Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

Dear fellow Fort Worth Democrat,

Fort Worth area Republicans voted for a last minute school finance plan that would have cut $4 billion from Texas school districts – meaning $800 less for every student. We’re proud of our Democratic lawmakers who fought against those cuts and kept that plan from passing. Democrats proposed instead using some of the $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund or closing billion dollar oil and gas tax loopholes.

Instead, Republican legislators voted to cut $212,676,058 from Tarrant County school districts. You can see how much would be cut from each Tarrant County ISD here.

It’s hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the immensity of a dollar figure like $212 million. Here’s how big that education cut is, in terms that really hit home:

With $212 million, you could:

• pay the salaries of 5,888 teachers, or
• rebuild the Amon G. Carter TCU stadium again, with tons of money to spare.

Today, the Republican-controlled legislature began a special session to continue the school finance debate – and they can choose to fund our schools rather than make our children pay for their deficit budget.

Let the Republicans know that they made the wrong decision the first time, and you want them to get their priorities straight and support our local school districts. You can find your Representative’s and Senator’s contact information by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Sarah Joyner
Comptroller
Texas Democratic Party

Dear San Antonian,

San Antonio area Republicans voted for a last minute school finance plan that would have cut $4 billion from Texas school districts – meaning $800 less for every student. We’re proud of our Democratic lawmakers who fought against those cuts and kept that plan from passing. Democrats proposed instead using some of the $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund or closing billion dollar oil and gas tax loopholes.

Instead, Republican legislators voted to cut $254,507,396.00 from Bexar County school districts. You can see how much would be cut from each Bexar County ISD here.

It’s hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the immensity of a dollar figure like $254 million. Here’s how big that education cut is, in terms that really hit home:

With $254 million, you could:

• pay the salaries of 7,055 teachers, or
• build another Alamodome and have cash left over!!

Today, the Republican-controlled legislature began a special session to continue the school finance debate – and they can choose to fund our schools rather than make our children pay for their deficit budget.

Let the Republicans know that they made the wrong decision the first time, and you want them to get their priorities straight and support our local school districts. You can find your Representative’s and Senator’s contact information by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Anthony Gutierrez
Deputy Executive Director
Texas Democratic Party

Dear Fellow Houstonian,

Houston area Republicans voted for a last minute school finance plan that would have cut $4 billion from Texas school districts – meaning $800 less for every student. We’re proud of our Democratic lawmakers who fought against those cuts and kept that plan from passing. Democrats proposed instead using some of the $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund or closing billion dollar oil and gas tax loopholes.

Instead, Republican legislators voted to cut $539,648,203 from Houston school districts. You can see how much would be cut from each Harris County ISD here.

It’s hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the immensity of a dollar figure like $539 million. Here’s how big that education cut is, in terms most Houstonians can relate to:

With $539 million you could:

• pay the salaries of 14,972 teachers; or
• pay the salaries for the entire 2011/2012 Houston Rockets roster…11 TIMES OVER. Or;
• build TWO MORE Minute Maid Parks or FIVE George R. Brown Centers.

Today, the Republican-controlled legislature began a special session to continue the school finance debate – and they can choose to fund our schools rather than make our children pay for their deficit budget.

Let the Republicans know that they made the wrong decision the first time, and you want them to get their priorities straight and support our local school districts. You can find your Representative’s and Senator’s contact information by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Sondra Haltom
Political Director
Texas Democratic Party

Dear fellow Dallas Democrat,

Dallas area Republicans voted for a last minute school finance plan that would have cut $4 billion from Texas school districts – meaning $800 less for every student. We’re proud of our Democratic lawmakers who fought against those cuts and kept that plan from passing. Democrats proposed instead using some of the $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund or closing billion dollar oil and gas tax loopholes.

Instead, Republican legislators voted to cut $225,708,262 from Dallas County school districts.

You can see how much would be cut from each Dallas ISD here.

