A look at politics: Lawmakers lay out their goals for the 88th Texas Legislature

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – This week’s episode of Eye on Politics (original air date: Dec. 12) focuses entirely on the start of the 88th Texas Legislature. CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink traveled to the Texas Capitol and spoke with several state legislators from North Texas about what they plan to do in this session.

Each week, CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink brings you the most headline-grabbing political stories in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7pm on CBS News DFW.

Property tax relief

This week, state legislators are again in session at the Texas Capitol, and this year they have record budget surplus about 33 billion dollars.

The big question in Austin is how to spend them and how much to spend. One of the top priorities for both Republicans and Democrats is to give homeowners some form of property tax relief.

It’s not just homeowners. Small business owners also say they need to lower property taxes.

“It’s just a regressive tax,” said Andy Ellard, owner and CEO of Manda Machine Company.

Learn more from Ellard in the video player below:

North Texas lawmakers share their priorities

Jack spoke to various state legislators about the 88th Texas Legislature. Among the topics listed as their priorities are school safety, public health and the border.

State Representative Craig Goldman, R – Fort Worth

Among the legislators Jack spoke to was Rep. Craig Goldman of Fort Worth. He was elected chairman of the Republican caucus of the House of Representatives.

“I think you will see a lot of mental health laws. I think you will see a lot of laws passed to keep schools safe,” he said. “The use of money from our budget will be necessary to fund these programs.”

Goldman also cited border security as something the legislature should focus on. He said that Texas is increasingly having to pour money into solving this problem because “the federal government is not doing its job.”

“As long as the federal government doesn’t do its job and protect our federal border, it’s up to the people of Texas to protect the border,” he said.

Watch the full interview with Goldman below:

State Representative Victoria Neave Criado, D – Mesquite

Jack also spoke with Democratic Representative Victoria Neve Criado, chairwoman of the Mexican-American Legislature, about what she hopes to accomplish in this session.

“I look forward to a fruitful session in which we can overcome the political polarization that we often see during the election campaign,” she said. “Hopefully people will go into management mode so we can deliver results for the people of Texas.”

Criado said she was pleased to broaden the scope of what she would focus on this session with her new position as Chair.

“It’s appropriation,” she said. “Uplifting Legislation by the Members of Our Mexican-American Legislature.”

She also cited veterans and the economy as areas in need of funding.

Watch the full interview with Criado below:

State Representative Nicole Collier, D – Fort Worth

During a conversation with Jack, Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth said she is excited to work on legislation that will help our community.

This includes addressing issues with access to health care.

“There are so many people who don’t have health insurance,” she said. “And we could use some of these [budget surplus] dollars to expand access to health insurance.”

Collier also wants the legislature to allocate funds for education and school safety:

“We need to make sure our teachers are adequately funded, our schools are safe, not just our public schools, but our colleges and universities.”

Watch the full interview with Collier below:

State Senator Drew Springer, R – Gainesville

Asked by Jack how the budget surplus should be spent, Gainesville Republican Senator Drew Springer said he thinks most of it should go back to taxpayers in the form of some sort of property tax break.

“But we can’t give it all away because we have some issues that we need to solve,” Springer said.

Among the issues he says need to be addressed are mental health, school security and border security.

“I would like $150 million to go to a corporate fund … to bring in the 5,000 mental health professionals we lack,” he said. “We do it with companies, why not do it with individuals.”

Watch the full interview with Springer below: