Bernie Reyna

Bernie Reyna's career experience includes working as a veterinary professional.[1]

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Prices have risen beyond reason; on groceries, fuel, and the everyday necessities working families in Texas’ 10th District rely on. I know these burdens firsthand. For 22 years I’ve worked on my feet as a veterinary professional, not as a lawyer or Wall Street speculator, and I’ve lived within the same strained family budget. I’m running for Congress to bring real relief by boosting the supply of essentials like food, energy, and housing, and by reining in speculators and monopolies. If we build more and end corporate gouging, we can make life affordable again and give every paycheck real value.As a working man in the veterinary profession, I know a job is more than a paycheck, it’s dignity, stability, and the footing a family needs. Yet across Texas, too many jobs don’t pay a living wage, and too many towns have lost the industries that kept them strong. I’ll fight to restore prosperity by investing in what truly builds a nation: roads, bridges, energy, farms, and new industries here at home. We must reward work, not speculation; raising wages, expanding skills training, and strengthening small businesses so every willing worker can build a better life in TX-10.Healthcare costs are tightening a cruel grip on our families. No Texan should have to choose between seeing a doctor and putting food on the table. I’ll hold hospital monopolies and insurance giants accountable when they raise prices out of greed, not need. We must restore transparency and honest competition so an ER visit doesn’t push a family into ruin. I’ll fight for Medicare drug negotiations, caps on out-of-pocket costs, and protections against medical debt. Healthcare must serve people, not corporations. Every Texan deserves care that is affordable, dependable, and rooted in basic fairness.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Every American deserves a sturdy set of economic rights; good jobs at fair wages, stable homes, healthcare that protects, and security in hard times. Our farmers must earn fair returns, our businesses must compete honestly, and our children must have schools worthy of their future. These are not lofty promises but the bedrock of a strong Republic. When we guarantee full employment, fair wages, food security, stable housing, sound medical care, social insurance, and quality education, we strengthen families today and keep the American Dream within reach for every household.

Campaign websiteReyna's campaign website stated the following:TOP 10 list1). Create a Credit Institute for National Development to provide affordable public loans to farmers, ranchers, students, clinics, and the industries America depends on. This will lower grocery prices, save family farms, and bring manufacturing jobs back home from China. Public credit built our Republic, helped end the Great Depression, and powered victory in World War II—and it can strengthen America again.2). Reform healthcare. Build new teaching hospitals to create Public Competition in our healthcare system, which is currently dominated by private monopolies. Also, delist health insurance companies from the stock market. It is immoral to make dividends from sick & dying people. Allow interstate competition in the insurance business. Expand Medicare for All as a public option. Competition always generates the most efficient pricing.3). Raise & index the federal minimum wage to about $11.50(national average)—and add voluntary Living Wage incentives tied to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator (tax credits & contract preference for employers who meet local living-wage benchmarks). This would stimulation rural communities.4). Restore tariff power to Congress: Tariffs are taxes. Under the Constitution, revenue measures originate in Congress. Tariffs without strategy are liquidation: you don’t rebuild America by taxing the basic inputs U.S. industry needs. For example, lumber, scrap steel, and copper ore are upstream inputs that feed downstream production—so indiscriminate tariffs raise costs, squeeze margins, and slow output.5). Pass the Equality Act by amending it to reflect bipartisan agreements, codifying Lesbian & Gay rights.6). Disband ICE! The fabric of our Constitution was never designed to hold such a monstrosity. Currently, it’s violating our 4th & 5th Amendments. When a government normalizes dehumanization of Hispanics today, it trains itself to dehumanize others tomorrow.7). Discipline the Executive Branch: Impeach Trump, Bondi, Noem, and every henchman who violated our Bill of Rights with GENERAL WARRANTS.8). Legalize Cannabis in its dried, natural form, and put a federal excise tax on it to pay down the national debt. Pardon all non-violent Marijuana convictions. If Trump can pardon violent insurrectionists, then