FORT WORTH, TX — Yesterday Congresswoman Granger met with local Mayors from her congressional district to talk about energy, transportation and other issues impacting the communities she represents. Covering Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties over 20 mayors attended her roundtable discussion. Attending from Parker County were Dorothy Hall, Cool; Doug Hughes, Springtown; Marvin Glasgow, Willow Park; Kit Marshall, Aledo; Jamie French, Millsap; and Dennis Hooks, Weatherford.
“Last year, I hosted this meeting for the first time and it was a huge success,” said Granger. “There is no better resource than meeting face to face with the Mayors in the communities I represent.”
During the meeting, Congresswoman Granger gave a brief update on her work in Washington and what can be expected between now and the end of the legislative session, which officially concludes the last week of September. Granger said to expect energy to continue to be a central focus, but was hesitant to say the necessary steps to lower prices would be taken. She has been a strong supporter of the American Energy Act, which includes conservation, incentives for alternative energy such as wind, solar, and nuclear, as well as measures to increase domestic drilling. However, this bill has been prevented from being brought up for a vote.
Transportation dominated much of the conversation. The high price of gasoline, the lack of revenue the State is collecting and the donor state system were all issues raised during the meeting. In addition, infrastructure and bridge repairs came up. Back in July, Congress passed a $1 billion federal authorization bill for bridge repairs and reconstruction. Texas is home to more bridges than any other state in the country. In Granger’s district alone there are over 2,600 bridges.
“I knew transportation would be a large part of our conversation. I appreciated hearing their honesty and completely agree more needs to be done to resolve our local transportation issues,” said Granger. “Several years ago, Texas was only receiving around seventy cents to every dollar for transportation. The entire Texas delegation stood together to say that was completely unacceptable and we were able to close the gap and now Texas receives more than ninety cents for every dollar.”
While transportation and energy were the two most discussed issues during the meeting, rural water issues and the need for affordable healthcare were also mentioned. Granger said she plans to continue to hold these mayor roundtable meetings in the future.