You can't trust Lisa Luby Ryan with your money

Property taxes are out of control and it’s outrageous that establishment politicians like Lisa Luby Ryan have no plan to fix it.
Ryan has pledged to support conservative budgets, the kinds which Austin politicians passed and created this school funding crises. Her campaign is funded by many of the same corporate and anti-consumer special interests who already control Austin.
Over the last ten years, the Legislature has voted to cut taxes for big corporations and froze education spending when the state didn’t have the funds. Then they passed the buck to local school districts to make up the difference.Dallas County residents need only look at the balance sheets of its largest local school district — Dallas ISD — which is home to most of House District 114 constituents to confirm what they already know is true. They are paying more in taxes and getting less from the state.
From 2016 to 2017, Dallas ISD received a 25.5 percent decrease in funding from the state, while taxes for local property owners increased 10 percent. In other words, DISD lost $88 million in state aid funding while property taxes in the school district increased by $114 million.With more cuts to education funding on the way, Dallas County taxpayers should expect their local taxes to go up even more. The Texas Tribune recently reported the Texas Education Agency is forecasting a cut to education spending of “more than $3.5 billion over the next couple of years.”
Dallas ISD is already sending hundreds of millions in property tax revenue back to the state for the “Robin Hood” program.
When Luby Ryan was also interviewed by The Dallas Morning News’ editorial board about the need for more school funding, her response revealed her ignorance on education policy. She didn’t even know the base cost to educate a child in Texas. At a time when the Legislature needs to step up and provide additional funding for education to provide relief for local taxpayers, Luby Ryan opposes “additional funding at the state level.”
Establishment politicians like Luby Ryan want us to believe – a few weeks before the election – they are finally concerned about skyrocketing local property taxes. We know the truth – it’s the politicians in the pockets of the special interests who are responsible for this problem. Because they shower tax cuts on their big corporate special interest donors, and pass the state’s revenue shortfalls on to local school districts.

We won’t be fooled by more politics as usual. Taxpayers across Texas are paying more in taxes and getting less, and Lisa Luby Ryan won’t change it.  If we are to fix our state and get the transparency and tax fairness we deserve, we must demand candidates stand up to their corporate donors and help us Reform Austin.