we can extend that same courtesy to our hippies locked up in jail.9). Release the Epstein files! The Trump administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson are actively protecting the NAMES of the cockroaches who used & abused vulnerable American girls. Shine the Light of truth where that darkness seeks to hide.10). Free Palestine. Halt all funding, aid, and weapons to Israel. Recognize the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, and accept the UN Commission’s finding that a genocide is taking place against Palestinians.Cost of Living & InflationCongress must stop tinkering at the edges and get back to first principles: cool wasteful speculation without strangling real work, and then pour its effort into the only things that ever built a nation—more food, more energy, more homes, more factories, more transport, and more trained workers.If Washington fast tracks production, breaks bottlenecks, cuts out the parasites, restores honest credit, and forces fair dealing in housing, healthcare, and industry, prices will fall, wages will rise, and the American family will stand on solid ground again.The cure is simple: build more, produce more, compete more—and stop letting speculators and monopolists run the country instead of the people who actually make it go.WHAT CONGRESS CAN DO IN THE NEXT 24 MONTHSCool Excess Demand Without Causing a Recession:Congress cannot order the Federal Reserve, but it can shape demand levels through fiscal policy.Target deficit reduction only in overheated sectors (e.g., luxury autos, speculative finance) rather than cutting across the board.Pass countercyclical stabilizer rules (automatic triggers that slow certain tax incentives when inflation is above target).Increase support for productive sectors (infrastructure, energy, food production) so cooling demand doesn’t kill jobs.Impose temporary credit constraints on luxury lending & speculative asset markets through the CFPB & FSOC.Cool demand where it overheats, not where workers live. This avoids recession.Expand Supply (Especially Food, Energy, Housing)This is where Congress has the strongest tools.Pass a National Permitting Reform Act to speed up housing, energy, and industrial construction.Restore and expand the DOE Loan Programs Office to finance capacity expansion at 0-2% interest.Create a national industrial credit facility.Fund port, rail, and highway modernization to remove logistics bottlenecks.Provide temporary subsidies for critical inputs: fertilizer, diesel for freight, cold storage electricity, etc.Expand the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act to train more workers in food production, energy, logistics, and construction.Supply expansion lowers prices fast without destroying employment.Break Food, Shipping, and Energy BottlenecksCongress can do this with targeted appropriations + temporary emergency authorities.Fund rapid port automation & expansion (especially Houston, Corpus Christi, Gulf Coast).Expand USDA emergency livestock stabilization programs to prevent herd liquidation.Lift refinery constraints through permitting reform & refinery modernization credits.Modernize regional grids with federal cost sharing, focusing on Texas ERCOT interconnection.If bottlenecks disappear, the inflation premium disappears.Targeted Price Stabilization (Without Price Controls)Strengthen the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and authorize automatic releases when gas prices spike.Create a Strategic Food Reserve for grains, beef, poultry, dairy, and cooking oils.Provide temporary fuel or freight subsidies during severe supply shocks.Set up a Freight Stabilization Fund to keep trucking & rail running during crises.Strategic reserves reduce volatility without distorting long term markets.Solve the Housing Shortage (3.5–7M Homes Missing)Congress can directly attack housing inflation through land use, financing, materials, and labor.Condition federal infrastructure dollars on zoning reform (allow duplexes, triplexes, small lots).Create a Federal Starter Home Construction Program.Fund water/sewer expansion for new housing through a National Housing Infrastructure Fund.Provide 0% mortgages for first time buyers of new construction in high need areas.Launch a national prefab & off-site construction initiative to increase home factory capacity.Provide tax credits for domestic production of lumber, cement, HVAC, and building materials.Housing is the #1 cost-of-living driver. Increase supply → lower rents → lower CPI.Reduce Healthcare Costs (The #1 Long-Term Inflation Engine)Congress has the authority to attack all three drivers: monopoly power, administrative waste, and pricing opacity.Break up regional hospital monopolies via strengthened FTC/DOJ authority.Allow interstate competition for health insurance (national competition reduces premiums).Ban publicly traded insurance models that profit