Goodwin aims to boost school funding and healthcare when she becomes first female Lt. Governor of Texas
Democrat Vikki Goodwin is set to make history in January when she becomes the first female Lt. Governor of Texas.
She is among the Texas Democrats who rode a blue wave last Tuesday night and unseated Republicans, including three-term Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
Asked if she saw this wave coming, Goodwin told CBS News Texas, "I was hopeful for it, I'm the optimist, and so was I was really enjoying all of the candidates. We had such strong candidates, and that we were working very hard. So, while maybe I didn't dream that big, I was certainly hopeful and optimistic about it."
After trying to turn Texas blue for more than a decade, Democrats cracked the code, crushing more than 30 years of Republican dominance in one night. All statewide Democratic candidates on the ballot won. They include Senator-elect James Talarico, who defeated Republican Ken Paxton by nearly 1.2 million votes and 12 percentage points. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa toppled three-term Governor Greg Abbott by nearly 700,000 votes.
During the interview on the day after her historic win, Goodwin said, "I think it was that a lot of Texans felt like they weren't being heard or listened to by their current state leadership, whether it was on the issue of our public schools, or water and data centers, THC-hemp issue, or just a vast array of issues; affordability came up every day. So, I think it's that they felt like current leadership was saying that they were going to solve these problems that they've had an opportunity to solve, and here we are. They felt like it was time for a change of leadership."
On Friday, State Representative Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, announced that she has enough votes to become the first woman and the first African American to assume the speakership. If House members elect her, and with Goodwin as Lt. Governor and Hinojosa as Governor, the top three Texas elected officials would all be women for the first time in state history.
"I am hopeful for some significant change," said Goodwin when asked what will be possible when it comes to legislation in the new session that begins Tuesday, January 12th. "We have to increase funding to our public schools. We are seeing so many of our neighborhood schools close down and really struggling to keep the quality teachers that we need in the classrooms, and to keep the classroom sizes small enough so that kids can get the attention that they need. So, I see that we can make huge progress there. I want to make sure that we make progress on our healthcare system in Texas. We have five million Texans without health insurance. We can do better. We have women who die in pregnancy complications; we can do better."
Goodwin said her goal is to eliminate the state's Texas Education Freedom Accounts, which Republicans passed last year after decades of trying. The $1 billion program has allowed students this year to receive taxpayer dollars to attend private school.
"Yes, I really want to take the billion dollars that we have going into that ESA program and bring it back into our public schools," said Goodwin. "We have a constitutional provision that we have to provide for our public schools, and right now, they are struggling. So, that's a billion dollars we can bring back into our public schools, and I intend to work to that end."
As a candidate and as a State Representative, Goodwin has advocated for expanding Medicaid in Texas. Republicans have rejected that. But she said she is optimistic. "I think that, yes, there's an opportunity there, and I will work on that. That was one of my pledges during my campaign: to provide a healthcare system that works for everybody, and that includes expanding Medicaid. That would allow us to bring federal dollars back to the state to help people here in Texas."
Even though Goodwin will become Lt. Governor, Republicans will still retain the majority with 18 of the state Senate's 31 seats.
Asked how she will work across the aisle, Goodwin said, "I think that we can find consensus on these issues. Texans spoke up, whether they are Republican or Democrat, they said that we're ready for a change of direction. So, I want to make sure that I have conversations with each and every Senator to understand what their district needs, whether it's a rural area that's seen their hospital close down, or that they are worried about water and data centers, but just really trying to find some common ground and working together with the Senators."
State Senator Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, is among the 18 GOP State Senators. He was reelected last Tuesday night.
When asked by CBS News Texas if the Senate would be a wall against the Democratic House and Governor, Hall said, "I don't know whether it would be a wall or not. I think we will do what we think is right for the people of Texas, and I know of no plan or intention to fight bills based on party. I never have, and I have heard no talk about doing that. I just know that I truly believe that what we will do is what we think is best for the people of Texas."
Hall discussed his priorities in an interview with CBS News Texas on Friday. He said he wants to pass legislation that would require blood banks and hospitals to provide blood transfusions when ordered by a physician.
"We have a number of folks out there that have a special need for blood transfusions, and the providers out there have been somewhat reluctant to meet those needs," said Hall. "So, if a doctor says, this patient has a special need and needs to have a special selection of donors, then the blood banks and the hospitals would have to comply with it. Right now, they don't have to. Matter of fact, they have chosen specifically not to do it. They were doing it, and it was working out fine, which has left some people in really bad shape."
When it comes to the Texas lottery, Hall said he wants to continue his efforts to abolish it. He was among the lawmakers who wanted to eliminate the lottery last session after criminal activity was discovered in the operation. Lawmakers moved the lottery to another state agency for oversight.
But Hall said the lottery isn't living up to its initial goals. "The lottery was brought into existence as an alternative to raising the sales tax to pay for education. At the time, we were looking for more money to pay for schools and education. So, they proposed raising the sales tax, and everybody was opposed to that because a sales tax is regressive, and it would mean the poor would be paying for it."
The legislature approved establishing the Lottery in 1991 to help pay for public schools. According to the Fort Worth Report, the lottery has contributed $34 billion to public education since then. But Hall said he doesn't think the lottery sends much money to schools.
"That was a dismal failure because what we've been collecting from the lottery pays for about three calendar days a year of education. So, it's not really a major contribution to education," said Hall. "It's only about $1.3 billion, but it is far more regressive than the sales tax.. It is really a tax on the poor and from that standpoint, we just need to stop doing it."
On Monday, lawmakers can start filing bills for the upcoming legislative session.
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