The Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch asked our two candidates for State Representative District 45, Carrie Isaac and Erin Zwiener. Carrie Isaac did not respond to the questionnaire.
Erin Zwiener
State Rep. #45
Q: How would you rate the state’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis?
A: The state’s handling of COVID-19 has been chaotic, inconsistent, and has led to unnecessary deaths and strain on our communities. Leadership has failed to offer clear guidelines and recommendations to the people of ...
The Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch asked our two candidates for State Representative District 45, Carrie Isaac and Erin Zwiener. Carrie Isaac did not respond to the questionnaire.
Erin Zwiener
State Rep. #45
Q: How would you rate the state’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis?
A: The state’s handling of COVID-19 has been chaotic, inconsistent, and has led to unnecessary deaths and strain on our communities. Leadership has failed to offer clear guidelines and recommendations to the people of Texas, businesses, and institutions. The delay in a statewide mask order and blocking of local mask orders is a good example. By late April, public health experts were recommending universal mask-wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the governor both refused to require mask-wearing and blocked local officials from requiring masks. After a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases in June (including locally), the governor required masks statewide at the beginning of July, over two months after the public health guidance was clear. The state has consistently only prepared for the best-case scenario, and thus was ill-prepared to manage the summer spike in cases, leading to more Texans suffering. Meanwhile, we still don’t have reliable contact tracing.
Q: What are three issues you would bring before the Legislature in 2021? (If I really need to work this down to 150 words, I will but three issues takes words!)
A: Expanding Medicaid will ensure 1.5 million Texans get the health care coverage they need, and it will bring $6 billion a year of our federal taxes home to Texas. This will drive down health care costs for all Texans, help keep the doors open at our rural hospitals, and help our entire community be healthier.
When I was a kid, the State of Texas paid 60% of my public education. In the 2018-2019 school year, it was down to 38%. The drop in funding forced local school districts to choose between cutting services and raising property taxes. Last session, we passed a $12 billion education package that both funneled dollars into schools and provided some property tax relief. Now the state is paying 44% of the share of public education. Next session, I will prioritize defending and hopefully extending this investment.
Last session, my legislation to extend sexual harassment protections to over 300,000 Texas workers at small employers narrowly missed becoming law. Next session, I’m going to get it done, so that every Texan who experiences workplace sexual harassment has access to due process.
Q: Do you believe pipelines can be safely built in Hays County?
A: When the state or county builds a roadway, when an electric company builds a transmission line, when a railroad builds a new line, they have to go through a public routing process that weighs safety, environmental impact, community impact, and cost. I want the same type of public process and oversight for transmission oil and gas pipelines instead of a company single handedly making a decision in a boardroom. If we had such a process in place, I believe the geological and environmental challenges of building in the Hill Country combined with the rapidly growing population in Hays County would have resulted in a different route. I’m committed to fighting for a public routing process until it’s done.
Q: Do you believe QAnon is real?
A: It’s a sad sign of the times that this question is being posed. The proliferation of social media and the endless avenues to access information online have made media literacy a more vital skill than ever. Media literacy helps people be critical consumers of information provided in various media venues and learn how to distinguish reliable sources from unreliable ones. I will work to prioritize media literacy in our classrooms, so that students learn to view media objectively and identify information that is biased, incomplete, or just plain wrong. I’m disappointed that such a large portion of our population is susceptible to dangerous hoaxes like QAnon, but we must stay focused on what we can do to rebuild trust in institutions (mostly by being trustworthy and transparent) and to develop media literacy across our community.