Governor’s race
Governor’s race
Written by Rachel Youens Saturday, 07 October 2006
This governor’s race has been so loaded with name changes, cigar smoke and mud slinging that it’s hard to see through it all to the real campaign facts.
Community Impact has chosen to focus on three issues closest to our Cedar Park and Leander readers to help them make informed decisions for their families and businesses: The Trans-Texas Corridor, education and property tax.
The Trans-Texas Corridor will cut its way through some of the state’s richest farm land, but can the state really afford to not let the roads grow with the population? Voters need to understand the candidates’ position on the subject in order to make an educated vote.
The TAKS test has been criticized as failing students and forcing educators to teach to a test. It is up to the voter to decide which candidates offer a viable option.
This year’s race will go down in history as one of the most colorful, but it could become one of the State’s most important.
Rick Perry
Republican (Incumbent)
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/
The SH130 toll road was one of Perry’s biggest 2002 campaign promises, and he is the only gubernatorial candidate in full support of the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Strayhorn’s camp has accused Perry of pushing back the road’s official opening date so that voters don’t come to the polls with toll fees on their mind, but Perry’s spokesman denies this. Lower property taxes are another of Perry’s pet issues. He has signed a three year property tax reduction law that will cut school property tax 33 percent.
Perry continues to push the importance of the TAKS test with personalized study guides to help high school students pass the TAKS and graduate. He also made into law the recommendation by the State Board of Education requiring that high schools students complete four years of math, English, science and history.
Carole Strayhorn
Independent
http://www.carolestrayhorn.com/
Strayhorn is not a supporter of the Trans-Texas Corridor project, because foreign company Cintra is building it, and because it claims private property as eminent domain. Her solutions include improving existing roadways, utilizing railways from the coast to Central Texas and easing commutes with staggered work times and telecommuting.
The Texas Federation of Teachers, and the Texas State Teachers Association have endorsed Strayhorn, and some of her education initiatives include vetoing any legislation for vouchers and giving schools $8 billion in funding from sources such as video lottery.
To bring property tax relief to the disabled and elderly, Strayhorn has proposed a freeze on any tax increase, and plans a ten percent across-the-board reduction.
Chris Bell
Democrat
Bell has said publicly that if he wins, he would “slam the brakes” on the Trans-Texas Corridor plan, and bring all the facts to light (such as what the exact agreement was between the state and construction group Cintra) before moving forward.
After the struggles in this year’s legislature about school funding, Bell’s solution is to remove the politics and create a bipartisan commission to come to common ground on education issues. Bell wants to take some of the fear out of the TAKS test by administering a diagnostic TAKS at the beginning of the school year to assess what students have retained and what needs to be taught. As a Houston city council member, Bell helped pass the city’s first property tax rate cut, and intends to lower property taxes in Texas by instituting a broad-based business tax.
James Werner
Libertarian
While he does believe that improving roads will attract more money into Texas, Werner does not fully agree with the execution of the Trans-Texas Corridor, and thinks those who have had their land seized should be offered shares in the private company, which will run the roads.
Werner is the only candidate to advocate school vouchers, and believes that rather than starving schools of funding, it will result in education being treated like a consumer product that only improves from competition.
Werner wants to get rid of all business and personal taxes in favor of the Texas Fair Tax, which would set a sales tax rate of 8 to 10 percent which would raise enough revenue to cover all the state’s existing expenditures.
Kinky Friedman
Independent
His strong belief that politicians should not be beholden to donors or companies has led him to oppose to the Trans-Texas Corridor. If elected he wants to put current plans on hold and send them back to the legislature for reworking.
Friedman has pointed to the amount of money being put into Texas government surplus as the reason property taxes are rising, and plans to mend it by putting a cap on current appraisals at three percent rather than the current ten.
To end the problem of school funding, Friedman would legalize casino gambling and take private sponsorship for sports programs and then use the incoming money to raise teacher salaries.
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