We can and must do a better job of ensuring ALL Americans get the care they need. I support universal healthcare, but the focus on healthcare has been almost exclusively on insurance, and this is only one piece of the complicated healthcare puzzle.

The full picture includes insurers, hospital systems, doctors, allied health, pharmacists, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, and public research and development. Much of this system is not competitive, which drives up costs and lowers access. We must focus on the entire system if we are going to lower costs and increase access to care:

PUBLIC OPTION: Millions of Americans are still without health insurance and access to the care that they need, even after the expansion under the ACA. There are many options that I support, from adding a traditional public option that increases competition, to Medicare for All, and Medicare for America. Any one of these are better than the current system because they increase access and I support any of them over the current system.

PHARMACEUTICALS:  The US market is simply not competitive. As a result, costs are unnecessarily high, especially compared to other countries. One way to increase competition is to allow Americans the option of purchasing prescriptions across international borders. Since the same or similar quality prescriptions can be obtained at considerably lower prices this way, it should compel US companies into lowering their prices to stay competitive.

HEALTH CARE SHORTAGE: The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts that there will be a shortage of up to 120,000 doctors by 2030. Federal funding for residency programs has been capped since 1997 and has not kept up with population growth. Fixing this will allow qualified healthcare professionals to get to work.

In addition to residency programs, the number of slots in medical schools has failed to keep pace. Long-term, we must work with states and universities to increase the number of programs/slots to keep up with demand. In the short-term, reversing the Trump administration’s immigration cuts will ensure that we meet our needs.

RESEARCH: Pharmaceutical companies rely heavily on scientific literature that comes from publicly-funded research. Unfortunately, these companies have found they cannot always replicate those findings. This costs them time and money, and consequently, they pass these costs onto the consumer. We should fund more public replication studies to keep costs down. We can then expect these savings to be passed on to the American consumer.

COMPETITION: In some parts of the country, there is only one healthcare system for a hundred miles in any direction and only one insurer on the exchange. This lack of competition drives up prices and leads to poorer care. We can increase competition in these cases by providing public options, breaking up healthcare monopolies, and adding access to competitors through innovative technologies such as telemedicine.

We have the tools to achieve energy independence, lower the costs of goods and transportation, and clean our air and water in the face of climate change.

EFFICIENCY: Improving efficiency lowers the cost of new products and energy bills for homes and businesses, potentially saving hundreds of dollars a year for homeowners and millions of dollars a year for businesses. Efficiency has also had the best gains in fighting climate change; it’s a win/win for everyone.

CLEAN ENERGY: Clean renewable energy is not only necessary to combat climate change, it’s a fast-growing industry that provides lots of job opportunities and economic growth. We should be using wind, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, next generation nuclear, geothermal, natural gas, and biofuels. The ratios will vary depending on what is available in each region.

• Solar: North Texas has plenty of sun. We have made good progress, but there are unnecessary regulations holding us back. In particular, the tariffs on imported solar panels that the Trump administration has imposed do not save jobs and, instead, increase costs. These tariffs must be removed so that Texas can keep it’s lights on with clean energy.

• Wind: Texas is the number one provider in the country, producing more than the next top three states combined. DFW Airport switched to 100% wind energy, becoming the first carbon-neutral airport and saving $10 million annually.

• Nuclear: Existing reactors provide 20% of all energy and 2/3s of all carbon-free energy in the U.S. At a minimum, we should be maintaining current reactors until our dependence on sources like coal are a thing of the past.

• Biofuels: Corn and algae are making great headway. Algae is nearly carbon neutral since it expels the CO2 that it already removed from the atmosphere in order to grow. Fuels are necessary for planes because electric engines aren’t an option right now. Improved biofuels could fuel planes more cleanly than traditional fossil fuels.

• Natural Gas: Though still a non-renewable fossil fuel, but it’s 50% cleaner than coal, making it a good transition fuel while we work towards 100% clean, renewable energy.

• Tidal: It’s not widely used yet, but it has potential for the future. We have a big coast in Texas and should capitalize as soon as it’s technologically and economically feasible.

GRID STORAGE: Battery technology is constantly improving, allowing smaller devices, electric vehicles, and whole house backup. Our nations electric grid could also benefit from large-scale energy storage so that as the wind slows and the sun goes down for the night, the stored energy can continue to power our homes and offices.

Immigrants are valuable contributors to our economy and society, and they are human beings deserving of respect and dignity. They contribute in a variety of ways, so we can help ourselves by making legal immigration easier for promising candidates.

