Gina Hinojosa is asking Texans to make her governor in November. But for taxpayers evaluating her record, there is a straightforward reason to be highly skeptical: Hinojosa has earned an F on the Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) Fiscal Responsibility Index in every legislative session that she has served: 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025, and an F for her legislative career. Her 2025 score was just 30 out of 100.1
The Fiscal Responsibility Index is designed specifically to measure lawmakers’ records on the size, scope, growth, and role of government. The Index evaluates lawmaker votes on core budget, taxation, spending, transparency, and liberty issues after notifying and educating lawmakers and taxpayers in advance. The Index is built from hundreds of hours analyzing more than 1,000 bills and amendments during each legislative session. In 2025, the average House member scored 58, nearly twice Hinojosa’s score of 30.2
Her Voting Record
Hinojosa’s 2025 voting record illustrates why she earned such a poor grade.
Hinojosa voted for SB 22, a massive taxpayer-funded subsidy program for the Hollywood film industry.3 The bill directed $300 million of general revenue into a special fund every two years, with the program projected to cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion through 2035.4 That legislation diverted taxpayer dollars toward corporate welfare for Hollywood-style productions rather than property tax relief and other taxpayer priorities.
But that vote was not isolated.
On HB 1716, Hinojosa again voted against taxpayers, supporting a bill that mandated Medicaid reimbursement for services provided by associate-level mental health professionals who are not yet fully licensed, lowering the professional threshold for reimbursable care and inviting further Medicaid expansion without meaningful cost controls. Medicaid is already a ballooning budget item and the bill opened the door to even more long-term, taxpayer-funded costs.5
She also voted against taxpayers on SB 293, where she voted to raise legislator pensions, including her own, and to give the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) authority to unilaterally increase those pensions every five years beginning in 2030, all at taxpayer expense.6
Hinojosa also opposed core taxpayer protections. She voted against HJR 2, a constitutional amendment to permanently ban estate, inheritance, and gift taxes in Texas, also known as “death taxes,” a measure to protect families, small businesses, and farmers from future wealth-transfer taxes.7 She voted against HJR 4, which would have prohibited new taxes on securities transactions and the institutions that process them, protecting investors, retirement accounts, and Texas’ standing as a financial hub.8 And she voted against HB 1056, which authorized a gold- and silver-backed currency through the Texas Bullion Depository as an inflation-resistant alternative for Texans, and a limited-government hedge against federal monetary instability.9
She likewise voted against SB 17, which sought to prevent hostile foreign entities from acquiring key Texas real property and natural resources, a prudent protection of economic sovereignty and national security.10 She also voted against HB 3225, which would have restricted sexually explicit material in city-run public libraries, required annual collection reviews, and tied noncompliance to the loss of state grants and civil penalties. Taxpayers should not subsidize institutions that expose minors to explicit content, but Hinojosa apparently believes otherwise.11
The Record vs The Pitch
Hinojosa is now campaigning12 on making Texas more affordable and says her priorities include “Securing the American Dream.” But the truth is, Hinojosa has overwhelmingly voted for higher taxes and bigger government during her time in the legislature, which do nothing but hamstring the American Dream.
And she would continue those policy positions as governor of the whole state.
Her record is clear. After five legislative sessions, Hinojosa has never earned better than an F on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. A candidate who repeatedly supports expanding government and taxpayer-funded spending is at odds with Texans who want lower taxes, spending discipline, and a government that respects their wallets.
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- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/legislators/gina-hinojosa/2025-index ↩︎
- https://texastaxpayers.com/index/ ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv3545 ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/fiscalnotes/pdf/SB00022F.pdf ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv486 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv4171 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv714 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv51 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv1278 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv1881 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/votes/2025-house-vote-rv1993 ↩︎
- https://ginafortexas.com/ ↩︎
