Texas House Member

Member Photo

Rep. Capriglione, Giovanni

District 98

Email

Capitol Address:

Room E2.610

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0690

(512) 463-1004 Fax

District Address:

Physical:

1100 Bear Creek Parkway

Keller, Texas 76248

(817) 431-5339

Mailing:

PO Box 770

Keller, Texas 76244

Bills Authored/Sponsored 87th Legislature:

Committees:

District Analyses:

Counties Represented:

Tarrant (part)

District:

Biography

Giovanni has been married to his wife Elisa for 20 years, and has three children attending Carroll ISD schools. After receiving his BS in Physics, he pursued his MBA in Finance from Santa Clara University. After school, Giovanni went on to work for a DFW based venture capital/private equity firm.

Giovanni is now the owner and president of his own small business, Texas Adventure Capital LLC, which provides business services to various investment fund managers and business owners. His focus is investing in Texas-based small businesses. Previously, Giovanni held various positions at computer engineering companies specializing in semiconductor design and Internet products, and was senior vice president at an investment firm where he managed the loan and equity portfolios of various American businesses.

Giovanni was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2012 and is serving his fifth term representing District 98 which encompasses all or part of Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Keller, Westlake, North Fort Worth, and Haslet. He currently serves on the House Committee on Pension, Investments & Financial Services and the House Committee on Appropriations. He is the chairman of the Innovation & Technology Caucus and a member of the following House caucuses: Manufacturers Caucus, Rural Caucus, Sportsman's Caucus, Veteran's Caucus, Farm to Table Caucus, and the Fine Arts Education Caucus. Giovanni also chairs the Tarrant County Delegation.


Giovanni ha estado casado durante quince años con Elisa. Tienen tres hijos, dos de los cuales asisten a la Escuela Primaria Carroll. Él ha logrado materializar el Sueño Americano. Después de recibir su Licenciatura en Física, obtuvo un Maestría en Administración de Empresas con especialización en Finanzas en la Universidad Santa Clara. Tras concluir sus estudios, Giovanni trabajó en una empresa de capital privado y capital de riesgo con sede en DFW.

En la actualidad, Giovanni es propietario y presidente de su propia pequeña empresa, Texas Adventure Capital LLC, que brinda servicios empresariales a diversos administradores de fondos de inversión y propietarios de negocios. Su enfoque consiste en invertir en pequeños negocios con sede en Texas. Previamente, Giovanni fue vicepresidente superior en una sociedad de inversión, en la cual gestionaba las carteras de préstamos y valores de varias empresas estadounidenses. Y previo a esto, Giovanni ocupó varios cargos en empresas de ingeniería computacional, enfocadas principalmente en el diseño de semiconductores y en productos de Internet.

Giovanni fue elegido a la Cámara de Representantes de Texas en el 2012 y está sirviendo su segundo periodo en representación del Distrito 98, que comprende, total o parcialmente, Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Keller, Westlake, North Fort Worth y Haslet. En la actualidad, forma parte de los siguientes comités: Asignaciones Presupuestarias, Calendarios Locales y Consentimiento e Inversiones y Servicios Financieros, en el que se desempeña como presidente del Subcomité sobre Endeudamiento en Bonos. Presta servicio voluntario como Secretario del Bloque de Energía de la Cámara y también en el grupo de trabajo sobre finanzas de las escuelas públicas durante la sesión interina. Se ha convertido en un gran defensor de la educación pública, enfocado, particularmente, en la financiación equitativa para los distritos llamados “Robin-Hood”.

Media

House Bills Passed

 

HB 1118

In the 86th Legislative Session, I passed HB 3834.  This legislation required state and local government employees, appointed agency commissioners, elected local officials, and state and local contractors to take cybersecurity awareness training.  In the implementation phase of this law, local government officials identified areas of the statute that needed clarification.

 

HB 1118 provides that clarification and adds a penalty for local governments not in compliance.

 

HB 1280

This bill, the Human Life Protection Act, enacts a complete ban on abortion upon a Supreme Court decision that reverses existing precedent, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that prevents states from banning abortion.

