For decades wages have been almost stagnant while CEO’s compensation has soared. The cost of living continues to climb and South Texans are left behind while other states and cities are mandating living wages at $15 an hour.

Thousands of South Texans are impacted by devastating floods accelerating every year due to climate change. Our local leaders have failed to offer bold policy solutions to combat climate change and invest in our crumbling infrastructure. Through a federal jobs guarantee program, every unemployed American would be granted a good paying, union job that would transition our infrastructure to 100% renewable energy.

We are failing to deliver on the promise that a college degree will deliver a meaningful career and an easier life. Sky-rocketing tuition costs for college and trade school have made higher education inaccessible for South Texans. Recent graduates’ opportunities are crushed under the weight of crippling student loan debt that deepens racial and class disparities.

Whether you were born here or moved here, you become a South Texan when you work hard and leave things better for those to come. South Texans welcome newcomers. We share meals with our undocumented family and neighbors. We give shelter and help to refugees when the government will not. We make our region more just and livable for all when we unite across differences. Our rights and opportunities should be shared across race and immigration status.