The 2019 Legislative Session: What's Ahead
Thank you Sponsors!
Texas Strategy Group
Pape-Dawson Engineers
CobbFendley
RS&H
Registration opportunities
- Gold Sponsor $2,500 (seat at head table/logo/table for 10)
- Silver Sponsor $2,000 (logo/table for 10)
- Bronze Sponsor $1,500 (company name/table for 10)
- Supporting Sponsor $750 (logo/table sold separately)
- Corporate Table $850 (table for 10)
- Public Agency Table $400 (table for 10)
- Individual Registrations:
- Public Agency Employee $40
- SAMCo Member $60
- Non-Member $75
- Members of Alamo Area Delegation, Elected Officials and Staff $0
Contact:
Leslie Harlan, (210)688-4407 ext 11 LHarlan@samcoinc.org
Panelists: Senator José Menéndez, Rep. Justin Rodriguez, Andrea French, and Chris Shields
State Senator José Menéndez is Texas State Senator serving District 26 since 2015. The son of immigrants, José Menéndez grew up working at his family’s small business located in San Antonio’s West Side. During his term in office Menéndez passed over 200 bills that benefited children, seniors, veterans, and San Antonio families. One of the bills, David’s Law, empowers students, parents, schools, and law enforcement to combat and prevent cyberbullying. Senator Menéndez is also a strong advocate for job growth, community and business development. Along with his successful legislation, Senator Menéndez has secured millions of dollars for advancements in education, healthcare, parks, and additional funding development, including $17 million for the Alamo Colleges. Full bio link here.
Born and raised in San Antonio, State Representative Justin Rodriguez earned his BBA from the University of the Incarnate Word after graduating from Antonian College Prep. Justin then earned an academic fellowship to attend the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he graduated in 2000 with his JD. Once an attorney, Justin returned to San Antonio and focused on education policy issues. As a juvenile prosecutor for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, he worked diligently to assist young offenders in their rehabilitative efforts. In 2004, Justin was elected to the San Antonio Independent School District’s Board of Education. After serving three years on the SAISD Board, Justin was elected to the San Antonio City Council, and was re-elected in 2009 for a second and final term.
In 2012, Representative Rodriguez was elected to serve as the voice of House District 125 in Austin, and was named one of the "20 Latino Democrats to watch over the next 20 years" by the Houston Chronicle. In 2014, the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section presented Representative Rodriguez with the Legislator of the Year Award, and later that year, he was re-elected by the citizens of House District 125 to fight for their community in the Texas House of Representatives. Full bio link here.
Andrea French is Executive Director for TAG Houston Region. TAG is dedicated to building a broad-based coalition of businesses, local governments and community organizations to demonstrate public support for full and adequate funding of transportation infrastructure by the state and federal governments. As a transportation advocate for more than ten years she has impacted communities from Baltimore to Oklahoma City and now Houston. She has also served as TAoT Vice Chair for Transportation Advocates of Texas (TAoT) since 2016.
Chris Shields is the managing partner of Texas Strategy Group, a full-service governmental affairs firm based in Austin, Texas. He has worked around the Texas Capitol as an attorney and lobbyist for more than three decades. In that role he represents the interests of private companies, trade associations and public sector entities before the legislature and state agencies. Shields’ San Antonio clients include Toyota, Port San Antonio and SAMCo. He has been an advocate for regional transportation issues throughout his career on behalf of these clients as well as several others around the state, and has been involved in efforts to support a wide range of funding mechanisms for rail, public transit, and roads. He was born and raised in San Antonio, and is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Texas School of Law.
Jonathan Gurwitz is vice president of KGBTexas Communications, the largest full-service communications agency in South Texas. His office has led successful efforts in support of major public and private projects, including the City of San Antonio’s 2012 and 2017 bond programs, the Vista Ridge Pipeline project and the 2015 City of San Antonio Charter Amendment effort. Prior to joining KGBTexas, Mr. Gurwitz was a columnist and member of the Editorial Board of the San Antonio-Express-News. He served on the boards of directors of the Association of Opinion Journalists and the Association of Opinion Journalists Foundation and was the chairman of AOJ’s International Relations Committee. His weekly columns were distributed by the Hearst News Service and the New York Times News Service. He was also a contributor to the Wall Street Journal.