 

If the U.S. Supreme Court changes its precedent and allows states to protect unborn children before viability, Texas now has a law in place that would go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court's decision, meaning the Texas Legislature will not have to reconvene in a special session to ban abortion.

 

HB 1920

State law does not impose a penalty for an airline or airport employee that carries a firearm onto the Airport Operations Area (i.e. the airside, ramp, or tarmac), therefore leaving a potential hole in security.  HB 1920 mirrors existing state law on the secure side of the terminal building to now include the backside of the terminal.

 

HB 1925

Texas has an estimated 25,000 people who are experiencing homelessness on any given day.  While current state law allows for local entities to impose camping bans, there was no statewide regulation in place, which resulted in inconsistent policies towards camping across the state.  Allowing camping in public places not only creates public safety hazards such as a rise in property crimes, open drug use, and health hazards, it also discourages economic development and business activities near encampments.

 

HB 1925 prohibits camping in a public place and establishes a criminal offense for doing so.

 

HB 3130

As Texans increasingly use the internet on cell phones and tablets, the Texas Department of Information Resources created a secure, centralized application designed specifically for mobile devices, a digital mobile assistant called Texas by Texas (TxT).  HB 3130 ensures a state agency does not duplicate efforts requiring a notification to DIR before contracting with a third party to build their own application.

 

HB 3746

In the 86th Legislative Session, I passed HB 4390.  This legislation required entities that experience a data breach containing the personally identifiable information of more than 250 Texans to notify the Attorney General.  HB 3746 requires the Attorney General to make the database containing that information publicly accessible on their website, rather than requiring a public information request to access the information.

 

HB 4018

Pervasive underinvestment and neglected IT infrastructure is keeping Texas from functioning at its best capacity.  Texas agencies are working with antiquated systems that can’t speak to each other and very few customer services are online.  Cybersecurity is also a major concern for state agencies, as they block 2.46 billion communication attempts from known bad actors every two months.

 

HB 4018 creates an oversight committee of House and Senate members to manage the public investment in IT projects.  The bill also establishes the Technology Improvement and Modernization Fund to finance improvements and modernize state agency information resources, including legacy system projects and cybersecurity projects.

Senate Bills Passed

 

SB 19

From 2013 to 2017, Operation Choke Point was a clandestine program operated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Under this program, DOJ pressured banks via illegal, unofficial directives to "choke off" access to essential banking services for merchants and industries considered a "high risk for fraud," which included members of the firearms and ammunition industries.

 

SB 19 prevents any company with 10 or more employees from contracting with government entities and receiving taxpayer dollars unless the company verifies that it does not have an internal policy that discriminates against members of the lawful firearm or ammunition industry.

 

SB 475

To help Texas guard against billions of cyber attacks on a daily basis, this bill implements recommendations from the Texas Cybersecurity Council and the Texas Data Privacy Protection Council.  SB 475 establishes a cloud computing state risk and authorization management program to provide consistency and security for cloud computing services, requires each state agency with more than 150 employees to designate a data management officer & establish a data advisory council, creates the Texas Volunteer Incident Response Team to provide rapid response during a cybersecurity event, authorizes a pilot regional network security operations center that will partner with institutions of higher education to assist in providing cybersecurity support and network security to regional partners, and most importantly, it prohibits agencies from using GPS data, individual contact tracing, or technology used to obtain biometric identifiers without a person's consent.

 

SB 604

Under current law, a Municipal Management District (MMD) is unable to fully dissolve if it continues to have outstanding debt.  MMDs are considered political subdivisions of the state created to promote and develop commerce, transportation, economic development, safety, and the public welfare within a defined area.

 

Currently, some MMDs are deliberately bypassing the voices of property owners who have called for a district to dissolve by continuing to issue more debt, thereby artificially continuing the life of a district.  SB 604 prevents an MMD from issuing new debt once it receives a valid petition by property owners calling for the district's dissolution.

 

SB 2230

In the 84th Legislative Session, I passed HB 483 creating a state-administered precious metals bullion depository, the Texas Bullion Depository.  The Depository is administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, who oversees the Depository and certifies the operator meets the standards established for the program, however the Comptroller partners with a contractor who built and operates the Depository.

