Santiago J. Betancourt
State Legislative Committee
Chairman
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sons,
This update of the work of the committee is both full and lengthy but great progress is being made on our goals and achievements to date.
First, all of you should know by know that Standard and Poor's downgraded America from a AAA credit rating to a AA+. This is both a disappointment but also an expected outcome of the debt deal that was all politics as I mentioned before and the only deal that could have been achieved at the time. Poor's report and downgrade was for many reasons but mostly because Washington could not handle the necessity to trim down and cap our spending habits in one deal. I know that America is better than to let this downgrade go on for long and have expectations that further discussions in Washington will bring this issue to resolve. I though will continue to monitor military cuts and defense spending and will let you all know what is going to happen.
Secondly, Tim Tetz of the American Legion sent me an email to give me a "Take Action" email alert on HR 2070, authored by Rep. Johnson. The American Legion supports this bill in Congress and I would hope that all of you call or email your congressman to support this bill.
Take Action on HR 2070 HERE
Lastly, progress is being made on the "Veteran's Highway" and I am waiting on an estimate from TXDOT on the estimated cost of the signage and also am getting a meeting with Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson soon on the possibility of getting the land office to foot the bill on the signs without the need for legislative action at the moment.
