Two of three candidates in the Texas Senate District 27 Republican primary race took part in a forum hosted by the citizen group Futuro RGV on Jan. 19.
Adam Hinojosa and Raul Torres responded to several questions from moderator Michael Limas during the roughly half-hour forum. Futuro RGV President Nedra Kinerk said primary candidate Isreal Salinas was not able to attend due to a death in the family.
The topics included bills passed during the last legislative session such as restrictions on abortion and voting rights in the state, whether taxpayer money should be used to build a border wall (a priority of Gov. Greg Abbott), and whether Texas should embrace Medicaid expansion in exchange for billions of dollars in federal funds to address the state’s high number of uninsured residents.
Both Hinojosa and Torres said they would have voted for SB 8, which prohibits abortions in Texas after approximately six weeks and also voiced support for SB 1, which imposes new restrictions on the state’s voting process and local control of elections.
Abbott and other Republican supporters of the bill maintain the law is needed to restore trust in the voting process, while critics say the intent is to make it harder to vote for residents of Democratic-leaning urban communities of color but expands access in more conservative, rural areas of the state.
Hinojosa said he’s not familiar with the specifics of SB 1 but is in favor of “voter security and voter integrity.”
“Everybody wants fair and honest elections,” Torres said.
The Legislature has so far refused to expand Medicaid, as allowed under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to an estimated 771,000 Texas residents currently not eligible for Medicaid or premium subsidies to help pay for private coverage through ACA exchanges. Texas, which has the highest rate and number of uninsured residents among U.S. states, would receive between $5 billion and $6 billion in federal funding to cover the cost of expansion.
While not specifically addressing the question, Hinojosa said he supports keeping Medicaid in place to uphold promises made to “elders,” and that free-market competition will help bring down insurance rates.
Medicaid is a state/federal assistance program for low-income individuals. Medicare is a federal insurance program serving mainly people 65 and older, though it also helps younger people with disabilities. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating both programs in 1965.
“We’ve seen that government is not good at being in the insurance business,” Hinojosa said.
Torres claimed that “Medicaid and other social programs were never intended to be long term fixes for the population.”
“I think a better solution is a great job,” he said. “I would focus on building our economy in South Texas, drawing more manufacturing base and allowing the people of South Texas to have those good paying jobs. Those needs are going to be taken care of by private industry, if we have a good paying job.”
Noting that Abbott authorized a $250 million “down payment” to build a border wall on the Texas border, Limas asked the candidates whether they were in favor of using taxpayer dollars for the purpose.
“The short answer is yes,” Hinojosa said. We need to do all we can to get our southern border secure. I am in favor of building a wall. I’m not in favor of building it half a mile inland. I’m in favor of building it on the border.”
“I am in favor of building the wall where it makes sense, and using other technologies as well,” Torres said. “The key is to keep Texans safe and keeping the border open at the right place so our trade with Mexico is not interrupted.”
Watch the entire Jan. 19 Senate District 27 Republican primary forum here: facebook.com/FuturoRGV/videos/259188726286808.