 

SB 2230 allows the Texas Public Finance Authority to issue and sell bonds to purchase the current Depository facility to ensure that the Depository assets will not have to be moved in the future in the event of a change in vendors or other circumstances leading to non-availability of the current vault facilities.


 

 

General Appropriations Act

 

As the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II, I am proud of the fiscally conservative budget I helped create.  Some of my specific high points across the budget:

 

Stopping Medicaid Expansion

  • At several points during session, through bills, riders, and amendments, attempts were made to expand Medicaid in Texas.
  • As chairman of the Subcommittee on Article II, I lead the fight against those attempts.  Texas should not willingly agree to an unfunded mandate from the federal government that will cost us hundreds of millions of dollars in the future.

 

Upskilling and Reskilling Program Capacity Grants

  • Across Texas, and especially in the north Texas area, many financial and technology companies have trouble finding employees who are properly trained with the right skills to fill their job openings.  Ensuring Texas has a pipeline of qualified applicants is crucial to the continued success of business in our state.
  • A rider I authored appropriates $3 million to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for grants to institutions of higher education to establish educational and training programs developed in partnership with employers that enable adult learners to develop skills and achieve high-value credentials in line with current and future regional workforce needs for high-demand, high-wage occupations in energy, healthcare, financial services, information and technology, and other high growth industry sectors.

 

All Pro Dad (Family First)

  • Family First is a nonprofit organization that focuses on family development, child abuse prevention, and early intervention programs through their flagship program called All Pro Dad.
  • Studies have shown that when a dad is not actively involved in his child's life, the child will be:
    1. 2 times more likely to drop or fail out of school
    2. 54% poorer than their parents
    3. 7 times more likely to experience teen pregnancy
    4. more likely to be incarcerated
  • In an effort to involve fathers in their children's lives, All Pro Dad partners with school districts to engage fathers in their child's education and character development.
  • A rider I authored allocated $643,600 to fund family development programs through the Department of Family and Protective Services such as All Pro Dad.

 

Alzheimer's Disease Program

  • The full funding of $1 million was restored the Department of State Health Services' Alzheimer's Disease Program.
  • This program provides educational opportunities for healthcare professionals about early detection and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, maintains up-to-date Alzheimer's data, and coordinates implementation of the Texas State Plan on Alzheimer's Disease.

 

Emergency Medical Task Force

  • Texas relies on two federally funded programs for public health and medical emergency preparedness.  Federal funding for both of these programs has decreased significantly since 2004, 36.3% and 55.6% respectively.
  • Ongoing programs, exercises, and readiness of our Emergency Medical Task Force is of utmost importance in protecting Texans, so my rider allocated $5 million for training and replacement of critical equipment.

 

Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport Demonstration Model

  • Currently, the only way EMS is reimbursed in Medicaid is if a patient is transported to an emergency room. This incentivizes transport by the most expensive service to the most expensive care site.
  • A new EMS payment model called Emergency Triage, Treatment and Transport (ET3) gives ambulance care teams greater flexibility in addressing healthcare needs.  ET3 can improve quality of care while reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and ER visits by allowing EMS to treat patients in place when appropriate or transport the patient to an appropriate care site, such as an urgent care clinic or substance use facility.
  • This rider directs HHSC to implement ET3 in Texas Medicaid.

 

Healthy Community Collaboratives

  • The Healthy Community Collaboratives program promotes collaboration between public and private sectors to integrate services for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness and/or substance use disorders. HCC promotes a person's recovery and reintegration into the community.
  • In our local area, the City of Dallas and My Health My Resources Tarrant County provide these services to the unsheltered population.
  • My rider appropriated an extra $10 million for these important services.

 

Multi-Assistance Center Demonstration Project

  • Individuals with special needs face challenges identifying service options.  Once they od find service options, those providers are often spread across a broad geographic area, presenting further significant challenges.
  • Fragmentation of services and lack of communication and coordination between providers are major impediments, and individuals with special needs suffer as a result.  The Multi-Assistance Center Demonstration Project is a "one-stop shop" providing on-site services to special needs adults and children.


