000 Vietnamese American who were evacuated in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"Hubert was there in our hour of need and continues to work tirelessly to help all of us put our lives back together," said Quan Huynh, President of the Louisiana Vietnamese Community.

(AUSTIN) — State Representative Hubert Vo met with the family of Peter and Sosamma John after taking steps to protect Internet phone service consumers by amending the communications overhaul legislation currently being debated in the Texas House.

Vo's amendment will require companies that provide phone service over the internet to notify their customers in writing that they do not receive traditional 911 service. The amendment will also require the company to remind the customer once a year.

(AUSTIN) — With state lawmakers scrambling to find the money to fund a variety of new and existing programs, State Rep. Hubert Vo today proposed an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would put one potential revenue source off limits forever: a state sales tax on basic food and medicines.

"Putting food on the family table is tough enough for many working Texans," Vo said. "The least we can do is take the notion of taxing that food off the table."

(AUSTIN) — Today, Rep. Hubert Vo (D-149) introduced House Bill 995 that will make riding a pocket bike or a minimotorbike on a public road a misdemeanor punishable by a $750 fine or forfeiture of the bike for destruction. If the offender is a minor, then the guardian will be held responsible.

(AUSTIN) — State Representative Hubert Vo (Harris County) was appointed on Thursday to serve on two key committees for the 79th Legislative Session. Representative Vo was named to the House Committee on Border & International Affairs and the House Committee on Business and Industry.

"I am very honored to be appointed to these committees that will allow me to focus on issues that will have a positive impact on my district and all of Texas," said Representative Vo. "I will work to attract foreign investment and businesses to Texas and provide Texans with more, high paying job opportunities."

(HOUSTON) — A spokesman for Harris County's elections administrations office says the decision to postpone the count of absentee ballots in the House District 149 race has not been influenced by the Secretary of State's office.

Public information officer David Beirne said the count had been delayed because the two candidates, Rep. Talmadge Heflin (R-Houston) and Democratic challenger Hubert Vo, were not in agreement over today's count.

The count will now take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday and will be expanded to include all mail-in, provisional and military ballots from across the county. The ballot board was due to review only 130 mail-in and 181 provisional ballots in HD 149 at today's meeting.

(HOUSTON) — ...Democrats are already accusing Republicans of attempting to steal what appeared on election night to be a Hubert Vo victory over powerful State Rep. Talmadge Heflin in a west Houston race. A situation resembling the Florida recount of 2000 has erupted in Houston on a smaller scale as a GOP legal team led by lawyer Andy Taylor and a battery of lawyers for the Democrat jockey for position in a potentially expensive and protracted legal fight over the outcome of the Vo-Heflin battle.

(HOUSTON) — State Representative candidate Hubert Vo today called on the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) to restore funding for the state's popular Children's Health Insurance Program during its scheduled meeting Monday in Austin.

"If a Texas criminal has the right to see a lawyer, a Texas child should have the right to see a doctor," Vo said.

(HOUSTON) — State Representative candidate Hubert Vo today said that leaders have failed Texas school children and local taxpayers who deserve a solution to the deepening public education-funding crisis.

“The Austin crowd is out of touch and legislative leaders don’t share our priorities,” Vo said. “Amid the criminal grand jury investigations and other distractions, they have lost sight of what school children, parents, teachers, businesses, and taxpayers want — better schools.”