Day 27: Everything’s Bigger In Texas, Including The Problems
Failing systems, empty promises, and a whole lot of spin.
After a long weekend, the Legislature is back at it. We’ll see shorter weekends and House committee hearings as we get further into the 89th Legislative Session. Republicans talk a big game about “protecting Texas values,” but from the two Senate hearings yesterday, it’s apparent that Republicans are skimping on actual solutions for things like education, infrastructure, and public services.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard testimony from various state agencies on topics ranging from agriculture to water to education. Texas faces significant challenges with water infrastructure, education funding, environmental sustainability, and rural support. This is what 30 years of Republican rule looks like in Texas.
Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs.
Senator Charles Perry (R-SD28) will chair this committee this year. Although Perry has been in the Legislature for over a decade, he is different this year. Perhaps something is going on in his personal life, or maybe he’s trying to become his authentic self, but his attitude is much more sassy this year than in previous years.
We also saw Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R) at yesterday’s hearing, where he presented testimony for the Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, Miller will testify on his department’s budget at the Senate Finance Committee today, so we’ll have to see him twice. But let’s talk about the Department of Agriculture and what we learned in yesterday’s hearing.
Highlights:
Texas agriculture supports 2.2 million jobs and generates approximately $300 billion in economic activity.
Texas leads the nation in agriculture exports, including cattle, cotton, wool, and other products.
The Port of Laredo handles over 25,000 trucks daily, contributing $1 billion in trade.
Miller bragged about a suicide prevention network for farmers, calling it one of its most successful initiatives. Since its launch, the program has reportedly saved 300 lives across 10 states.
This is great. We should support initiatives like this that give people in crisis the mental health support they need when they need it. However, it should be noted that in 2022, the State of Texas removed all similar programs for LGBTQ+ youth. It’s almost like the government is telling us that some lives are worth saving while others aren’t.
Miller also proudly boasted that the Department of Agriculture was the first agency to ban contracts with entities supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Sid Miller has a history of being against Black farmers. A few years ago, when the US Department of Agriculture was slated to give Black Texas farmers federal aid that would have corrected historical injustices, Sid Miller tried to block it. So, of course, he’s against diversity.
Multiple agencies emphasized that Texas’ food supply is fragile and threatened by invasive species, natural disasters, and global trade dynamics. Chairman Perry pointed out how reliant the state is on its “global partners,” particularly Mexico. Despite these warnings, climate change and the possible outcomes of Trump’s trade war desires were not mentioned.
Another concern about Agriculture is the disparity between corporate and small agriculture programs. While megacorporations profit from tax breaks and state subsidies, small farms, which form the backbone of rural Texas, receive piecemeal grants and have decaying infrastructure.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (video below) and the Texas Animal Health Commission (video above) provided updates on their efforts to manage critical resources. The department focused on the economic value of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation and warned about threats to biodiversity and ecosystems.
Two critical environmental concerns discussed during the hearing were oyster reef depletion and chronic wasting disease (CWD). Texas’ oyster reefs, vital for ecosystem health and commercial fisheries, have rapidly deteriorated. The Parks and Wildlife Department discussed how oysters provide crucial habitat, filter water, and support fish populations. However, overharvesting and habitat degradation have pushed these reefs to the brink of collapse. To address this, they’ve implemented a buyback program for commercial oyster licenses and created new protected zones where harvesting is prohibited.
However, corporate pressures complicate these efforts, particularly from out-of-state oyster harvesters and industrial fishing interests, who lobby against stronger conservation measures.
Senator Perry acknowledged the difficulty of balancing economic interests with environmental sustainability, which is insane because we only have one planet.
Still, the underlying question remains: Who truly benefits from these policies? The people of Texas or the industry lobbyists?
The degradation of resources like oyster reefs and native wildlife raises the question of whether Texas’ natural assets are being sacrificed to benefit lobbyists and out-of-state corporations.
And what about the water?
Some of the highlights:
Over $11.5 billion has been allocated for water infrastructure projects.
$1.4 billion in flood control projects, with $700 million already committed.
The Economically Distressed Areas Program (EDAP) assists areas lacking adequate water services.
Despite these programs, the Water Development Board reported that demand far exceeds available resources. Texas faces an $80 billion funding gap for water and wastewater infrastructure and $54 billion for flood control. Federal support, including funds from the Clean Water and Drinking Water Revolving Funds, provides some relief but is insufficient to meet the state’s long-term needs.
The TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) also testified yesterday. This will be no shock if you’ve been following along with the budget hearings, but the TCEQ testified that it has a high staff turnover rate and that 30% of its employees have less than two years of experience. Because the state underfunded its department, it cannot pay competitive wages.
Both the Water Development Board and TCEQ spoke about Texas’ growing demand for water infrastructure, but the underlying issue is how the state will fund these critical projects. Despite bipartisan acknowledgment of the challenges, Texas Republicans have been hesitant to make long-term investments in climate resilience and sustainable water management.
In Texas, water infrastructure faces the same political roadblocks as other environmental issues—chronic underfunding, corporate influence, and resistance to climate change planning. Who will bear the brunt of these decisions? Certainly not the corporations benefiting from short-term deregulation.
The Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board also testified about the state’s network of over 2,000 flood control dams, many of which are aging and need significant repairs. The agency estimates that $3.8 billion is required to fully rehabilitate Texas’ flood control dams, though only $150 million has been appropriated in recent years.
