TLPC PLATFORM

PUTTING MONEY in TEXANS' POCKETS

The Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus (TLPC) policy platform for the 89th Legislature centers worker-forward economic policies that will build a fairer state economy where everyone has the freedom to thrive. Texans want money in their pockets from the get-go, we have a plan to make that happen, and it’s time to fight for it loud and proud.

WORKERS' RIGHTS

We stand in unwavering solidarity with workers of all stripes by demanding good pay, protections, and benefits that match the value of our labor.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Texas is the only state in the country that doesn’t require workers’ compensation insurance. This means injured workers often pay for their own hospitalization and lose wages while they recover, forcing families into economic insecurity.
On average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 10.2% more in wages than a peer with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non-unionized workplace in the same industry. [Economic Policy Institute]
In Texas, union workers are paid $6 more per hour in median wages than nonunion workers. [Every Texan]
Since 1979, wages for the highest-paid workers in Texas increased by 46%, compared to just 4% for the lowest-paid workers in Texas. [Every Texan]

Our Policies:

Pay Workers Our Worth: Raise the minimum wage across the board and increase pay for high need sectors including teachers and public sector employees.

Strengthen Working Families’ Bargaining Power to Re-Balance an Unfair Economy: Allow collective bargaining for all union members and repeal "right-to-work" laws in Texas.

Protect Workers’ Safety: Require workers’ compensation insurance. Enact protections for high risk fields such as construction and oil and gas.

Provide Benefits that Support Parents and Retirees: Require robust benefits such as paid parental leave, paid family leave, and adequate retirement benefits. Expand affordable access to daycare and work toward universal child care.

Protect Small Farmers and Ranchers: Expand the rights of Texas farmers and food producers to manage their operations affordably and have access to local markets.

DAILY COST OF LIVING

We seek to lower daily costs and keep Texans’ hard-earned money in Texans’ pockets so we can purchase the goods and services our families need without financial stress.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Working families do not share in the wealth that they create. Since 2010, the percent of Texas households that struggle to afford essential expenses like housing, child care, food, and unexpected costs has remained stagnant at approximately 40%. Over this same period, the Texas GDP has increased by 108%. [Every Texan]
14% of Texas households fell below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in 2021. An additional 29% were classified as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households – incomes higher than the FPL but still too low to afford basic necessities. At least 1 in 5 Texan households live below the ALICE threshold in every county. [EveryTexan]
In Texas, tens of thousands of people are jailed each year for failure to pay tickets, fines and court costs, often due to inability to pay. [Texas Appleseed]

Our Policies:

Reduce Fines and Fees: Reduce the initial cost and financial consequences for non-payment of traffic, toll, court-related and criminal fines, and fees.

Make Taxes More Fair: Expand tax-exemption to items such as resale clothing. Because over half of our state-source revenue comes from sales tax, our overall state tax system is the 7th most regressive in the country. Explore methods for reducing the regressive nature of our tax system.

Fully Fund K-12 Public Education and Pursue Affordable Postsecondary Education: Fund public schools and protect long-term funding. Expand options for free community college and career technical programs.

Prosperity Payout: Provide Texans with an annual Prosperity Payout generated from a marginal tax on the crypto and artificial intelligence industry’s massive drain on our energy grid. Modeled after Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend.

HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS

We promote health insurance plans that work for Texans, access to good food to sustain our lives, and access to cannabis as a healthcare alternative and source of wellness for all.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

- 21.7% of Texas adults age 19 to 64 went without health insurance in 2023, the worst rate in the nation. The Texas rate was almost double the national rate of 11.0%. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
- Children in Texas were much more likely to go without health insurance than kids in any other state in 2023. The Texas uninsured rate for children was 11.9%, more than twice the national rate of 5.4%. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
- Texas had a much higher uninsured rate than nearby states, including Arizona (13.5%), Arkansas (12.4%), Louisiana (10.0%), New Mexico (13.3%), and Oklahoma (16.1%). All of those states have passed Medicaid expansion. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
- Texas has the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the nation at 16.9%, more than 4.5% higher than the U.S. average. In Texas, 1 in 6 households are food insecure. More than 1.9 million families – including approximately 5.1 million Texans – are at risk for hunger. [Feeding Texas]

Our Policies:

Make Healthcare Affordable and Cover What People Need: Expand Medicaid, include reproductive healthcare in coverage, explore options for reducing premiums and capping the cost of common prescriptions.