DREAMERS: Passage of the DREAM Act is long overdue. These children have only ever known the United States as their home. We have invested so much in them and it is time to provide them with a path to citizenship so that they can be productive members of society without living in constant fear.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Immigrants start new businesses at a higher rate than native-born citizens. If we want entrepreneurs, we need more legal immigrants.

TAXES: Americans are living longer and having fewer children. That means we will have increased medical costs but a smaller tax base. Legal immigration can offset this by bringing in young, healthy workers who pay taxes.

LABOR: We have a need for both high-skilled and low-skilled workers, and we do not always fill this need with natural-born citizens. Legal immigration can make up the difference.

• In certain professions, such as medical doctors, we do not produce enough high-skilled workers to meet demand. Legal immigrants with compatible education and certification can help fill this gap.

• Low-skilled labor that Americans are unwilling to do, such as agricultural picking, is vital to the country. Immigrants are more than willing to take these jobs and American companies are desperate to hire them, legally or illegally

GUEST WORKERS: Sometimes, our need for workers and immigrants desire for American work are both temporary. We can expand guest worker programs to make them easier for companies to use, allowing immigrant workers to legally come to the US, work for a while, and then return to their home country after their job is completed.

CHILDREN: Children brought to this country through no fault of their own, who are contributing members of society and do not have a criminal record, should be allowed a path to citizenship. We have already invested so much time, effort, and money into these children, it is beneficial to both them and us to allow them to continue being contributing members of society. 

Taxes not only fund a functioning government, they fund a variety of public services that benefit all Americans. Over many decades, our tax system has grown nightmarishly complicated, unnecessarily bloated, confusingly inconsistent, and simply unfair. It’s a frustrating headache for everyone. True tax reform, not just tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, is essential to make the tax code more fair and easier to understand.

RATES: The Trump administration slashed rates for businesses and wealthy individuals. Now the deficit is ballooning. It is essential that we fix the rates so that they are fair to everyone and we can still pay our bills.

LOOPHOLES: We can make things simpler and fairer by removing deductions and loopholes, like we did in 1986 when “Tip” O’Neill, Bill Bradley, and Ronald Reagan achieved the last major reform of the US tax code.

INCOME: One way to make a fairer system is to treat all income, be it from employment, capital gains, or carried interest, as the same. Add up all income no matter where it came from, then find the bracket that matches and you’re done!

RETURN-FREE: If we are making taxes easier, let’s go one step further. It is time to move to a “return-free” tax system in which the IRS completes the tax process for an individual, and the individual just checks it and corrects anything that is incorrect. These have existed for more than 70 years in other countries (e.g. Japan and the United Kingdom) and have even had successful tests in states like California.

Education is critical to the success of every individual American as well as the success of our society and the economy as a whole. We need to give people better access to educational opportunity and restructure our system based on the needs of the 21st century.

STATE TESTING: The federal mandates requiring state testing are a burdensome holdover from the failed No Child Left Behind Act. They should be lifted to allow state and local officials the freedom to prepare their students for success as they see fit.

WORKFORCE TRAINING: Many businesses have openings for skilled labor but cannot find workers to fill them. At the same time, many workers would like to take these jobs but do not have the necessary skill set.

• Working with federal, state, and local entities, we can make sure that anyone who wants to work can get trained to learn the skills they need to fill open positions in their market.

• We can also better prepare students before they enter the workforce. Every student should come out of high school with a marketable skill. These skills can be advanced so that the student can move up to a better job over time (e.g. licensed vocational nurse to residential nurse or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing).

PRESCHOOL: The earlier we invest in our children, the larger the return on investment. Access to universal preschool greatly benefits children by accelerating their education and preparing them to be contributing members of society.

• This is especially beneficial for poor and disadvantaged children. It helps them catch up with their more advantaged peers in the classroom, and mitigates some of the devastating effects of poverty and adversity.

• This also benefits parents by allowing them the opportunity to return to work or school so they can better provide for their families.

• Head Start/Early Head Start already provide high-quality early childhood education, but they are unable to serve all children in need and often have incredibly long waiting lists. Expanding these successful programs is a no-brainer.

TECHNOLOGY: Technology is everywhere, and more and more jobs require not only technological literacy, but deeper levels of technical skill. Technology is the future and we must embrace it.

• Incorporating coding into elementary, middle, and high school for all students will teach them to think in a different way, and ensure they’re comfortable and proficient working deeply with technology.  

• Coding will also give them skills that are necessary in many disciplines, even beyond traditional tech jobs: critical thinking, problem-solving, self-sufficiency, creativity, patience, and persistence.

