State Rep. Charles Cunningham’s (R-Humble) path to the Texas Legislature did not begin with politics, it began with his seat on a homeowners’ association board.
It launched decades of public service — 12 years of volunteering in the local school district, 12 more on the school board, including a term as board president and a four-year-long stint on the Humble City Council. That grassroots experience, he says, grounds his work at the Capitol as a Republican representative serving House District 127.
Prior to his 2022 election to the Texas legislature, the pro-life representative graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University with a Bachelor of Science and Arts degree, served in the United States Army and worked for CenterPoint Energy as a Distribution Account Consultant.
A pragmatic approach to the legislative gridlock
In his first term representing House District 127, which includes parts of northeast Harris County, he has filed more than 40 bills during this legislative session.
Cunningham anticipates most of his bills to fail despite being in a Republican-majority House. He said that for a bill to pass, three opinions should align and all must agree: the Texas House Republican Caucus, the assigned committee and the speaker.
“That’s where the politics come in,” Cunningham explained. “You’ve gotta go to the calendars to have your bill placed on the floor so you can start voting on it. So it’s about six steps [including the three mentioned earlier] in the House to get that bill voted out. And then you have to do the same thing in the Senate…and if you’re fortunate to get that done, then you’ve got to see if the governor even likes your bill and is able to sign it. This system is actually designed to kill bills.”
Education
“Education is the key,” Cunningham told the Defender. “That was one of the reasons I got involved with the school board [Humble ISD]…there’s no perfect system. We’re trying to educate and provide opportunities for parents because each child is different.”
Cunningham, whose wife is a school teacher, said his bills — HB 1662 (a grant program for public schools and service centers to cater to students with autism) and HB 3096 (designating March 17 as Profound Autism Awareness Day) — are among his proudest efforts. They focus on an issue that hits home as one of his grandchildren is on the autism spectrum and he has seen firsthand the barriers families face when seeking services.
“Special needs is really tough here in Texas, with trying to serve that population,” Cunningham stated. “A parent should have the right to provide the best education for their child, be it public, private, homeschool and charter schools.”
Cunningham admits the bill may not pass this session, but says it lays the groundwork for future change.
“It’s just one of those things that a majority of my colleagues are just not on board with yet,” Cunningham said.
A staunch supporter of education savings accounts, commonly known as school vouchers, Cunningham supported the controversial Senate Bill 2, which Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed into law.
The backing stemmed from his belief that parents need more options, especially because traditional public schools fail to meet individual students’ needs.
“Call it whatever you want to call it: school vouchers, ESAs, or whatever. The big fight now is that we’re trying to give parents an opportunity at the K-12 level,” Cunningham said. The fight is not against the parents. Parents are being misinformed.”
Instead, he clarified, the fight is against teachers, unions and associations. Acknowledging the pushback from public school advocates and unions, Cunningham drew parallels between today’s school voucher debate and the desegregation-era struggle for school access.
“In 1957 [year of the Little Rock Crisis highlighting the ongoing struggle against segregation in public schools], those people that were fighting it then, when Black people wanted school of choice, they didn’t want segregation, they wanted school choice, are the same people that are fighting it now,” he added.
He maintains that public schools remain vital and has filed bills to ease transitions for students returning from alternative education programs (HB 3551), re-examine school accountability metrics in housing policy (HB 3753), and expand charter school opportunities (HB 1176).
Public safety
Cunningham’s focus on public safety stems from a harrowing personal experience. In December 2021, a truck crashed into his home at 4 a.m.
“I didn’t know if someone was breaking in,” he recalled. Later, he learned the suspects had been released on a bond.
The incident fueled HB 1167, which proposes stricter bail conditions for felony defendants and repeat offenders and limits eligibility for release. The bill has not advanced, but Cunningham says parts of it were incorporated into a Senate bill led by Sen. Joan Huffman.
“The community needs to be able to feel safe,” he said.
Housing
Successful in moving bills like HB 3753, which deals with the allocation of low-income housing tax credits with school quality metrics, Cunningham and his co-authors aim to help both housing developers and low-income seniors and teachers.
“Why should a teacher who lives on the other side of town come to another district when we can have housing within that district, especially where a teacher can afford it?” Cunningham asked.
He is also hopeful about HB 1532, which would create a dredging and maintenance district for Lake Houston. The measure addresses sediment buildup that contributes to flooding, a major concern for his constituents.
“The beauty about it is that the lake is an asset to the city of Houston,” he said. “It’s a gold mine. The sand can be sold to contractors for housing development and construction. The city of Houston can have a revenue stream.”
Healthcare and licensing
Other bills like HB 5274 would require licensing for anesthesiologist assistants, a personal priority for Cunningham, who underwent major surgery in 2019.
“If somebody is going to put me to sleep where I’m close to death while they’re operating on me, I want them to be licensed,” he explained.
Cunningham has also co-authored bipartisan bills to include civics education for public school high school students (HB 824) and allow a temporary educator certificate for educators certified by other states (HB 1178).
Eyes on the future
As the 89th Legislature nears its end, Cunningham says the most pressing issues for his district remain consistent: flood mitigation, a stable electric grid and public safety.
Even when bills don’t pass, he believes there’s value in starting conversations and planting seeds for future legislation.
