As she marks her 20th year in the Texas Legislature, State Rep. Alma Allen (D-District 131, Houston) says she will continue to touch lives through her advocacy efforts.
During the ongoing 89th legislative session, Allen has filed a legislative agenda of more than 60 bills focused on education, justice reform, public health and equity.
As a former teacher, principal, member of the State Board of Education and adjunct professor at Prairie View A&M University, Allen’s decades of experience and passion for public education are woven into her legislation.
“I have touched many lives and I like to think that I have touched them for the good, that I have inspired people to be better than they thought they could be,” Allen told the Defender. “My mission in life is to get women to get their doctorate degrees. You only need one person to help and inspire you to get to a higher degree.”
Public education
Allen vocally opposed House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 6, or the “school voucher bills,” aiming to establish an education savings account program.
“We just need to ward off that voucher bill. We need to save the public schools,” she said. “The focus for the Republicans is to tear it down, to keep kids from being educated…my fight right now is to kill that voucher bill.”
Clarifying that the bill is being marketed as a $10,000 credit by voucher proponents, which will not cover the full tuition costs at private schools, Allen said low-income families opting for it will be burdened by out-of-pocket expenses.
“You’re not gonna get $10,000 in your bank account,” she added. “I don’t know many people in my district that can handle that kind of burden to pay out for education.”
This session, Allen has also filed multiple bills to increase teacher pay (HB 1413 and HB 3050), ban corporal punishment in public schools (HB 1415), add disability history to the social studies curriculum (HB 3048), require teacher certification to districts of innovation (HB 3702) and require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to collect data on race and ethnicity in schools (HB 3564).
Her bills, HB 4651 and HB 4653, are also deeply tied to her criminal justice reform advocacy. They address punitive student discipline policies that push students into the criminal justice system.
Criminal justice system
To reform the criminal justice pipeline and ease a formerly incarcerated person’s reentry into society, Allen said her legislation aims to give the incarcerated a “second chance.”
“We train the prisoners to do haircuts. We train them to do air conditioning, we teach them to drive trucks,” Allen explained. “And when they get ready to get out of prison, they don’t have a license.”
Her bill, HB 3860, addresses this gap by allowing the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to issue licenses to inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in fields like HVAC, electrical work and cosmetology. She believes this measure will reduce recidivism and crime.
Allen’s other bills in this field allow certain criminal defendants to seal their criminal records (HB 2708), require inmates to be informed about classes needed for parole eligibility (HB 2942), and facilitate post-release housing for individuals on parole or supervision (HB 2943). She adds that she is “working hard” to get air conditioning in prisons this year.
Beyond policy specifics, Allen spoke of indicators used to predict future incarceration, including being born in a minority or divorced family, to a single or teenage mother or failing third grade.
Health
In gender and health equity, Allen filed HB 4664 and HB 161, which would require schools to accommodate lactating and menstruating students. Her rationale—to educate students about health.
“I want kids to be aware and what’s going on with their bodies,” she stated. “It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is normal.”
To support vulnerable youth and promote equity in health and foster systems, Allen has also filed bills that require training for individuals caring for foster youth (HB 3492), mandate trauma-informed care training for foster parents (HB 3853) and form a task force to improve racial diversity in the nursing workforce (HB 2664).
Environmental justice
Allen represents a district with 17 landfills and concrete crushers—facilities that she says contribute to high rates of illness and poor air quality in her community. To address environmental issues in House District 131, she filed bills to improve the oversight of permitting processes (HB 1412) and support regulations that hold polluters accountable.
Legacy
Allen hopes her legacy will be measured not just in the number of bills she has filed or passed but by the lives she has touched over the years.
“I want somebody to say, ‘I wanna be like her,’” Allen said. “I want somebody to say ‘I respect her and loved her.’ I just want them to know that I was there for them because I have given all of my life to the public.”
