HLSRCC Newsletter

This newsletter was written for the members if the Community Coalition for RodeoHouston.

A Message from the Board

Dear Donors and Supporters,

Welcome to the HLSR Community Coalition (HLSRCC) Newsletter. This newsletter will be sent quarterly to inform our donors and supporters about the coalition’s current advocacy work and activities. Since our formation last summer, we have come a long way. Your support has allowed us to begin establishing essential relationships with policymakers at both the local and state levels. A few of our important guests to this year’s show are listed below.

You should be proud to know that you are the founders of HLSRCC. As such, it’s important for each of us to use our networks to continue spreading the word about HLSRCC and expanding our donor base. Please keep an eye out for the HLSRCC social media sites that will be going live soon. These social sites will be an essential part of our messaging and will allow us to continue growing our donor base.

HLSRCC is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocating for the four pillars of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: agriculture, education, preservation of Western heritage, and entertainment. The list of individual bills we are supporting includes five bills being considered in the Texas legislature, which are listed below.

Our Board members are also currently setting meetings with each of our county commissioners to better understand how HLSRCC can help with social initiatives that match our mission goals while benefiting the community.

We look forward to building and growing our community and support through this legislative session!

Legislative Activity

These are the five bills that the HLSRCC is currently supporting.  

House Bill 1417/Senate Bill 503- This bill mandates the Texas Animal Health Commission to develop and maintain a publicly accessible, searchable online registry along with expanding county clerk’s responsibilities to record livestock identification marks. This bill also will protect the privacy of individuals associated with the record of branding marks.  

Click here to see where Senate Bill 503 is in the legislative process. 

Click here to see where House Bill 1417 is in the legislative process. 

House Bill 495 – This bill aims to provide further protection in animal sales by addressing deceptive trade practices. This amendment would classify the act of providing false or misleading information about the health of an animal being sold or offered for sale as a deceptive trade practice. The bill empowers consumers to seek legal remedies under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act if they are misled about an animal's health condition at the time of purchase. 

Click here to see where House Bill 495 is in the legislative process. 

House Bill 1399 – Proposes an exemption from property taxation for tangible personal property consisting of animal feed held by the owner for sale at retail.​ This means that that animal feed being sold at stores shouldn’t be taxed as property every year. The feed is already not taxed at the register, and this bill would also remove the yearly property tax on it. This supports farmers and feed stores further through this tax exemptions. 

Click here to see where House Bill 1399 is in the legislative process. 

House Bill 1739 – The bill outlines specific requirements for signs that property owners can use to indicate that firearms are not allowed. These signs must: Be posted at each entrance to the property. Include language in both English and Spanish that is identical or substantially similar to "Pursuant to Section 30.05, Penal Code (criminal trespass), a person may not enter this property with a firearm." The bill also allows for an alternative sign that includes a pictogram of a handgun within a circle with a diagonal line through it, indicating that firearms are prohibited. This allows for individuals who conceal carry in Texas to better protect themselves from prosecution and legal action. 

Click here to see where House Bill 1739 is in the legislative process. 

Senate Bill 1063 –The bill seeks to amend Chapter 113 of the Texas Business & Commerce Code to prohibit business entities or individuals from entering into agreements related to agricultural land in Texas with foreign citizens or foreign-owned companies. The bill also addresses agreements related to critical infrastructure, including communication systems, cybersecurity systems, electric grids, hazardous waste treatment systems, and water treatment facilities. This promotes American agriculture and American farmers through these amendments.  

Click here to see where Senate Bill 1063 is in the legislative process. 

A Message from the President

One of our goals in this inaugural year was to demonstrate broad impact HLSR has across the entire state of Texas.  Beginning in the fall of 2024, we began aggregating participant information from HLSR’s 2024 Show.  This information included identifying the number of scholarship and grant recipients awarded in 2024, the number of commercial vendors, and the number of horse and junior livestock show exhibitors that participated in the 2024 Show and identifying the county each participant was from.  

The county information was then cross referenced with each Texas Senate and House legislative district which was incorporated into individual letters sent in early March to almost all members of the Legislature, highlighting HLSR’s statewide impact. Since that time, we have received several positive comments from Legislators.

We believe that it is important to emphasize HLSR’s statewide impact for legislators to understand how we impact communities far-past the Greater Houston Area. Through this we have begun to build personal relationships with members of the legislature connecting on issues like education and protecting rodeos across the state. We look forward to continuing this again next year with the statistics from 2025 to show the legislature how our impact has grown in their communities.

Policymaker Relations  

In anticipation of the 2025 HLSR, every elected representative and senator with constituents that benefit from the HLSR o as scholarship recipients, grant recipients, commercial vendors, horse and junior livestock show exhibitors were sent letters that illuminated HLSR’s impact within their district HLSR also hosted the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, and the Texas Land Commissioner, Dr. Dawn Buckingham. These tours highlighted the work of the HLSR and the need for HLSRCC needs to work as a political advocate to insure the future of agriculture and the continued success of HLSR.