Issues

STOPPING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION – SECURING THE BORDER

As a former U.S. Deputy Marshal, Charlie Geren has made it his mission to secure the border and enforce immigration law.

Charlie is hard at work to clean up the disaster caused by the Biden administration’s failed open-border policies. He secured the largest investment into border security in our state’s history, increasing border funding by over 630% since 2016. He added more law enforcement along the border, increased criminal penalties for fentanyl distributors and human traffickers, and designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Most notably, Charlie led the effort to ban “sanctuary cities” that had sprung up in Democrat-dominated cities. Mayors and prosecutors ignored our immigration laws and used “catch and release” on dangerous criminals — Charlie didn’t stand for it. He will continue the fight to keep Texans safe and end the border crisis.

DEFENDING THE SECOND AMENDMENT

Charlie Geren is one of the BIGGEST defenders of our Second Amendment rights! As a proud gun owner, he passed Constitutional Carry in Texas, securing our freedom to openly carry a firearm.

Charlie voted to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal firearm regulations. He co-sponsored related legislation to permit college and university students to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. And he voted to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit in Texas. Charlie also lowered the License-To-Carry fee to the lowest cost in the nation – a great step toward getting rid of the fee altogether.

As you would expect, Charlie is A-rated and endorsed by the NRA and the TexaState Rifle Association. To him, the words “shall not be infringed” should not be taken lightly.

PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM RADICAL AGENDAS

Charlie Geren is one of the biggest opponents of the radicals trying to indoctrinate our children in schools and online forums. In the last few legislative sessions, Charlie stopped the radical leftist agenda in its tracks. He successfully:

Banned gender modification surgery on minors
Prohibited explicit materials in schools
Barred biological men from competing against women in school sports
Outlawed drag shows in front of kids
Banned the dangerous teaching of critical race theory in Texas schools

Charlie also passed a bill that protects our children online by requiring a parent’s permission for social media usage and preventing sexual predators and Big Tech from preying on them. Charlie believes parents and guardians should have more control over their child’s data and the digital information they consume.

SLASHING PROPERTY TAXES

Charlie Geren is a key supporter of additional property tax relief through tax cuts and exemptions. In 2023, Charlie passed the largest property tax cut in Texas history, providing $18 billion in relief, raising the homestead exemption to $100,000, and lowering taxes on small businesses!

Charlie vowed to lower our property taxes. Today, he can say, “Promise kept!”

This was a great victory for Texas property owners, but Charlie is not done yet! He’s pushing for even more long-lasting and substantial tax relief and appraisal transparency. We can count on him to deliver!

SUPPORTING THE POLICE & THE RULE OF LAW

Charlie Geren is 100% behind the brave men and women who risk their lives to save ours. We owe our police officers and first responders a debt of gratitude. Charlie will continue to give our first responders the tools and resources they need to combat crime in our neighborhoods.

When the Radical Left tried to defund the police, Charlie stopped them. He passed a measure that makes it impossible for cities to defund their police departments.

Moreover, Charlie enacted a law allowing Texas residents to remove district attorneys who refuse to prosecute crimes under current law. This way, police officers’ efforts are never wasted, and criminals remain off our streets. The rule of law must be respected in Texas.

Charlie is endorsed by the Fort Worth Police Officers Association.

100% PRO-LIFE

Charlie Geren has always been a faithful defender of the unborn. In 2021, he passed the Texas Heartbeat Act, which banned abortion after the detection of a heartbeat, and the Abortion Ban Trigger Law, which immediately went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned—making Texas the most pro-life state in the country.

Charlie also established the Thriving Texas Families Program as a continuation of Alternatives to Abortion. This program extends family support services to children and at-risk families. Accommodating this is paid parental leave for state employees when they welcome a child through birth, adoption, or surrogacy.

Charlie is endorsed by the Texas Alliance for Life and LifePAC.

CREATING LOCAL JOBS

Charlie Geren’s incessant tax cutting and efforts to eliminate the red tape and unnecessary regulations that hinder our businesses have helped make Texas the #1 job creator year after year. He’s also worked hard to create more great jobs right here in our district.

