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Texas Public Employees Association Names 2003 Legislators of Year
Sen. Duncan, Rep. Heflin Committed to Better Benefits, Pay for State Workers
AUSTIN, Texas (July 8, 2003) – Senate Jurisprudence Committee Chairman Robert Duncan and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Talmadge Heflin have been named 2003 Legislators of the Year by the Texas Public Employees Association.
“The 2003 session of the Texas Legislature was very difficult for state employees because we knew benefit cuts were inevitable in order to balance the state budget,” TPEA executive director Gary Anderson said.
“Chairman Duncan and Chairman Heflin, however, worked tirelessly to preserve core benefits for state employees and to make sure that any cuts were applied evenly to all groups that receive those benefits. State employees owe Chairman Duncan and Chairman Heflin a debt of gratitude and we are proud to name them TPEA Legislators of the Year,” Anderson said, adding, “without their leadership the session would have been even more difficult for state employees.”
The awards were presented to the lawmakers at TPEA’s 58th annual meeting recently in Houston.
Heflin, R-Houston, chairs the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee and is a small business owner. First elected to the Texas House in 1982, he was the 2001 recipient of the TPEA Legislator of the Year award.
“Chairman Heflin is committed to increasing state employee compensation and continues to work to follow through on that commitment. He also authored retirement incentive legislation that, while encouraging experienced state employees to retire, will also, hopefully, make it so that fewer workers are forced to leave state employment as a result of reduction-in-force orders,” Anderson said.
Duncan, R-Lubbock, is a lawyer who has served in both the Texas Senate and House.
“Chairman Duncan was instrumental in trying to preserve core health insurance benefits for state employees even though Texas was facing a $10 billion budget shortfall. And when the budget knife cut, he made sure benefit reductions applied equitably to all groups, including school district employees, and that state employees were not singled out to bear the brunt of those reductions,” Anderson said.