Community Impact reached out to the candidates to get their perspectives on their priorities if elected.
What you need to know
District 44 covers all Guadalupe County and all of Gonzales County.
Early voting starts Oct. 21. Election Day will be held Nov. 5.
Candidates were asked to limit their answers to 50 words and asked to address the question and not attack other candidates. Answers may have been cut or edited to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
Eric Norman
Experience:
Business owner, master’s degree from the University of North Texas; nonprofit board member, Eagle Scout
Occupation:
Shoemaker
Candidate Website:
https://www.ericfortx.com
What is the most important issue facing your constituents in the coming legislative session, and how do you intend to address it?
Our schools are critical to our local economy. They create jobs, educate tomorrow’s workforce, and graduate engaged citizens. Vouchers will devastate public schools and balloon state spending. Jobs will be lost. Programs like athletics, technical education and fine arts will suffer. I’d defend public education and vote against taxpayer-funded vouchers.
What other issues are a high priority for you?
Our Legislature exists to give local communities a voice in Austin, not prioritize special interests. My community wants an independent-minded representative who will make healthcare accessible and affordable (including mental and maternal health); invest in our energy grid; support workforce development; and return decision-making to local governments.
School districts are struggling financially due to a number of factors. How will you approach school funding in the next session?
Since 2016 the legislature has decreased school funding in real dollars. Districts work with a basic allotment unchanged since 2019—$6,160 per student. We need to increase the basic allotment, move to enrollment-based funding, and compensate districts for unfunded mandates. Lawmakers created the mess, and we must fix it.
Texas faces a housing shortage, which in part is driving up the cost of housing. What policy solutions are you exploring?
We need more housing, from apartments to homes. Texans pay some of the highest property insurance premiums in the US because lobbyists have more power than citizens. We must keep institutional buyers from out-competing first-time buyers, and restore the ability of local communities to decide how and where growth occurs.
Alan Schoolcraft
Experience:
Business owner, attorney, former state representative
Occupation:
CEO/business owner
Candidate Website:
https://www.alanschoolcraftfortexas.com
What is the most important issue facing your constituents in the coming legislative session, and how do you intend to address it?
The most important issue facing Texas is the mass invasion of foreign nationals across our southern border. Texas is currently spending several billion dollars each year providing education, health and other services to them. The most effective way to address this is to require every employer to use the Federal ...
What other issues are a high priority for you?
(1) Eliminating the school property tax and replacing it with taxes already being collected by the state; (2) Eradicating the woke agenda from all levels of government as well as public education and higher education. This includes banning critical race theory (CRT) and diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) which are ...
School districts are struggling financially due to a number of factors. How will you approach school funding in the next session?
The bottom line is - there will never be enough money to do everything the schools want to do. That is the same bottom line we all face in business and in our personal lives. We always have to make choices and prioritize where we can most effectively spend our resources ...
Texas faces a housing shortage, which in part is driving up the cost of housing. What policy solutions are you exploring?
In this legislative district there is an explosion of residential construction. If there is a shortage, it is because the builders simply cannot build faster. Basic economics says when demand is this high, the cost of lumber, concrete and everything else goes up, thus driving up the cost of the ...
