Jobs and the Economy

There is no issue more important to our district than getting people back to work. Families in Dallas County are hurting. The worst economy since the Great Depression has brought layoffs and downsizing to North Texas. While our entrepreneurial spirit, energy market and positive business climate have spared Texas from the worst of the recession, our families are not immune from its affects.

With projected state revenues down by billions of dollars, many in Austin will push to raise taxes to balance the budget and cover the shortfall. The worst thing we can do is raise taxes on North Texas business and families. Higher taxes will mean more jobs lost, less revenue and a prolonged economic recovery.

As your State Representative, I promise to fight to keep your tax burden low and spending under control. Companies in the 102, like Texas Instruments, already have to contend with the second highest corporate tax rate in the world and a state margins tax. The worst thing we could do is add to that burden with even higher taxes. Lower taxes and restrained government spending in Austin will lead us out of this recession.

Education

Our district is blessed with some of the best schools in North Texas. Schools in our district should arm our students with the tools to take the 21st century global market by storm. For North Texas students the sky is the limit. It is our responsibility to give them every opportunity to reach their potential.

We need to start thinking about education strategically. No longer can Texas measure performance or compare test scores with other states in our region. Preparing our children for a 21st century global economy will take a new, innovative approach. High school graduates in Dallas, Richardson and Garland aren’t just competing with kids graduating in Denver, Los Angeles and New York City. Our children are also now in competition for high paying jobs with graduates in London, New Delhi and Beijing.

Our schools must give our children the skills and tools necessary to compete and win in a 21st Century global marketplace. I understand how critical transforming education will be to the future of North Texas and that’s why my plan includes: Campus Centered Management, Local Control, Best Practices, Data Based Performance Metrics and Professional Development of Teachers. We have to give our public schools the tools and resources they need to prepare our children for jobs of the 21st Century, and then we need to use metrics to hold them accountable.

Dallas County is also long overdue for a Tier One University. The research dollars, grant money, notoriety and sense of student pride make Tier One status a must have for North Texas residents. As State Representative, I will be determined to make UTD the next Tier One University in Texas.

Energy

Texas is blessed with an abundance of domestic resources. Texas is the Saudi Arabia of American wind power, coal and clean, abundant natural gas. That’s why it is outrageous that Texas is still dependent on foreign oil.

Our district sits on top of one of the largest natural gas deposits in the United States in the Barnett Shale. Governor Perry has done some terrific work this past session with natural gas. As your State Representative, it will be my goal to do everything I can to end North Texas dependence on foreign oil and get us on our own resources.

Natural gas is a clean, abundant domestic fuel that Texas can use to displace foreign oil gallon for gallon. A North Texas fuel, to power North Texas cars and trucks, to create jobs for North Texans. In Austin, I will champion the cause of natural gas as a transportation fuel – state incentives for consumers to purchase natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and incentives for manufacturers to build a natural gas fueling infrastructure across the state. Natural gas is one of Texas’ most abundant resources, it’s about time we used it.

Transportation/Infrastructure

We celebrate the fact that tens of thousands of new families see opportunity in North Texas and are calling it home for the first time. By 2030, the population here in Texas is set to double. This influx of people will put a tremendous strain on our infrastructure, power grid and water resources.

Transportation funding and finding solutions to our growing traffic congestion will be a top priority for the next legislature. We must find realistic solutions to meet our current transportation obligations and expand to create new roads that will carry North Texas commuters into the future. One of the busiest, most trafficked roadways in Texas, the 635/75 interchange, runs right through the heart of our district.
New roadways are essential to ending the gridlock and fostering economic growth. As you State Representative, I promise to promote sound, fiscally responsible solutions to our transportation funding shortfall. With your help, we can keep North Texas moving.

Health Care

Health care costs are ballooning out of control and making it difficult for North Texas families to manage on incomes that don’t keep pace with the rising cost of living. These difficulties affect the bottom line for Dallas area business, jeopardizing the stability of local jobs for thousands of North Texans.

Democrats believe the answer to our health care problem is socialized medicine; making coverage universal by handing health care decisions over to bureaucrats. I fundamentally disagree. I believe the true answer to health care reform in Texas is controlling sky rocketing costs. As your State Representative, I will fight to make health care more portable and affordable for every North Texan.

Another critical component to reforming health care in Texas is addressing the mounting crisis in our coming nursing shortage. By 2025, Texas will be short 75,000 registered nurses. What will that shortage do to quality care, patient safety and affordability here in Texas? House Bill 4471 went a long way this session to help address funding shortages at nursing schools across the state. Our nursing shortage isn’t a brick and mortar problem, it’s a matter of giving nursing schools the funding they need to hire enough qualified professors. As your State Representative, I promise to fight for quality care in Dallas County with more funding for the Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program.

Immigration

Our border is broken. For decades the federal government has failed to secure our international border with Mexico. In a new age of trans-national terrorism, our unsecured border poses a grave threat to our national security. Now, drug violence that has been tearing Mexico apart threatens to spill over the border and puts Texans at risk. If the federal government won’t keep the people of Texas safe by securing the border, then the state of Texas will.

Governor Perry has deployed Texas Ranger “Recon Teams” to the border to stem the tide of violence and keep Texans safe. As your State Representative, I will be a champion for border security and ensure that those protecting our border always have the resources they need to keep us safe.

Voter ID

If one has to prove who they are by showing a government issued picture ID to board an airplane at DFW, and one has to prove who they are with a picture ID when they use their credit card, we should demand that all individuals, regardless of race or gender, prove who they are with a government issued picture ID before casting their vote. Voter ID isn’t about targeting one group of people over another, it’s about protecting our most fundamental democratic right, and we shouldn’t allow partisan politics to get in the way of accountability at the polls.