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Waller County Celebrated at the Capital

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2007

Brad Westmoreland
(512) 463-0657

AUSTIN – On February 26th a delegation of about 28 local business and community leaders traveled to the capital in Austin on a goodwill mission to visit our legislators Senator Glenn Hegar and Representative Dr. John Zerwas. The delegation included representatives from every community within the county including chamber leaders, elected officials, and business men and women. The trip was made possible by generous donations from CenterPoint Energy, Severn Trent Services of Brookshire, and JNS Consulting Engineers of Katy.

While in Austin Representative Zerwas and Senator Hegar spent about one hour with the group giving a legislative update on such critical issues as the Trans Texas Corridor and presented an overview of pending legislation. Included was a discussion on Sen. Hegar’s bill to stop required vaccinations for the HPV virus. The two fielded questions from the group and talked about what they see for this session. Beth Ewing, President of the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce commented “Being able to spend time with these gentlemen and feeling they were being open & honest with us was a very positive experience.”

The highlight of the trip came when a resolution by Rep. Zerwas was read from the house floor declaring February 26th 2007 Waller County Day at the legislature. The group was also recognized from both the senate and house floors. Senator Hegar commented “Thank you to everyone who represented my home county in Austin for Waller County Day. I hope that we can start a new tradition which enables local residents to gain insight as to how state government impacts our daily lives and also show that Waller County's voice is extremely important." Representative Zerwas welcomed the group and added "I deeply appreciate the efforts of all those who participated in Waller County Day at the Capitol. Keep up the good work; your voice is being heard!"

The trip was lead by the Waller County Economic Development Partnership under the direction of Executive Director Vince Yokom. When asked about the trip Mr. Yokom commented; “The primary objective of the trip was to continue building on a great relationship we have with our legislators. As Waller County grows, it will be important that we have a positive relationship with our reps which will help us get legislation through to help benefit our community.” He further added “I was proud to be a part of such a distinguished group of community leaders. Everyone had a great time and I think it helped bring our community closer. I especially want to thank Meredith Mills with Rep. Zerwas’ office and Barbara Erickson with Sen. Hegar’s office for their help with arranging the trip.”

To learn more about the Waller County Economic Development Partnership, visit www.wallercounty.org. To learn more about issues in this legislative session, visit www.capitol.state.tx.us.

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