Education
As your State Representative, my first priority will be working to ensure that every child in Texas has equal access to a world class education in a safe environment from highly skilled educators. In order to accomplish this, we must:
- Fully restore funding cuts
- Increase teacher salaries and support staff pay based on experience, not performance
- Continue to fully invest in our public school systems
- Increase the state contribution to health insurance programs
- Eliminate high stakes testing
- Protect TRS retirement system
Rural Healthcare
The Texas Department of Health Services released a report that ranks each of the 254 Texas counties according to availability of practicing primary physicians. Rains County, which is located in District 5, ranks 219 with only 1 physician practicing in the entire county. Access to healthcare is crucial, but lacking in our rural counties and it needs to change. When I am in Austin, I will fight to:
- Protect & promote rural healthcare
- Expand Medicaid
- Promote community-based and telemedicine health services for rural communities and our veterans.
Minimum Wage
A large percentage of Texans work multiple jobs and long hours to simply make ends meet. I will work to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour so that each Texan is more able to provide for themselves and their families.