Flores not afraid to ‘bully' bills to passage

MISSION — State Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores said he wasn't afraid to draw on his military background and fight for what he believes in.

Upset his bill to give disabled veterans a property tax exemption was placed on the legislative calendar behind measures that dealt with three-wheeled vehicles on beaches, runoff water and monitoring the state's elk, Flores interrupted debate on a cockfighting bill to ask why those bills were scheduled ahead of his own.

The exchange between Flores and the chairman of the committee that schedules bills for debate was detailed in a recent Texas Monthly article that named Flores to the magazine's list of the 10 worst legislators of the past session.

Surrounded by veterans who hailed Flores as their "champion" during the session, the Palmview Democrat said he would "go as far as to say, ‘I'm sorry about what happened on the House floor.'"

Then the former U.S. Army member said he would do it again as a veteran sticking up for fellow veterans.

Two dozen vets gathered Thursday at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery here to praise Flores for passing two bills of importance to veterans and to object to the label Texas Monthly gave him.

Flores was crucial to passing a bill to give disabled veterans a property tax break and another that could pave the way for a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, said Emilio De Los Santos, director of the Hidalgo County Veterans Service Office. Those bills were foundering until Flores - the original author on both of them - and other members of the Valley delegation pushed for them.

The bill to provide a property tax break of up to 100 percent for veterans who are physically or mentally disabled as a result of their military service is waiting approval by the governor.

The second bill approved by the Legislature will ask voters in November whether the state government should partner with the federal government to build veterans hospitals in Texas.

Flores said the bill allows the state to construct a veterans hospital in the Valley with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs paying for its operating expenses.

Tony Cordova, commander of the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said it was a "disgrace" that bills for other issues were given higher priority on the legislative calendar.

Bringing a veterans hospital to the Valley would provide relief to thousands of veterans in the region who currently must travel to San Antonio for VA hospital care, Cordova said. Giving them and veterans across the state a break on property taxes removes a financial burden if they're on fixed disability incomes.

"It's fitting because those guys have paid their dues," Cordova said. "They don't need to pay any more."

Flores, for his part, said he didn't resort to what Texas Monthly called "bullying" until he used up all the "honey at H.E.B."

His property tax bill never made it on the calendar - dying along with hundreds of other bills - and was instead passed after it was appended to other legislation.

Flores believes the House leadership never intended to hear his first version of the bill, and the tactics to which he resorted were the only way to get his legislation passed, he said.

"Maybe Texas Monthly, which is a travel magazine for the rich and privileged, thinks that important bills can only become law if a lawmaker is well-bred, quiet and prissy," he said in a news release. "I'm no diplomat, I'm a fighter."

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.