from claim denial (the sick care model).Mandate universal price transparency for hospitals, insurers, and pharmacies.Create 0% medical modernization credit to update equipment, reduce overhead, and lower operating costs.Healthcare monopolies = permanently rising inflation. Competition + transparency = lower long-run CPI.Restore Industrial Capacity (Stable Supply = Stable Prices)Congress can rebuild the industrial side of the economy.Pass a National Industrial Bank Act.Create regional manufacturing clusters with federal state matching grants.Fund domestic fertilizer, refinery, steel, and microchip production capacity through LPO & EXIM expansion.Expand cold storage, grain milling, and meat processing capacity through USDA & Commerce Department grants.Prioritize energy infrastructure (pipelines, transmission, nuclear, refinery upgrades).When supply is domestic & abundant, prices stop spiking.Strengthen the Labor Market (Stable Jobs = Stable Prices)Congress can stabilize income & participation.Fund large scale technical training (apprenticeships, trade programs, vocational schools).Provide childcare support to raise labor force participation.Create a portable benefits system for gig & contract workers.Reform occupational licensing to reduce job switching frictions.Provide accelerated depreciation for small & mid sized manufacturers to modernize equipment.A stable workforce reduces demand swings → reduces inflation swings.Reduce Rent-Seeking & Market ManipulationCongress can prevent corporations from extracting unproductive mark up inflation.Strengthen antitrust enforcement (Agriculture, Energy, Healthcare).Pass a speculative land tax to discourage sitting on empty homes/lots.Limit corporate ownership of single family homes.Increase transparency in commodity markets to prevent manipulation.Restrict private equity predation in housing & healthcare.Limiting rent-seeking lowers prices without hurting supply.Jobs & WagesThe surest path to higher wages and a stronger Republic lies in directing our national resources toward the work that truly builds wealth—toward the roads that bind our communities, the factories that forge our future, the power that lights our homes, the farms that feed our children, and the machines that magnify the hand of labor.When America invests in production rather than in idle speculation, employment grows, prices find their balance, and the earnings of our people carry them further. Modern equipment, sturdy domestic supply lines, fair and open competition, and a system of credit that is honest, affordable, and loyal to the public good—these are the instruments by which every workshop, mill, and plant may expand without being throttled by the burdens of private greed.America doesn’t need more speculation—it needs more production, more power, more skilled hands, and a credit system that nourishes industry instead of draining it. Build these foundations, and prosperity will follow as surely as daylight follows the dawn.Build Demand for Labor by Investing in AmericaPass a multi-year national infrastructure program: Highways, bridges, water systems, ports, rail, airports, and grid modernization. Long-term authorizations (5–10 years) give contractors & manufacturers certainty to hire & expand.Restore & expand federal industrial credit programs: Reauthorize EXIM Bank, strengthen the DFC for domestic projects, expand DOE Loan Programs Office to cover more manufacturing sectors, or create a new Industrial Finance Authority.Provide targeted tax credits for domestic production: Advanced manufacturing credits, energy production credits, “Made in USA” supply chain credits.Reform permitting (NEPA modernization): Speed up clean energy, transmission, and industrial construction without removing environmental protections.Establish regional manufacturing hubs: Federal matching grants to states to build industrial parks, logistics hubs, and advanced manufacturing zones.These actions directly raise labor demand across construction, logistics, energy, and manufacturing.Boost Real Wages by Raising ProductivityCreate an accelerated depreciation system for small & midsized firms: Let businesses write off machinery, robotics, automation, and energy efficiency upgrades within 1–3 years.Expand NSF/NIH/DOE technology adoption programs: Turn research into real commercial tools for businesses, not just labs & universities.Make reshoring tax incentives permanent: Credits for relocating factories, tool-and-die shops, advanced manufacturing facilities, semiconductor equipment, food processing, etc.Fund vocational & technical centers that partner with real employers: Training matched to actual industry needs → higher productivity → higher wages.Federal investment + business investment = sustained productivity growth → rising paychecks.Stabilize Prices to Protect Take-Home PayExpand energy supply & transmission: Fund grid upgrades, permit new