Texans should be mad.

Texans should be mad as heck when political sloganeering gets in the way of helping the tens of thousands of senior Texans who will sleep tonight in a Texas nursing home.

But that’s what’s happening now through disgusting attacks by politicians and their Austin consultants. These political opportunists are trying to mislead and confuse us by smearing the legislators who supported a bipartisan proposal to improve nursing home care in Texas, without increasing state spending.

They’re using fake facts to twist the details of a popular proposal that overwhelmingly passed a GOP-controlled House of Representatives. They’re attempting to turn a reasonable solution into a campaign talking point that obscures the real facts. They’re hoping to capture your emotions with their lies, suggesting someone’s grandma would end up paying for the proposal.

That’s just not true and they know it.

Shame on them.

Take a stand and say “enough” to politicians who would intentionally mislead for your vote.

STOP THE LYING

A Fair, Bipartisan Solution:

The Nursing Facility Reinvestment Allowance (NFRA)

The rate that Texas pays nursing homes is one of the lowest in the country. It doesn’t even cover the cost of care, according to the state’s own numbers. As a result, nursing homes in Texas have a 92 percent turnover rate annually and can’t afford to pay nurses what they’re worth. Nurses and other frontline staff are leaving, affecting the quality of care a loved one, friend or even you can expect to receive. All of this contributes to Texas’ facilities struggling to maintain quality despite their best efforts.

To address the issue during the 2017 regular session, Gatesville physician Rep. J.D. Sheffield, a Republican, and Sen. Juan Hinojosa of McAllen, a Democrat, developed a bipartisan proposal to improve nursing home care for the tens of thousands of vulnerable Texans who have no voice in Austin.

The proposal, the Nursing Facility Reinvestment Allowance, would have allowed nursing homes to put up their own money to draw down federal funding the state now loses out on. Nursing homes would have been repaid for their investment. Additional funding — linked to improving quality of care — would have been available. All without additional state spending.

Despite passing the House of Representatives with strong bi-partisan support, time ran out on the proposal in the final days of the session and it died in the Texas Senate.

Now political opportunists are attempting to portray the proposal as something it’s not, hoping their cute political slogan will cause you to overlook the truth.

Let’s reward courage for doing the right thing, not the latest attempt by an aspiring politician to mislead, misrepresent and, ultimately, to harm senior Texans.

Let’s restore honor

to our political process.

Let’s start here

by rejecting the politics of deception.

Senior Texans deserve better.

They’ve earned it.

No one’s granny was going to pay for this.

STOP THE LYING.