Create Food Security: Increase accessibility to healthy and affordable food options to rural and low-income communities. Explore opportunities to support Texas farmers over grocery conglomerates.

Put Cannabis to Work for Texans: Legalize cannabis broadly and expand compassionate use as a means to supporting Texas’ farmers, small businesses, veterans, and people with illness and disabilities. Partner legalization with expungement of non-violent cannabis records. Increase availability of information about Texas’ current compassionate use program.

HOUSING

We advocate for smart investments in affordability and relief programs to strengthen communities and create economic opportunity for all.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Between 2019 and 2023, median home prices in Texas surged by 40%, significantly outpacing income growth and placing homeownership out of reach for many Texans. [Texas Comptroller]
Nearly half of Texans now spend more than 30% of their household income on housing expenses. [Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers]
In 2023, Texas was 306,000 homes short of what was needed, particularly affecting lower- and middle-income and first-time buyers. [Texas Comptroller]
Texas has an average effective property tax rate of 1.63%, placing the state seventh in the U.S. This rate translates to an average annual property tax payment of $3,872 for Texas homeowners. [ABC 13]

Our Policies:

Build and Preserve Affordable Homes: Increase funding to the Texas Housing Trust Fund (HTF). Enact guardrails that preserve existing affordable homes and help people keep their homes during times of hardship.

Increase Accessibility to Affordable Homes: Expand funding for down payment assistance programs, provide opportunities for free housing and financial counseling, promote fair lending and consumer protections. Increase funding to Texas’ Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and ensure availability of information about eligibility.

Enhance Tenants’ Rights and Rent Relief: Limit fees, increase transparency, and protect tenants from unfair practices such as the use of AI to price gouge.

Target Property Tax Cuts to Benefit Low-Income Texans and Renters: Pursue additional use of circuit breakers to target property tax relief for families in the highest need. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not consume an unreasonable portion of a qualifying household’s budget and are considered among the most effective tools for making property taxes affordable.

FIGHTING GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION

Texans deserve a government that represents the people – not the wealthy and well-connected. What’s more, the implementation and long-term success of economic policies for working families hinge on reducing the corrosive role of money in politics and empowering people through free and accessible elections. In the status quo, unlimited campaign contributions and dark money allow corporations and billionaires to drown out the voices of everyday Texans. Unfair voting maps and attacks on our right to vote silence communities, entrench power, and push politics to the extreme during primaries.

We seek to break big money’s grip on Texas politics – including political parties – and ensure that every voter’s voice matters.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Texas is one of only eleven states that impose no limits on individual contributions to political campaigns. [Common Cause]
Since November 2023, Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, neither of whom were on the ballot in 2024, received nearly $19 million in contributions. [Common Cause]
Over $150 million has been funneled into Texas politics by a handful of billionaires, distorting the democratic process and undermining the will of everyday Texans. [Common Cause]
In the latest redistricting cycle, despite significant population growth among minority communities, Texas’ new maps were drawn in a manner that reduced the number of districts where these communities could elect their preferred candidates. [Brennan Center]

Our Policies:

Reduce the Influence of Money in Politics: Place a dollar limit on individual campaign contributions and contributions from one candidate committee to another. Increase contribution disclosure and transparency. Pursue public financing of campaigns in Texas.

Protect the Right to Vote: Enact state-level voting protections and increase voting accessibility. Support county elections departments and election workers. Work towards the drawing of fair maps in 2030.

