Connecting Texas Through the Three E’s

What do we mean by connecting Texas?

  1. High Speed Internet in Every Home
  2. Reliable Energy
  3. Reviving Main Streets/Social Third Place
  4. High Speed Rail

How do we achieve this responsibly? Economy, Education, and Energy.

Economy
  1. Give Texans Freedom of Movement through Public Transportation and High Speed Rail
    • Texas would uniquely benefit from having a robust high speed rail network to connect its widely spaced cities. Travel times would be dramatically reduced, and rural towns along the route would not be left out.
    • Expand access to the unique draws that each community offers, like parks, monuments, and colleges. This boosts the economy of surrounding towns while letting Texans see more of the states beauty and making field trips for students more affordable and easier to plan.
    • Reducing overnight shipping costs for Texans allows small businesses to get a leg up on their competitors. This also improves availability of same and next day delivery to more places in Texas.
    • Making these early investments in high speed rail allows Texas the opportunity to be at the heart of the future American high speed rail network.
  2. Reviving Main Street
    • Our historic downtowns have been replaced with towering skyscrapers and sterile shopping centers. While this makes sense when it comes to land prices, we lose when it comes to a sense of community. With public transport we can encourage the development of new ‘main streets’ that allow Texans to connect with their neighbors.
  3. Installing High Speed Internet
    • We were promised fiber everywhere by the federal government three times in the last thirty years – we do not have to wait, we can run the networking ourselves. If plans for trains move forward, we can do them at the same time, reducing costs and construction time. Children will have the ability to study for their classes more easily, parents can get certifications and further their education, and we can connect with each other seamlessly at a lower price.
  4. Stairstep Franchise Tax 0.37/0.75% to 2.5%
    • The current franchise tax in Texas brings in roughly 10 billion dollars annually per the comptroller of Texas. The total Texas budget is 338 billion dollars for 2025. Businesses account for less than 10% of the Texas budget at their current tax rate. Introduced stair-stepped tax brackets for businesses after the current deduction of 2.47 million in annual revenue up to 2.5%. This will increase revenue by 250 million; those funds can be used to fund public service works and free community college and trade school for all Texas residents.
  5. Free Community College and Trade School for Texas Residents
    • Improve apprenticeship programs by introducing programs and tax incentives for local tradesmen to encourage apprenticeships and to reduce the burden on a small business tradesmen.
    • Community colleges cost one-fifth the cost of four year universities and give students time to solidify what they want to study, while meeting core curriculum requirements. Community colleges charge less than 200 dollars per credit hour, while four year universities charge nearly double that, at 375 dollars per credit hour.
    • With revenues from a higher franchise tax, we can subsidize community colleges and trade schools to make sure every Texan has an opportunity to find an education path and a career that is right for them.
  6. Eliminate Hedge Fund Purchases of Homes in Texas
    • In 2022, hedge funds and corporations bought 28% of all homes sold in the state, which is double the national average of 13%. This equates to nearly 90,000 homes purchased by hedge funds and corporations, rather than Texans. Hedge funds should not be able to price the average Texan out of their own neighborhood through property tax increases. A simple legislation that includes limiting the amount of homes a corporation/investor/hedge fund could purchase to 25, would drastically reduce the control over the real estate market these companies currently hold. If this were implemented, it would especially benefit first-time home buyers.
  7. Improve Government Efficiency through Waste Reduction Audits and Process Improvement Projects
    • As a project manager, process improvement engineer, data scientist, and automation engineer, I know that most businesses are incredibly wasteful in their spending. In streamlining Texas regulatory code, application processes for state resources, and reduced operational spending in systems, the state can find additional room in the budget for public works, without raising taxes on the average Texan.
Energy
  1. Increase Battery Storage
  2. Increase Maintenance Regulation
  3. Invest in Transmission Infrastructure
Education
  1. Re-instate Teacher Worker Protections
  2. Require a Budget for Teacher School Supplies from School Budgets
    • Teachers regularly spend personal funds for much needed school supplies. Allocating a school supply budget for teachers to submit for reimbursement would cost very little and improve education quality drastically.
  3. Raise Teacher Minimum Salary and Pay their Pension
    • Teacher salary increases have not kept up with inflation. Tie teacher salary increases to inflation rates, and fund their pensions as state employees directly, not through the school districts.
  4. Encourage Retirement for Teachers over the Retirement Age
    • Many teachers in Texas have not yet retired due to not being able to live off their retirement payment, whether they have 20 years of service or 30. By increasing the state multiplier and contributing a portion of the state budget to the pension fund, retired teachers can afford to retire comfortably, while also creating jobs for new graduates in Texas.

