Jobs and Economic Growth

I have and will continue to provide the leadership Austin needs to bring new jobs and economic growth to our community.  Working with leaders in the Mesquite and Sunnyvale business communities, I will make sure we keep burdensome government regulations in check, and get our fair share of transportation funds to reduce traffic for commuters.  I will fight unfair taxes on Texas businesses to ensure we’re creating high-skill, high-wage jobs.

Family Values

I am a proud, dedicated pro-life conservative.  When liberals in Austin start pushing their radical agendas, they’ll have a fight on their hands. 

During the 80th legislative session, I co-authored and passed:

• The Castle Doctine, which increases Texan's rights to use force when protecting their property;
• Jessica's Law, which significantly increases penalties for child predators;
• a bill preventing the fraudulent use of a child's identifying information;
• a bill to uphold the parents right to decide if their daughters should receive a papilloma virus vaccination;
• a bill to add "under God" to the Texas state pledge of allegiance.

I also authored and passed a bill closing a loophole in the public information law that required municipalities to release certain information of minor children. 

As I have demonstrated, you can count on me to stand firm for Texas families and the values that have made our state great, including traditional marriage and rights of the unborn.

Tax Relief

I know that property taxes are a major burden and a growing concern for many of you.  We must continue to reduce taxes by cutting spending and limiting the size of government.

In one of the most important votes during the 80th legislative session, I supported the largest property tax cut in state history.  The Texas House vote is a historic milestone in our effort to reduce property taxes, increase state education funding and limit local government growth.

I also co-authored and passed a bill to eliminate the telecommunications infrastructure fund tax from local phone bills.

In contrast, it seems that some are always talking about higher taxes – especially a state income tax – and more spending.  I strongly oppose efforts by liberal politicians to increase the size of government and raise taxes to fund unnecessary and wasteful programs.

Illegal Immigration

Operation Border Control:   Thomas Latham with Col. Tommy Davis, Director of Texas Department of Public Safety (now retired)

The politicians in Washington have not done their job of protecting Texas¹ borders, so it¹s our responsibility to take charge and protect our families. Currently, illegal immigrants are overwhelming our public schools, hospitals and social services costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Whether it is with troops on the border or prison time for illegals, we need to do whatever it takes to protect our borders.

In the Legislature, I supported and passed a bill to strengthen border patrols and fight border crimes, including human smuggling and trafficking

And, we need to develop a more efficient manner of managing LEGAL immigration, to best help those who come here legally to contribute to our society, help our business community, pay taxes and assimilate into our culture. Since Washington has failed, Texas needs to get tough on ILLEGAL immigration. It¹s a matter of personal, state and national security.

Education

To compete in the global marketplace for good jobs and smart citizens, we need to better finance education – not the band-aid approach promoted down in Austin.  That means listening to the people on the front lines –- parents, teachers, students, and administrators – and working with people on both sides of the aisle to develop reasonable, practical solutions to fairly support and improve our schools.  To succeed, we need people with the courage and leadership to LISTEN and ACT.  The first step is to reduce the state’s reliance on local property taxes, giving tax relief to Texas homeowners.  We also need to maintain local control of our schools, cut burdensome paperwork on teachers, ensure that more state resources end up in local classrooms, and reward innovation and excellence in our schools. 

I was honored to be selected, from among 27 possible state representatives and nine senators, by the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) as the Region 10 Legislator of the Year. The award is presented annually to one member of the state legislature who has demonstrated a record of supporting public school education. Legislators are nominated for the award, and voting records are evaluated based on their support of educational issues before one legislator is named to win the award.

The ATPE points to several efforts which led to their decision to select him for the award.

"He co-authored Jessica’s Law, increasing penalties for child predators. He also co-authored a bill preventing fraudulent use of a child’s personal directory information, a bill to increase the penalty for graffiti, a bill preventing the governor from mandating every girl receive papillomavirus vaccination, a bill to make it unlawful to use or exhibit firearms in school parking lots or buses, and a bill to renew the Texas Tomorrow Fund.

"He also authored a bill providing continuing education opportunities for truancy magistrates and another bill closing a loophole in public education law that had required municipalities to release certain personal information of minors involved in city programs, an issue raised by the city of Mesquite. He also fought to increase teacher pay and pass the largest tax cut in Texas history. Also, his family began Friends of Texas Public Schools to promote positive successes of public schools."

Public Safety

When I was growing up, our community was a place where we could count on our neighbors, often as much as we could count on our own families.  Kids could ride their bicycles down the street and folks would call out to say hello or tell them to get home. Adults knew whether kids were where they were supposed to be…or not.

After almost forty decades of service and leadership in a police department, I have developed ideas about how our legislature can help police officers serve and protect you.  While in the Legislature, I supported legislation to do just that.

• The Castle Doctrine, which I co-authored, allows homeowners and citizens to defend themselves with deadly force if necessary. We dropped the requirement for victims to retreat before using deadly force. We also provided some assurance that innocent people who act in self-defense are less likely to be charged with a crime.
• I supported and passed legislation regarding law enforcement communications interoperability, to provide integrated statewide mutual aid response capacity between local government entities. 
• I supported measures that will help volunteer police and firefighters cover medical costs for injuries sustained in the line of duty. I also supported legislation that gives volunteer fire departments an exemption from the state motor fuels tax.
• The Legislature passed two bills that I co-authored which will provide stronger penalties and more prevention initiatives for specific crimes. I plan to continue working on legislation that will give law enforcement more ways to ensure that the punishment fits the crime.

Our district is one of the fastest growing areas of Dallas County, and we need to keep up with the growing public safety concerns.  I want to make sure our own children and grandchildren can play outside in safe and secure neighborhoods, like we did when we were young.