Issues

NEW DAY, NEW DIRECTION

This is a critical time for South Texas, when old-style politics is giving way to dynamic new leadership. The three State senators who represent our border region and those state representatives from our area who are able to put people first and politics last have are bringing positive change to South Texas. They deserve a partner in District 40 who will be part of the solution, not part of the problem.


Make South Texas healthier
Four years ago, my opponent stood by while his political patrons stripped hundreds of thousands of eligible kids of their Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits. Now that some have had those benefits restored, he wants us to believe he did his job. But here’s the bottom line — if a criminal has the right to see a lawyer, a child should have the right to see a doctor. We have the resources. What we lack in District 40 is the leadership to make it happen. We can do better:

• Expand CHIP benefits to every eligible child without exception
• Address the critical nursing shortage by funding proven programs to train Texans for these good-paying jobs
• Require that women’s health care be reimbursed at the same rate as men’s health care
• Aggressively pursuer matching federal funds to increase local health services, especially for military veterans, Title XIV school-based Medicaid services, and Title IV-E services for the elderly.

Make South Texas wealthier
The latest census data shows that HD 40 remains one of the poorest areas in Texas. Despite the hard work of many local leaders, business owners, community activists, and ordinary citizens, Austin politicians continue to turn their backs on us. The incumbent says his betrayal of us had a purpose: to put him in the room where Austin Republicans make funding decisions that affect the rest of the state. But it didn’t work, because the challenges we face continue to put the squeeze on middle-class families and small businesses. We can do better:

• Elect the state insurance commissioner to make him or her accountable to taxpayers and leverage lower insurance rates
• Roll back utility rates and work with the South Texas delegation to secure more affordable electricity for families and small businesses
• Spearhead a comprehensive outreach effort to make sure families who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit get the tax breaks they deserve
• Increase the state’s share of transportation and infrastructure funding for South Texas

Make South Texas smarter
The incumbent and his Republican allies have starved public education and pushed too many neighborhood schools to the brink of bankruptcy. While China and India continue to invest in the next generation of our global competitors, Texas’ leaders refuse to fully fund vital education programs, pay teachers like the professionals they are, or abandon their discredited schemes to siphon billions of tax dollars out of public schools for a private-school voucher plan. We can do better:

• Reverse the current ratio of state-to-local funding for public schools, the lowest state share since WWII
• Increase state funding for college and universities and set a three-year moratorium on college tuition rate hikes to make higher education more affordable for middle-class families
• Raise public school teacher salaries to the national average and fully restore health benefits cut under my opponent’s tenure
• Keep our children safe while they’re on school campuses

Make South Texas cleaner
Environmental protection hasn’t always been a top priority for South Texas. In fact, my opponent has the worst record on environmental issues of any Democrat in the Texas House, according to a recent report. One more reason we need a change. Because preserving our natural heritage makes economic and moral sense — and clean air should be a family value in South Texas, too. We can do better:

• Fully fund existing program to clean-up toxic emissions that endanger children riding diesel school buses
• Transform state vehicle fleet to use abundant natural gas and other clean-burning fuels
• Support clean energy alternatives that create jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil
• Focus on mass transportation solutions that relieve traffic congestion and oppose tolling existing roads

Make South Texas safer
South Texans have just as much right as anyone else to feel safe in our homes, our businesses, our schools, our neighborhoods, and on our streets. The key is getting tough on crime — and tough on the causes of crime. Our law enforcement professionals can’t do it on their own. It takes a community-wide effort to find the resources for proven programs that makes us all safer. We can do better:

• Secure more resources for local law enforcement professionals so that they have the tools to do the job we expect of them
• Work with federal authorities to improve border security and obtain the technology needed to keep our communities safe without weakening the family, business, and cultural ties that make our region dynamic
• Support meet-and-confer rules to allow local leaders and police departments to reach agreements on important work force issues
• Provide more resources for community first responders, fire fighters, and other emergency personnel