12 Texas House Members Stand Up to Vote "No" on the Budget

Late Thursday night, the Texas House voted out their version of the state budget - and it was just as disappointing as the Senate's version that passed a few weeks prior. While an amendment was added to prohibit vouchers, the House budget failed to reverse billions in cuts to public schools, restoring less than half of the $5.4 billion cut in 2011. Health care growth is not fully funded in the budget, which means that as the budget stands today the Legislature will have another Medicaid IOU to pay for in 2015. What's worse is that we failed to invest in education and health care despite the fact that the budget leaves $13 billion in unspent general revenue and Rainy Day Fund dollars state budget writers had available to them to use.

Thankfully, there were 11 progressives in the Texas House of Representatives who stood up for investing in our future and voted "NO" on the budget. They - and a lone Republican who believed the budget spent too much money - were the only "NO" votes on a budget that left $13 billion in general revenue and Rainy Day Fund money unspent, despite the needs of Texans. Those 11 members were - Democrat State Reps. Rafael Anchia, Lon Burnam, Nicole Collier, Joe Farias, Mary Gonzalez, Ana Hernandez Luna, Abel Herrero, Trey Martinez Fischer, Justin Rodriguez, Chris Turner, and Armando Walle. 
 
Help us thank these State Representatives for voting against this draft of the budget and showing they believe we should invest in the future of our state. We hope you will show your support by calling their office or going to Twitter to show your support:
 

In 135-12 vote, this is true leadership. These State Reps. showed the courage of their conviction to do what is right and what is necessary to change the face of power in Texas. Tell these leaders thank you for representing all of Texas and doing the right thing throughout the entire process.