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Dawnna (Dawnna) M. Dukes (D-SH046)
Email - Web Site
Capitol: 512.463.0506
FAX: 512.463.7864
District: 512.463.0506
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Representative
Room EXT E1.504 Capitol Extension 1100 Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
District Office:
PO Box 14645
Austin, TX 78761
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| Elected: 1994 Next Election: 2014 | | DOB: 9/3/1963 |
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BioDawnna Dukes is a tenth term member of the Texas House of Representatives and a third generation native of District 46. Representative Dukes has traveled extensively as an ambassador for the State of Texas and the United States. In 1995, Dukes was one of eight legislators chosen from the United States to be part of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) delegation to Taiwan. She was also selected by ACYPL and an ancillary group, the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders (AAYPL), to represent the United States in a conference on the future of NATO in the 21st century with Canadian and European counterparts in Brussels, Belgium. During her second term, Dukes was among four individuals nationwide to be selected by the Japan Society to become a 1997 Local Public Policy Fellow. For two months, Dukes traveled through Japan to research and write about women-owned business and race and gender relations in Japan. Representative Dukes is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Psychology. She is the owner of DM Dukes and Associates, Inc., a consulting firm; a member of the Links, Inc.-Austin Chapter and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.-Beta Psi Omega Graduate Chapter. EDUCATION - As an active member of the Texas House of Representatives, Dukes has led the fight to improve public and higher education by requiring school districts to inform parents of uncertified instructors teaching in the classroom, by advocating for increases in funding for early childhood education and by promoting dropout prevention programs. Dukes worked tirelessly to ensure an across the board pay raise for every full-time teacher, counselor, and school nurse. Representative Dukes has been instrumental in the fight to keep low-performing neighborhood schools open and ensuring they are provided with the necessary tools to succeed. She has also fought to make college more accessible to low income students by co-sponsoring the 100 million dollar TEXAS Grant Program and co-authoring legislation to establish the Texas Tomorrow Fund II. Dukes coauthored legislation that helps identify and analyze the critical issues affecting graduation rates in order to implement methods that will be effective in increasing the number of students who earn a postsecondary degree, a vital step in the effort to bring Texas to the forefront of academic success. PUBLIC SAFETY - In her commitment to increase school safety and build safer communities, Representative Dukes created tougher penalties against gang recruitment and activity, expanded the "gun free school zones" provision, and protected a child's right to due process under the law by requiring that proper counsel be provided to youth during law enforcement interrogations. Dukes expanded unemployment compensation to allow victims of domestic abuse to have an independent source of income. APPROPRIATIONS - Since 2003 Representative Dukes has been an active member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. She was instrumental in securing $182 million for the preservation of state parks as the Chair of Budget and Oversight of the Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee. As Chair of the subcommittee on Specials Issues, Representative Dukes engineered a $500 million across the board pay raise for all state employees and targeted pay raises for public safety employees. She also provided $200 million from the System Benefit Fund for a 10% electricity rate discount for low income Texans. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES - In her veteran position on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Representative Dukes has become a chief architect in crafting agency budgets and influencing policy within health and human services. She has preserved funding to ensure that aging Texans and persons with disabilities would continue to receive vital health care services and their long-term care needs would be met. In her efforts to provide women and children with access to preventative health care, she created the Women's Health Program, which provides family planning services to low income women. Representative Dukes expanded the Children's Health Insurance Program with an additional $90 million and has worked to make certain children have access to care by increasing physician reimbursement rates and providing strategic medical and dental initiatives. She has provided critical funding for community crisis programs and expanded transitional and intensive on-going community mental health services. ENVIRONMENT - Representative Dukes has systematically challenged state leadership to address environmental racism by preventing the development of undesirable industry in neighborhoods, has worked to reduce air pollution from Texas industries, and has strengthened State oversight of municipal landfills. Due to her innovative guidance and strong efforts to protect the environment, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club presented Representative Dukes with the "New Leadership for the Environment" award in 1995. HOUSING/ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - In her commitment to ensure access to affordable housing, Representative Dukes joint authored the creation of a homestead preservation district in Austin. It grants cities the tools to help increase home ownership, provide affordable housing, and prevent the involuntary loss of homesteads by existing low-income and moderate-income homeowners living in neighborhoods experiencing rising property values, such as in Central East Austin.
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