This January, a new Congress will be sworn in and will begin setting its legislative priorities. As I contribute to the process on behalf of Texas, I use information I gather from many sources, including my annual Listening Post. In this year’s survey on domestic issues, you provided excellent feedback and suggestions for dealing with energy, transportation, tax relief, legal reform, and more. The largest number of responses came in support of tax relief measures that, without congressional action, are set to expire in 2011. More than any other provision, the respondents said, relief from the Marriage Penalty was the item to preserve. Permanent elimination of the Death Tax, lower marginal tax rates on all income brackets, and maintenance of the higher child tax credit were also heavily supported. Gordon and Nancy, from Richardson, summed up their position on tax relief in this way: “We don’t want this relief so much for ourselves as we do for our children and their children. We had hoped to leave them with a better world than the one we have now, or at least similar to what we remember from our growing up years.” Other comments were short and to the point. Lee, from Austin wrote, “The alternative minimum tax needs reform.” “Eliminate the income tax and IRS and institute a consumption tax,” was the terse reply of Stephen, of Highlands. Dale, who lives in Flower Mound, said he favored elimination of the Marriage penalty, lower marginal tax rates, and the higher child tax deduction, and added, “I also want a balanced budget.” Legal reform questions generated a large number of reactions. The greatest number approved prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Medical liability and tort reform drew many responses on both sides. Fern, from Beaumont, argued, “Lawsuits and the threat of lawsuits are the only way to keep big business from putting out bad products and taking advantage of the little guy.”
Carolynn, who hails from Friendswood, had a different take, saying she wants to see tort reform to prevent frivolous lawsuits from driving up insurance for doctors. “I lost my OB-GYN for this reason, and he was the best doctor I ever had,” she wrote. Energy policy generated many comments. Most of you said the United States should increase domestic oil and gas drilling and production, while nearly as many argued on behalf of renewable resources. Raising federal requirements for fuel efficiency was much less popular. James, of Kilgore, said, “I believe our tax dollars are wasted on funding for solar and wind energy.” John, of Pflugerville, counters that he wants, “Massive emergency federal funding research and development of alternative energy sources. Get out of dependency on foreign oil, NOW.” William, from San Antonio, speaks bluntly, “We have had 31 years since the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 and still we have no comprehensive energy policy. This is a disgrace.” The final category of questions addressed our state’s transportation needs. On a topic that generated the most answers for any single question in the survey, Texans wanted a fairer share of the gasoline taxes paid to build more roads. Raising those excise taxes received the lowest backing of any proposal in the survey. Almost as unpopular was the suggestion of an alternative way to finance highways through methods such as tolls. Conversely, many agreed we should increase funding for light rail and mass transit. Michael, a Dallas resident, replied, “New taxes and tolls are not the answer. Increasing efficiency is…I, and everyone I have spoken to, find it hard to believe that there is no high-speed rail system connecting major Texas cities.” Marc, from Houston, agrees with half of what Michael says. “Tolls are bad because they are discriminatory,” he wrote. “Gas taxes should be MUCH higher.” Thomas, of Bryan notes, “I do not believe gas taxes should be raised. However, getting people out of their vehicles and onto mass transit will be tough….I do not really have an answer.” With the help of your responses and other input from my fellow Texans, we can work together to develop practical answers to these and many other challenges face our state and nation. I really appreciate the time you took to weigh in…I am listening.