Rep. Philip Cortez’s five-member subcommittee travels to San Antonio to take invited and public testimony on the transfer of veteran mental-health programs to the Texas Veterans Commission, gaps in legal help for benefits claims, and the remaking of the former Kelly Air Force Base.
When: 11:00 AM CT, Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Where: City Council Chamber, Municipal Plaza Building, 114 W. Commerce St., San Antonio (field hearing — not the Capitol)
Chair: Rep. Philip Cortez, D–San Antonio (HD-117)
Vice Chair: Rep. Mark Dorazio, R–San Antonio (HD-122)
Format: Invited and public testimony; the chair may limit public testimony to 3 minutes per witness; no written-copy count specified in the notice; interim charges only — no vote on legislation
Live video: None — the notice states a live video broadcast of this hearing will be unavailable
Submit comments online: comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c309
The Texas House Subcommittee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs will gavel in at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 8 in downtown San Antonio to press state agencies on a recent handoff of veteran mental-health programs, examine why some Texas veterans struggle to find legal help with federal benefits claims, and hear how the former Kelly Air Force Base is being remade. The panel will take invited and public testimony.
Chaired by Rep. Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, the five-member subcommittee reports to the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs. It is meeting in a city that bills itself as Military City USA, home to Joint Base San Antonio and one of the nation’s largest veteran populations, and it is working through interim charges ahead of the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027. Holding the hearing outside Austin lets local veterans and providers testify without the drive to the Capitol.
The first charge, “Veteran Mental Health Programs,” directs the panel to monitor the rollout of House Bill 114, which moved the Mental Health Program for Veterans and the Texas Veterans + Family Alliance grant program from the Health and Human Services Commission to the Texas Veterans Commission, with the transfer of functions, funding and personnel taking effect Sept. 1, 2025. Members are charged with active oversight to ensure the handoff of authority and administrative responsibilities is running efficiently — a check on whether peer counseling, suicide-prevention training and jail-diversion services carried over cleanly.
The second charge, “Legal Representation for Texas Veterans,” asks the subcommittee to study veterans’ access to legal help in pursuing disability-benefits claims and appeals in the federal system. Members will review assistance offered through the Texas Veterans Commission, nonprofits, law-school clinics and pro bono attorneys, identify barriers to representation in appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and recommend ways to improve coordination and access. The court, based in Washington, hears appeals from veterans denied benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and representation can be scarce for claimants far from major legal markets.
Finally, the subcommittee will hear invited testimony on Port San Antonio’s redevelopment of Kelly Air Force Base. The installation was slated for closure under the 1990s Base Realignment and Closure process and its flight line and industrial core have since been rebuilt into a roughly 1,900-acre aerospace, cybersecurity and manufacturing campus run by Port San Antonio. The session gives members a firsthand look at how a shuttered base can be converted into a regional jobs engine — a template with implications for defense communities statewide.
Because the subcommittee is meeting in the interim, it will not vote on legislation. Any findings would shape bills filed when the 90th Legislature convenes in 2027.
Committee members
- Rep. Philip Cortez, D–San Antonio (HD-117) — Chair
- Rep. Mark Dorazio, R–San Antonio (HD-122) — Vice Chair
- Rep. Hillary Hickland, R–Belton (HD-55)
- Rep. Carrie Isaac, R–Wimberley (HD-73)
- Rep. Ray Lopez, D–San Antonio (HD-125)