TEXAS RECOMMENDATION: Ramona Thompson – Texas HD106

B e c a u s e I C a r e - R a m o n a I n T h e H o u s e !

Meet Ramona:

Why are you doing this?

That is the question I get asked the most. From Day One of my campaign for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, the one thing people have wanted to ask the most was why I was running. Just as simple as that. My answer is equally simple: I’m running for office because I care.

You don’t really hear that too often in politics, so I’ll go ahead and repeat it, just so it sinks in: I’m running for office because I care. I know you usually read editorials and articles from would-be politicians talking legislation and policy, but I think those folks have got the cart before the horse.

I’m running because of people, not policy. I’m running because I care about this state and where we are headed. Because I care about this city and what we can accomplish if we worked together. I’m running because of the people I meet every day.

I’m running because I care about their families, their problems, and I want to help. All of which is to say, I’m running because I care about you. So, if you want to read about policy, let’s jump right in, because my policy is People.

I’m talking about people who live in a constant state of stress due to rising healthcare costs. How many of you get healthcare or insurance bills in the mail that you have no idea how you’ll pay for? How many of you have felt sick, down in the pit of your stomach, watching the numbers on those bills keep climbing, month after month? That, my friends, is a problem.

I tell you what, when my friends have to ask themselves if they are really sick enough to go to a doctor, sick enough to justify those sky-high costs, that…is… a problem. The bottom line is this: the system is sick, and we’ve got to cure it before we can count on it to cure us.

You can find my policy in people like my neighbors, who watch the cost of owning their homes climbs higher. How many of you think your property taxes are too high? How many of you wonder where that money is going? I tell you, the answer and the problem can both be found in Austin, where our state legislators have decided that they shouldn’t have to carry the burden of a public-school system.

They’ve decided it’s not their job to care about your kids or their education. So, they’ve kicked the cost back to our communities, year after year, paying less and less so we pay more and more. You remember when we were sold the legalization of the Texas lottery because all those funds would go to education?

Would it surprise you to learn that our legislators rerouted many of those funds, and all the funds captured through Robin Hood schemes, away from our schools and into the General Fund, where they can pay for pet projects instead of our kid’s educations? I care about our kids, and I care about their education, and I think it is high time our state started funding our schools instead of our schools funding our state.

Speaking of funding, why is it that there never seems to be anything fun about it by the time the good ‘ole boys in Austin have gotten through with it? Maybe it is a sign of the times. Maybe we shouldn’t expect anything more.

But I can’t believe that, because I care about the times we live in. I care that a bully sits in the White House, throwing tantrums on Twitter. I care that people like us can’t hardly stand to watch the news anymore. I care that extremist legislators in Austin are aching to enact laws designed to restrict options and access to women’s healthcare.

Those folks are willing to shut down facilities that serve all facets of a woman’s health, that provide care to regions that have limited healthcare options, and that educate and inform as well as administer treatment. I care that these folks want to take the options for your care away.

I care about the times we live in and the times coming up around the bend, the future, and I can tell you where you can find it: in our public schools. In those classrooms. Sitting in those seats. Waiting to see if we’ll protect that future for them or hand them a mess of problems they don’t deserve. You know that the state released the A-F grades for school accountability for each district in the last few weeks?

Let me tell you: nearly every school superintendent I know released a letter telling parents that the system was virtually useless when it comes to actually measuring student success. That’s what happens when you try to wrap up a complex issue in single letter. That’s what happens when you try a band-aid solution for a bullet-hole problem.

I challenge you: Ask a teacher if they think their students are just a test score. Ask if they think students should be sorted on a spreadsheet and their value reduced to a number. Ask if they’d rather see state funds spent on more standardized testing or on the basic school supplies that they too often purchase from their own meagre paychecks.

While you are talking to that teacher, ask if they are retired. Ask how long the state expected them to work to get there. Ask how much their health insurance costs went up this year and ask how they plan to pay for that increase. Ask them why the state treats them to a subpar retirement system that hasn’t taken into account cost of living in over a decade. I care about our public servants, and I think the public they serve does, too; I just think Austin stopped listening to the public a long time ago.

I told you that I’m running for public office because I care.

Well, I care that you are being ignored. And I'll tell you this - change is coming. One door at a time. One conversation at time. We’ve been ignored in the favor of the highest bidder, the special interest or the corporate crony. Friends, I don't have Empower Texans filling my coffers and dictating how I vote.

I don't have a few rich oilmen out in West Texas telling me what my district needs. You know who knows what we need? You do. So, let me turn this around on ya’ll. Why are you reading this? Why are you attending meetings of local Democrat groups? Why are you getting involved in political activism, grabbing a hand-made sign and setting off for a march or sit-in?

Why are you writing letters to the editor, or emails to your representatives? Why are you donating to area candidates? Why are you perusing social media and websites for those same candidates, reading their positions on various issues? I bet your answer is a lot like mine: you’re getting involved because you care. We have that in common, which is a lot more than I can say for most of the folks asking for your vote in November.

So here we are. We care. And you know what? I don’t care so much that I don’t have those PACs and special interests cozying up to me with money, because I’ve got something better. I’ve got hundreds of folks just like you who want their voice back.

That want someone to represent them and their families. Most of us want the same things from this life: we want opportunities for our children, a little more money in our pockets, safe communities and schools, and a representative that represents us - all of us. Black, white, rich, poor, red or blue.

Beyond policy, beyond ideology, beyond legislative agenda, I am running for a simple reason. My name is Ramona Thompson, and I’m running for Texas House in the 106th.....

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