League of Women Voters election survey: James G. Baird, candidate for Texas House Rep. - District 105

by Staff of League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters of Dallas sent a questionnaire to every candidate running for public office in Dallas County. The election on November 4th features a number of local races to decide state and national Senate and House of Representatives seats.

The responses of James G. Baird (L), who is running for the Texas House of Representatives - District 105 seat, appear below. Baird is running against Bob Romano (D) and the incumbent, Linda Harper-Brown (R).

LWV: Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

Baird: My qualifications for this office are my education, living as a productive member and family man in this district for 19 years, and a deep-seated desire to see the community grow and prosper. This is my first incursion into politics.

LWV: The Texas Legislature in 2007 overhauled business taxes to provide property tax relief for homeowners, but many small business owners in Texas now claim that their property tax decrease was far less than their business tax increase. What measures should be taken to maintain adequate state tax revenues without unduly burdening individual taxpayers or small business?

Baird: Small business owners are generally also homeowners. Robbing Peter to pay Paul only means that they are going to pay taxes in one category or another, and it does not matter how it happens. Common sense tells us that we must re-consider what “adequate state tax revenues” actually means. Are the revenues adequate if the state does not spend as much? If “revenues” are killing small business, perhaps spending must be cut.

LWV: Texas deregulated electricity rates with the promise that competition between suppliers would lower consumers’ electric rates, yet rates in Texas remain well above the national average. What measures should be taken to ensure electric power reliability and affordability in Texas?

Baird: With a fast-growing population in north Texas, you have to consider that electricity, like other commodities, is bound by the rules of supply and demand. Power plants can only generate a certain amount of power, no matter who sells the power. We must allow power companies to build power plants. Nuclear, clean coal and even natural gas must be considered. We must avoid a California scenario, where rolling blackouts are normal.

LWV: According to the most recent published data of the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel, insurance industry losses in Texas have decreased by 85%, yet homeowners’ rates have fallen by only 4%. What reforms would you support to lower homeowners’ rates in Texas?

Baird: That is because actuarial tables are not built on a single year, or even three years. They are built on a long-term average. In the south of the US, insurance companies that are in the region are still fighting the crippling effects of Hurricane Katrina and many natural catastrophes. One possible scenario to lower rates would be to make it easier for competing insurance companies to do business in Texas by lowering their tax rates.

LWV: The Texas legislature has not increased the gas tax since 1991, and also diverts millions of dollars of transportation funds to other areas of the state budget such as education and the Department of Public Safety. The public has voiced much disapproval of toll roads and public/private partnerships to build new roads. How would you fund construction of new roads and maintenance of existing roads and bridges?

Baird: Again, one of the chief problems that the State of Texas has is its ability to overspend. The education system here is a broken and bloated bureaucracy that wastes millions of dollars every year. Let us consider things like a school voucher program. Let local communities take on the load that the DPS demands be theirs. We have enough money for transportation, if we quit giving it to other programs that need reform.

LWV: If diversions from the State’s transportation fund are stopped, how would you pay for those items that are currently funded by gas tax monies?

Baird: Reduce the amount of spending. My family does not eat steak every night by diverting money from our mortgage expenses. Diverting funds means that the system needing all that extra cash is broken. The idea that the only way to fix problems is to throw more money at them is not a system that brings long term success. Government growth is a huge problem and is not the solution to our every need.

LWV: Currently, sales prices of most residential property are disclosed while those of commercial property are not. Do you support public disclosure of commercial real estate sales prices so as to ensure fair and accurate appraisals?

Baird: I would point out that public disclosure of residential property sale prices did nothing to stop the gluttony of some lenders, and that has caused their demise. Caveat Emptor, as my father taught me, is the best rule of thumb. Buyers AND sellers that tolerated deals that were too good to be true are now paying in the worst way. Commercial properties are protected to insure that their competition cannot then take advantage.