CAMPAIGN NEWS
Big Conversation About Big Nursing ShortageOur health care delivery system is in crisis and deserves to be a top priority when Texas lawmakers convene in Austin next January. At a time of unprecedented population growth, more Texans are uninsured than in any other state in the nation, health care and insurance costs have soared, and critical shortages in nursing threaten the quality and adequacy of health care delivery and accessibility.
As a former critical care nurse, I know health care providers need to work together so all Texans can count on access to quality patient care. That’s why we focused much of our attention last session on the nursing shortage, with particular emphasis on expanding the number of nurse faculty at the state’s public colleges.
Now, let’s join together to increase the number of graduate-level nursing students, facilitate hospital-based partnerships with nursing schools to leverage the expertise of clinically-based nurses in providing clinical instruction, and provide support for nursing students in an effort to improve retention and graduation rates.
Critical Health Care Crisis
Click here for health care document
Rising College Tuition Part of Big Conversation
While China and India continue to invest in the next generation of our global competitors, political leaders at the State Capitol continue to shortchange our own colleges and universities.
Texas lawmakers deregulated college tuition five years ago. Since that time, UT-Austin, the state’s premier public university, has seen its share of funding from the Texas Legislature fall to a mere 17 percent of its total budget.
In fact, state spending on higher education has failed to keep pace with inflation or growing enrollments, leading to average tuition hikes across the entire University of Texas and other systems. Concern is also rising that many middle-class families are being priced out of the college market at exactly the moment when other states and nations are expanding access to their universities.
Topping the next session’s agenda will be a search for a balanced solution that boosts essential public investment in our university system and keeps costs affordable for every eligible Texan. More…
Big Economic Challenges Fuel Our Big Conversation
Texas has built at least three economic empires on our natural resources, from cattle to cotton to crude oil. Now we are poised to help lead the next economic boom in the emerging frontier of solar energy.
- “As with the previous booms, Texas has a comparative advantage based on our abundant natural resource that can handle our financial well-being and our energy needs at the same time,” I write in this month’s column for the Westlake Picayune. “Technology is making this new boom more likely every day, and our challenge is to prepare the marketplace — and our public policies — to take advantage of its emergence.”
How we fuel our energy needs is one of our greatest challenges — and an unparalleled economic opportunity if we make sure state government is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Click here to read my full column.
A Little More of Our Big Conversation
Two years ago, I ran for this office because — like many of you — I believed we needed a positive change in the Texas House.
We have worked to restore balance and fairness at the State Capitol while improving our public schools, expanding access to affordable health care, lowering property taxes, and protecting the quality of the air our families breathe.
But there’s still a lot more to do. And one of the major challenges facing us is finding a way to make our insurance system more effective and affordable. Why insurance? Well, as I argue in last month’s Westlake Picayune column:
Three reasons. First, because Texas homeowners continue to pay more than twice the national average to protect their homes even as they watch the equity value of those homes slip in the current economy, with no end in sight. Second, because the Texas Department of Insurance is up for Sunset this year. Third, because the pressing issue of how to bolster our unstable windstorm insurance system was not resolved during the last legislative session.
Click here to read my full column.
A Little Pocket Change for a Big Conversation
The campaign season is upon us again, just over two years since you first sent me to represent you at the State Capitol.
We’ve done a lot in those two years. As co-founder of the bi-partisan Air Quality Caucus, I helped protect Central Texas’ environment and steer the public debate toward finding clean sources of energy to power our homes, small businesses, and regional economy. As a member of the Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee, I helped champion our state parks system and other conservation efforts. And as a former critical care nurse and member of the Higher Education Committee, I helped focus attention on the need to solve our historic nursing shortage.
But there’s still more to do. I made a commitment to be your independent voice, and I’m counting on you to keep your best ideas coming so that, together, we can continue to find common ground for Texas. More…
DONNA RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT FROM WESTLAKE PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
The Westlake Professional Fire Fighters Association, Local 4147 proudly announced their endorsement of Representative Donna Howard today in the race for Texas House District 48.
“I am honored to receive the support of the Westlake Professional Fire Fighters Association,” Howard said. “I represent part or all of five Emergency Services Districts, and I understand the challenges they face to deliver excellent service under tight budget constraints.” More…
DONNA MARKS SECOND YEAR AS YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ON TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY
It was just two years ago that I was sworn into office as your state representative on Texas Independence Day, a fitting day to pay tribute to our state’s spirit and, in the words of Sam Houston, pledge to “do right and risk the consequences.”
On Tuesday, we will do the right thing again — make history.
Like record numbers of you, I voted early because I didn’t want to wait to make my voice heard. With the presidential choices and many critical local races on Tuesday’s ballot, I hope you will make sure your voice is heard, too.
I look forward to seeing you on Election Night and working with you between now and November to continue the progress we’ve made toward finding common ground and positive change.
Sincerely,
Donna Howard
AustinWoman Magazine Article
Click here to download the AustinWomen Magazine article in PDF format.
The following article appeared in the January 2008 issue of AustinWoman Magazine.
It is 9:07 on the Sunday morning prior to Thanksgiving when State Representative Donna Howard walks briskly into Little Mexico Restaurant on South First Street. I notice how little she has changed physically since our first encounter over 15 years ago. The bright brown eyes, the glowing skin, the luxuriant curly hair, the toned body of a dedicated runner, topped off with a warm smile that lights up a room, certifies her timeless natural beauty. It is testament to a woman who, as a former preventative health care educator, has followed her own advice.
The restaurant has started to fill with the eclectic mix of clientele that finds its way each Sunday to this popular South Austin eatery. The staff is bustling about like bees preparing for the oncoming crunch of families, after-church diners, couples, musicians, artists and other denizens living south of the shores of Lady Bird Lake. Howard apologizes for being late and I playfully chide her for the seven minutes she has robbed from my life’s quota. Laughter ensues and we begin to tackle the tasks at hand – ordering coffee, our Tex-Mex breakfasts, and most importantly, taking measure of this thoroughly modern woman.
“I was born in the old Seton hospital that no longer exists,” Howard declares as she begins to unfold the fabric of her life. “I grew up primarily in northeast Austin, the eldest of four kids. My parents divorced when I was 13 which was very unusual back in 1964. Both parents remarried within a year.” One marriage brought a stepbrother and sister into the fold and the other, in time, added two half siblings. In short order, Howard became the eldest of eight children. More…
DONNA MAKES IT OFFICIAL: “I’M RUNNING”
As the doors opened on the first day of the candidate filing period, Donna made it official: She’s running for re-election to the Texas House seat she won in a landslide special election nearly one year ago.
“I intend to make the case for continuing the progress we’ve made and ask the community to help me keep finding common ground for positive change,” Donna said as she filed her official campaign papers. More…