Me​- Describe your job

Ross​- I’m Legislative Director and I’m General Counsel so she’s a senator she files bills
and I oversee those bill. We have two policy analysts and we have a committee and I
will delegate the bills to them if it’s within their policy areas otherwise I’ll oversee them
myself. I oversee the drafting, I get the hearings, I get the witnesses, I count the votes. I
work with the House counterparts to get the sponsor. General Counsel means I am
basically her lawyer but I’m only her lawyer for things like her legislative decisions, her
constitutional ramifications. I don’t write her will or do her taxes
Me​- Ha
Chris​- I’m the Chief of Staff which means I oversee whatever Ross is doing like what he
just described. And then I oversee all the other operations in the whole Senate office so
we have three other district offices with people working there everyday helping all these
different cases that we discussed and then I oversee the communications of this office
with the Communications Director which is just getting the message out about things
and then all the support staff people that we would have that are making sure
everything runs right. So Ross and his good policy team get the good products and the
Bills like the one you are doing. And then I help the Senator with her own life.
Me​- What inspired you to do the job you do?
Ross​- I went to UT and I was a history and government major and then when I
graduated I went to law school. I was in Dallas, went to SMU and started dating my wife
who was Plan 2 UT law and was planning on working down here for a non-profit and I
said “Hey do you want to move to Dallas?” and she said no. So I found out about the
Legislative Counsel and got a job there and that’s how I started working in politics.
Chris​-And I work on the political side of things along with the policy side herein the
Capitol and my background is I have a degree from New York University in media and
communication and worked in a lot of large companies in Canada and New York City
and Los Angeles California and moved back to Texas because of a personal thing with
my father he had some health problems. So when I was back here for a long period of
breaks, I teamed up with some political people that wanted to be involved in changing
things or just making a difference in Texas and they hired me to help run a political
campaign and that led to Senator Kolkhorst. I work in the political side of things along
with the policy side of things and sort of merge those two together to help make
changes that people may want.
Me​- What is your favorite Bill you have helped sponsor?
Ross​- Oh wow I don’t know. They’re all fun for different reasons. Sometimes the Bills
are really easy and they just go right through but other times there is an adventure
behind the Bill and it may not matter to many people but you have to like get the vote at
the last minute or get a really important witness that makes everybody change their
mind during committee and that can be a lot of fun.
Chris​- When we were in the House of Representatives years ago there was a walkout
where a bunch of democrats left and so a bunch of bills were maybe going to die
because of a bunch of people left the building in protest. We worked with a democrat
senator named Royce West and we sponsored a Bill for him because his democrat
House member was gone and the Bill was about domestic violence and people that
have bad lives at home. Let’s say in your neighborhood someone is renting and a
woman is being beaten up by a spouse or attacked or a fight and they’re afraid that if
they were to call law enforcement it gives the landlord the right to kick them out. So they
are caught between “Hey I’ve got kids but my spouse is terrible I want to call the cops
because they’re beating up me or the kids but I don't want the landlord to kick us all out.
And so what a horrible decision you could make. So we sponsored that Bill that passed
into law that says in Austin tonight if some lady calls the cops, the landlord can’t say “I’m
kicking you out because you have problems with your drunk husband”. You can’t punish
them for doing that. That is one I am very proud of because it was democrat and
republican working together to pass a Bill.
Me​- In your opinion, what is the biggest environmental issue in Austin?
Ross​- ​I would say runoff into our watershed. The aquifer is very sensitive here it’s
what’s known as a flashy aquifer which means water comes in when it rains real fast
and then it comes out.​ The whole Edwards Plateau is a big porous, granite sponge with
holes in it. Since we rely on that water for so many things, I would say managing that
and controlling the population development so it doesn’t impact the watershed. Also air
quality is getting worse and worse which is due to the traffic.
Chris​- I would agree with him.​ Austin is such a water centered community that the more
people you have here they just have litter.​ They live and they eat and they just create
gross stuff in that ends up in the water
Ross​- Yeah and when it rains all the gross stuff from the roads washed into our water
system.
Me​- Are there any specific examples of water pollution you have witnessed recently?
Ross​- Yeah we have a chicken poop runoff issue we have lower Colorado Basin. So
every drop in the Colorado River after Longhorn dam is effluent. It is something that has
come out of Austin’s sewage that’s been treated. So we have things with algae blooms
in places like Columbus. We have all the basin estuaries, we have a lot of coasts from
Port Aransas. We have major issues with people like Ducks Unlimited and all the
shrimpers and oysters and talking about how do we maintain the flow necessary to
maintain healthy estuaries so that those industries can survive. We also have some of
the most pristine estuaries in the country. ​The hurricane caused a lot of water damage.
Corpus Christi had a backflow that released sulfuric acid into their water supply about 8
months ago. Since we are so agriculturally based in our district, water is very important
and it has to be clean.
Me​- Growing up in Brenham, did you frequently see water pollution?
Chris​- To some degree yes. The city of Brenham has its water supply from Lake
Summerville so the largest pollution issue is still going on which is people wanting to
frack for gas and there’s a big debate going on with the federal government around
Lake Summerville if whether you should allow fracking in the government land around
the lake. So our boss, who is republican and likes oil and gas still wrote a letter saying “I
don’t think you should do this right there on the land because 20,000 people get their
water from that”.
Me​- What inspired House Bill 1884
Ross​- Um I don’t know. I think Doc just thought it was a good idea.
Chris​- I think that Doc Anderson, the House member, just thought it was a justice issue.
Ross​- Yeah this concept involves a lot of other things than just litter.
Me​- Describe your role in House Bill 1884.
Ross- First off I had to let Patsy and the committee know that was picking up the Bill because it
was an orphan. I then have to refer it to Criminal Justice. Well , we aren’t on that committee. We
have maybe passed five Bills through that committee in the last four years. So I have to get to
know the committee and request a hearing and provide a “one pager” that I rewrite in my own
little style. And then from the LBB I get a fiscal note which is the most important thing I need to
get this Bill moving because this Bill has to cost 0$ or else I don’t get it. After I get this, I get
invited to the Senate Criminal Jurisprudence Staff Briefing over in the Sam Houston Building
and I sit there in front of the whole committee and I pretty much explain the Bill and then they
drill me with questions. I think this hearing was pretty much gavel gavel. So then I go to the floor
and I amend it on the floor. Blah Blah Blah. So, why did Connie Berton vote no? I would have to
guess… if you get arrested you have to pay the fine. ​Well if you can’t pay the fine you go to jail
and then you can’t work to pay the fine. So it’s like a punishment. But how much do you really
need to punish someone for a littering offense? So if we can come up with a punishment that is
somewhat related to the crime then maybe they can learn a lesson.​ And then there are some
people that may feel I was going too soft and that people who litter should be forced to pay that
fine because I’m coddling them and I think that’s why Connie Berton Nayed that Bill.
Me​- What are the biggest duties citizens have to keep our local streams and lakes clean?
Ross​- Don’t litter, you know. Do all the right stuff with your oil and paint and stuff. I would
participate in local government like LCRA stuff around Austin. I would do Barton Springs
Conservatory. Save Our Springs has been around for a while. I would monitor what Austin
Water’s doing and what people upstream are doing. I would say that water is one of the most
cutting-edge bipartisan non-political issues that but also one of the hardest to solve that we
have to deal with. There is always someone backlashing at any Bill saying “Hey that’s going to
affect me”.