TEACHERS: There are a lot of wonderful teachers out there doing great work, but we need more and are needlessly keeping people away with nonsensical regulations.

• By working with states to make it easier to transfer teaching licenses between states, we can make sure that people who are already trained and ready to work can fill the jobs that are currently sitting vacant. We already do this for doctors, nurses, lawyers, and many other professions.

• We also need to work with states to expand alternative certification options that retain the necessary rigor of a traditional certification program, while ensuring that individuals with useful backgrounds, such as engineering, are not kept out of the classroom.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Community colleges are excellent options for Americans to receive training in a new field, earn a certification, or save money while completing their “basics” before moving on to a four-year university. We should make them even more accessible by working with community colleges to lower the cost of textbooks and provide on-campus child care for students.

TUITION: A four-year degree is associated with substantially improved financial outcomes for the rest of one’s life. Unfortunately, they have become more and more difficult to obtain because of rising tuition costs.

• Much of the rising cost is due to state legislatures cutting funding that helped subsidize tuition and operating expenses. To make four-year degrees affordable, we will need to work with state governments to increase funding.

• We can also look to examples like the partnership between Arlington ISD, Tarrant County College, and the University of Texas at Arlington, which provides students with a four-year degree for $10,000. They achieve this with the use of dual-credit courses, affordable community college classes, and then full course loads at the university once the Associate’s degree is complete. This makes education affordable for both the state and the student.

We must make sure that all Americans are treated equally under the law. No one should be left behind or deprived of protections because of who they are or who they love. This country began under the unifying promise that “all men are created equal.” It must uphold that promise. At a time where basic human rights are being undermined by the current presidential administration, we cannot afford to neglect any legislative action to protect these basic human rights.  

Passage of the Equality Act: We still live in a country where you can get married on Friday and fired on Monday simply because of who you love. Ending workplace and housing discrimination is the first step toward protecting our LGBTQ+ community. Passing this bill would provide explicit protections for employment, housing, public accommodation, and credit. After this first step, many additional actions can be taken such as ending the transgender military service ban, ending the ban on adoptions, and creating a more inclusive healthcare system.

Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act: Women’s rights are human rights. This bill, that was first introduced in 1997, cannot wait another 20+ years to be passed. We must make sure women get equal pay for equal work. It must be passed now.

Reinforcement of Civil Rights and Liberties: Every person deserves access to food, clean water, shelter, and other basic human rights. In America, the right to vote has been continually under attack and we must restore the Voting Rights Act as soon as possible, as well as eliminate barriers that prevent citizens from voting, such as restrictive voter ID laws, and discriminatory gerrymandering.

All women, regardless of background or ability to pay, should have access to quality health care, medically accurate sex education, contraception, and legal reproductive services. They have the right to be educated and access care so they can choose how and when they engage in sexual activity or reproduce. There are a variety of ways to help.

REPRODUCTIVE SERVICES: Women, not the government, should decide for themselves when they want to be sexually active or get pregnant. We should make sure every woman has access to safe, legal services in a healthcare setting that is equipped, licensed, and properly trained to provide it, and support their right to receive it unencumbered.

HEALTH CARE: Universal health care coverage will ensure all women get the care they need, but until we can make that a reality, we must make sure Medicaid is expanded so anyone who can’t afford care can get it. We should also support non-profit organizations like Planned Parenthood that help provide a variety of medical services to women who otherwise can’t afford it.

SEX EDUCATION: All teens, male and female, need comprehensive, age appropriate, and medically accurate sex education, whether it’s provided publicly or privately. Abstinence is a valid personal choice and is an option presented in any quality sex education, but abstinence-only education is ineffective and dangerous. It does not prevent teens from having sex, and when their only teaching was abstinence-only, they lack the proper knowledge to make safe choices when they do have sex, leading to STIs and unwanted pregnancy. Colorado lowered their teen pregnancy rate by 40% and their abortion rate by nearly 50% by providing teens with comprehensive sex education and access to contraceptives.

CONTRACEPTION: We must make sure our citizens have free and easy access to contraception so they have safe sex and avoid STIs and unwanted pregnancy.

MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE: Texas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world. It was much lower, but has spiked since 2010. Determining the underlying cause(s) has been difficult due to data errors and missing data. The federal government needs to assist the state of Texas in studying the problem, identifying the cause(s), and figuring out how to fix it, just as they have done with other states.

