AUSTIN, Texas – The legislative session begins Tuesday, and there are dozens of new members.

Democratic Rep.-elect Mihaela Plesa is the first Democratic woman to ever represent Collin County. She isn’t sworn in yet, but she’s already filed several bills. 

“It feels really good. It feels like I’m already doing the job I was elected to do,” said Rep.-elect Plesa, who was formerly a legislative staffer.

One of Rep.-elect Plesa’s campaign issues is to reduce gun violence in the state.

“We should not have children have access to firearms, weapons of war. So I'd definitely like to increase the age," she said. "Also increase the penalties for people who illegally sell guns. I will be forwarding legislation around that issue and hope to stop the gun violence that we're seeing, not just in our schools, but in our community at large.”

She’s also passionate about expanding rights for women, especially since lawmakers passed a near-total abortion ban two years ago.

“We need to make sure that women have the resources that they're going to need to be able to start these families, that they can still have dreams of getting an education, that they can still move up in their careers,” she said.

Republican Caroline Harris, R-Williamson County, is pro-life and wants to support moms-to-be this session.

“As the laws have changed about abortion in Texas, there is a greater need,” she said. “And so, we need to make sure we’re stepping up to meet that need and I’m excited to get to do that.”

Rep.-elect Harris also hopes to lower property taxes. The state has a budget surplus of about $32 billion.

“That is one of the number one things I heard on the campaign trail was people were worried about staying in their own house,” she said. “So I hope that we can use some of that surplus to lower property taxes as well.” 

Venton Jones, D-Dallas County, hopes to fight for public education and LGBTQ rights.

“I am unapologetically Black. I am unapologetically LGBTQ,” he said. “And also, I'm going to be someone that is going to be fighting for those communities in the House during the 88th legislative session.”

Rep.-elect Jones was born and raised in Texas House District 100, which he was elected to represent. He believes years of working in public policy and addressing health care issues like the HIV/AIDS epidemic has prepared him for this role. 

“I want to use that experience, particularly as we look at things that are related to the social determinants of health, that are so critical for the 88th legislative session. And that has to do with housing, public education, making sure that people feel like they have rights right now,” he said. “So I'm very excited about this opportunity and using my experience in my career to be able to bring impact to the community that made my story even possible.” 

Salman Bhojani, D-Tarrant County, is the first Muslim and South Asian man elected to the Texas Legislature. During Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony, he’ll be using a Quran. He said more than 300 constituents are coming to see the historic moment.

“When I think about this, I don't think about only the 200,000 people that live in District 92, but also the 500,000 Muslims that live in the state of Texas and the 800,000 South Asians that live in the state of Texas as well, because they've never had representation before,” he said. 

Rep.-elect Bhojani’s top issues are the economy, health care and education. He also seems determined to foster a community among new members in the Texas Legislature. He created a group chat with all of them, and he’s on a mission to take a selfie with every House member. Rep.-elect Bhojani embodies the definition of inclusivity. He’s making an effort to get to know his colleagues in the Texas State Capitol and make his constituents feel welcome there too.

“We are looking forward to working with everybody,” he said. “I feel it's going to be a great session. There's a lot of positive momentum that's coming along, and I love the positive energy that everybody's giving me.” 

Speaking of constituents, Rep.-elect Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, was excited to show off some custom M&M’s from one of his. They featured the Air Force veteran’s face on one side and House District 84 on the other. 

“I didn't never imagine myself in this position,” he said. “But there were things I was frustrated with: Property taxes and border issues. And something's going on in higher education. And I thought I'd go ahead and jump in. And I didn't know what kind of chance I had. But we prevailed somehow. And here I am in the Texas Capitol.”

And while he's here, Tepper is focused on securing the border. 

“It's the most serious thing we're dealing with,” he said. “It's the most important thing we're dealing with in the Legislature, in Texas government. Our cities and counties are being overrun with illegal immigrants. For whatever reason, they're coming over. It's inappropriate for them to come invade our country, essentially, our cities and counties and school districts. It's costing us a massive amount of money, not just trying to secure the border as a state —  which we're very limited on what we can do — but it's also costing us a massive amount of money in our hospitals, our school districts, all of our infrastructure." 

He supports Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, but says the federal government needs to step up and help. Gov. Abbott has spent more than $4 billion on this border initiative. 

“We need the federal government's help,” Rep.-elect Tepper added. “The federal government has the responsibility to secure the borders of the United States of America and they need to do their job.” 

And another issue that’s close to his heart and his district: Water. He says West Texas needs many improvements to its infrastructure.

“We have no water. Our sewer systems are crumbling. I assume that's a problem that's happening all over Texas, and we're having trouble with infrastructure: Sewer, water supply, water treatment. And so, I think we're gonna be looking at some serious water issues going into the next session as well.” 

The new members say they’re willing to work across the aisle to get the job done. But, of course, there will be disagreements along the way. 

“We've all been together. We've all broken bread together. We all have dogs. There might be a dog caucus,” Rep.-elect Tepper said with a smile. “That'll be, you know, a bipartisan caucus where we enjoy each other's family. We like seeing pictures of each other's kids and grandchildren. Again, I think there's going to be a lot of things we can work together on and commiserate with each other on, and be annoyed with each other but still go and have lunch together.”

These representative-elects will be sworn in on Tuesday.

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