Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa walks in the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa says even Elon Musk will get a $1,500 check from the state if her campaign promise becomes a reality.
The program is meant to be a tax refund, she said, not a social program.
The Austin state Representative and incoming Democratic governor defended the checks and began laying out her governing agenda in a wide-ranging interview with Hearst Newspapers on Friday. She said tapping $17 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to send money to voters will be among her top priorities when lawmakers reconvene in January.
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“Grift keeps the lights on in this place,” Hinojosa said from her Capitol office. “It is a problem that we have to weed out, and I just think, in light of what I know to be true — and the vast majority of people who are in this building know to be true — that Texans need a refund. We’ve been paying into a system working against us, and it has to stop. It’ll stop with me as governor. It’s going to take some time.”
Here is the full interview, which covers everything from data centers to tech lobbyists and THC seltzer, edited for clarity and brevity.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa greets people in the Texas Senate chamber at the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
I’m sure you’ve heard from a ton of people in the last week. I’m curious if you’ve heard from Elon Musk specifically, given how much you talked about him on the campaign trail.
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We have heard from some representatives of Elon Musk’s business, and that makes sense. So, he’s one of many stakeholders around the state we’ve heard from.
How do you anticipate that relationship going forward now that you’re in a place to actually have to deal with him?
Well, I’ll just reiterate what I’ve said publicly in the past, and that’s that I’m happy to work with him, and I look forward to working with him. It just needs to be on terms that are good for Texans.
I don’t know if you’ve seen that SpaceX (is planning to build a) data center (in South Texas). Do you have a position on that yet? Do you think it should go forward?
I don’t know where that is in permitting processes. We don’t have insight into that at the moment. But you know, my position concerning that data center and all other data centers is just the same, it’s what I ran on — and that’s that I will have a moratorium in place for any permits for any data centers until we pass laws to protect Texans.
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So that’s for new permits, I assume?
But if a data center is already permitted but not online yet?
Well, if it needs a permit that the state has to approve, then that’s on hold.
I know that there seems to be ample agreement on getting rid of the tax breaks at the state level.
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Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa walks in the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
A Republican in the Senate has filed a bill to do that. Is that enough? If at the end of the legislature that’s all that gets done, that’s all that there’s agreement for, do you think that’s enough, or would you push for them to come back to do more, like give zoning power to counties?
It is not enough. It is absolutely something that needs to happen. We should not be subsidizing the data centers. But what I have said is my primary concern is that Texans have a seat at the table to decide if and how data centers come into their communities. They don’t have that. That was the biggest frustration I heard on the campaign trails is people just feeling like they had no voice, no say, and that’s not right. And so, yes, that needs to happen. We need to have protections for water. We need to have protections for our grid, just to make sure that we have some baseline protections against data centers. But ultimately, because Texas is as big and diverse as a country, we need those local communities to be able to have real negotiating power. And they don’t have real negotiating power against these hyperscale data centers, if they just have no say.
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That can be zoning. But I think we need to have debates about what that looks like. Right now we have nothing.
But if nothing happens at the end of the legislature, that’s a red line?
You have four years as governor, but you really have a very short window of time here to get a lot done with the Legislature, and so I’m really curious what your must pass items are. Is the $1,500 checks a must pass?
That is a priority of mine.
What are your others? Do you have a top three? What are the things that have to get done?
We need teacher compensation, real teacher compensation, not just more money into a performance pay program that requires our teachers jump through more hoops to get more pay. Teachers do a lot. Teachers do too much, actually. And teachers deserve a pay raise. So that is a priority of mine. Making sure schools have the funding that they need is a priority of mine.
Is that redoing the school finance program? That seems like a huge lift.
Yeah, that’s a huge lift. I don’t know that we get that far this legislative session. That’s going to take the Legislature to really roll up its sleeves and get to work to do that. But making sure that there’s enough there. Again, money was withheld for too long, and schools are in crisis, and that needs to end. I think that there is bipartisan support for making sure our schools have what they need.
Would that come from the rainy day fund potentially? A lot of that’s going to the checks under your plan.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa waves to people in the Texas House chamber at the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The Legislature is going to have to figure out how to fund those things. But what I have said, and what we will do, regardless of what the Legislature does, is review contracts in the state, review the size of the TEA, look for savings within the system. I do think there’s already a lot of money within the system that should be prioritized towards basics, towards teachers, for instance.
Do you think that the state will have to raise revenue?
No, I don’t see, and I’ve not had any conversations with anybody who believes we have to raise revenue.
