Fairfield Chamber Hosts 89th Legislative Update

By Taylor Kaiser
Representative Angelia Orr and Communications Director Scott Gilfillan from Congressman Ellzey’s office, met for an update and Q&A with their constituents in Fairfield on Tuesday, October 14th.

Mr. Gilfillan began by addressing the ongoing government shutdown, and how President Trump is planning to use money from One Big Beautiful Bill Act to pay our troops, Homeland Security, and Border Patrol during the shutdown. He anticipates the shutdown will end at the end of October, if Senate Republicans can convince enough Democrats to support H.R.5371, or simply put, the budget. Mr. Gilfillan stated, “I want to be very clear on what this, because the narratives are very, very, important. Nowhere can you find a rhetoric by a Republican, not the Speaker, not the Majority Leader in the senate, not Congressman Ellzey that has ever advocated for removing healthcare.”
Mr. Gilfillan also spoke on the historic release of Israeli hostages and the 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, commending President Trump’s first phase of his 20-point plan for peace in the region. In closing he mentioned the current redistricting battle, informing those in attendance that were the redistricting efforts to succeed, Rep. Ellzey would lose Freestone County.
Next, Representative Angelia Orr spoke about what she and other Republicans have done for Texans during the last session, describing the bills she helped pass as conservative wins. Wins for the entire state included more election integrity, strengthened border security, banning sister city relationships with foreign adversaries, banning obscene, woke materials from Texas classrooms, strengthening 2nd Amendment rights, and making Texas #1 in education with HB 2. HB 2 increased school funding by $3,100 dollars per student in House District 13 and mandated the Ten Commandments be posted in Texas public school classrooms. Rep. Orr purchased 2600 posters herself for teachers in her district.
Other wins specific to House District 13 include billions in rural Texas water projects and repair, strengthening Ag Finance Authority, Rural Ambulance Grants, $9.3 million for TSTC-Waco, $5 million for the Heart of Texas Mental Health Authority and many others.
2025 Special Session wins included adding five Republican districts in Texas, cracking down on out-of-state abortion pills, flood relief for Hill County, eliminating and replacing the STAAR test, strict penalties for Democrat Quorum Breakers, making Ivermectin available over-the-counter, and giving the Attorney General more power to prosecute election crimes. Perhaps the most significant, Rep. Orr was the House Sponsor for SB 8, a bill mandating that state agencies designate restrooms, locker rooms and other changing facilities to biological sex.
Rep. Jake Ellzey serves the 6th Congressional District of Texas, which includes all of Ellis, Navarro, Anderson, Hill, and Cherokee counties, as well as portions of Tarrant, Dallas, Freestone, and Johnson counties.
Rep. Angelia Orr serves as State Representative for House District 13. This new House District includes Hill, Bosque, Falls, Limestone, Freestone, Leon and a portion of McLennan Counties.

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