SAN ANTONIO \u2014 State Rep. James Talarico visited a union training center in San Antonio on Thursday, where he discussed raising pay, expanding pathways to skilled trades and passing the PRO Act.<\/p>\n
Speaking at UA Local 142, Talarico said he came to learn about the union\u2019s apprenticeship programs and to talk about strengthening unions statewide. \u201cI am so proud to be standing with my union brothers and sisters in this effort to take power back for working people in the state of Texas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Talarico said he began his public service career in San Antonio, where he taught sixth grade language arts at Rhodes Middle School on the West Side and was a member of the San Antonio Alliance. He said that as a state lawmaker he has focused on lowering costs and improving pay and working conditions for Texans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a track record of fighting for working people. Ken Paxton has a track of selling out working people, that is the difference in this race,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cWe need a champion for Texas workers in the U.S. Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked why he believes he can win a U.S. Senate race when \u201cno Democrat has won a US Senate race in more than 30 years,\u201d Talarico said his campaign is focused on class and economic issues rather than partisan divides.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real fight in this country is not left versus right, it\u2019s top versus bottom,\u201d he said, adding that workers are being \u201cscrewed by the billionaire mega donors and the corporate special interests that are rigging this economy against us.\u201d He said his campaign is \u201cuniting workers across all these divisions\u201d and predicted, \u201cI think we\u2019re going to shock the political world by winning the Senate seat in November of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
On immigration enforcement, Talarico said, \u201cWe need a senator who\u2019s gonna hold ICE accountable.\u201d He added, \u201cRight now we have masked men in unmarked vehicles who are kidnapping people off our streets. They\u2019re killing our neighbors before our very eyes. That must end.\u201d Talarico said ICE should focus on cartels, gang members and human traffickers rather than targeting local communities.<\/p>\n
Talarico also argued that affordability is the dominant issue he hears across Texas. \u201cEverywhere I go, whether it\u2019s a big city or a small town, a red area or a blue area, I hear about how hard it is to get by in this economy,\u201d he said. \u201cTexans are drowning. We can\u2019t afford the basics, groceries, gas, utilities, prescription drugs, the things that we need to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he has passed legislation as a four-term state legislator aimed at lowering the cost of housing, child care and prescription drugs, including insulin. He contrasted that with Paxton, saying, \u201cKen Paxton has a track record of raising costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico said he has proposed suspending the federal gas tax and federal diesel tax to lower fuel prices, repealing tariffs he said are increasing grocery costs, and taking federal action to reduce major expenses including higher education, child care and housing.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to what he called a surge in organized labor in Texas. \u201cWe are at a 25-year high in terms of union membership,\u201d he said, adding that new unions are forming across the state. He said he supports rebuilding labor power across industries to improve pay and workplace safety.<\/p>\n
Talarico also addressed questions about data centers, saying he has not called for a moratorium but instead wants regulations. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve called for are some common sense regulations on data centers across the state of Texas,\u201d he said, arguing that data centers can drive up utility bills, use large amounts of water, and move into communities without notification or consent. He said projects should meet standards including paying for their own energy and funding water infrastructure, and should create \u201cgood paying union jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico closed by predicting a win on Election Day. \u201cOn November 3rd, I think we\u2019re gonna shock the world by winning this race on behalf of Texas workers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The campaign stop was held at a union training center in San Antonio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2014 State Rep. James Talarico visited a union training center in San Antonio on Thursday, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-392447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}