Okay, I know that one one issue that’s been raised as a potential to do that is gambling. And Senfronia Thompson, likely House Speaker, said that she really supports that. I think it will probably be a priority. Where do you stand on that?
I voted against the last bill on casinos because it was very one-sided. It was about really specific, very wealthy people making a lot of money off of casino licenses and working people didn’t have a seat at the table. I have said that labor needs to be at the table to negotiate a deal that makes sense for working Texans, and that’s what I would need to see in any kind of casino bill — a bill that was not just about rich people making more money, but about it benefiting — not just money going into schools, but that really the people who are going to be part of this new industry also benefit from it.
So you would veto the bill that you voted against if that passed?
The House and Senate leadership both have laid out their transition teams, and I don’t know if you’ve seen your Democratic colleagues’ teams, but they include lobbyists for SpaceX and Anthropic. I’m just curious if you see, is that a problem, do you think? Does that send the wrong message to voters?
I wasn’t aware of that actually, so I’m not — I don’t really know anything about that.
It’s Tommy Williams who’s a SpaceX — former senator, SpaceX lobbyist now — and Dennis Bonnen is an Anthropic lobbyist.
So they’re former lawmakers, currently lobbying for, registered to lobby for them.
Listen, I mean, it’s not — I will answer about who is on my team and who we choose within my team, but it’s not — Vikki Goodwin has a hard job ahead of her to make sure she can ensure that the voice of the voters is heard with her leadership, and so I’m not going to second guess what she does. And Miss T is a leader who has to work in and manage a 150 member body, so I’m not going to second guess her decisions either.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa greets people in the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
On working with the other side of the aisle, have you been talking to Senate Republicans since winning? What are those conversations like? What is the most surprising thing you’re taking from those conversations? Have you heard anything that you didn’t think they might be willing to work on that they are?
There’s nothing really that’s been surprising to me. Everybody wants to come together. There’s recognition that people want change, and I’m not getting resistance from Republicans in the Legislature. They understand that the voters expect us to come together and roll up our sleeves to get things done to make their lives a little easier, and that people are struggling in a big way. So I just really appreciate how gracious everyone has been, and how everyone seems to be on the same page, committed to doing right by Texas.
It’s interesting, because what they’re saying publicly is that they’re going to hold the line, they’re like the last line of defense against this new Democratic reality in the state. So it’s surprising to hear that they are on board. I mean, are there specific things that you’re particularly optimistic that you have talked to them about that they will go along with?
Oh, I’m not having policy conversations with them now, just you know, making sure to touch base and making sure they understand that I’m here to work with everybody. And I think people have really appreciated that message, appreciated me reaching out. In some cases, they’ve reached out to me proactively, and I think everybody understands that people are tired of the partisan divisions. People are tired of the fighting, and about government not getting things done. And so, I’ve only encountered willingness to work with me.
What about the president? He was posting about you yesterday, and about a migrant caravan coming in. Have you talked to him or anybody in the White House?
I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet, but I welcome that opportunity.
What do you make of that issue? Because it’s kind of deja vu, I think, from when Biden was in office, and we heard a lot about — and I mean, there were migrants coming.
Yeah, it’s important for people outside this state and country to understand that nothing has changed, that the election in Texas was a referendum about how people within our borders are treated, not people outside our borders. So nothing has changed. And I’m not sure what that’s about, but people will not be allowed entrance into the country. And it is not a safe journey, and it is not going to be fruitful for people.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa talks to a reporter in her office at the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
So, would you maintain the current border operations that Abbott has in place?
I need to see exactly what he still has in place through Operation Lone Star. There has been a lot of money spent on political theater that I will not tolerate. We spend money on public safety because it’s important, and it always has to be about keeping people safe. It can’t be that we use those dollars for political theater. Those dollars are too important. There are big public safety needs, and whether we’re working through local sheriffs or DPS, the way we spend those dollars has to be nonpartisan and about keeping people safe.
What is an example of the theater?
The thing that I talk about that was political theater is that we spent billions of dollars on charges to arrest immigrants, to detain immigrants, to prosecute immigrants, and then also to pay for their defense. And they ended up right back on the streets. And they were then — nothing changed. We just spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money for what I do believe was political theater. It just made Abbott look like he was doing something when he, in fact, wasn’t doing anything that resulted in any change.
What about state troopers helping ICE? Are you going to pull them back from that?