pipelines, increase refinery capacity, and accelerate clean energy approvals.Increase housing construction by reforming zoning incentives: Provide federal incentives to cities & counties that allow more starter homes & multi-family housing.Invest in ports, rail, and trucking modernization: Dedicated freight investments reduce shipping costs—one of the biggest drivers of price spikes.Use targeted fiscal discipline: Cut waste in overheated sectors while maintaining investment in high-multiplier areas (infrastructure, manufacturing, energy).Lower prices = stronger real wages without forcing layoffs.Increase the Supply of Good Jobs, Not Just Any JobsFund apprenticeship programs tied directly to industry hiring needs: Require employer commitments so trainees walk into real jobs.Expand Buy American and Hire American rules: Ensure federal purchasing creates U.S. jobs instead of subsidizing foreign factories.Create local supply-chain clusters: Federal grants to cities & counties to build industrial parks, training centers, and logistics hubs near each other.Use federal procurement to back U.S. producers: Government purchases over $700B/year—the single largest buyer in America. Use it strategically.Clusters + production incentives = more stable, higher-wage jobs.Strengthen Worker Bargaining PowerStrengthen antitrust enforcement: Increase funding & authority for DOJ/FTC to break up anti-competitive mergers that depress wages.Clarify protections for gig & contract workers: Prevent misclassification, ensure minimum standards for pay, safety, and benefits.Create portable benefits accounts:Retirement, healthcare, and leave benefits follow the worker, not the employer—this frees workers to move to better-paying jobs.Ensure fair union elections & prevent retaliation: Without forcing membership, but guaranteeing workers have the right to organize without intimidation.Competitive labor markets lift wages naturally—without heavy handed mandates.Use Public Credit to Lower Business Costs Without Raising TaxesCharter a National Industrial Bank or Industrial Credit Authority: Modeled after TVA, EXIM, RFC, or Farm Credit—but focused on domestic production.Authorize 0–2% long-term loans for factories, equipment, energy projects, logistics facilities, and processing plants.Allow states & regions to create matching public-credit banks: The federal institution can guarantee or co-finance state industrial banks.Back the bank with federal bonds, not taxpayer dollars: This keeps taxes low while dramatically lowering the cost of capital for U.S. producers.Require domestic procurement & hiring to receive credit: Ensures public credit builds American jobs—not foreign outsourcing.Cheap credit = more investment = more productivity = higher wages.Healthcare CostsCongress can repair healthcare only by dealing with it as one would deal with any system seized by speculators: abolish the monopolies, strip away the parasitic layers of profit, and return the machinery of care to the people who create its real value. The greedy hospital monopolies and insurance combines must be broken up, for they exist not to heal but to extract surplus from human suffering. Their pricing must be laid bare; their power to dictate the terms of life & death must be curtailed.Let Medicare bargain as any collective of workers would — not as a beggar, but as a disciplined purchaser acting on behalf of everyone. Set clear limits on what the working family can be compelled to pay, make every middleman reveal the transactions by which they enrich themselves, and ensure that every rebate & every saving flows back to the people, not to Wall-Street.Extend primary care so that illness is met early, before it becomes a burden of crisis. Guarantee protection against catastrophic costs so no household is thrust into ruin by the misfortune of disease. Sweep away the bureaucratic clutter—the paperwork, the billing games, the administrative labyrinths—which are nothing more than the dead weight of greed upon the living body of society.If Congress restores competition, transparency, and efficiency—not in the service of Wall-Street, but in the service of our Nation—then costs will fall, care will rise, and citizens will stand no longer as crops for exploitation, but as a community capable of healing itself.Break Hospital & Insurance Monopolies (Competition Reform)Anti-Monopoly Hospital Reform ActBan anti-competitive hospital mergers (restore the FTC’s pre-merger review power).Require hospitals acquiring physician practices to undergo federal competition review.Mandate competitive bidding for high cost hospital services.Tie federal funding (e.g., Medicare/ Medicaid reimbursements) to compliance with pricing transparency.Price Transparency EnforcementCurrent transparency laws have no teeth.Impose civil penalties for hospitals that hide prices.Require standardized price formats nationwide so consumers can actually