In this article, Representative Villarreal says, "If Texas is going to be a leader in science and industry, then Texas will need to be a leader in education, and not a laughingstock."

Yesterday, community leaders – as well as “Thomas Jefferson” – joined me in San Antonio to urge State Board of Education members to prioritize our children’s education ahead of their personal ideological agendas....

Texas might seem an unlikely candidate for the world's solar market leader. But with the combination of an expansive solar resource, recent success with wind power, extensive natural gas installations, competitive electricity markets and commitment to add transmission capacity, Texas might become just that.  HB 1937, sponsored by Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, enables homeowners to finance their solar panels through their property tax bills over a few decades instead of forking over many thousands of dollars up front...

Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement yesterday that he has named Secretary of State Hope Andrade as Texas census ambassador is drawing tempered praise from a state lawmaker who says Perry was too slow to promote the 2010 census. “I trust that Hope Andrade will make the most out of the limited time she has to do her job,” state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, said in a statement today. Last October, he wrote the governor urging him to establish a statewide Complete Count Committee to support census participation. He said he never got a response.

When I think about the kind of Governor we need for the next four years, I see a Governor who has a vision for the future of the state:  a vision in which all Texas children receive a world-class education and that education serves as the foundation for the strongest economy in the world.

Representative Mike Villarreal,  D-San Antonio, is joining critics accusing Gov. Rick Perry of failing to do enough to support the 2010 census.

By the end of the new decade, now only three days young, the demographics of the new Texas will look a lot like San Antonio: A significant and powerful number of Texans will be Latino.  In some ways, 2010 is an annunciation year for the new generation of Latino leaders in San Antonio — they hear the call but are waiting for the right moment. Many, including state Rep. Mike Villarreal, the Castro twins — particularly state Rep. Joaquin Castro — were lobbied to run but decided to sit tight....

It's easy, important and safe. That's what the Census Bureau wants you to know about next year's count of everyone living in the U.S. I couldn't agree more....

Texans care about conserving energy, but investing in solar power has not — up until now — made economic sense for most of us. We are a pragmatic people. But imagine if putting solar panels on our houses or even geothermal systems did not require a big upfront cost, lowered our monthly energy bills immediately, and could be paid off over time at the lowest interest rates.  That's precisely the promise of House Bill 1937, a bill I authored and passed last session.