Texas House District 50
Special election called to fill seat vacated by former state Rep. Mark Strama
Celia Israel
Residency: Austin
Occupation: Realtor
Years lived in district: 18
Top priorities: Mass transit, the cost of higher education, women's health, affordable housing and land use.
Q. What qualifies you for this position?
A. I have worked for the state of Texas at the executive as well as at the rule-making level. I have a clear understanding of the legislative process. Given my varied service to the community on boards of organizations—such as the Capital Area Food Bank, GENaustin, ... the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and many more—I am keenly aware of a variety of issues we are challenged with.
Q. What challenges does District 50 face?
A. Because District 50 goes from far west to far east Travis County, the needs are diverse and challenging. Voters have told me that our underfunded schools are most important to them. Access to health care is another issue of importance; we must work to ensure that more Texans have comprehensive health care. When we denied the expansion of Medicaid during the last session, we denied health coverage to over 50,000 Travis County residents.
Q. How would you address those challenges?
A. I would advocate for fully restoring the funding cuts made to public education in 2011. We cut public education by $5.5 billion in 2011, which is the last thing we should do in an economic downturn. Every school district in Texas is still hurting because of those cuts. In regard to health care, I would work to educate [residents] about their current options.
Q. What would you improve in the district, and how would you accomplish that?
A. Transportation/mobility and voter participation are both issues I would like to work on for the district. With my background in transportation, I will aim to serve on the House Transportation Committee and do the detailed work involved with that portion of the state budget. Texas voter participation is the lowest in the country, and online voter registration is the least we can do to encourage voting.
Q. What would be the first bill you would file?
A. Former HD 50 Rep. Mark Strama authored a bill that would allow for online voter registration. I have previously stated that I would re-author this bill. Texas legislators should fight to ensure that every citizen is able to vote and every citizen has access [to] registration. Online voter registration has been proven to be cost-effective.
Rico Reyes
Residency: Pflugerville
Occupation: Attorney and officer in the Marine Corps Reserves
Years lived in district: 10
Top priorities: Public education, health care and middle-class jobs
Q. What qualifies you for this position?
A. I am a husband and father, born in Austin, with deep ties to this district. I graduated from Harvard and have an MBA and juris doctorate from The University of Texas. I served on active duty in the Marines and continue to serve in the Reserves. I was a felony prosecutor in Travis County, and I am committed to improving the community around me.
Q. What challenges does District 50 face?
A. We have technology and medical industries booming in the north and multigenerational families with hardships in the south. We are experiencing rapid growth and must balance the discrete needs of rural and eastern Travis County with growing suburban areas like Pflugerville and well-established neighborhoods in Northwest Austin. People are concerned about good schools, health care, economic development, transportation and water.
Q. How would you address those challenges?
A. Invest time and resources in people and families and remove barriers to success. We need to make education ... a priority. We need to make sure children are insured and that quality health care is accessible to everyone. We need to make it easier for people to start small businesses and to recruit large employers and develop new and emerging industries. We need multimodal transportation solutions and water solutions.
Q. What would you improve in the district, and how would you accomplish that?
A. Strengthening the pillars of the American Dream will improve the district, but it will take a team effort with a strong leader. Some moments will call for diplomacy, some will call for persuasion and cooperation, while others will call for a fight. Knowing the difference takes education, training, experience and judgment. Making it happen will take leadership.
Q. What would be the first bill you would file?
A. I'll work harder than anyone to make the American Dream possible for everyone. A Texas Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would go a long way to ensure women get equal pay for equal work. If another legislator beats me to the filing desk, I will work with education leaders to file a bill that would empower teachers, engage students and improve the foundation of education and support our economy.
Jade Chang Sheppard
Residency: Austin
Occupation: Small-business owner
Years lived in district: Two
Top priorities: Public education, health care, pay equity, nurturing small businesses
Q. What qualifies you for this position?
A. As a young mother, former tech industry employee, UT grad and small-business woman, I have so much in common with the families of HD 50. I began my career in the Austin tech industry that now drives our regional economy. As someone who built a company from nothing into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, I have a keen understanding for how policies can help or hinder small businesses.
Q. What challenges does District 50 face?
A. There are teachers at schools like Parmer [Lane] Elementary who, like too many teachers across Texas, are being asked to do far too much without being given the proper resources. Anyone who drives to work on our highways knows that we also have some serious transportation issues. Like the rest of Texas, there are too many residents uninsured in the district, directly caused by partisan logjam in the Legislature.
Q. How would you address those challenges?
A. Our schools would be much improved by decreasing our state's reliance on high-stakes testing and increasing funding. We could free up funding in the state budget for things like education and transportation infrastructure if we simply got rid of many of the corporate tax loopholes [Gov.] Rick Perry used to reward his campaign contributors. Expanding access to health care will provide for a healthier community and bring down costs for everyone.
Q. What would you improve in the district, and how would you accomplish that?
A. [Former] Rep. Mark Strama did so much for the communities of HD 50, and I would strive to continue his work. We need to keep nurturing the tech industry that drives so much of our regional economy. We need to continue fighting for funding for our children's schools and the roads we travel every day. We need to make sure the Legislature is enacting policies that help small businesses succeed.
Q. What would be the first bill you would file?
A. The first bill I would file would fix the problem of women continuing to be paid less than comparably qualified men. There is a federal law in place that addresses this problem, but women in Texas can't fight this battle in state court, which my bill would fix. Pay inequity is a serious issue, and fixing it would be good for men, good for our business environment and good for Texas.
Mike VanDeWalle
Residency: Austin
Occupation: Chiropractor
Years lived in district: 31
Top priorities: Stopping Obamacare and cutting unnecessary regulations, keeping taxes low, defending life and liberty
Q. What qualifies you for this position?
A. As a small-business owner and community doctor, I have experienced firsthand the job-killing nature of unnecessary government regulation. Hundreds of north Travis County job creators face the same unnecessary pressure in their businesses. For the last 30 years, I've learned what it takes to create jobs at home, and it starts with getting rid of government regulations that hurt small business.
Q. What challenges does District 50 face?
A. Our biggest priority is stopping the spread of harmful government regulation, especially Obamacare. Today, doctors and small-business owners in our district have mounds of regulations and paperwork that keep them from doing what they do best. We need to cut out the destructive middleman and get government out of the way so doctors can treat patients and small businesses can create jobs.
Q. How would you address those challenges?
A. The first thing we've got to do is increase efficiency by removing the roadblocks to economic growth. Gridlock is a symptom of inefficiency, and when doctors spend more than a third of their work day filling out Obamacare paperwork, we know we've got a huge problem. We can take steps to cut these inefficiencies so doctors and small businesses can do their jobs better and more efficiently. That's how you grow our economy and create jobs.
Q. What would you improve in the district, and how would you accomplish that?
A. I will measure success in our district by how many jobs we create, and the best way to do that is cutting harmful government regulation and keeping taxes low. It is incumbent upon all leaders in our state to work together to achieve this crucial goal. As a state representative, my charge will be to work tirelessly for our economic growth and success.
Q. What would be the first bill you would file?
A. As a community doctor, it is my duty to treat and heal patients. The number of regulations standing between my patients and me is an undue burden that all doctors and small businesses have experienced under [President Barack] Obama's administration. My first legislative priority is to address removing these regulations so we can do our jobs efficiently without government getting in the way.
