Pooja Sethi
DemocraticQ1 In June 2026, USDA confirmed New World screwworm in Texas livestock for the first time in decades; as of early July, dozens of infestations have been confirmed across South Texas (USDA APHIS , 2026). USDA estimates a full-scale outbreak comparable to past infestations could cost the regional economy billions of dollars (USDA APHIS). What policies, if any, would you support to respond to the current outbreak and improve Texas’s agricultural biosecurity (practices and safeguards that prevent pests and diseases from spreading through livestock populations), and what evidence or considerations would inform that approach?
As Chief of Staff while our office served on the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee, I saw how quickly animal health threats can hurt Texas producers. I support fully funding the Texas Animal Health Commission’s surveillance and rapid-response work, expanding sterile-fly production and deployment, and increasing veterinary capacity in affected areas. The sterile-fly technique eradicated screwworm from the U.S. before, so we should scale what we know works. I would also create an emergency biosecurity relief fund for farmers and ranchers placed under quarantine or livestock movement restrictions, helping cover testing, veterinary care, treatment, and other costs they take on to contain an outbreak. Producers who do the right thing to protect the rest of Texas should not have to bear that cost alone.
Q2 Texas is on track to become the nation’s leading data center market within the next three years (Bloom Energy, 2026). The state’s grid operator has more than doubled its 2030 forecast for data center power demand over the past year (ERCOT, 2025). Such growth brings economic opportunity while placing significant demands on water, land, and energy systems, raising questions about tax incentives, utility costs, and local community impacts. What policies, if any, would you support around water/energy allocation, tax incentives, or utility costs for data center development in Texas, and what evidence informs that position?
I support a pause on major new data centers until Texas puts real protections in place. These facilities can consume enormous amounts of electricity and water while creating relatively few permanent jobs. Before one is built, developers should prove the local water supply and grid can handle it, disclose projected water and power use, use reclaimed water through purple-pipe systems wherever feasible, and pay the full infrastructure costs their project creates. We also need strong protections against the noise and pollution these facilities can create, particularly when they are located near homes and schools. Local residents should have a meaningful voice before these projects are approved, particularly when their water supply, utility bills, land, and quality of life are at stake.
Q3 Texas faces flooding while simultaneously experiencing water scarcity driven by drought, groundwater depletion, and population growth (TWDB, 2024). Hundreds of Texas waterways are listed as impaired for bacteria, mercury, and other pollutants, threatening water quality for communities across the state (TCEQ, 2024). Agriculture is the largest consumer of the state’s groundwater, yet it is also well positioned to be a valuable partner in conservation efforts. What policies, if any, would you support to improve Texas’s water infrastructure, and what considerations would guide your approach to the state’s agricultural economy?
Texas needs to treat water infrastructure with the same urgency we treat roads and the electric grid. As Chief of Staff in this district, I worked on legislation to address Texas’s water challenges, including policies to reduce water loss from aging infrastructure, expand conservation and reuse, and better capture and manage stormwater. I would continue that work in the Legislature, including expanding purple-pipe systems and protecting our waterways from pollution. Agriculture must be a partner in this effort. I support helping farmers and ranchers invest in efficient irrigation, soil and water conservation, and technology that reduces groundwater use without threatening their livelihoods or our food supply.
Q4 The Texas power grid continues to face strain from extreme heat and increasing demand, including from data centers. What policies, if any, would you support to improve grid reliability for Texas consumers and businesses?
During Winter Storm Uri, I lost power for days while helping seniors in our district get food and water. I know what grid failure looks like for families. I support adding generation and battery storage, expanding and weatherizing transmission, and investing in energy efficiency. We should build battery storage and microgrids around nursing homes, hospitals, fire stations, and other critical facilities, strengthen weatherization requirements for power plants and natural gas infrastructure, expand rooftop and community solar, and help consumers and businesses make energy-efficiency improvements that lower demand and their electric bills. We also need stronger accountability at ERCOT and the PUC.
Q5 Texas universities and hospitals receive approximately $1.9 billion annually in NIH funding across 118 research sites, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and driving medical and scientific innovation (FASEB, 2025). NIH grants reimburse institutions for both direct research costs and indirect costs, the facilities, administration, and support infrastructure that make research possible. A 15% indirect cost cap proposed by NIH in 2025, currently blocked by federal courts, would sharply reduce this reimbursement below the rates Texas institutions have negotiated, cutting an estimated $300 million in annual support that institutions would need to absorb or backfill (Kamerlin & Elias, 2025). What policies, if any, would you support at the state or federal level to protect the long-term stability of Texas’s research infrastructure, and why?
Texas cannot afford to lose research infrastructure that took decades to build. I support protecting negotiated NIH reimbursement rates and creating a state bridge fund when federal research dollars are abruptly cut or withheld. Those investments keep labs open, retain researchers, protect Texas jobs, and ensure promising medical and scientific research does not disappear because of political decisions in Washington.
Q6 Texas kindergartners’ measles vaccination rate fell to 93.24% in the 2024-2025 school year, a decline from prior years amid a national resurgence (Texas Department of State Health Services, 2025). That year, Texas recorded 762 confirmed measles cases, including the deaths of two unvaccinated school-age children, in the state’s largest outbreak since 1992 (Texas DSHS, 2025). Measles can cause serious complications: roughly 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract it are hospitalized, and it can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, or death (CDC). As a policymaker, how do you approach engaging with communities that have concerns about infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety, and what policies, if any, would you support related to these issues, and why?
We have a responsibility to protect children and our communities from preventable disease. Vaccines work, and the deaths of two unvaccinated Texas children from measles should be a wake-up call. I support fully funding DSHS and local health departments, making vaccines accessible and affordable, strengthening school vaccination requirements, and reviewing Texas’s overly permissive process for nonmedical exemptions. During outbreaks, public health officials and schools must have the authority and resources to act quickly and stop the spread. Public health policy should be driven by science and evidence, not misinformation.
Q7 Scientific evidence is generated through the systematic testing and evaluation of ideas. It provides knowledge the helps us understand the world and predict the likely consequences of different choices, such policy making related to public health, energy, agriculture, and environmental regulation. What role, if any, should scientific evidence and expert input play in your policymaking process, and how would you evaluate competing or uncertain scientific claims when making policy decisions? What role, if any, should that process play when scientific consensus and public opinion diverge?
I believe in science. Scientific evidence and expert input should guide policymaking, especially when decisions affect public health, safety, our environment, and our economy. I will look to credible research, data, and experts in the field and adjust policy as new evidence develops. When scientific consensus and public opinion diverge, I will follow the evidence and be honest with Texans about why.