He passed a bill that made Texas a top contender among states competing for large data center projects. As a result, Facebook picked Fort Worth over 219 other cities as the location for its fifth data center worldwide. Facebook’s Fort Worth Data Center brings in billions of dollars in capital investment, creates local jobs, and sends more revenue to state and local governments.

Charlie Geren, in coordination with Governor Greg Abbott and the Legislature, has achieved massive milestones on behalf of Texas. Charlie helped make Texas:

#1 state for Fortune 500 headquarters
#1 state for exports
#1 state for job creation
#1 state for high-value business investments
#1 state for foreign direct investments
#1 business climate in the nation

Texas is the embodiment of the American dream. A place where entrepreneurs can freely pursue their visions and hard work is rewarded.

Charlie was named a “Guardian of Small Businesses” by the National Federation of Independent Businesses and called a “Champion for Free Enterprise” by the Texas Association of Business, who have both endorsed him.

DEVELOPING INFRASTRUCTURE

As a result of the conservative policies implemented by legislators like Charlie Geren, companies and people are moving to Texas in droves. Charlie understands that a rapidly growing state like Texas requires excellent roads and infrastructure and will support projects that help make this happen without raising taxes.

This session, Charlie secured $144 billion to address infrastructure needs. This was the total of a massive assortment of funds dedicated to different infrastructure programs:

Flood Infrastructure Fund – $625 million
Texas Water Fund – $1 billion
Centennial Parks Conservation Fund – $1 billion
Broadband Infrastructure Fund – $1.5 billion
State Highway Fund – $5 billion
Texas Energy Fund – $5 billion

Charlie Geren insists that good infrastructure is vital for the future of Texas. These plans will help our citizens in our large cities, rural communities, and everywhere in between.

PROTECTING PRIVATE PROPERTY

Charlie Geren is a strong supporter of private property rights. Putting words into action, he passed legislation to end forced annexation and remove eminent domain authority from private companies. He will never allow the government to take that which is rightfully ours.

However, he also believes in protecting online privacy. He passed a law restricting the sale and processing of personal consumer data. Texans now have digital rights that did not exist before this piece of legislation. Now, Big Tech can no longer monitor your information without your consent.

STRENGTHENING SCHOOLS

Charlie Geren believes the best investment we can make is in our children. That’s why he restored nearly $5 billion in funds cut from our schools and added an additional $3.2 billion for the Foundation School Program. He also significantly cut STAAR tests and enhanced local control over schools so we can ensure our kids get a great education.

Additionally, Charlie fought to empower parents in the classroom because he is committed to full transparency in public education. He improved parental access to class curricula by creating an opt-in program for school districts to use standardized materials and establishing a mechanism for parents to trigger an audit of curricular information.

However, the unsung heroes of our schools are our teachers, who deserve all the help they can get. This session, Charlie accomplished this by:

Guaranteeing $695 million for TRS-Care to help educators pay for health care services
Reserving $3.4 billion for a cost-of-living adjustment for retired teachers
Securing $1.6 billion for a 13th paycheck for retired teachers
Ensuring $588.5 million was appropriated to keep TRS health insurance premiums below 10% each year for TRS Active-Care participants.

UPHOLDING CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE VALUES

As our Republican State Representative, Charlie Geren always fights for our values. In fact, he’s worked hard to transform Texas into a state that’s a conservative model for the whole country. He got the job done through a straightforward conservative platform that involved:

Securing the border
Cutting taxes
Creating a pro-business environment
Empowering parents
Defending religious liberties
Protecting the Second Amendment
Reducing the size of government
Upholding the sanctity of life

Recently, Charlie passed a law that ensured a teacher at a public school could not be prohibited from displaying the national motto “In God We Trust” in classrooms. Anti-American agitators are not going to stop us from worshiping our Lord and loving our country.

With Charlie, we’ll always have a strong conservative voice in Austin. What does a Christian conservative legislator look like? A lot like Charlie Geren.