Making educational opportunities available to underserved children and protecting communities from health risks keep State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) up at night even 50 years later. As the longest-serving woman and Black lawmaker in the Texas Legislature’s history, the Houston attorney now serving her 21st term in office still remains steadfast in her advocacy for the state’s legal system, health equity and civil rights.
“What keeps me up is the erosion of rights, the inability to properly fund public education, the need to continue to build prisons and not resolve the issues that make people fill those places up,” Thompson said.
Born during segregation and barred from attending dental school in Texas because she was Black, Thompson’s journey to becoming a lawmaker was in no way traditional. She started as a teacher—more out of necessity than desire—until the passage of single-member districting opened up new political possibilities for Black Texans. That same year, she ran for office and won, just as Roe v. Wade and the Equal Rights Amendment were reshaping the national landscape.
“When I went into office, women couldn’t have a credit card in their names…and it was because of your gender. But thank God, we changed that the first session,” Thompson told the Defender.
Since entering the House when Barbara Jordan was one of the only other Black women in Texas politics, Thompson has written and passed hundreds of bills that fundamentally altered the lives of working-class Texans—from securing 12-month postpartum coverage for mothers, to mandating HPV screenings and 3D mammograms.
She is now the Vice Chair of Licensing & Administrative Procedures and a member of the State Affairs committees. Her other memberships include the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, Texas Legislative Council and National Organization of Black Elected Legislative/Women.
Will her bills pass?
Many of Thompson’s bills will not be assigned to a committee or die in the Senate, where she says partisanship and lobbying power often outweigh the will of the people.
“It never gets a hearing over there. They are just dead on arrival,” she said.
However, she remains undeterred. “When water hits a rock, it doesn’t knock a hole. But if that water persistently hits that rock, at some point in time, it’s going to make a hole…it’s persistence that I’m interested in.”
Public education
Per Thompson, education is the “new currency” that should accommodate students from all backgrounds. Drawing from her own experiences in the classroom, Thompson observed the effects of trauma and poverty on learning. Their lived realities rarely factor into education policy, but must.
“We cannot resolve some of the issues that the students come to school with,” Thompson stated. “It is easier to build a child than to repair an adult.”
She also vocally opposed the school voucher bill (SB 2) because of its negative impact on employment in small towns and the lack of private schools.
“If we are serious about education, the ethnicity and location of a child should not be important,” she explained.
During the 89th legislative session, Thompson filed bills that cater to children, including protections for children at risk of exploitation (HB 451), special education classroom surveillance policies (HB 728), guardianship and family law reforms (HB 782, HB 809, HB 1954), improving reimbursement rates for child-care providers participating in the Texas Rising Star Program(HB 2294) and child mental health and welfare in schools (HB 2880).
Law enforcement
Advocating for a pretrial hearing to determine if a defendant has intellectual disabilities, which would exempt them from execution, Thompson argues that such hearings would cost $200,000 instead of $2 million in death penalty trials. Although the bill passed the Texas House, it repeatedly died in the Senate—possibly due to partisan politics.
Thompson also spoke for parole reform to expand the restoration of civil rights to formerly incarcerated persons, de-escalation procedures to protect officers and inmates and juvenile justice reforms to improve the system (HB 31, HB 624).
Her legislation also includes protection for individuals under duress or coercion (HB 372, HB 2772), limiting arrest for fine-only misdemeanors (HB 656), restrictions on police conduct (HB 888: duty to render aid, HB 896: neck restraint ban, HB 902: peace officers’ duties and powers, HB 909: misconduct accountability) and the reform of grand jury processes (HB 5564, HB 5566).
Environmental justice
Expressing concern about over 200 concrete batch plants in minority communities in Harris County, particularly Black and Latino neighborhoods, Thompson believes their district is unfairly targeted for these developments, possibly due to cheaper land.
Despite community objections, regulating agencies check for applications to meet basic guidelines and do not consider the impact concrete plants have on communities, including increased respiratory issues, cancer risks, and environmental degradation. Thompson is opposing this (HB 844, HB 852, HB 1823, HB 2883). She has also advocated for obesity and diabetes prevention under Medicaid (HB 2677), PTSD benefits for first responders (HB 673) and insurance for children with “emotional disturbances” (HB 709).
Having worked on the creation of the Mental Health and Brain Research Institute of Texas for over eight years, her legislation (HJR 24, HB 185) would fund research into the impacts of gut health on the brain and mental health conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Due to partisan politics, she could not “carry” her own bill, but she said Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick took up a portion in the Senate with $3 billion in funding included.
Thompson’s legacy
“I’d like for my legacy to be that I look out for the marginalized individuals, the ‘little dogs’ I call ’em,” Thompson said. “Marginalized individuals can’t afford a lobbyist. So they send us, people like me. I did my job and I looked out for them…the senior citizens, women and children, and for issues that not only impact society but improve society…I want the Lord to say, ‘Well done.’”
