ISSUES | AnaMaria4Texas

OUR ISSUES

EDUCATION

It is time we invest in Texas children and families.

The State Legislature has continuously failed our communities by refusing to adequately invest in our children. Today, our children are packed in over-sized classrooms, have access to fewer academic resources, and are dropping out at alarming rates.

According to a recent study (Intercultural Development Research Association, "Attrition and Dropout Rates in Texas," October 2017), approximately 25% of Texas high school students dropped out during the 2016-2017 school year. That means 11 students per hour who, as adults, will not possess basic reading, writing, and math skills! That puts them at a severe disadvantage in Texas’ highly competitive job market.

What will the future of Texas look like if we lose one in four future teachers, caretakers, welders, plumbers, doctors, mechanics, nurses, and lawyers? Over the last three decades alone, we have lost over 3.7 million students who never graduated high school and may never reach the heights of their potential. Since 2008, Texas has made the deepest cuts to state education funding in the U.S., only behind Oklahoma.

It is time we turn the tide!

As an educator and the mother of an educator, I am committed to strengthening our public schools and empowering our children. I voted for the recent changes in school funding last session. Together we passed an $11.6 billion school finance measure, we increased the state’s education budget as well as increased teacher pay and training. But this is not enough-- I believe every child deserves a textbook. I believe every child deserves access to technology. I believe every child deserves a qualified, committed teacher. I believe in the future of Texas. Today, we can no longer afford to sacrifice our children and place our public educational system in a financial stranglehold.

Failing to invest in our children today will lead to dire consequences for our future tomorrow.

Ten years ago, Texas provided 50% in public-school funding. Texas, despite rising student populations, has reduced its public-school funding, forcing local taxpayers to fill the gap while also diverting funds to various voucher programs they call “tax credits". Today, we must continue to fight for lawmakers to return to funding 50% of our public education budget as we did just a decade ago and ensure that all children have access to Pre-K.

Texas House District 102 deserves a committed Representative who will fight for our children, our families, and our future.

As an educator, public school parent, and lifelong servant, I have what it takes to move us into the future and out from being stuck in the past.

TEXAS EDUCATION TODAY:

Texas Ranks:

41th in Pre-K through 12

33th in Higher Education

36th in per-pupil spending, below the national average.

46th in academic and work environment category. The category weighs factors like school system quality, teacher-to-student ratios, teacher turnover, safety, and teacher union strength.

TEXAS HOUSE DISTRICT 102 – EDUCATIONAL SNAPSHOT

60% of children in preschool through 12th grade are enrolled in public school only.
HD 102 School Districts – Dallas Independent School District, Richardson School District, and Garland School District

Breakdown of Student Population Under Eighteen

DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 3%

GARLAND INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 3%

RICHARDSON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 57%

DALLAS COUNTY SCHOOLS ATTRITION RATE (THE RATE AT WHICH WE LOSE CHILDREN BEFORE GRADUATION)

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare is not a privilege, but a right. That's why we must expand Medicaid in Texas.

You have the right to feel secure knowing you don’t have to choose between paying the mortgage or paying medical bills.

You have the right to feel secure knowing that being too sick to go to work isn’t overshadowed by being too poor to afford the doctor.

You have the right to feel secure knowing your child can be a child who plays, explores, and grows. And no matter the circumstances, your child’s healthcare and well-being will always be protected.

You have the right to know that your elderly parents can continue to age with dignity and respect and that they will always have access to quality healthcare.

You have the right to know that your Texas Representative will fight for you so that you and your family aren’t forced to choose between enjoying a strong, prosperous, healthy tomorrow, or enduring a volatile, unpredictable, precarious today.

Last session we increased women's healthcare funding by 24.3%, dedicated $7.7 billion for behavioral health and substance abuse services, and provided $48 million for early childhood intervention.

With Texas continuously opting not to expand Medicaid, as a state, we are leaving no affordable insurance for working-class families. Increasing the accessibility of quality postpartum and prenatal care for low-income women is of the utmost importance. For too long, Texas lawmakers have pushed healthcare aside, resulting in our state is the #1 uninsured state in the country. Any fight to increase access to healthcare must also include protecting and covering those with preexisting conditions, especially with the threat posed by COVID-19. This pandemic has highlighted the inequalities in our healthcare system as communities of color have been disproportionately affected.

I will fight for your rights and to ensure you and your family’s health is a TOP TEXAS PRIORITY!

TEXAS TODAY – HEALTHCARE SNAPSHOT:

#1 – TEXAS IS THE UNINSURED CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES!

4.5 million Texans are uninsured. That is equivalent to the whole state of Louisiana! 623,000 children are uninsured. That is equivalent to the whole state of Vermont!