It’s hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the immensity of a dollar figure like $225 million. Here’s how big that education cut is, in terms that really hit home:

With $225 million, you could:

• pay the salaries of 6,250 teachers, or
• buy one $255 Dallas Mavericks NBA playoff game ticket for the entire voting age population of Dallas County

Today, the Republican-controlled legislature began a special session to continue the school finance debate – and they can choose to fund our schools rather than make our children pay for their deficit budget.

Let the Republicans know that they made the wrong decision the first time, and you want them to get their priorities straight and support our local school districts. You can find your Representative’s and Senator’s contact information by clicking here.

Sincerely,

Ruben Hernandez
Executive Director
Texas Democratic Party

Dear fellow El Pasoan,

El Paso Republican State Representative Dee Margo voted for a last minute school finance plan that would have cut $4 billion from Texas school districts – meaning $800 less for every student. We’re proud of our Democratic lawmakers who fought against those cuts and kept that plan from passing. Democrats offered commonsense proposals like using some of the $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day Fund or closing billion dollar oil and gas tax loopholes.

Instead, Republican legislators like Margo voted to cut $112,615,980 from El Paso County school districts. Here’s how much of a cut that would mean to each El Paso ISD.

El Paso $33537721
Ysleta $27858028
Socorro $38070968
Fabens $1192465
Clint $5670171
Anthony $474731
San Elizario $1997065
Canutillo $3095200
Tornillo $719631

You can check those numbers for yourself here.

It’s hard for most of us to wrap our heads around the immensity of a dollar figure like $112 million. Here’s how big that education cut is, in terms most El Pasoans can relate to:

With $112 million, you could:

• pay the salaries of 3,111 teachers, or
• build 409 Sun Bowls!!

Today, the Republican-controlled legislature began a special session to continue the school finance debate – Dee Margo can choose to fund our schools rather than make our children pay for his misplaced priorities.

Let Dee Margo know that he made the wrong decision the first time, and you want him to get his priorities straight and support our local school districts.

State Representative Dee Margo
(512) 463-0728 Capitol Office
(915) 875-0150 District Office
dee.margo@house.state.tx.us
Twitter – @deemargo
Facebook Fan Page

Sincerely,

Anthony Gutierrez
Deputy Executive Director
Texas Democratic Party

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie issued the following statement:

“Last night, Senator Wendy Davis took a courageous stand for Texas students, parents and teachers – and the economic future of our state.

“The legislative session failed to approve a budget not because of a filibuster, but because a GOP majority that had the votes to pass anything they wanted put off action on a terrible school finance plan until the last hours. At the same time, they wasted weeks on bogus partisan agenda that was nothing less than an assault on the rights of women, voters, and consumers.

“By the time the GOP majority rationalized the impact that their budget cuts would have on their local schools, it was too late to pass a Perry-GOP budget that threatened our economic future. The Governor may not know it, but reality is about to rain on his Presidential ambitions a lot harder than using the Rainy Day Fund would have.

“Now a special session will again center on a budget debate that isn’t about numbers alone. A budget is a moral document about our priorities. In their campaigns, the Republicans in charge claim they will fully fund our schools, protect the elderly, and balance the budget, but the deficit budget passed by the GOP broke every one of those promises.

“The proposed GOP 2012-2013 state budget would have killed jobs, caused teacher layoffs and crowded classrooms, forced nursing homes to lay off staff and endanger seniors, and ignored victims of abuse. Yet, while slashing funds for our most important priorities, GOP legislators still found money to propose tax breaks for incredibly wealthy people who purchase a giant yacht worth over a quarter million dollars. It sounded like a joke, but tragically, it was real.

“The GOP’s short-sighted partisan agenda betrayed Texans’ trust, and Texans now have another opportunity to demand that the GOP get their priorities straight and allow a bipartisan effort to pass a more responsible budget during a special session.”

(Austin, TX) – Today, the Texas Democratic Party released the last in a series of “Seven Deadly Budget Cuts.” The Republican budget proposals passed by the House and Senate would drastically cut Texas Veterans Commission counselors who help ensure disabled veterans get the benefits they need. From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

“Texas is home to 1.8 million veterans, second-most in the nation, and thousands every year are leaving the military with back and neck problems, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and blast injuries from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

The article explains that in some areas, the offices that assist disabled veterans are staffed by just one person – and local veterans could be left without anyone to assist them.

