Issues & Priorities
Four sessions chairing the Senate's veterans committee, standing up for those who served.
Senate District 25 is one of the most military-connected districts in Texas. Joint Base San Antonio is one of the largest economic engines in the state, thousands of active-duty service members call the district home, and tens of thousands of veterans have chosen to build their lives in the Hill Country communities stretching from Schertz and Cibolo to New Braunfels and beyond. For Dr. Donna Campbell, serving these men and women is not a line item on a platform — it is the animating purpose of her time in the Legislature.
In January 2015, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appointed her Chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations. She went on to chair the Senate's veterans committee for four consecutive sessions, building a sustained legislative record on veteran care. She has authored or sponsored veterans and military legislation in every regular session of her career, including SB 27, which expanded the state's Veterans Mental Health Program; the Gold Star spouse homestead exemption, approved by Texas voters in 2021; direct hiring of veterans by state agencies under the veterans employment preference; and a franchise tax exemption for new veteran-owned businesses.
Dr. Campbell also looked out for the strategic future of the district. Because wind turbines near military airfields can interfere with radar and flight training, raising the risk that a base is realigned or closed, she authored SB 277, which denies tax abatements and appraisal limitations to new wind turbines built within 25 nautical miles of a Texas military aviation facility. From the peer counselor helping a veteran through a crisis to the Gold Star spouse who finally received the tax relief she deserved, Dr. Campbell's work touches every corner of the military community in District 25.
Appointed Chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations in January 2015, and chaired the Senate's veterans committee for four consecutive sessions (84th–87th Legislatures) — as Veteran Affairs and Border Security in the 85th through 87th.
Authored legislation expanding the Veterans Mental Health Program by allowing for licensed mental health professionals at Local Mental Health Authorities to provide clinical services to veterans and their families, and by shifting the program to trained peer service coordinators. Chaired the Senate conferees who negotiated the bill's final version.
Authored the constitutional amendment authorizing a property tax exemption on the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services killed or fatally injured in the line of duty. Texas voters approved it as Proposition 8 in November 2021.
Authored the Military Veterans' Full Employment Act, which overhauled the state's existing veteran's employment preference: it set a goal for each state agency to hire veterans in full-time positions equal to at least 20 percent of its workforce, let agencies designate open positions for veterans and hire them immediately, and required agencies to interview veterans for open positions.
Authored the law exempting new veteran-owned businesses from the state franchise tax and state business filing fees for their first five years, reducing barriers to entrepreneurship for the men and women who risked everything for their country. Effective January 1, 2016.
Authored the law making the College Credit for Heroes program permanent. Begun in 2011 as a Texas Workforce Commission demonstration program, it helps colleges award credit for military training and experience so veterans can earn degrees and civilian certifications faster.
Authored the law requiring the governor to designate a Texas Military Heroes Day in public schools, when students learn about the service and sacrifice of Texans who served in the U.S. armed forces.
Authored the law letting a military spouse licensed in good standing in another state with substantially equivalent requirements work in that occupation in Texas, once the licensing agency verifies the license, for as long as the service member is stationed here, up to three years. Her 2015 law, SB 807, waived state license application and exam fees for qualifying service members, veterans and military spouses.
Authored legislation recognizing the sacrifices of military spouses who support service members and face unique challenges including frequent relocations.
Authored the law denying tax abatements and appraisal limitations to new wind turbines built within 25 nautical miles of a Texas military aviation facility, because turbines can interfere with radar and flight training and raise the risk that a base is realigned or closed.
Authored the law reviving the franchise tax exemption and filing-fee waiver she first authored in 2015, which had closed to new businesses in 2020, for new veteran-owned businesses that begin doing business in Texas from 2022 through 2025, for their first five years.
Authored the enabling legislation for the homestead tax exemption for the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services killed or fatally injured in the line of duty, and allowed late exemption applications for disabled service members.
Authored the law ensuring that a veteran awarded 100 percent disability compensation for a service-connected disability qualifies for the full homestead property tax exemption even when VA payments are reduced to offset debts, overpayments or retirement benefits.
Joint-authored the law letting Texas Armed Services Scholarship students complete one year of ROTC training for each year they receive the scholarship, instead of four years of ROTC, so students who need fewer than four years to graduate are no longer shut out.
Authored the law making the Texas Military Preparedness Commission its own body administratively attached to the Governor's office, and raising its maximum Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant, which funds projects on and around military installations, from $2 million to $5 million.
"There is no more honorable profession, and no greater title of valor, than to be called a veteran. These men and women wrote a blank check to their country, payable up to and including their lives. We owe them everything."
Dr. Campbell's Promise
Because we don't have another Texas to move to.
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Dr. Donna Campbell chaired Senate Veteran Affairs & Border Security, co-authored the Sanctuary Cities Ban, and carried Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month into law.
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Dr. Donna Campbell co-authored 2023's SB 2, part of what Gov. Abbott called the largest property tax cut in Texas history, delivering savings for SD-25 homeowners.
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NRA 'A+' rated Dr. Donna Campbell authored Church Carry after Sutherland Springs and cosponsored Constitutional Carry. Defending gun rights in TX SD-25.
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