WORKERS' RIGHTS

Texas workers are the backbone of our economy, yet too many are underpaid and denied basic benefits and protections while corporate profits soar. Decades of corporate-influenced, anti-worker policies have suppressed wages, stripped workers’ unions of their power, and left families struggling to make ends meet. We stand in unwavering solidarity with workers of all stripes by demanding good pay, protections, and benefits that match the value of our labor.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Texas is the only state in the country that doesn’t require workers’ compensation insurance. This means injured workers often pay for their own hospitalization and lose wages while they recover, forcing families into economic insecurity.
On average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 10.2% more in wages than a peer with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non-unionized workplace in the same industry. [Economic Policy Institute]
In Texas, union workers are paid $6 more per hour in median wages than nonunion workers. [Every Texan]
Since 1979, wages for the highest-paid workers in Texas increased by 46%, compared to just 4% for the lowest-paid workers in Texas. [Every Texan]

Our Policies:

Pay Workers Our Worth: Raise the minimum wage across the board and increase pay for high need sectors including teachers and public sector employees.
Strengthen Working Families’ Bargaining Power to Re-Balance an Unfair Economy: Allow collective bargaining for all union members and repeal "right-to-work" laws in Texas.
Protect Workers’ Safety: Require workers’ compensation insurance. Enact protections for high risk fields such as construction and oil and gas.
Provide Benefits that Support Parents and Retirees: Require robust benefits such as paid parental leave, paid family leave, and adequate retirement benefits. Expand affordable access to daycare and work toward universal child care.
Protect Small Farmers and Ranchers: Expand the rights of Texas farmers and food producers to manage their operations affordably and have access to local markets.

DAILY COST OF LIVING

Texas families are struggling under the weight of rising daily costs, from unaffordable fines and fees to a tax system that hits working people the hardest and places the least burden on those with the most wealth. For too long, corporations and the ultra-wealthy have passed the burden onto everyday Texans while profiting off essential services. We seek to lower daily costs and keep Texans’ hard-earned money in Texans’ pockets so we can purchase the goods and services our families need without financial stress.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Working families do not share in the wealth that they create. Since 2010, the percent of Texas households that struggle to afford essential expenses like housing, child care, food, and unexpected costs has remained stagnant at approximately 40%. Over this same period, the Texas GDP has increased by 108%. [Every Texan]
14% of Texas households fell below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in 2021. An additional 29% were classified as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households – incomes higher than the FPL but still too low to afford basic necessities. At least 1 in 5 Texan households live below the ALICE threshold in every county. [EveryTexan]
In Texas, tens of thousands of people are jailed each year for failure to pay tickets, fines and court costs, often due to inability to pay. [Texas Appleseed]

Our Policies:

Reduce Fines and Fees: Reduce the initial cost and financial consequences for non-payment of traffic, toll, court-related and criminal fines, and fees.
Make Taxes More Fair: Expand tax-exemption to items such as resale clothing. Because over half of our state-source revenue comes from sales tax, our overall state tax system is the 7th most regressive in the country. Explore methods for reducing the regressive nature of our tax system.
Fully Fund K-12 Public Education and Pursue Affordable Postsecondary Education: Fund public schools and protect long-term funding. Expand options for free community college and career technical programs.
Prosperity Payout: Provide Texans with an annual Prosperity Payout generated from a marginal tax on the crypto and artificial intelligence industry’s massive drain on our energy grid. Modeled after Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend.

HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS

Every Texan deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare, yet too many are forced to choose between daily and life-saving care and paying their bills. Texans are waking up to the powerful corporations and politicians who have kept coverage out of reach while costs skyrocket. Texans work hard and deserve safe and affordable choices for health and wellness. We promote health insurance plans that work for Texans, access to good food to sustain our lives, and access to cannabis as a healthcare alternative and source of wellness for all.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