compare.Mandate insurer disclosure of negotiated rates in machine readable format.Lower prices through real market competition.Expand Medicare Drug Price NegotiationCongress can pass a Medicare Drug Negotiation Expansion Act to:Allow negotiation on all drugs with high national spending, not just 20-30.Extend negotiation to Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and the VA for consistency.Cap insulin at $35 for everyone (public + private insurance).Prevent drug companies from raising prices faster than inflation.Revenue impact: Saves hundreds of billions over 10 years (CBO-confirmed).Lower premiums + lower drug costs for every American.Cap Out-of-Pocket Costs & Premium GrowthUniversal Out of Pocket Caps: Create a single national annual cap for all insurance types (like Medicare Advantage has).Apply it to ACA plans, employer plans, and Medicare.Premium Growth Caps: Link premium growth to GDP per capita or median income, so insurance cannot outgrow wages.Give regulators power to reject unreasonable rate increases (what states like CA already do).Ban Surprise Billing Expansion.Strengthen the No Surprises Act by:Closing loopholes used by air ambulances & specialty contractors.Requiring binding arbitration to discourage overbilling.Predictable household budgets and less medical debt.Regulate PBMs (Pharmacy Middlemen)Congress can pass a PBM Reform & Transparency Act to: Force PBMs to disclose rebate agreements.Ban spread pricing (PBMs charging insurers more than pharmacies receive).Require PBMs to pass 100% of rebates to consumers or insurers.Prohibit steering patients to PBM owned pharmacies.Empower the FTC to audit PBM contracts.Drug prices drop almost instantly.Expand Primary & Preventive Care (The Highest ROI in Healthcare)Community Health ExpansionGrants for community clinics in rural & urban shortage areas.Loan forgiveness programs to attract primary care doctors.Telehealth Permanency ActMake pandemic-era telehealth expansions permanent across Medicare/Medicaid.Require insurers to reimburse telehealth at fair rates.Nurse Practitioner Scope ReformIncentivize states (via federal matching funds) to authorize full practice authority for NPs in shortage areas.Earlier care → fewer emergencies → lower premiums.Universal Catastrophic CoverageCongress can pass a Catastrophic Protection Act to create:A national catastrophic plan that automatically covers all Americans.A hard annual cap (e.g., $5,000-$10,000) beyond which government coverage kicks in.Private insurance still covers normal care.This delivers universal protection without replacing existing plans.No more medical bankruptcies in America.Slash Administrative Waste ($200–300B/year savings)Unified Billing StandardsReplace thousands of billing codes with a unified national standard.Require all insurers to accept the same digital formats.Pre-Authorization ReformSet federal limits on the number of procedures requiring pre-authorization.Impose penalties on insurers that abuse pre-auth delays.National Electronic Health Record (EHR) StandardsRequire interoperability: every provider must use systems that can talk to each other.Federal grants to help small clinics upgrade.Less paperwork → lower premiums → higher doctor productivity.Affordable HousingWhen you’ve got a housing mess, you fix it the same way you’d tackle a stubborn bottleneck on a job site: clear the clutter, keep the materials flowing, and get production back on track.First step: help our towns actually say “yes” to sensible building. Federal support can nudge local rules so builders can put up the kinds of homes folks need.Next: put more carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and tradesmen into the field. You can’t build a house without skilled hands.And while we’re at it, trim down the permitting red tape that brings every project to a crawl.America also needs to rebuild the factories that supply the backbone of construction—lumber, steel, concrete, fixtures, and all the parts that hold a home together. A steady domestic supply keeps costs under control.Then give families a leg up: use tax credits to make starter homes affordable and help working people actually buy them.We’ve also got to keep Wall Street from turning homes into investment chips. Houses are for living in, not gambling on.Finally, remember the basics: lay the pipes, roads, power lines, and transit so new neighborhoods have the infrastructure to grow strong.If Congress treats housing like the essential trade it is—not a playground for speculators—we can build enough solid, affordable homes to give every American a place to call their own.Fix the Supply Shortage by Incentivizing Zoning ReformCongress cannot rewrite local zoning, but it can use the federal spending power.Congress can pass a Housing Supply Acceleration Act, that:Ties federal grants (transportation, infrastructure, broadband, water, sewer, HUD funds) to: allowing