 

 

Some of the Bills I Joint-Authored and Co-Authored

 

HB 4                      Relating to the provision and delivery of certain health care services in this state, including services under Medicaid and other public benefits programs, using telecommunications or information technology and to reimbursement for some of those services.

HB 5                      Relating to the expansion of broadband services to certain areas.

HB 6                      Relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses.

HB 19                    Relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or operator, including the effect that changes to that liability have on commercial automobile insurance.

HB 82                    Relating to pricing of and health benefit plan cost-sharing requirements for prescription insulin.

HB 129                  Relating to digital citizenship instruction in public schools.

HB 216                  Relating to residential mortgage loans, including the financing of residential real estate purchases by means of a wrap mortgage loan; providing licensing and registration requirements; authorizing an administrative penalty.

HB 244                  Relating to the establishment of a grant program for promoting computer science certification and professional development in coding, technology applications, cybersecurity, and computer science for public school teachers.

HB 466                  Relating to the sale of fireworks before and during the Diwali holiday.

HB 547                  Relating to authorizing equal opportunity for access by non-enrolled students to University Interscholastic League sponsored activities; authorizing a fee.

HB 571                  Relating to the establishment of a bundled-pricing program to reduce certain health care costs in the state employees group benefits program.

HB 749                  Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying activities.

HB 751                  Relating to purchasing of cloud computing services by a political subdivision.

HB 764                  Relating to the academic assessment of public school students.

HB 873                  Relating to the unlawful restraint of a dog; creating a criminal offense.

HB 917                  Relating to the composition of the board of trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

HB 1173                Relating to prohibited logistical support by a governmental entity for procurement of an abortion or the services of an abortion provider.

HB 1197                Relating to the period for which certain land owned by a religious organization for the purpose of expanding a place of religious worship or constructing a new place of religious worship may be exempted from ad valorem taxation.

HB 1219                Relating to the dissolution by petition of a municipal management district.

HB 1239                Relating to the prohibited suspension of laws protecting religious freedom and prohibited closure of places of worship.

HB 1291                Relating to notice of the right to object to participation in an abortion procedure for health care personnel of a hospital or health care facility.

HB 1424                Relating to protection of persons from participation in a health care service for reasons of conscience; providing a civil remedy; authorizing disciplinary action.

HB 1458                Relating to the separation based on biological sex of athletics teams sponsored by a public school or institution of higher education.

HB 1500                Relating to authority of the governor and certain political subdivisions to regulate firearms, ammunition, knives, air guns, explosives, and combustibles and certain associated businesses during certain disasters and emergencies.

HB 1515                Relating to abortion, including abortions after detection of an unborn child's heartbeat; authorizing a private civil right of action.

HB 1525                Relating to the public school finance system and public education.

HB 1569                Relating to regulation by a property owners' association of certain religious displays.

HB 1576                Relating to the creation of a work group on blockchain matters concerning this state.

HB 1607                Relating to certificates of public convenience and necessity for certain transmission projects.

HB 1684                Relating to pretrial procedures, conditions for community supervision, and criminal punishment for conduct endangering the public safety; creating a criminal offense and increasing criminal penalties.

HB 1773                Relating to creating the criminal offenses of obtaining unneeded medical treatment by deception for a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual and continuous abuse of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.

HB 1900                Relating to municipalities that adopt budgets that defund municipal police departments.

HB 1911                Relating to provisions governing the carrying of a handgun by certain unlicensed persons and to other provisions related to the carrying, possessing, transporting, or storing of a firearm; providing criminal penalties.

HB 1912                Relating to air quality permits for aggregate production operations and concrete batch plants.

HB 1927                Relating to provisions governing the carrying of a firearm by a person who is 21 years of age or older and not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from possessing the firearm and to other provisions related to the carrying, possessing, transporting, or storing of a firearm or other weapon; creating criminal offenses.

HB 2021                Relating to the acceptance, rejection, and uses of certain money provided by the federal government to this state.

HB 2199                Relating to the establishment of the digital identity work group.

HB 2308                Relating to procedures in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

HB 2311                Relating to limitations on increases in the appraised value for ad valorem tax purposes of residence homesteads and single-family residences other than residence homesteads.

HB 2337                Relating to abortion complication reporting and the regulation of drug-induced abortion procedures, providers, and facilities; creating a criminal offense.

