Texas House Rep runs for a 5th term, on school funding & border issues
Stan Lambert is throwing the dice on a fifth term for the Texas House of Representatives. He is a soft-spoken politician with a passion for education reform and border control in Texas.
He previously served as the mayor of Ennis, the athletic director for Abilene Christian University, and as a member of the Abilene Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Currently, as representative for District 71, he serves Callahan, Jones, Nolan, and Taylor counties. His opponents include Democrat Linda Goolsbee and Republican Liz Case, who was recently endorsed by Senator Ted Cruz and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In the last session of the Texas House of Representatives, Lambert authored 24 bills and co-authored 27. Out of those 51 bills, six were related to education and teacher funding, which has been his priority since taking office.
School funding: Lambert's No. 1 priority
Stan Lambert spent 36 years in the banking business before making his mark in the Texas political scene. He has served as the District 71 representative for four terms now, and is hoping to be re-elected for a fifth.
He was inspired to start in politics after seeing how the 2008 recession crippled public education in Texas, and after dinner-table discussions with his now-retired school principal wife. When reminiscing about those times, he remembered feeling that "We (Texas) can do better than that."
Lambert is strongly opposed to school vouchers, and hopes that that issue has been laid to rest. He noted that Texans already have a choice at public schools that offer different pathways such as the college or workforce route.
He also emphasized that Texas needs to "fully fund public education," instead of worrying about public funds going towards homeschool or private school education.
He notes that the school voucher system would "drain resources to create a new system," when Texas should instead be raising teacher salaries, which have been historically low. He remarked that Texas teachers are currently underpaid by about $7,000-$10,000 below the national average.
Lambert was part of the force behind the recent increase to teacher retirements across the state. More specifically, he authored a bill presented on February 23, 2023, "relating to a cost-of-living adjustment" to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, according to Texas Legislature.
This bill led to Proposition 9, which was on the ballot on November 7, 2023. The proposition authorized those cost-of-living adjustments for retired teachers, and passed with just over 83% of Texans voting yes.
'Texas should protect itself'
Stan Lambert is very outspoken when it comes to border patrol issues in the state of Texas. He stands behind Governor Abbott, other Republican governors, and the Texas Department of Public Safety when he says that "Texas should protect itself" above all.
He also backs Governor Abbott's proposal to build various barriers and a wall to help slow down illegal immigration. This includes the razor wire recently installed at the direction of the Governor.
When Lambert himself visited the notorious Eagle Pass crossing, he noted that in a period of three to four hours, he witnessed 50-60 groups of people simply walking across the Mexico-Texas border. If re-elected, he wants to find ways to better help the government fund immigration reform in order to secure the southern border.
He notes, however, that Texas does have a "worker shortage here," and that a "comprehensive immigration reform package" could help bring in legal immigrants who want to work, helping to stem that shortage. He hopes that with his next term, immigration reform could slow the tide of illegal immigrants, allowing for the federal government to process them legally instead.
Stan Lambert will be facing off against Liz Case on the Republican ballot on Super Tuesday, March 5.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Texas House Rep runs for a 5th term, on school funding & border issues