21.7% of Texas adults age 19 to 64 went without health insurance in 2023, the worst rate in the nation. The Texas rate was almost double the national rate of 11.0%. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
Children in Texas were much more likely to go without health insurance than kids in any other state in 2023. The Texas uninsured rate for children was 11.9%, more than twice the national rate of 5.4%. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
Texas had a much higher uninsured rate than nearby states, including Arizona (13.5%), Arkansas (12.4%), Louisiana (10.0%), New Mexico (13.3%), and Oklahoma (16.1%). All of those states have passed Medicaid expansion. [Cover Texas Now] [Census Bureau]
Texas has the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the nation at 16.9%, more than 4.5% higher than the U.S. average. In Texas, 1 in 6 households are food insecure. More than 1.9 million families – including approximately 5.1 million Texans – are at risk for hunger. [Feeding Texas]

Our Policies:

Make Healthcare Affordable and Cover What People Need: Expand Medicaid, include reproductive healthcare in coverage, explore options for reducing premiums and capping the cost of common prescriptions.
Create Food Security: Increase accessibility to healthy and affordable food options to rural and low-income communities. Explore opportunities to support Texas farmers over grocery conglomerates.
Put Cannabis to Work for Texans: Legalize cannabis broadly and expand compassionate use as a means to supporting Texas’ farmers, small businesses, veterans, and people with illness and disabilities. Partner legalization with expungement of non-violent cannabis records. Increase availability of information about Texas’ current compassionate use program.

HOUSING

A safe, affordable home should be a foundation for success for any Texan, yet rising rents and property taxes are forcing families, retirees, and young people into crisis. While corporate landlords and developers rake in record profits, working Texans are being priced out of their communities. We advocate for smart investments in affordability and relief programs to strengthen communities and create economic opportunity for all.

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Between 2019 and 2023, median home prices in Texas surged by 40%, significantly outpacing income growth and placing homeownership out of reach for many Texans. [Texas Comptroller]
Nearly half of Texans now spend more than 30% of their household income on housing expenses. [Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers]
In 2023, Texas was 306,000 homes short of what was needed, particularly affecting lower- and middle-income and first-time buyers. [Texas Comptroller]
Texas has an average effective property tax rate of 1.63%, placing the state seventh in the U.S. This rate translates to an average annual property tax payment of $3,872 for Texas homeowners. [ABC 13]

Our Policies:

Build and Preserve Affordable Homes: Increase funding to the Texas Housing Trust Fund (HTF). Enact guardrails that preserve existing affordable homes and help people keep their homes during times of hardship.
Increase Accessibility to Affordable Homes: Expand funding for down payment assistance programs, provide opportunities for free housing and financial counseling, promote fair lending and consumer protections. Increase funding to Texas’ Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and ensure availability of information about eligibility.
Enhance Tenants’ Rights and Rent Relief: Limit fees, increase transparency, and protect tenants from unfair practices such as the use of AI to price gouge.
Target Property Tax Cuts to Benefit Low-Income Texans and Renters: Pursue additional use of circuit breakers to target property tax relief for families in the highest need. Circuit breakers intervene to ensure that property taxes do not consume an unreasonable portion of a qualifying household’s budget and are considered among the most effective tools for making property taxes affordable.

FIGHTING GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION

Texas is Prosperous Yet Working Families Are Set Up to Struggle:

Texas is one of only eleven states that impose no limits on individual contributions to political campaigns. [Common Cause]
Since November 2023, Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, neither of whom were on the ballot in 2024, received nearly $19 million in contributions. [Common Cause]
Over $150 million has been funneled into Texas politics by a handful of billionaires, distorting the democratic process and undermining the will of everyday Texans. [Common Cause]
In the latest redistricting cycle, despite significant population growth among minority communities, Texas’ new maps were drawn in a manner that reduced the number of districts where these communities could elect their preferred candidates. [Brennan Center]

Policy Proposals:

Reduce the Influence of Money in Politics: Place a dollar limit on individual campaign contributions and contributions from one candidate committee to another. Increase contribution disclosure and transparency. Pursue public financing of campaigns in Texas.
Protect the Right to Vote: Enact state level voting protections and increase voting accessibility. Support county elections departments and election workers. Work towards the drawing of fair maps in 2030.

Original artwork by TLPC intern Fernando Alvarez. Fernando is a second year student at the University of Texas studying Government and International Relations.