Public School Education

Education is a priority for Wendy, and she looks forward to finding solutions to the problems that our schools are facing. She will fight to ensure that teachers have the resources they need to do the best possible job in the classroom. Wendy will also make certain that our teachers receive the pay and benefits they deserve so that we can recruit and retain the best and the brightest to teach our children.  Wendy believes that our schools should be a funding priority, and operate with the goal of preparing our children for success in the real world, not just to pass the next standardized test. Wendy has been endorsed by the Texas State Teachers Association, the United Educators Association of Texas, and the American Federation of Teachers.

Access to College

As the first person in her family to graduate from college, Wendy understands the extensive opportunity provided by a higher education. Unfortunately, Wendy’s opponent voted to deregulate college tuition in Texas, a decision which has led to a 112% tuition rate increase on average statewide. Wendy is concerned about skyrocketing tuition rates that are making it hard for middle-class families to afford college, and she will work hard to bring those tuition rates back in line. While on the Fort Worth City Council, Wendy worked with the Summerbridge program, a program with the goal of increasing access to education for students with high potential who otherwise may not be able to afford it. Wendy believes that we should work to provide all Texas students the opportunity to attend college and further their education.

Utility Rates

Wendy believes that the burden of our utility rates can and must be lightened. Take a moment to think back to six years ago, before the current Texas legislature, including Wendy’s opponent, voted to deregulate the utility industry. At that time, Texas had one of the lowest average electricity rates in the nation. Since then, utility companies have seen profits skyrocket and Texans now pay the highest utility rates in the nation. The promises of deregulation have not been realized, and Texas families are feeling the effects of the high prices. Wendy wants to protect Texas families from predatory utility companies by returning legislative oversight to the industry, and bringing Texas electricity rates back down to at least the national average.

Homeowner's Insurance Rates

 Rising homeowner’s insurance rates are a growing financial burden on the families of Tarrant County, and Wendy will work to ease this burden when in the Texas Senate. Texas homeowners are forced to pay some of the highest insurance rates in the country for the least coverage, because there is very little oversight in the industry. Wendy’s opponent, himself a wealthy insurance executive, has voted at every opportunity with the current Texas legislature to enrich the insurance companies at Texas families’ expense, making Texas the highest-cost and highest-profit insurance climate in the nation. For example, he voted for the “file and use” system, whereby insurance companies are allowed to arbitrarily raise rates without immediate state oversight. Wendy will fight against failed policies and practices like these that currently allow insurance companies to take unfair advantage of hard working Texans.

Children's Health Insurance

Wendy will work to ensure that all children in Texas have access to affordable, quality health care. In 2003, Wendy’s opponent voted for a bill that removed more than 230,000 Texas children off the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by changing the eligibility requirements. To make matters worse, Texas also lost millions of dollars in Federal funding that was devoted to the CHIP program. This Federal matching funding has now been diverted to other uses, when it could have been helping keep the children of Texas healthy. Shortchanging our children in the name of budget cuts is not an acceptable compromise. Wendy believes that even in the hardest financial times, the last programs to be cut should be those that benefit our children, our future.

Transportation

Wendy is known as a leader in the transportation arena, having served for 8 years on the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council. The former chair of that group, Wendy believes that the future of Texas transportation lies in a balanced system including more efficient road and land use planning, supplemented by regional rail and other modes. Wendy also believes that the current trend toward privatization of roadways through toll networks and land-grabs, such as the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, must be reversed. Wendy will work toward a transportation system that is accessible and fair to all Texans, without unnecessary tolls or abuse of eminent domain.

Economy and Jobs

While on the Fort Worth City Council, Wendy built a proven record of working to build a vibrant economy and a healthy community. Wendy has been consistently recognized as a leader in economic development, and has shown she is willing to put politics aside to help solve the problems we face. As chair of the Central City Revitalization and Economic Development Committee, Wendy worked to create new jobs for Tarrant County and enhance our quality of life. Wendy will work just as hard in the State Senate, ensuring a better economic future for all Texans.

Environment

As a state senator, Wendy will work toward public policies to promote a clean and healthy environment because she believes it is not only an issue of public health, but also a moral obligation. One of today’s most pressing public health issues is right under our collective noses: the dirty air Tarrant County families are breathing. While North Texas continues to be in nonattainment with EPA air quality standards, pollution-related health problems are on the rise. The asthma rates among young children, for example, have more than doubled in the last 20 years. Wendy Davis will work hard to advance policies that promote a healthy environment. Our future generations deserve nothing less.

Crime and Drugs

Wendy believes that Texans have a right to feel safe in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools, and that problems like crime must be attacked from both sides. Tarrant County is lucky to have the dedicated public servants employed by our local police forces. Wendy feels a responsibility to give our hard-working officers the tools and resources they need to respond to crime with maximum efficiency, and also to seek out the root causes of crime and work to prevent it before it happens. Our police officers stand up for the residents of Tarrant County every day, and Wendy will stand up for them when she is in the Texas Senate.

True Representation