State Rep. Senfronia Thompson
State Rep. Senfronia Thompson is an institution in the Texas House. First elected in 1973, she is the longest serving female member, and the longest serving African American member of that chamber. Her list of achievements is long enough that I’ll just quote from her Texas Tribune bio page:
Thompson has authored and passed more than 200 Texas laws, including Texas´ first alimony law, the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act, laws prohibiting racial profiling, the Durable Power of Attorney Act, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Sexual Assault Program Fund, the Model School Records Flagging Act, and the Uniform Child Custody & Jurisdiction Enforcement Act. In 2005, she passed legislation requiring free testing for the human papilloma virus (HPV) for women who have health insurance.
It was an honor and a pleasure to speak to Rep. Thompson. Here’s what she had to say:
Rep. Thompson was the first member of the Legislature I interviewed for this cycle, and as sometimes happens with the first time out, I totally forgot to ask a particular question. Rep. Thompson reminded me of this after I’d hit stop on my recorder when she noted that I hadn’t said anything about gambling. Argh! She said that while there will always be people who gamble, we can’t view it as the solution to our budget issues, and we can’t ignore the social costs that come with it. I won’t overlook the issue in subsequent conversations.
You can see all of my interviews for the 2010 election cycle on my 2010 Election page.
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