Carole Keeton Strayhorn Online Q & A on the Issues
Strayhorn Offers Long-Term Solutions

Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Dallas Morning News Viewpoints columnist William McKenzie discussed the 2006 Governor's race with readers Thursday.

Viewpoints columnist William McKenzie: It sounds like you've based upon your candidacy on what you are against, like Rick Perry's plans for private toll roads, fast-tracking coal plants and the new business tax to help schools.. But what are you for? What is your vision for Texas?

Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn: This is a campaign of ideas and solutions. I will put Texas first--not the special interests. This means making children and our grandchildren our top priority by having truly great schools, keeping our children healthy, and protecting them. We must give Texans real security, making lifetime sentences for first-time violent sexual predators of our children mandatory, securing our borders, our ports, and our roads, and strengthening economic security for Texas families by lowering insurance rates, electric bills, and giving real property tax cuts. Finally, we need a fiscally responsible government that listens to the people. In the last six years, Texas state government has grown 44 billion dollars and 45 percent. In a Strayhorn Administration, I will reinstitute cost-saving government reviews. As Governor, I will eliminate this Administration’s 300 million dollar taxpayer-funded, corporate-welfare slush funds, and I will eliminate the millions of taxpayer dollars going to D.C. lobbyists.

McKenzie: The largest population change over the next 40 years will come in the number of Texans older than 65. How would you prepare Texas for this change?

Strayhorn: I am a 66-year-old grandma—I’m part of the crowd you are talking about. We must protect the independence and the health of senior citizens. A few weeks ago, I visited with State Demographer, Steve Murdock, and he told me that Texans 65 years and older will increase 300 percent by 2040. One of my first proposals in this campaign was a mandatory freeze and 10 percent reduction in all property taxes, not just school taxes, for our senior citizens—with another 10 percent cut in property taxes every five years thereafter. We need to help seniors plan for long-term care. We need to support our elderly Texans, and our Texans with disabilities, through our families and community services working together. All Texans should be able to afford to live in their own homes safely and with good health care. Texas will be judged on how we treat our most vulnerable Texans. I will not balance the budget on the backs of our children and our frail, elderly.

McKenzie: Young Hispanics also are driving Texas' growth. What are your plans for them?

Strayhorn: I will do for young Hispanics exactly what I will do for all young Texans –give them the top quality education they deserve. That starts with high paid teachers, flipping the TAKS test to the fall and making it a true diagnostic test, and creating TexasNextStep. I have a plan. And I ran on that plan last time for re-elect. And I don’t believe I was the top vote getter in the state based on my good looks. I call it TexasNextStep—I want every Texas high school graduate, once they get that diploma in their hands, to have the opportunity to go on to two-years of a public community college or technical college—with the state picking up the tab for tuition, fees, and books. My goal is crystal clear—I want Texas to have the most educated workforce in the nation. My bottom line—I’d rather spend $2,500 a year educating a young Texan—than $16,000 a year incarcerating that young Texan. We can do this entire program for $150 million a year.

moderator: Reader Jeaton in Fort Worth wants to know: Do you support tax dollars paying for care to illegals other than for emergency rooms and birthing (excluding care before the birth of the child)?

Strayhorn: Let me make my position on illegal immigration crystal clear. I am adamantly opposed to illegal immigration. We must secure our borders, ports, and roads. I do advocate sending the National Guard to protect our Texas border, and I am in favor of a strong and fair immigration plan with fair and just laws for those who want to be here legally. When we solve the problem of illegal immigration, this won't be an issue. I oppose the law the Governor signed in 2001 that gave in state tuition to illegal immigrants for our colleges. Last summer, I fought for one of our fine veterans, Carl Basham, who grew up in Texas and served in Iraq. When he returned he was told he had to pay out-of-state tuition. He went to war for us, so I went to war for him. He is now paying in state tuition, but I worry about all the other Carl Bashams out there.

McKenzie: Instead of a new business activity tax, you would boost school spending through funds from the budget surplus, savings from government efficiencies and allowing video lottery terminals at racetracks. That may work next year, but how can we depend upon risky gambling dollars and one-time revenues to sustain schools over the long-run?