#1 – TEXAS RANKS TOP IN THE COUNTRY (AND INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD) FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF MOTHERS DYING FROM CHILDBIRTH.

Thousands of babies have lost their mothers at birth due to Texas’ inferior healthcare access.

#47 – TEXAS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST OFFENDERS IN THE COUNTRY IN DENYING ITS CITIZENS AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE HEALTHCARE.

25% – Texas elderly are being abused and mistreated in 25% of Texas’ long term care centers.

Of 1,200 long term centers, 306 were cited for serious deficiencies including physical and mental abuse. (AARP)

2015- 17,466 nursing home violations reported less than a quarter percent, ONLY 40 (.23%) were sanctioned!

2014 – 18,900 nursing home violations reported less than a quarter percent, ONLY 39 (.21%) were sanctioned!

Texas’ 28 largest cities, including Dallas, had a greater percentage of their population uninsured than collective United States. (texmed.org)

WOMEN'S HEALTH & RIGHTS

I support the United States Constitution and the rights afforded to individuals in the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. I will stand up for the women of House District 102 against laws that would take away the right of a woman's access to healthcare and choices concerning her body. As your Representative last session, we worked together and increased women's healthcare funding by 24.3% from the previous biennium. I believe healthcare is a right--people should feel secure knowing they don’t have to choose between paying the mortgage or paying their medical bills. I believe mothers should have access to quality pre and postnatal care and not fear dying due to a lack of healthcare.

SENSIBLE GUN VIOLENCE REFORM

Regardless of what the gun lobby believes, public safety and the 2nd amendment are not mutually exclusive. Above all, Texans deserve better. As a gun owner myself, I will always strive to work with my community and my colleagues in the House to stand for public safety and common-sense gun legislation that will keep our neighbors, students, congregations, and every single Texan safe from senseless gun violence. As your State Representative last session, I introduced HB 1713 which required that any person convicted of an offense involving family violence, a felony or is subject to a protective order to surrender any firearm in their possession. I also sponsored a bill that would tighten rules on firearm sales at gun shows. If re-elected I will continue my work to get these bills passed and work to pass significant legislation like Universal Background Checks.

ENVIRONMENT

Texas has grown to become the national leader in wind power, but our work is not done yet. As a state, we have the chance to become the nation's leader in green energy. The two fastest-growing jobs in America last year were solar and wind installers. In HD102 alone, we have over 2,990 clean energy jobs, and it’s time we bring more of these jobs to Texans - especially in the wake of COVID-19.

We must support the goals of the Green Texas Act to ensure we quickly work together to move towards 100% renewable energy, increase our energy efficiency goals, and protect our front-line communities facing the immediate effects.

The Texas House is OUR house, and nothing should ever get in the way of that. Protecting Texans and protecting the environment go hand and hand - the cleaner the air is, the healthier the people are. I will ensure that we eliminate illegal pollution practices that place Texans at risk. I will continue to hold oil companies accountable and I pledge to not accept campaign contributions from big fossil fuel industries and lobbyists whose goal is to expand their business at the expense of people and the environment.

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

Texas taxpayers are continuing their commitment to build stronger, flourishing communities. In Dallas County, our property taxes fund our local schools, community colleges, and county hospital, Parkland. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled legislature’s mantra is “politics before people,” as evidenced in its failure to strengthen communities and its burden-shifting scheme.

Texas’ salaries are not keeping up with property tax increases. As property valuations increase, property taxes increase. Instead of providing property owners tax relief due to high property valuations or using additional resources to invest in our future, the Texas GOP has reduced the state’s economic burden and shifted it to you.

Today, retirees, individuals on fixed incomes, and middle-class families are struggling to keep up with rising property taxes. Homeowners are increasingly faced with hard choices: either pay rising property taxes and live in want or surrender your homestead and move out. With skyrocketing healthcare costs, increased property taxes, and deteriorating services, everyone is affected!

Why are property taxes increasing, but the quality of services are not?

During the last ten years, the Texas GOP has decreased its investment in education by 12%, forcing property owners to fill in the gap. Texas public school funding once included a sizable state aid investment of 45%. Today, the state is dropping its economic obligation onto you.

Additionally, instead of providing affordable and accessible healthcare to all Texans, the Texas GOP has denied poor and working-class families preventive healthcare, forcing them to rely on expensive emergency care at county hospitals. This emergency care is subsidized by our property taxes.

We can no longer allow the Texas GOP to destroy our future growth by crippling our present progress.

The government belongs to the people, and the decisions made by these people will determine whether children enjoy a future of abundance and growth or that of deprivation and stagnation. What kind of future do you want?