Issue Position: Recover Our Health and Our Economy From Covid-19

Issue Position

The Governor has failed to lead. His orders have come too late, have commanded too little adaptation and have cost too many lives. He will continue blaming his failure on others until we remove him from office.

Meanwhile, locals have stepped in with decisions and dollars. But locals cannot sustain these efforts and investments indefinitely. This is an All-Hands-on-Deck moment requiring federal, state and local partnership.

Healthy Recovery -- accessible, dependable and portable healthcare for every adult and child.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation -- nearly 18% in 2018 compared to a national average of just 8.5%. With over 1 million Texans filing for unemployment benefits in the first weeks of the pandemic, the numbers of Texans who are uninsured has worsened.

Take Medicaid and get Texas and Texans the health resources necessary to rebound and prosper. This is no time to play political games with people's health.

Make access to Medicaid, SNAP and CHIP as easy as Venmo or ApplePay. Actively reach out to eligible Texans, trust them and help them get on and stay on Medicaid, SNAP and CHIP as long as needed. Outreach and easy enrolment pay for themselves in healthy Texans ready to contribute to the prosperity of their families and their communities.

Expand telehealth options through universal broadband. Shockingly, one third of Texas counties do not have public local health departments or hospitals. Through federal, state and local partnership (particularly with public schools), expand broadband fiber, equipment and training so that every Texan, no matter where they live, has an electronic option for healthcare as well as education, training and teleworking.

Put the power of healthcare information in the hands of the patients. Our system of care is fragmented. Too many Texans go in and out of jobs and hence in and out of insurance. Necessary care is interrupted. Records don't follow the patient resulting in costly duplications of care and administration. State's across the nation and many European countries have robust and secure Health Information Exchanges through which patients can manage and compare their care no matter who their provider is. And through anonymized analysis, public health researchers can chart our overall progress and weaknesses and make policy recommendations for improvement. If Arizona and Oklahoma can succeed with Health Information Exchanges, so can Texas

Economic Recovery -- Overhaul how and who pays taxes so that the burdens and benefits are shared fairly between working families and working businesses as we dig out of COVID together.

If there is a silver lining in a pandemic, it's the vivid illustration that you cannot be pro-business without being pro-people. The people and the businesses of Texas will need healthcare, education and training, childcare, and investment in transportation and supply chains to rebuild opportunity. Where will we get the money?

The people and businesses that have weathered the pandemic best are those that adapted to the facts. The State should learn to do the same. First, acknowledge the fact that, even before COVID-19, revenues of the State were inadequate to provide the basic resources guaranteed by our Constitution.

Next, adapt to those facts by taxing appropriately to support business, workers, and customers in a sustained fashion. We should certainly utilize one-time dollars from the Rainy Day Fund and Federal Stimulus to shorten this crisis. But one-time dollars are no substitute for sustainable on-going revenues.

Expand sales tax to cover Professional Services like accounting and legal representation. Without an income tax, this may be the closest we can get to targeting a sales tax increase to consumers most able to shoulder the burden.
Update gasoline and diesel tax rates and combine them with toll revenues for investment in carbon reducing transit and broadband. Cars and trucks are more fuel efficient and gas and diesel prices are down. Now is the time to index fuel taxes to inflation and combine them with tolls and other user taxes that can capture and fund increases in alternative transportation of goods, people, services and information.
Convert the local option homestead exemption to a flat rate rather than a percentage. At the current percentage cap of 20%, Richey Rich with his $1M home does not have to pay property taxes on $200,000 of his home's value. While Poor Paul with his $100,000 home is relieved of taxes on only $20,000 in value. If the local option Homestead Exemption were capped at a flat $100,000 in value, Richey Rich and Poor Paul would get equivalent tax relief in dollars. But those dollars would mean much more to Poor Paul's budget than Richey Rich's.
Update alcohol and tobacco product tax rates and include legalized personal use marijuana among taxable tobacco products. Aside from medicinal uses, these consumer goods are at least non-essential and, in most cases should be discouraged.
Phase out ineffective tax breaks for industries that do not need encouragement, do not assist in a core mission of government, or slow our transition to climate resilience. Tax rebates to attract national and international headquarters are largely ineffective. Trust funds for leisure and entertainment ventures that are not evaluated on the basis of direct job creation are not core missions of government. And, tax supports for fossil fuels are slowing our transition to carbon neutral energy sources.
Divest from militarized over-policing, federalized immigration and border surveillance, and incarcerations that perpetuate rather than treat mental health and substance use disorders.

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