The Attorney General of Texas is the highest law enforcement official of the state.  The Attorney General is the People's Lawyer. The people of Texas depend on the Attorney General to give good legal advice and leadership. Our everyday lives are harmed and millions of dollars are wasted by bad legal advice and politicized decisionmaking.  

The Texas Attorney General:

• Encourages anti-competitive practices in the insurance and electric industries, leading to the highest rates and increases in the country. 
• Gave the opinion that allowed the unconstitutional, unfair margin tax to proceed, as it continues to skew school finance and fall unfairly on the shoulders of service businesses.
• Wrongly claimed the State has no duty under the Americans with Disabilities Act to accommodate the disabled in State buildings, despite clear law.  He lost in both the Fifth Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Wrongly allowed denial of rape kits before the legislature ordered policy changes in 2009. This is an update to the video portion of the website.
• Enabled Tom Delay's mid-decade redistricting.  
• Declined in February 2006 to get involved to protect the children of the Texas Youth Commission the same week that he targeted elderly and minority women for assisting the elderly and homebound mailing in their ballots. 

As Attorney General Barbara Ann will: 

• Attack anticompetitive and deceptive practices in the insurance and electric utility industries which have led to the highest insurance and electricity rates and increases in the country.
• Demand that the office of the Attorney General no longer turn its back on credible law enforcement evidence of abuse of the most vulnerable in our society including our children and the elderly.
• Declare the margin tax unconstitutional.
• Fight internet child predation. 
• Increase availability of assistance to local District Attorneys for direct criminal appeals and in habeas corpus proceedings.
• Enforce rules limiting lobbying on decision makers.
• Use the power as one of the five members of the Legislative Redistricting Board wisely.
• Protect students and all school personnel from acts of violence; supporting swift and fair enforcement of disciplinary standards and, in particular, support for teachers exercising their right to remove disruptive students from the classroom. 
  • Provide strong academic instruction in disciplinary and alternative education programs. 
  • Prevent escalation of conflicts via peer mediation, "No Place for Hate", and other programs counntering violence. 
  • Enforce weapon-free, gang-free, and drug-free policies at all school campuses and functions.
  • Fight sexual predation with strong policies for reporting and investigation, with heightened awareness and prosecution of crimes against children, including internet pornography.
• Observe and enforce laws of equal opportunity, protection and anti-discrimination, including state and federal Hate Crimes Acts, with accurate record keeping, law enforcement training, and analysis of the data generated; and state and federal disability rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, as newly amended (2009). 

Barbara Ann has devoted the last two years to helping good, qualified candidates win at home in Harris County, in Texas and across the nation. The significant Democratic gains in Harris County and Texas will be magnified in 2010.Today is a new day in Texas politics. Texans are ready for a new Attorney General who will protect all Texans.