“On Memorial Day, we will honor those who fought for our country, but apparently nothing is more sacred to Perry and GOP lawmakers than their own partisan politics, not even caring for wounded veterans,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray.

“The GOP budget is as much a failure as the Republican politicians who created it, and they’ve betrayed disabled veterans, schoolchildren, victims of abuse and the elderly. It’s morally wrong, and Texas Democrats will make sure voters know whose political agenda is to blame for the economic hardships they’re inflicting on our fellow Texans.”

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Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie issued the following statement regarding Monday’s conclusion of the 82^nd legislative session:

“Before this legislative session began, observers were speculating about what it would look like when the most Republican Texas House of Representatives in history took control. The result was a sort of Twilight Zone meets Saturday Night Live, but not really funny at all.

“The awful reality show that was the 82^nd legislative session ended in failure because even though the GOP had the votes to pass anything they wanted, they put off action on the most important issues and spent weeks passing a bogus “emergency” agenda that was an assault on the rights of women, voters, and consumers.

“The proposed GOP 2012-2013 state budget will kill jobs, cause teacher layoffs and crowded classrooms, force nursing homes to lay off staff and endanger seniors, and ignore victims of abuse. Yet, while slashing funds for our most important priorities, the state GOP still found money to propose tax breaks for incredibly wealthy people who purchase a giant yacht worth over a quarter million dollars. It sounded like a joke, but tragically, it was real.

“A budget is a moral document about our priorities. In their campaigns, the Republicans in charge claim they will fully fund our schools, protect the elderly, and balance the budget, but the deficit budget passed by the GOP breaks every promise.

“With the budget finally passed, the Governor will likely go on to his real priority and ignore Texans’ priorities full time. Perry may claim his harmful and unbalanced budget is a success, but the fight for our future has only begun, and Texas Democrats will hold him accountable, here in Texas and wherever he campaigns.”

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(Austin, TX) – Today, the Texas Democratic Party released the last in a series of “Seven Deadly Budget Cuts.” The Republican budget proposals passed by the House and Senate would drastically cut Texas Veterans Commission counselors who help ensure disabled veterans get the benefits they need. From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

“Texas is home to 1.8 million veterans, second-most in the nation, and thousands every year are leaving the military with back and neck problems, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and blast injuries from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

The article explains that in some areas, the offices that assist disabled veterans are staffed by just one person – and local veterans could be left without anyone to assist them.

“On Memorial Day, we will honor those who fought for our country, but apparently nothing is more sacred to Perry and GOP lawmakers than their own partisan politics, not even caring for wounded veterans,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray.

“The GOP budget is as much a failure as the Republican politicians who created it, and they’ve betrayed disabled veterans, schoolchildren, victims of abuse and the elderly. It’s morally wrong, and Texas Democrats will make sure voters know whose political agenda is to blame for the economic hardships they’re inflicting on our fellow Texans.”

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(Austin, TX) – Today, the Texas Democratic Party released the sixth in a series of “Seven Deadly Budget Cuts.” With Republicans in control at all levels of Texas government, the House-passed state budget called for $467 million cut from Child Protective Services – cuts that could be relieved by tapping the Rainy Day Fund, which Rick Perry refuses to allow. The conference committee report restored funding to current levels, but is still far shy of what is needed to maintain the current level of services and provide adequate staff to meet rising caseloads at a time when the average caseworker already works with an average of 65 children.

“Just when you think Rick Perry and Texas lawmakers couldn’t stoop any lower, they tried to cut resources that protect abused and neglected children and pass a budget that will not provide the care and protection they need,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray. “One would think that even a zealous GOP majority would stop before making abused children collateral damage to their partisan politics. Texas Republicans have betrayed our families by failing to protect victims of abuse.”

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