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State Senate candidates spar on taxes, education
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
With just a week remaining in early voting, three candidates for District 8 of the Texas Senate squared off on taxes, education and the role of government at Thursday's meeting of the Allen Area Patriots.
In his opening statement, Libertarian candidate Ed Kless said he is the "second choice" in a "one-party system" in which Democrats and Republicans have both overreached the constitutional powers of government at both state and federal levels.
Republican candidate Ken Paxton, current District 70 state representative, said Kless' statement may hold true for some politicians, but defended his record as having "not grown anywhere close to what Obama has done" and affirmed an opposition to new taxes and the growth of government.
Democratic candidate Jack Ternan introduced himself as a "pro-life Catholic" with "feet in both ends of the political spectrum." He cited last session's $5.4 billion cuts to public education as a driving factor for his campaign.
The first of many skirmishes over taxation began when Paxton asked Ternan "which families and business owners in this room should pay more taxes," citing comments by Ternan in the Dallas Morning News in support of increased taxation to support education and infrastructure.
Ternan readily admitted support for a 10-cent increase to the state's gasoline tax, which he said has not been raised in 20 years and is essential to matching the increasing cost of road construction.
Regarding education, Ternan said local districts should have more discretion to ask voters to raise taxes, keeping with his goal of more local control for schools.
Kless, holding to his self-proclaimed "radical" idea for government, proposed the replacement of gas, franchise and property taxes with a statewide, 10 percent "Fair Tax," or consumption tax, adding that the government "needs to learn to live within its means."
Paxton expressed opposition to an increase to the gas tax, saying it would provide no guarantee of increased funding for road projects since revenue from that tax is often diverted to other uses. He also said he would repeat attempts made during the last three sessions to pass a bill limiting government growth to "inflation plus population" during the 83rd Legislative Session.
It was Ternan who singled out Paxton next, pressing the 10-year representative on voting for education cuts that left Allen ISD with $11 million less in state funding this year instead of using the state's Rainy Day Fund to fill the gap.
Paxton said education funding has increased 70 percent since 2001 while the population has only increased 18 percent over the same time period. Furthermore, he said, the Rainy Day Fund should be used for "emergencies" and that the 2011 revenue shortfalls did not justify "raiding" the fund. Later during the forum, he noted $3.2 billion of the fund was used to help fill 2011's budget gap.
Kless also chimed in on the issue, throwing his support behind funding education through a tax credit system or voucher system.
When it came time for Ternan to speak, however, the Democrat picked up on Paxton's comments regarding the Rainy Day Fund, asserting the fund exists to help fill budget gaps when economic conditions call for it.
"They tax you more than they need to so they can put money into the Rainy Day Fund for when things are bad, and yet they don't actually use it for the things they [established the fund] to use it for," he said.
The last question was from Ternan to Paxton, who was asked why he supports an education voucher system that, in Ternan's words, "takes money out of public schools."
"I'm not opposed to public schools," Paxton said. "I'm not opposed to private schools. I'd like competition. We have opportunities for home schoolers, for private schoolers, for public education, and competition is a good thing. It works in every other part of our lives ... It works because it makes people better."
Ternan asserted that public money should stay in public institutions, citing subsidies and tax credits in higher education as an example of the practice driving up costs and bringing quality down.
"When you have public money going into private institutions, they try to capture it and they keep on charging the additional amount they were already charging before," he said. "You don't get any further with a government subsidy. Most of the time, conservatives understand that, but when it comes to vouchers, somehow they forget it."
In his opening statement, Libertarian candidate Ed Kless said he is the "second choice" in a "one-party system" in which Democrats and Republicans have both overreached the constitutional powers of government at both state and federal levels.
Republican candidate Ken Paxton, current District 70 state representative, said Kless' statement may hold true for some politicians, but defended his record as having "not grown anywhere close to what Obama has done" and affirmed an opposition to new taxes and the growth of government.
Democratic candidate Jack Ternan introduced himself as a "pro-life Catholic" with "feet in both ends of the political spectrum." He cited last session's $5.4 billion cuts to public education as a driving factor for his campaign.
The first of many skirmishes over taxation began when Paxton asked Ternan "which families and business owners in this room should pay more taxes," citing comments by Ternan in the Dallas Morning News in support of increased taxation to support education and infrastructure.
Ternan readily admitted support for a 10-cent increase to the state's gasoline tax, which he said has not been raised in 20 years and is essential to matching the increasing cost of road construction.
Regarding education, Ternan said local districts should have more discretion to ask voters to raise taxes, keeping with his goal of more local control for schools.
Kless, holding to his self-proclaimed "radical" idea for government, proposed the replacement of gas, franchise and property taxes with a statewide, 10 percent "Fair Tax," or consumption tax, adding that the government "needs to learn to live within its means."
Paxton expressed opposition to an increase to the gas tax, saying it would provide no guarantee of increased funding for road projects since revenue from that tax is often diverted to other uses. He also said he would repeat attempts made during the last three sessions to pass a bill limiting government growth to "inflation plus population" during the 83rd Legislative Session.
It was Ternan who singled out Paxton next, pressing the 10-year representative on voting for education cuts that left Allen ISD with $11 million less in state funding this year instead of using the state's Rainy Day Fund to fill the gap.
Paxton said education funding has increased 70 percent since 2001 while the population has only increased 18 percent over the same time period. Furthermore, he said, the Rainy Day Fund should be used for "emergencies" and that the 2011 revenue shortfalls did not justify "raiding" the fund. Later during the forum, he noted $3.2 billion of the fund was used to help fill 2011's budget gap.
Kless also chimed in on the issue, throwing his support behind funding education through a tax credit system or voucher system.
When it came time for Ternan to speak, however, the Democrat picked up on Paxton's comments regarding the Rainy Day Fund, asserting the fund exists to help fill budget gaps when economic conditions call for it.
"They tax you more than they need to so they can put money into the Rainy Day Fund for when things are bad, and yet they don't actually use it for the things they [established the fund] to use it for," he said.
The last question was from Ternan to Paxton, who was asked why he supports an education voucher system that, in Ternan's words, "takes money out of public schools."
"I'm not opposed to public schools," Paxton said. "I'm not opposed to private schools. I'd like competition. We have opportunities for home schoolers, for private schoolers, for public education, and competition is a good thing. It works in every other part of our lives ... It works because it makes people better."
Ternan asserted that public money should stay in public institutions, citing subsidies and tax credits in higher education as an example of the practice driving up costs and bringing quality down.
"When you have public money going into private institutions, they try to capture it and they keep on charging the additional amount they were already charging before," he said. "You don't get any further with a government subsidy. Most of the time, conservatives understand that, but when it comes to vouchers, somehow they forget it."
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