Local Autonomy: Austin as Costco, Not Command Center
Turning Austin Into Costco: Bulk Savings for Rural Communities
What if instead of dictating to our towns, Austin acted like Costco—negotiating bulk rates on infrastructure, equipment, and services so our communities could afford what we need? What if instead of building more toll roads around big cities, we invested in the rural roads that keep Texas running?
Protecting What Makes Texas, Texas
The "Texas First" Procurement Rule: State-funded infrastructure must use 50% Texas-made materials, 30% American-made, and 20% or less foreign-made. Our infrastructure should create local jobs and be built with Texas hands.
Save the Family Ranch: Constitutional amendment to protect generational land from unfair eminent domain seizures. We'll create property tax exemptions for retired first responders, teachers, and veterans while eliminating exemptions for for-profit corporations.
Community Choice in Public Projects: Let local communities choose between universities and preferred state subcontractors for infrastructure planning and execution. You know your needs better than any bureaucrat in Austin.
Invest in What Works: Grants for churches and nonprofits to address poverty, addiction, and hunger in their communities. They were feeding my junior enlistees when the state failed during disasters—let's fund what already works.
On First Responders: "We can't make technology idiot-proof, but we can equip our first responders to save the idiots." That's why I'll push for state-level health coverage for teachers and first responders, with better plans and lower local tax burdens.
On Infrastructure: We keep the big cities running, not the other way around. It's time our roads, bridges, and broadband reflected that reality.
Over a decade with the Texas Air National Guard showed me a hard truth: when disaster strikes, Austin fails and rural communities save themselves. I watched Republican neglect leave our infrastructure crumbling roads, water systems, broadband, while corporate tax breaks flowed to big cities. When the power grid collapsed, when floods came, when wildfires raged, it wasn't politicians who stepped up. It was volunteer firefighters, small-town churches, and neighbors helping neighbors.
HD-59 doesn't need Austin's permission to thrive. We need Austin out of the way.