Issues

“I’m running because I believe I can make a difference, to pull Texas back from the brink, and restore our state to greatness. – Hank Gilbert

Real Eminent Domain Reform and a Stop to Selling Our Roads

Protecting private property rights has always been a priority for me. We will stop eminent domain abuse with real reform and I’ll continue to lead the fight against selling our roads to the highest bidder, burdening us with toll taxes.

Real Food Safety

Do you really know where our food comes from? I’ll fight for country of origin labeling for all food products and increase the number of inspectors at TDA to ensure that the food we all consume is safe and clean.

Real Weights & Measures Oversight

The TDA controls accuracy certifications of everything in Texas that scans, measures or weighs, whether it’s checking U.P.C scanners at the grocery store or the pumps where you buy your gasoline. As your Commissioner of Agriculture, I will make sure that inspections are increased and those who would cheat Texans are prosecuted.

Real Texas Agriculture Marketing and Promotion

Agriculture is the second largest industry in Texas. I will fight to open new opportunities to sell Texas agriculture products in Texas, throughout the US, and internationally in markets where it makes sense. I won’t pander to the large agribusinesses as Todd Staples does, I’ll work for all Texans who want to market their agricultural products.

Working to Bring Bioenergy Jobs to Texas

There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of support from the TDA for bioenergy production in this state. As Commissioner of Agriculture, I will be a tireless advocate for building a real, strong and stable bioenergy sector in this state.

Join me! With your support we will send Todd Staples back to his appraisal business in November!

Education

Our future economic success begins and ends with the education we provide to every Texas child today. It’s time we stop playing politics with the education of our youth and start preparing them for a globally competitive future. The centerpiece of that has to be the hundreds of thousands of educators in this state who work hard daily to prepare our children for the future. Those teachers and the public schools in which they work are the foundation for our future. We must provide students the opportunities they need to flourish in the 21st century economy and that includes reforming a system that determines a child’s future based on a single test.

Click here to view all the details on Hank’s proposals for Education

Energy

Texas should be a leader in alternative energy and alternative fuels. We have some of the most productive farmers in the nation and the ability to grow our way to energy independence. What Brazil took a decade to do, we can do in less than five years. I plan to lead the way on a reframing of the regulatory environment to create a better system that generates real competition in the electricity marketplace and stops industry worst practices like bait and switch. We must keep fraudulent companies from taking on customers, then leaving them to die in the August heat.

Our capacity to build the energy network of the future has been hamstrung by a Governor focused exclusively on 19th century solutions. It’s time for better solutions, not talk and behind the scenes deal making. We can and we will do more to accelerate the ongoing shift from coal burning electricity generation to a cleaner mix of advanced solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear.

Click here to view all the details on Hank’s proposals for Energy

Insurance Reform

With almost 6 million Texans uninsured, the pressure on our hospitals is causing severe strain on our counties which in turn causes more and more of our property tax dollars to be diverted from building and maintaining infrastructure. Because of partisan politics and rhetoric, we have created one of the most inefficient health care systems in the world. By removing ideological blinders, we can create a more robust system that allows us to create a better health care system that doesn’t cost as much, removing inefficiencies that have kept millions of Texans from the health care they need.

Additionally, Texas has the highest rates for homeowner’s insurance in the country, fostered in no small part by the fact that Governor Perry likes to appoint those from the industry to the regulatory board that oversees the industry. I vow to end appointments of insurance industry lobbyists to the Texas Department of Insurance. I also promise to work with the Legislature to overhaul this moribund agency.

Click here to view all the details on Hank’s Insurance Reform plan for Texas

Environment

While we are blessed with natural resources, we must find a way to tap into those resources with as little impact on our environment and communities as possible. I plan to lead the charge to revamp Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and make it an agency that can, in cooperation with all stakeholders, create a framework for the future of clean fossil fuel production in Texas. Environmental protection and future economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive; they are irrevocably linked. The responsible environmental practices we follow today will directly impact future generations. We owe it to our children not to leave a legacy of polluted air and poisoned water.

Click here to view all the details on Hank’s Go Green, Texas! plan for the Environment

Economy

Texas, with real leadership, has a bright economic future. A major part of building for that future is investment in infrastructure. We are rapidly reaching a point where businesses will decide not to locate here because our infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating.

We have to pull politics out of funding for TXDOT and create a sustainable transportation fund that can allow TXDOT and contractors to rebuild and expand our roads — thus putting Texas back on the road to prosperity.

Term Limits

Most Texans have a basic distrust of our political system – both in Texas and in Washington, D.C. – partly because the same politicians hold the same office for years. In most cases, these same politicians lose track of who elected them to office. Instead, they are manipulated by powerful interests who control their future – and our future.

I believe our Texas state executive positions should serve no more than two consecutive terms. I vow, if you give me the opportunity to serve as your Governor, not to serve more than 2 terms. I will also work with the Texas Legislature to ensure that the statewide executive positions are limited to two terms.

A Woman’s Right to Choose

Hank unequivocally believes in safeguarding a woman’s right to choose. Hank will oppose all efforts by the Legislature to place further restrictions or roadblocks on a woman’s right to choose.

Hank believes Texas must do more to reduce unintended pregnancies, especially among teens. Hank favors guaranteeing equity in contraceptive coverage and providing responsible, scientifically-based sex education in public schools.

Hank is against placing restrictions on the access to emergency contraception.

Second Amendment Rights

Hank unequivocally supports Texans’ Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

Hank will fight to keep Texans’ right to carry concealed weapons. However, Hank believes Texas’ higher educational institutions must be as safe as possible and therefore does not favor allowing the carrying of concealed weapons inside classrooms at Texas’ public colleges and universities.

Transparency and Inclusiveness in Government

As governor, Hank will work to make his administration the most transparent and inclusive in Texas history.

Hank’s administration will be one for all Texans, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, or economic situation. Hank will end the “pay to play” culture that has invaded the appointments process and ensure that the most qualified people from all walks of life and from all across Texas are appointed to state boards and commissions.