PAM BAGGETT FOR TEXAS
House District 19
LET'S CONNECT!
PRIORITIES
RED or BLUE?
It doesn’t matter if we vote issues and not parties.
The vast number of issues facing Texas can be overwhelming. Everything is important and most are interlinked, but I want to know which of the following are your priorities.
Protect Water, Air, and Energy
Whether it’s air, water, or the ground under our feet, our world is changing. How often do we claim the change if for the good? Every part of House District 19 is growing and that also means change.
Fund Teaching, Teachers, and Staff
Every student deserves an equal opportunity to learn
If we want to hire and retain qualified teachers, we must pay competitive salaries. This doesn’t mean competitive with other school districts, it means competitive with other professional fields that require the same education, certification, and experience. As teachers leave in droves, this is even more important. Plus, they deserve to look forward to an adequate retirement income.
Protect Children
Twice now a federal court has ordered Texas to step up and provide the care and protection these children deserve. It’s not a stretch to say the children and the families they came from suffered severe and persistent mental health conditions.
Increase Healthcare Funding
Right now, millions of your federal tax dollars are being doled out to help uninsured people in other states. Gov. Abbott repeatedly has declined Medicaid funds, even with our staggering number of uninsured citizens. He and his cohorts turned it down because it came via the “abominable Obamacare.” And that’s despite the feds contributing 90 cents for every 10 cents the state applied to uninsured healthcare.
Restore Reproductive Rights and Reduce Maternal Mortality
Texas has both the highest uninsured rate and approximately 20 out of every 1,000 births result in maternal morbidity, including death. We don’t have numbers on these infants born with disabilities. Do you see the connection?
Support Law Enforcement
An extraordinary percent of calls for police help are for persons with untreated mental health issues. With adequate access to mental health care, police calls would be reduced significantly, thereby reducing their workload.
Reform Criminal Justice
Prison is no substitute for psychiatric treatment. Access to mental health services is yet another benefit to the criminal justice system. Depending on the transgression, the court can order parole with the requirement to see a mental health provider. Ideally, the court could send the individual for in-patient treatment.
Expand and Protect Voting Rights
VOTE BY MAIL
Have you tried to vote by mail? An amazingly large number of applications are being denied for one of the many new criteria set by the 2021 Legislature. These technical errors are confusing potential voters to the point some won’t vote at all, plus county election offices are overwhelmed with determining errors and returning applications.
Return Local Control
Gov. Abbott is the first to holler if the federal government tells him what to do, yet he has no problem telling local governments what to do, especially if they disagree with his arbitrary dictates. He frequently makes pronouncements outside authority and not backed by law.
