I Will Continue to be Your Advocate in Austin
Leadership sometimes means making tough choices and fighting hard fights. I am appreciative of the support and the confidence you have placed in me as your State Senator from District 8.
With you standing at my side, I have committed myself to being a principled fighter for the citizens of District 8.
Our community was shocked when a young girl was abducted from a Plano park in full view of hundreds of people by a known sex offender that the state was not keeping track of. The families of Collin County realized that the State of Texas was failing on one of its primary responsibilities - to protect our children from harm. I delivered this message to Austin, fought the bureaucracy that had created this disconnect and spearheaded the effort to pass a comprehensive set of laws to protect our children.
I again took my place on the battle front when the state of Texas responded to a loss in court to liberal educational forces with a flawed, unfair proposal to fund school districts in Texas by taking from wealthy districts and giving those dollars to poor districts through a "Robin Hood" system of School funding. As a freshman legislator at that time, I cast the only "NO" vote in the Senate Education Committee against Robin Hood because it would be unfair and do great harm to both the taxpayers and school children in our district.
In 2007, the Texas Senate was faced with a final vote on a state budget that was full of earmarks and special items for higher education causing unnecessary spending. I stood on the floor of the Senate and debated my colleagues on the merits of showing taxpayers that we had regard for their hard earned dollars. The Senate did not remove earmarks, so I cast a no vote on the state budget that year.
If you will send me back to Austin as your State Senator in January, I pledge to take my spirit and apply it to the battle looming on the budget. The time has come for Texas to set and fund priorities and rein in expansive government and its spending.
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