Strayhorn: I have a comprehensive solution. Video lottery terminals are just part of the mix. The first thing we will do is re-instate the e-Texas performance reviews and the school performance reviews which have recommended savings of over 16 billion dollars. We will also close corporate loopholes in the franchise tax law, and eliminate the taxpayer-funded corporate welfare slush funds run by the Governor. We need fiscal responsibility in state government. My plan will bring the state almost 8 billion dollars to pay for vital programs. We have the money to address our needs, but we must have the will to make the smart choices for the long term. I believe in limited government and unlimited opportunity.

McKenzie: Reader Julie writes: As a teacher, I'd like to know specifically what your goals are to help make teaching a better job?

Strayhorn: I started out a public school teacher and I never forget my roots. Our teachers are underpaid and under appreciated. I have repeatedly called for and will implement a $4,000 across-the-board pay raise now, fully funded by the state with a competitive automatic increase every two years. I will fully restore health care supplements to all Texas educators. Money has been taken out of the pockets of our teachers, both active and retired. I will bring educators, financial professionals and representatives from the TRS and ERS to the table to get parity between the two retirement systems. If we had better salaries, health insurance, and a good retirement plan, we'd have no shortage of certified teachers in Texas. I am proud to have the endorsement of the Texas State Teachers Association and the Texas Federation of Teachers--the two largest educator groups in the state. I will flip the TAKS test from the spring to the fall to make it a real diagnostic test so the teachers can teach and the students can learn and retain.

McKenzie: You say you want to shake things up in Austin. How could you do that since you would be an independent occupying an office with weak powers?

Strayhorn: I will be a Governor for all Texans. We need to set aside partisan politics and do what is right for Texas. This governor has so politically fractured this state that we need strong, independent leadership to bring Texans together. I will put principles above politics and we will get things done. A critical change I will make is allowing Texans to vote on the critical issues of the day. We will have Initiative and Referendum in this state. We will put the people back in charge of Austin--not the special interests. Texans will be able to vote on having freeways not tollways, protecting our children by imposing mandatory life sentences on those who sexually abuse our children, securing our borders, and enacting real property tax reductions with a constitutional amendment to protect private property from economic development.

McKenzie: How do you respond to reader Gayle, who writes: "We need a state income tax. Educate the people (about the tax) and make them see that they would save money."

Strayhorn: I have outlined a comprehensive solution that will bring almost 8 billion dollars in new revenue to the state. I am adamantly opposed to a state income tax and I am opposed to the largest tax increase in Texas history signed into law this year. The Governor has proposed and imposed the largest tax increase in our state’s history. 200,000 new businesses now must file or pay taxes. And there is a 200 percent business tax increase—6 billion new tax dollars a year—taxing the very service industries that are driving this economy while we are enjoying the largest budget surplus in history—($8.2 billion dollars). And it includes an unconstitutional income tax on partnerships and unincorporated associations to boot. That tax bill will be repealed in a Strayhorn Administration.

McKenzie: About the new coal plants, you advocate using a new method called "coal gasification," How do you respond to the utilities and others who say the technology's unproven on a large scale for producing energy?

Strayhorn: That's flat wrong. The technology is already being used. We first need to look to clean burning natural gas, wind energy, other renewables and energy conservation using the latest technology to meet our electric needs. I will appoint a clean air advocate to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. And in a Strayhorn administration, we will not fast-track dirty coal plants. Any new coal plants should be based on gasification and use the latest technology and not pollute our children and the elderly and any Texans’ lungs.

McKenzie: It's pretty clear you are opposed to the governor's Trans-Texas Corridor that would parallel I-35. A reader wants to know: "Are there any alternatives you would pursue if elected governor?"

Strayhorn: We can have a freeway system that once was and again will be the envy of the nation. Texans don’t want this Governor cramming toll roads down their throats. We don’t want a foreign company, with a secret contract, taking over Texas land. Texas belongs to Texans, not foreign companies. I am adamantly opposed to the Trans Texas Catastrophe and will blast it off the bureaucratic books when I am Governor. We have 4 billion dollars in Texas Mobility Bonds—An additional 3 billion dollars in revenue bonds (that were approved in 2003), increased federal funds, and increased tax collections at the state level. That means we can have freeways—not tollways. In 1999, a plan was released to use existing right-of-ways along IH-35 to meet our transportation needs through 2025. That plan has been abandoned by this Governor in favor of a massive toll system. That plan is the place to start.