We are near a 40-year low in entrepreneurship. This is bad for the economy and bad for American workers. New businesses help grow the economy, provide opportunities for employment, and push innovation. The good news is that millennials are slowly changing this trend and starting up new businesses at an increasing rate. We need to help keep this going by removing the barriers that keep entrepreneurs from starting the businesses of tomorrow. That means wide-ranging efforts to reform many key players.

HEALTH INSURANCE: A major barrier to entrepreneurship is health insurance. How many people in this country work for established companies because of insurance coverage? This stops many potential entrepreneurs and their potential employees from leaving a job with insurance to take a chance on a new startup. Providing to non-employer sponsored options, will free entrepreneurs and their employees to do great things.

CAPITAL: Without capital, a new business cannot get off the ground, and not every potential entrepreneur is fortunate enough to have easy access through established connections. We need to work with state and federal entities to increase access to capital and reach more potential entrepreneurs.

IMMIGRATION: Immigrants start new companies at very high rates. Increasing legal immigration can lead to the founding of new companies that employ Americans and grow our economy.

RESEARCH: Most new companies and products are based upon publicly funded research, but we have been scaling back on basic and applied-science funding. Increasing funding can provide entrepreneurs with invaluable knowledge and ideas for new products. It is time we invest in America again!

COMPETITION: Many large companies use their size to make the market less competitive and carve out monopolies. This hurts entrepreneurship, small businesses, consumers, and the economy as a whole. We need to crack down and ensure fair competition is maintained.

We have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to infrastructure. Repair and new construction not only maintain the safety of our infrastructure, they also provide immediate jobs, support businesses in their transport of goods, workers, and information, and help citizens move about more freely.

REPAIRS: Many of our roads and bridges are rated C-. This is not acceptable or safe long-term; we need to get them up to at least a B+. In addition, we need to assess levees, waterways, dams, electric grids, airports, and sea ports.

MASS TRANSIT: Providing more public transit options cuts down on traffic congestion, saves gas, and frees workers to live where they want instead of having to live where the jobs are. It also reduces parking needs, freeing up real estate for businesses. Denser business areas incentivize citizens and visitors to shop and play more, helping the local economy grow. There are many ways to grow mass transit, and several are already in the works in our metroplex:

• High Speed Rail: The proposed Dallas to Houston line is a great example. Many people live in Dallas but commute to Houston for work, spending days there before returning home. This would allow them to commute daily without driving and return to their families every night.

• Light Rail: The new TexRail just opened and connects downtown Fort Worth to DFW Airport, with stops in several key communities along the way. This has greatly improved access to the metroplex for workers and visitors.

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET: High-speed internet (at least 25 Mbps download) is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. Everyone needs access to function in modern society. Options are good in many parts of this district with 95% or more of the households with access, but other areas have rates as low as 32%. In a district in the heart of the DFW metroplex this is unacceptable. We must invest in this critical infrastructure so that children can do their homework and adults can do their jobs.

Social Security has helped millions of retired Americans over the years. Unfortunately, it is a simple fact that it will not remain solvent if adjustments are not made and soon.

INCOME CAP: The income cap should be raised to $250,000 to account for wage disparity but still remain fair. It must also be permanently indexed to inflation so that it keeps up with economic growth.
LONGEVITY GAP: The top 10% of earners live almost a decade longer than the bottom 10%. Many in the bottom 10% die before they ever reap the benefits of the Social Security they paid into, while those that need it the least benefit the most. We need to bridge this gap as much as possible with universal health care coverage so that all Americans are adequately cared for and can live long, healthy lives. Additionally, we need to provide more skills training to help low earners move away from manual labor jobs that take a huge toll on their health.

I support the constitutional right of citizens to keep and bear arms for personal protection and hunting. However, we have the highest rate of gun violence of any first-world nation, by a landslide. We must have sensible protections.

UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS: Universal background checks are an excellent method of reducing gun violence. Moreover, they can be implemented in a way that minimizes the burden on responsible gun owners, while maintaining their effectiveness, thus keeping guns out of the hands of individuals who would use them to harm others.

While we are on the subject of background checks, they are only as good as the information in the background check system. The incomplete data in the NICS system makes background checks less useful. We can start by ensuring that complete data is entered.

MENTAL HEALTH: I support increasing access to mental health services, especially for men and veterans, who are significantly less likely to utilize such services but make up the vast majority of gun-related suicides. We need to ensure they get help before they hurt anyone.

RESEARCH: As a scientist, I know that research can help us understand a problem and give us options to address it. What leads to gun violence is poorly understood in the US because of a regulation that effectively prohibits the CDC from studying gun deaths. We need to get rid of this regulation and allow the CDC to study this issue, just like we study every other issue.