HB 2366                Relating to criminal conduct that endangers law enforcement; creating a criminal offense and increasing a criminal penalty.

HB 2539                Relating to the distribution of funds designated for the low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement program.

HB 2554                Relating to the operation by a school district of a vocational education program to provide eligible high school students with vocational and educational training under a plan for the issuance of a high school diploma and the application of certain student-based allotments under the public school finance system.

HB 2622                Relating to the enforcement of certain federal laws regulating firearms, firearm accessories, and firearm ammunition within the State of Texas.

HB 2637                Relating to the creation of the urban air mobility advisory committee.

HB 2926                Relating to the reinstatement of the parent-child relationship with respect to a person whose parental rights have been involuntarily terminated and to certain requirements in relation to the termination of the parent-child relationship or placement of a child in substitute care.

HB 2955                Relating to the reimbursement of certain urban teaching hospitals  for the provision of inpatient hospital care under Medicaid.

HB 3207                Relating to preventing the loss of benefits by certain retirees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas who resume service during a declared disaster.

HB 3294                Relating to funding for the Texas emissions reduction plan.

HB 3319                Relating to certain measures to promote compliance with and improve public awareness of the state's move over or slow down law concerning the passing of certain vehicles.

HB 3507                Relating to a one-time supplemental payment of benefits under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

HB 3510                Relating to work from remote locations by certain employees of certain entities licensed by the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner.

HB 3588                Relating to health benefit plan coverage for colorectal cancer early detection.

HB 3720                Relating to long-term care facilities for and Medicaid waiver programs available to certain individuals, including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

HB 3787                Relating to the loss of benefits by and the payment of certain employer contributions for certain retirees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas who resume service.

HB 3833                Relating to the appraisal of certain real property for ad valorem tax purposes.

HB 3940                Relating to discrimination against or burdening certain constitutional rights of an applicant for or holder of a license to practice law in this state.

HB 3963                Relating to the placement of electric vehicle charging equipment in state parks.

HB 3979                Relating to the social studies curriculum in public schools.

HB 4042                Relating to requiring public school students to participate in interscholastic athletic activities based on biological sex.

HB 4131                Relating to the self-directed and semi-independent status of the State Securities Board; authorizing fees.

HB 4395                Relating to state agency and local government security incident procedures.

HB 4474                Relating to the control of virtual currency and the rights of purchasers who obtain control of virtual currency for purposes of the Uniform Commercial Code.

HB 4534                Relating to a study by the Employees Retirement System of Texas of certain state retirement system reforms.

HJR72                   Proposing a constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.

HJR108                 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to establish a lower limit on the maximum appraised value of residence homesteads for ad valorem tax purposes and to establish a limit on the value of single-family residences other than residence homesteads for those purposes.

HJR152                 Proposing a constitutional amendment regarding certain organizational and procedural matters related to the legislature.

SB 7                       Relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses.

SB 8                       Relating to abortion, including abortions after detection of an unborn child's heartbeat; authorizing a private civil right of action.

SB 43                     Relating to residential mortgage loans, including the financing of residential real estate purchases by means of a wrap mortgage loan; providing licensing and registration requirements; authorizing an administrative penalty.

SB 247                   Relating to discrimination against or burdening certain constitutional rights of an applicant for or holder of a license to practice law in this state.

SB 394                   Relating to abortion complication reporting and the regulation of drug-induced abortion procedures, providers, and facilities; creating a criminal offense.

SB 474                   Relating to the unlawful restraint of a dog; creating a criminal offense.

SB 623                   Relating to the investigation and punishment of certain sexual offenses, to protective orders issued on the basis of certain sexual offenses, to crime victims' compensation, and to the establishment of a state sexual offense prevention and response program for the Texas Military Department.

SB 763                   Relating to the creation of the urban air mobility advisory committee.

SB 827                   Relating to health benefit plan cost-sharing requirements for prescription insulin.

SB 1028                Relating to health benefit plan coverage for colorectal cancer early detection.

SB 1336                Relating to a limit on the rate of growth of certain appropriations.

SJR27                    Proposing a constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.

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