Texas House District 47 needs a state rep who knows how to tackle problems within the corridors of the Capitol. In our view, that candidate in the Democratic primary is Pooja Sethi, an attorney who spent the past four and a half years working on this district’s issues as chief of staff for Rep. Vikki Goodwin, who’s now running for lieutenant governor.
Sethi impressed us with her targeted, realistic ideas for addressing the state’s “Robin Hood” school finance system. She suggested capping recapture payments to no more than 30% of a school district’s revenue (Austin ISD currently sends 52% of its local dollars to the state), and reducing recapture payments for districts that lose students to private schools under the state’s new voucher program.
“It is unbelievable to me that we’re getting penalized twice: We have to pay all this money in recapture as well as lose money in the voucher scam,” she told our Editorial Board.
She also sees opportunities to incentivize wildfire mitigation efforts in a way that improves safety while bringing down homeowners’ insurance bills.
Sethi faces Joseph Kopser, an energetic tech entrepreneur focused on jobs and healthcare, in the March 3 primary. The winner will face Dr. Jennifer Mushtaler, a Republican, in the November election.