Ruby Faye Woolridge is running for the Democratic ticket for the United States House of Representatives 6th Congressional District in Texas. She has lived in the 6th Congressional District in Texas for thirty-six years. She is sixty-seven years old and has two grown children and a granddaughter. Her oldest son died last year from injuries in the Gulf War after receiving a bronze star. Her other son is a business owner and holds a Master’s degree. Ruby Faye Woolridge graduated from the Perkins School of Theology in Dallas and served as an associate pastor at Grace United Methodist Church and later as an elder at Potter’s House of Dallas. She has a master’s degree in Education and Counseling from Northeastern State University and a masters in Diaconal Ministry from SMU-Perkins School of Theology. Ruby Faye Woolridge worked as a school counselor for over forty years in Oklahoma and Texas. She is now retired. She has worked as a community activist, volunteer and board member since her retirement.
Ruby Faye Woolridge has run for many public offices in the past and has served the community for nearly a decade. She ran for Tarrant County District Clerk in 1994. She has served on the Arlington School Board, the State Democratic Executive Committee-District 10, and the State Representative District 94, Precinct Chair 2181. Her community service has included: President of the Norwood Neighborhood Association, Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Arlington Parks and Recreation Department Board Member, Retired Texas State Teachers Association, Arlington Retired Teachers Association, Tarrant County Democratic Party Outreach Coordinator, Election Judge for Tarrant County, Precinct Chair in Tarrant County, and District and State Delegate for Democrat Conventions in 2008 and 2014
If Ruby Faye Woolridge is elected; she will serve a two-year term. She will have the capability of introducing bill and resolutions. She may offer amendments to other proposed bill and resolutions. And, she will have the opportunity to serve on committees.
Ruby Faye Woolridge has an interest in education. She supports education reform to address funding and testing. She also supports the "Every Student Succeeds Act" which requires appropriate funding for state schools. She also supports fewer increases in cost of college in the state and waiver and interest reductions for college graduates. The other issue that Ruby Faye Woolridge has is in assisting veterans. . Ruby has an interest in improving the healthcare system for military veterans. Based on these interests, the committees that may interest Ruby Faye Woolridge are the Education and the Workforce committee and the Veteran’s Affairs committee.
The Education and the Workforce Committee addresses issue of education and workforce matters. Currently, this committed has a chair and thirty-eight members, twenty-two Republicans and fifteen democrats and one independent. This committee has introduced several bills concerning Veterans Health Care and Education. Most recently, the committee examined a bill from the Department of Labor that would restrict worker’s choice and free speech. The committee also has recently address issues with the Affordable Care Act. There have also been resolutions in the committee addressing employment and labor as of recent. There are four subcommittees in the Education and the Workforce Committee including Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education; Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions; Higher Education and Workforce Training and Workforce Protections. Of particular interest for Ruby may be the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. There are currently sixteen house members on this committee. This committee would be the committee where she could introduce a bill concerning funding for schools.
The House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs is the committee that recommends legislation regarding veteran’s benefits. The committee recommendations include expanding, curtailing and readjusting laws. The committee also oversees the Veterans Administration . This committee has twenty-four members, fourteen Republicans and ten Democrats. There are four subcommittees: Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Economic Opportunity, Health and Oversight and Investigations. She would likely want to see if she could get a position on the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs committee. There are only eight members on this committee and they have introduced bills relating to Veterans Compensation, Benefits and Fair Treatment.
Both the committees that would be of interest to Ruby Faye Woolridge are chaired by Republicans. The chair person is selected from the majority house party. Because the majority party ensures that it has a majority on each of these committees, any bill that may be introduced by Ruby Faye Woolridge may have a tough time in committee unless she addresses issues that are not highly political.
Ruby Faye Woolridge may introduce her ideas concerning education reform or support ideas of one of her constituents and become the sponsor of the bill. The education reform bill would then be submitted to a committee. This is why it would be important for Ruby Faye Woolridge to obtain a position on the Education and the Workforce Committee. She would have the opportunity to work with the committee. If she does not obtain a position on the committee, she will want to try to align with a member of the committee. Once the bill leaves committee, the bill is put on the calendar and it is debated, voted on or amended if necessary.
There is the possibility of Ruby Faye Woolridge getting onto one of the committees because following the election, each party assigns newly elected legislators to standing committees. They will consider Ruby Faye Woolridge’s wishes when assigning members to committees. The needs of the committees will also be considered like party connections, region, and personalities serving presently on the committee. Most representatives serve on only one or two committees so it is possible for Ruby to get a position on both if not one of the one’s she has an interest in.
Ruby Faye Woolridge is facing incumbent Joseph Barton who has served as a representative in the 6th congressional district for more than thirty years. Joseph Barton has sat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as subcommittees Communications and Technology, Energy and Power, Health and Oversight and Investigations. The bills he has sponsored in his position have all been in relations to these issues. Ruby Faye Woolridge would be coming from a different perspective than Joseph Barton and may be seen as a threat to incumbents in the positions that she has interest.
Bibliography
(2016). Retrieved from Education and the Workforce Committee: http://edworkforce.house.gov/
(2016). Retrieved from House Committee on Veteran's Affairs: http://veterans.house.gov/
Battle for Texas 6th Congressional District. (2016, February 2). Retrieved from Fort Worth Star-Telegram: http://npaf.org/jobs/app/document/11699860;jsessionid=8-ESn8pb-zpdt-8t9duj+WmA.undefined
House Committee on Education and the Workforce. (2016). Retrieved from Govtrac.us: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/HSED/14
Ruby Faye Woolridge. (2016). Retrieved from Vote for Ruby: http://www.voteforruby.org/#!platform/cee5
Woolridge, R. F. (2016). Ruby Faye Woolridge. Retrieved from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rubywoolridge