duplexes/ triplexes/ fourplexes near jobs and transit, reducing minimum lot sizes, permitting starter homes under 1,600 sq ft, setting fast permitting timelines (ex: 90 days)Use conditional funding, the same method used to raise the drinking age, expand highways, and enforce civil-rights compliance.Cities build more housing → prices stabilize and fall over time.Lower the Cost of Building Through Workforce, Permitting, and MaterialsCongress controls federal labor programs, permitting standards, and industrial policy.Construction Workforce Expansion Act:Expand apprenticeships through the Dept. of Labor. Fund community college training for carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC. Create a GI Bill for Trades for young workersNational Model Permitting Code:Congress directs HUD+Commerce to publish model permitting rules.Provide grants to cities that adopt: digital permitting, 90 day approval windows, standardized inspectionsDomestic Building Materials Production Act:Tax credits & loans for U.S. lumber, steel, drywall, concrete, and modular factory expansion. Expand freight/ logistics investments so materials move cheaplyLower costs → more homes built → lower prices.Expand Affordable Housing & Revive Starter HomesCongress controls all federal housing finance mechanisms.LIHTC Expansion Act:Increase allocations to all states. Add a starter home category for homes under 1,600 sq ft. Prioritize mixed income development.Starter Home Tax Credit (New Deal for Housing Act):Tax credits for developers who build: small single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes/ fourplexes, modular/ manufactured homes.Bonus credits for homes priced under local median.Public-Private Partnership Accelerator:Federal seed capital for mixed income projects. Local match required (ensures skin in the game)Affordable units actually get built; starter homes return to the market.Support First-Time Buyers & RentersCongress controls federal tax credits & HUD rental programs.First Time Homebuyer Refundable Credit:Modeled after the 2008-2010 version, but better targeted. Helps moderate income families build equity.Expansion of Housing Choice Vouchers:Increase funding. Require source of income protections. Increase mobility counseling to help families move to good school districts.Targeted Rent Relief:A federal emergency rent stabilization fund for high cost metros. Prevents eviction spikes during price surges.Families access stable housing without distorting overall supply.Restrict Corporate Speculation in Single-Family HomesCongress can regulate financial markets & interstate investment.Anti-Bulk Buying Act:Prevent private equity firms from purchasing large bundles of single family homes.Cap the number of homes any institutional investor can own per metro area.Anti-Speculative Flipping Penalty:A federal excise tax on homes resold within 6-12 months.Exemptions for veterans, first-time buyers, and owner occupants.Ownership Transparency Requirements:Mandatory disclosure of beneficial owners buying single family homesMore homes available for families, less for corporate extraction.Build the Infrastructure Needed for Housing SupplyCongress controls infrastructure spending & loan programs.Housing Linked Infrastructure Grants:Federal matching funds for water, sewer, roads, drainage, power, broadband.Prioritize projects tied to new housing construction.National Infrastructure Bank (NIB):Offers long term, low interest loans to cities for: utilities, road expansions, stormwater systems, transit access projects.Fast Track Infrastructure Permitting:Streamlined NEPA reviews for housing linked infrastructure.Housing can be built where it’s needed, not only where infrastructure already exists.Build Near Jobs, Transit, and SchoolsCongress controls all federal transit & education construction funds.Transit Oriented Development Fund:Tie federal transit dollars to guaranteed housing production near stops.Require zoning for mixed use walkable districts.School Housing Coordination Grants:Encourage districts to plan school expansions alongside new housing.Lower long term costs for commuting families.More walkable neighborhoods, lower transport costs, healthier local economies.Economic FairnessCongress can lift wages and strengthen the nation by doing what any successful industry does: invest in real work, clear out the bottlenecks, and give every man & woman the tools to rise.Build the roads, bridges, plants, and power lines.Supply cheap, honest credit to industry.Train the next generation of craftsmen.Clear the red tape that slows production.Give workers a fair shake by enforcing honest labor practices, cutting out wage theft, and stopping tricks that bind a worker to his boss.Lower the costs of living—housing, healthcare, childcare, energy—so a paycheck actually means something.Make sure the rich pay what they owe.Keep the safety net firm without dulling amb