I need to see what is statutorily required. I know we passed some laws on that. What is statutorily required and what is not. To be clear, I think anytime we’re talking about border security, what is happening at the border is very different from what is happening with ICE raids, and the ICE raids that are happening are chaotic, are dangerous, are a threat to all of our public safety. And we should not be facilitating that as the state, and so I’ll just need to see what exactly the state troopers are doing and under what authority they are working, whether it is statutorily required or not.
I know that there’s the 287(g) requirements, which requires cities and counties (to work with ICE) … Would you push to overturn that, or do you think that’s a done deal at this point?
I do not believe there’d be the votes to overturn that.
On cost of living, I know you’re going to declare an emergency on the first day. What do you think the parameters for that to end would be? Because we’ve seen the border is a good example of an emergency that just lasts.
Do you have an idea of what you would need to see to pull that back?
Some stabilization of prices. We see inflation continues to be a problem in this country and in the state, and so, you know, it’s something that we’re going to just have to continue to monitor. But it’s definitely not in control right now.
Is there something the state can do on inflation specifically? I mean, do you have a plan for that? I know you’ve talked a lot about obviously there are the checks and you want to freeze electricity rates. What are your plans to permanently lower the cost of living?
I think there needs to be an economic development plan that is about supporting small businesses rather than big corporations that come here. And so that’s going to take some work and some doing. But really, our small businesses are the economic engine of our state, and they just are left to fend for themselves, and they’re not making it. That’s what I just repeatedly heard on the campaign trail. They’re hiring from within our communities. They are putting dollars back into our local communities. I do think they’re going to be a key part of an effort to keep our local communities prosperous and keep money within our state.
If it’s tied to inflation, is there an extent to which it’s not within the state control? Obviously, that’s a global issue, really.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa at the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
I don’t think we can discount Texas’ impact on the global economy, or for sure the national economy, but Texas definitely has a role to play. And listen, we’ll do what we can do. Small business is where I see a great place to start. And putting money back into people’s pockets — like for the moment, to give them just some relief. I mean, I had moms come to me on the campaign trail with tears in their eyes, just saying how much that would help them to just catch up with some bills they had to pay. The summer electric bills really hurt families. People really struggle to pay those electric bills, and people are just falling further and further behind — and they are looking for ways to catch up.
If every household is going to get one, does that mean Elon Musk is going to get a $1,500 check?
He gets a $1,500 check. I don’t know where his homestead is. I’m assuming it’s in Texas, but if it is, yes.
Why should he get the same amount as the mother that you were talking about talking to on the campaign trail who maybe has six people in the house that the money will be divided between?
Because it’s not a social program. I referred to it during the campaign as a refund for — because of the grift we’re all paying into the system. I talked a lot about a billion dollars in no-bid contracts Greg Abbott has given out. Grift is what fuels the Capitol. Grift keeps the lights on in this place. It is a problem that we have to weed out, and I just think, in light of what I know to be true — and the vast majority of people who are in this building know to be true — that Texans need a refund. We’ve been paying into a system working against us, and it has to stop. It’ll stop with me as governor. It’s going to take some time.
The grift thing is a point that you made a lot, and it seems core to your message. And I know you don’t want to weigh in on what the other Democratic leaders are doing with their teams, but it seems to be sending a message that’s potentially counter to that. If they are working, if lobbyists are helping immediately with the transition, I mean, do you worry that people are going to take the message that things are the same as ever?
I think you should ask them those questions. I’m happy to answer for me and my team.
On vouchers, would you veto the funding if it doesn’t get eliminated?
I just need to see what the funding is going to fund. There’s been talk about transforming that voucher into a program for pre-K spots in our public schools and making it so that our public schools can qualify, as well, from that voucher … We’ll just have to see. The next six months is going to be one big negotiation, right? I’ll have leverage in a way that we have not had before, and that’s exciting. Leverage and power that I will use, and I will always use it, and that is my record. And I believe I have a lot of credibility about making sure that we keep public dollars in public schools. And so that’s my commitment, and I’m just going to have to see where it goes. Okay.
Another big issue that was dominating the last session, I’m sure it’s going to come up again, is THC. I know that you’ve said that should go to the voters. There’s a bill to legalize marijuana. I know you’ve said that should also be a referendum. I’m curious on THC specifically — have you tried THC gummies or seltzers? What’s your experience with those?
I’ve tried the THC seltzer. The stuff that they sell at Specs. Yeah, I have tried that. Didn’t like it. It didn’t really, yeah, didn’t really do it for me.