Straus Appoints Sunset Advisory Commission Members

House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed state Reps. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale; Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock; and Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, to the 12-member state Sunset Advisory Commission, which oversees the efficiency of state agencies.

Several departments tied to human services are among the 20 state agencies scheduled for Sunset review during the 2014-15 biennium, including the Health and Human Services Commission.

Raymond chairs the House Human Services Committee and sponsored SB 7 during the 83rd legislative session, which would reform Medicaid long-term and acute care services administered by the Health and Human Services Commission.

The Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Education Agency and the Texas Facilities Commission are also among the state agencies that are up for review.

The Sunset commission includes five House members, five state senators and two public members. Senate members include Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the chairwoman of the panel; Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury; Dan Patrick, R-Houston; Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen; and Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown.

Straus also appointed Dallas attorney Tom Luce as one of the public members. Luce was part of the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee, which gave final approval of CPRIT grants, before resigning early last year to take a new position with the O'Donnell Foundation, a Dallas-based education group. 

State Rep. Walter T. "Four" Price, R-Amarillo, was named vice chairman of the commission. State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, is also on the panel.