How can we make sure everyone’s voice is heard? Reform.

Reform
  1. Introduce and Pass a direct to ballot initiative constitutional amendment.
    • Direct to ballot initiatives allow for citizens of Texas to author and vote on specific issues they care about at the ballot box. Through a petition process, specific laws that may have majority support by the public, but low support in the state legislature, can skip the state legislature, and instead vote for this directly by placing it on the ballot. This has been commonly used in other states to end gerrymandering, enshrine abortion rights, and strengthen voting rights.
  2. Introduce and pass a constitutional amendment for term limits for all elected seats in the state of Texas.
    • Term limits can help alleviate the creation of career politicians, who are more concerned with keeping their elected seat rather than serving the people. By introducing term limits, we can reduce the incentive to ignore constituents in favor of lobbyists that help keep these career politicians in power.
  3. Reform campaign finance laws in Texas.
    • Campaign finance laws in Texas are broken. There is no contribution limit for individuals for state level races in the state of Texas. A billionaire can write me a check for a million dollars for the campaign, and this is all entirely legal. We need to introduce campaign contribution limits across the board in Texas.
    • We need to end corporate PACs in the state of Texas. Companies are not allowed to donate directly to campaigns, but they can simply spin up a PAC and donate through the PAC. This is simply corporate lobbying with extra steps. I would like to introduce and pass a law revoking the right of corporations in the state of Texas to donate to any political campaigns or PACs.
  4. Introduce and pass a constitutional amendment banning gerrymandering in the state of Texas, and placing redistricting in the hands of an independent commission.
    • As Texans, we know better than anyone the effects of gerrymandering. We have had significant voter suppression and disenfranchisement as a result. Our maps in 2021 were also challenged for their legality, but the trump administration dropped the suit in 2025. It is time we end the partisan games, and let voters choose their representatives, not the other way around.

How can we reduce costs and live healthier? Healthcare.

Healthcare – Texas Cares Plan
  1. Over 15 million Texans are currently uninsured in the state. Texas ranks 45th in healthcare access, and spends the most on healthcare in the United States.
  2. On average, business spend about 200 billion dollars per year in healthcare premiums for their employees in Texas. If we converted this healthcare premium payment to a tax percentage that feeds into a Texas insurance fund under the Texas Department of Insurance, the state would have 200 billion dollars per year to cover healthcare costs and treatment for all Texans. This provides about $6900 per Texan in annual healthcare spend and cost.
  3. The cost to operate a hospital ranges from 20 million dollars to 6 billion dollars per year. With this model, hospitals across Texas can maintain or expand their level of care for a cost of 70-90 billion dollars per year. In doing so, healthcare becomes more affordable and accessible to the everyday Texan through this single payer system.
  4. By utilizing a singlepayer system, this allows small businesses to be more competitive in wages as they are no longer forced to choose between quality health insurance for their employees, or a living wage for their employees. Exemptions in this tax would be made for small businesses under a certain amount of employees to ensure small businesses are protected and made more competitive in the market.
  5. This budget also allows for us to build a hospital in every county within the state of Texas, providing much needed healthcare access in rural areas of Texas that are in desperate need of quality health care.
  6. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/2024-employer-health-benefits-survey/
  7. https://www.definitivehc.com/resources/healthcare-insights/top-hospitals-total-operating-expense

Watch Cameron Speak at a No King’s Protest in Pearland, TX.