It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Republicans have repeatedly kicked the can down the road on infrastructure spending. While floods and water shortages grow more severe because of climate change, investments in climate resilience remain inadequate, creating a ticking time bomb for rural and urban areas.
The Public Utilities Commission testified that water-related cases now consume up to 80% of their time, despite the agency’s primary focus on electricity regulation. Texas is relying on piecemeal solutions to address its water crisis. Utility consolidation may offer temporary relief, but small communities will continue to face water outages, contamination, and soaring rates without systemic investment in public infrastructure.
Day 27 - Senate Finance Committee, Budget Hearings - Day Nine.
Yesterday was the last day of the three-day budget hearings on education. I’m glad because the testimony has been some of the driest in all the budget hearings for SB1. Several agencies testified, but I want to focus on the Texas Education Agency (TEA), led by supervillain Commissioner Mike Morath.
Morath gained supervillain status in recent years after he took over Houston schools, one of Texas’s most diverse school districts while expanding private charter schools. He also supported the HISD superintendent’s conversion of libraries into discipline centers. Morath has been pushing religious indoctrination into Texas public schools.
The TEA testimony revealed more of the disappointing, bureaucratic nonsense we’ve come to expect from Commissioner Morath’s reign. Several senators criticized the A-F accountability system, raising concerns about endless litigation from school districts like HISD, which has challenged the system at every turn.
The committee also discussed the steep decline in math performance between the fourth and eighth grades. The TEA attributed this to missing foundational skills, but let’s be honest. This administration has been cutting public education at the knees for years, so it’s not exactly shocking that performance is slipping.
Morath also touted property tax compression as a win for Texans, though several senators voiced confusion on behalf of constituents who have yet to see meaningful relief.
The commissioner also had the audacity to discuss district budget deficits. Despite increases in state funding, many districts are in the red due to the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds and declining enrollment. Instead of addressing the structural issues with school finance, Morath seems content to let districts drown out. School closures loom large in rural and urban areas while the state shrugs and blames poor fiscal management.
Special education funding was another hot topic. Although the percentage of students identified for special education has jumped from 8.6% to 14%, funding has not kept pace. Districts face a $1.7 billion shortfall in services, partly due to federal restrictions on SHARS (School Health and Related Services) reimbursements for essential services like transportation.
And then there’s the teacher crisis. Over half of new hires last year were uncertified. The state’s obsession with “flexibility,” courtesy of the District of Innovation laws, has created a perfect storm. Certified teachers are leaving in droves because of low pay and poor working conditions, and now parents are supposed to be grateful that their kids are being taught by anyone willing to take the job.
The conversation shifted to the voucher programs that the GOP keeps pushing under the guise of “school choice.” Senator Royce West (D-SD23) asked how vouchers might affect public school attendance, and Morath gave a non-answer by saying the impact would be similar to that of charter schools. Translation: expect further defunding of public schools while private and religious institutions reap the rewards.
Speaking of accountability, or the lack thereof, the IDEA Public Schools scandal resurfaced. $28 million in taxpayer funds were misappropriated, but there is little urgency to prevent this from happening again.
Overall, the TEA testimony reminded us of just how broken our education system is under Republican leadership. While they preach fiscal responsibility, their policies defund schools, push teachers out of the profession, and sacrifice public education to corporate interests. For all their talk about accountability, the only ones being held accountable are the students and families left to navigate this mess.
The other testimonies (YouTube) at the Senate Finance Committee yesterday:
Texas faces a mountain of issues.
Aging infrastructure, an education system on the brink, environmental threats, and rural communities struggling to survive. What’s also clear? Many of the Republicans in power seem more concerned with pandering to their ideological base and corporate lobbyists than actually solving these problems.
I wanted to cover the budget hearing to shine a spotlight on how badly Republicans are running our state. Even though we already knew much of this, hearing them discuss it is still shocking.
We’ve got a fragile food supply, flood control dams that are practically crumbling, and schools forced to do more with less while the state brags about property tax cuts that don’t seem to reach the average Texan. Meanwhile, the same folks who defunded public services are surprised when agencies can’t keep up with demand. Go figure.
This legislative session is just starting, and there’s much more to come. If history is any indicator, expect plenty of performative debates over hot-button issues. At the same time, the real needs, like sustainable water infrastructure and fully funded education, continue to be kicked down the road. Stay tuned.
March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.
June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.
Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.
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also the attempts to disenfranchise millions of women..big state,,,big ideas
"The act, reintroduced by Texas Republican Representative Chip Roy, is intended to amend the National Voter Registration Act to ensure that all people registering to vote are U.S. citizens. It would require people to present in-person documentation as proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Much of the documentation listed under the SAVE Act is based on having a birth certificate that matches the person registering to vote. However, as many as 69 million married women in the United States have changed their legal name since getting married, meaning their name does not match their birth certificate, per the Center for American Progress."-Newsweek
Some interesting tidbits:
1. Now some of our state senators are using the term DOGE when they talk about efficiency and waste. Kohlkorst and Bettencourt are the biggest offenders. When will that acronym be used with revulsion even by the staunchest of magas?
2. Our education system is completely broken, as we know. It's up to the House to keep private schools from killing public schools. Now that elon is Dismantling the Department of Ed., public schools are even more screwed.
-WHY DO TRUMP AND ELON GET TO DO AS THEY PLEASE WITH NO CONSEQUENCES? AND --WHY AREN'T THE "CONSTITUTIONALIST" LAWMAKERS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST TRUMP'S AND ELON'S ACTIONS?
-WHERE ARE THE JUDGES TO STOP THIS CRAP?