HD 115 Priorities:

Our state is far behind in spending per student. At present, with one party leadership, we are at a political stalemate that shortchanges our children and Texas property owners. Since 2008, property owners and local tax authorities have had to make up for the $18B shortfall that has been enacted since the state reduced its subsidization of budget from 50% to 37%. Your education shouldn’t be determined by where you’re born in our state or how much your parents’ property is worth if they have any property at all. Our state enjoys a healthy sales tax surplus and billions of dollars in surplus revenue. These revenues, along with the Rainy Day fund, should be considered for funding in the short term.

Women’s health affects the economic future of communities and all families. In 2011, The Texas legislature deeply cut the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Family Planning Program, which destroyed the low-cost clinic network for Texan women. 53 women’s health clinics have been forced to close their doors since then. Unlike our opponent, who wants to defund clinics like Planned Parenthood, which provide lifesaving cancer screenings and general healthcare, Julie will make sure every woman in Texas can have a healthy life and plan for healthy families.

Despite a tax surplus, the Texas government has decreased funding for public education and healthcare year after year. This is the primary driver of rising property taxes. I support tapping into the revenue surplus to alleviate the pressure on property tax revenue to cover inadequate state funding for public education. I also support accepting federal Medicaid expansion, which will relieve local tax entities like Parkland Hospital and our local school districts.

Texans shouldn’t have to live in fear that their power will go out or that their water will freeze the next time it gets cold. We also need to be stable enough to compete for business and to keep air and water cleaner for our communities and those around the globe. Energy companies have enjoyed historic profits during the past year of market volatility because they enjoy large federal government subsidies. Making sure our industry does right by consumers and stewards environmental protection is possible with ethical regulation. I wrote a bill last session to increase transparency and accountability in ERCOT, but Republican leadership ultimately blocked it. Shortly after the grid went down in February of 2021, Greg Abbott received millions of dollars from energy industry executives. And, 70% of the current Commissioners’ campaign contributions come from executives they are tasked with regulating. Texans need leadership who will stop sacrificing public safety in exchange for campaign contributions.

I hear from many voters, and locally elected officials is a need to return local control to our counties and municipalities. Cities should be allowed to debate openly about raising the minimum wage and not fear overarching obstruction from those in Austin.

Texas has done a great job at making our state open for business, but what about those who work at these businesses? When we grant tax abatements and land use deals, we need to know more about the standards for pay and benefits at the companies we have welcomed to our state.

We need to discuss how we are spending resources; millions of dollars have been taken away from our women’s health care network and re-assigned to ideological groups with no oversight. This has created waste and an additional burden on public hospitals and emergency rooms. We must save money and reallocate.

I also believe the Texas legislature should support the high-speed rail proposed between Houston and Dallas, which would ease road damage in the long term and ease the public burden for infrastructure costs during its construction. This proposed route would mean great things for Texas business which would also add revenue to our budget in the long term.

Bail bond reform is a top priority. All around Texas, counties, and cities are spending significant taxpayer monies jailing people over non-violent crimes and traffic infractions and keeping them from their jobs and families because they can not pay what is sometimes a $150 bail fee.

It is completely unjust to jail people for being poor and fiscally irresponsible. The aims of any future reforms by our legislature should focus on accountability for police, citizens, defendants, prisoners, and the families of prisoners.

In addition, the state of Texas should form a commission to research how to eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline that often traps young men and women of color within the criminal justice system, creating an undue financial burden on taxpayers.

As experienced in the 2022 primary elections, the absentee voting system in Texas has broken due to the last session’s attack. We saw an unprecedented spike in returned mail ballots due to voters being confused about whether or not they registered with a driver’s license or a social security number. This was an intentional barrier set up by Texas Republicans aimed at depressing turnout. We must find ways to make voting easier for disabled and elderly Texans, not make it more difficult. Longer early voting windows, expanded hours, additional voting centers, and absentee voting reform would allow more Texans to have a say in how our government serves the people of this state. Rules also need to be put in place limiting what poll watchers are allowed to do at polling locations to prevent voter intimidation from happening. Republican leaders punished our patriotic election workers and gave intimidators a get-out-of-jail-free card.