Conroe Noon Lions hear from State Rep. Will Metcalf
Elizabeth Anderson / Conroe Noon Lions
Greetings to all Lions and readers. As summer is setting and fall is approaching Lions are off to a great start after a successful Community Partnership campaign. Lion First Vice President Bryan Rennell has miraculously grown all of his hair back after hitting our goal. Congratulations to Bryan and the club for all the hard work. We continue in the busy month of September with an upcoming Service Saturday project at Family Promise of Montgomery County where the first 10 Lions will earn a free paint brush. After we have painted our lives away the club will be participating in ‘Read for a Better Life’ program with Reaves Elementary School on Wednesday, Sept. 20th. Conroe Noon is also actively looking for any current active military personnel to apply for our Hometown Hero Military project, where we will support a chosen service member and their family for the 2023-2024 club year. The deadline for applications is September 30th. At the end of the month we will be supporting vision with the Pre School Vision Screenings that will run through November in our area. Last but not least the club is preparing for their Annual Clay Shoot which will be held on Saturday, October 7th at Blackwood Gun Club. Don’t let the clays fly by and make sure to sign up for your team now!
This past Wednesday Warner Phelps introduced our speaker, State Representative Will Metcalf in a very nice manner as that was required by Will. Will is a 6th generation Texas, fellow Lions, and business owner. Will attended Conroe High School and Sam Houston State University. He is married to Megan for 15 years and they stay busy with their 12 year old twins. Will provided the club with the latest updates and developments in the Texas Legislature for the 88th Session. This session there were 8500 bills filed which only 1 went to the governor for signature. Some of the main highlights that they were able to get accomplished were lowering the tuition costs for the Sam Houston State University Medical School and securing $5 million for Children’s Safe Harbor to build their new facility in Conroe, TX.
Children’s Safe Harbor is also celebrating their 25th Anniversary in helping children through being victims of abuse in a child friendly environment. Will was the co-author of HB3 which is increasing school safety legislation requiring law enforcement on campuses and appropriating funds to school districts for school safety measures. Other topics discussed were Border security, Election Integrity, Protecting Consumers Data Privacy, Healthcare Reform, Electric Grid Reform, Second Amendment Protection, High Education Reform and Strengthening Texas Businesses. Will was the author of HB 1436 which redesignates County Court at Law No. 2 of Montgomery County as a Probate Court No 1 of Montgomery County which is a huge win to help facilitate the load of these cases. There was also a brief discussion about the updates with the San Jacinto River Authority Reform and the current impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Will is hoping we can move forward as a community on this topic. There were 2 special sessions called in May & June to discuss property taxes and tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2026. Overall Will was very positive about the activity with the 88th session and hopes to continue serving & listening our community. Thank you State Representative Will Metcalf for your efforts representing us!
