Higher education tops focus for Guadalupe County state representative

Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette 

About halfway through Texas’ 88th Legislature’s session, a Guadalupe County congressman said he is excited about some of the work he is doing for the state and the district he represents.

District 44 Rep. John Kuempel (R) won appointment to two legislative committees, one of which he chairs. As chair of the Higher Education Committee, Kuempel said he took part in developing a bill beneficial for Texans.

“Yesterday out of committee hearing, there was really kind of a historical transformation in the way the state funds the

community college system with a state investment of almost $700 million,” he said.

The bill is in its early stages, just coming out of committee and still has to pass both chambers of the state Legislature, Kuempel said. But he has faith it will pass and provide a new funding model for the 50 community colleges across Texas.

Funding will be based upon outcomes if the bill passes, Kuempel said.

“So it’s students working and being trained in community colleges for the jobs that are available and the employers working closely with the community colleges with the curriculum they need to place jobs,” he said.

The legislation looks to marry community college education with the jobs being created in Texas’ growing economy and better fund high-learning institutions that do well under the formula, Kuempel said. The bill could help steer jobseekers locally to local employers, he said.

“Per capita, (Guadalupe County is) probably the manufacturing hub of the state,” Kuempel said. “To make sure we can meet those employers’ demands with great jobs, we just make sure we prepare those students and young folks for the work force to be as successful as they can be with the jobs that are there and that will be there.”

In his seventh term representing Guadalupe and Gonzales counties, Kuempel said, of course, the bill’s fate is tied to the number one issue lawmakers face: the budget.

Many ideas legislators are presenting and that are coming out of committees during the session will only proceed according to the budget, discussion of which draws near, Kuempel said.

“The House version of the budget will be on the floor in a couple weeks,” he said. “That’ll help clear the air of what’s moving on and what won’t simply because it wasn’t funded.”

Texas’ Congress will have to decide what to do with an expected surplus estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Representatives will pitch ideas in the coming days and a make a decision in coming weeks, Kuempel said.

All in all, things are starting to heat up ahead of the second half of the biennial gathering of lawmakers, he said.

“As days go, we’re right at the halfway mark,” Kuempel said. “As the legislative process goes, we’re really starting to begin. We’ll start to hear House bills on the floor next week. That’s when legislation is presented in front of the full body. That’s when the bright lights come on.”

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