First, a list of what Burrows states he believes in and then my interpretation of his actions for these issues.
Government Spending / TaxesHe states that he wants the Texas Government to spend on needs, not wants. He also states to return the tax dollars to the people.
Well, in the 86th legislative session, they created an even bigger budget for the state of Texas, some on some much-needed issues, but a lot on wanted items. A larger budget is not being fiscally responsible.
Also, he allowed the cities around Texas to raise taxes to an all-time high, just a year before he enacted a cap on cities and counties for property taxes. while in the long run, this may save taxpayers dollars, the current situation is costing taxpayers more.
He also caused cities and counties to try to get their county funding through other means, instead of property taxes. For example, fees on the local utility bills, or city taxes. The cities and counties did this to survive.
With the current tax rate, even if cities and towns adopted the same tax rate that has been in effect for 4-5 years, this was above the cap that Burrows helped pass and caused elections to roll back tax rates to the capped amount. Thus costing the counties more money, because of the cost of having an election. and who pays these fees? The taxpayers, of course!
Thus, in turn, cutting the funding to counties and cities in Texas. Some counties have had to cut much-needed budgets for road maintenance, libraries, museums, and senior centers because of this.
Burrows stated in the recording that he hates cities and counties, and this proves it. He did nothing to help the local people in towns across Texas, in fact, he hurt and cut much-needed resources for the counties he claims to care about.
Healthcare He claims that insurance and medical care prices are too expensive and he will do everything he can to ensure that the people of Texas have access to the medical care that they need.
Well, I agree, healthcare in Texas is expensive, and while most cannot afford the care or insurance that they need, he did nothing to help them.
First, he cut Medicaid funding by 900 million dollars for 2020-2021, while forcing Medicaid to pay the full amounts being charged by hospitals. Instead of the formula percentage that in the past they would have to pay.
He voted NO to expanded Medicaid in the state of Texas and stopped thousands of hard-working low-income families from having access to Medicaid.
After the 86th legislative session ended, many rural hospitals closed down, in West Texas, and all over Texas, due to lack of funds and help from the state. Leaving many individuals without a job, or even worse having to travel many miles just to go to a hospital.
Yeah, he has done so much for the people involving healthcare, does he also hate people, the same as he hates cities and counties?
Border Security I agree, that we need better border security, and we need to do what we can to vet the people coming over the border to keep illegals out, but in turn, allowing honest hard-working immigrants a chance to come to Texas if they choose.
We need to allow asylum seekers access to get away from the terrible conditions they live in.
But this is not what he means. Burrows's goals are to stop all immigrants coming into Texas. He even wants to take control of cities and counties yet again, in his statement "We must also stop allowing our Texas Cities to advertise themselves as “Sanctuary Cities”, he wants to control what a city does involving immigrants.
This is not caring for the people of Texas, this is yet again Government control over towns to get what he 'wants'.
Enforce the 10th AmendmentFirst, Burrows states "Texas’ right has been trampled on by the Federal government, and we must fight to restore it." he is talking about the federal government stopping immigrants from crossing the border. He is talking about the Federal Government saying states need to expand their Medicaid. He is talking about The federal government and how they are wrong for taking over a state.
Secondly, let's see. he claims he wants the same things when it comes to immigrants. Then the medical thing, he disagreed with the federal government on stating Texas needed to expand Medicaid, the campaigns he wants Medicaid expansion, but he Votes no on any bills to expand Medicaid.
Lastly, he claims he doesn't want the Federal Government to control Texas, and it's time to take it back. The problem with this is simple, he wants the federal government to step out, but he is wanting to control the cities and counties and does not want the local government to have power. He wants to be the one in control.
EducationI must admit the 86th did, in fact, better the school finances, but in turn not for the current cycle, and not for all schools.
With the passing of the School Finance Reform Bill, they funded schools for teacher pay increases and better schools.
But the reality is, most school districts got the blunt end of this funding. Let me explain, larger districts, for example, Lubbock, Dallas, Etc. gave their teachers a five to six thousand dollar raise per year. What they said when they passed this bill was that teachers across Texas would get a four thousand dollar raise.
Larger districts were able to give their Teachers this four to six thousand raise, but most school districts were not allocated the funds to do this.
Some school districts took other funding to add to this funding, just to give the promised four thousand a year raise.
While other districts got very little funding, for example, rural areas in Texas, and were only able to split it up in a formula. Most teachers got somewhere between five hundred and fifteen hundred yearly raise. well below the promised four thousand.
Smaller rural towns were hurt by this, and most teachers moved out of these rural areas into a bigger school district just to get more pay.
This created many problems, one, if the teacher stayed at their current school, this forced these teachers to have to make ends meet, and many by getting a second job. Or in most cases, left the school districts without teachers, because these teachers went to a district with better pay.
In Closing
Burrows has proven, that in fact, he does hate cities and towns, but he has also proven he hates the people of Texas also.I stand for Expanding Texas Medicaid and allowing many hard-working low-income families to have insurance that they desperately need.
I stand for legal immigration and allowing hard-working families access to Texas to call their home.
I stand for equality, no matter the race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
I stand for allowing Local governments to control their cities and counties, there is no need for state control, as this is what the local governments are for. If the people in a town are not happy with their local government, this is what elections are for, to elect the most qualified person to represent them.
I stand for bettering our school system, better long term funding, and equal pay for the work that all teachers and counselors do in these schools. I will make sure schools have the resources that they need every year.
I stand for bettering the economy, getting a fair working wage for all families. I stand for bettering the poverty levels all across Texas, especially rural areas.
Most important of all, I stand for the PEOPLE, The people are what makes Texas great, not it's leaders. We need to give the people what they need, we need to listen to our constituents and act on their behalf, not our own selfless wants.