by Tom Craddick Last week, I visited South Texas College in McAllen and made several other stops in South Texas. The trip provided me with first hand knowledge about how far we have come economically during the last 5 years. The South Texas region is rapidly growing, and the rest of the state can now boast one of the best business climates in the country today.
Over the last decade, investment has poured into the state, and we have seen unprecedented economic growth. We mostly owe this success to the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Texas and its citizens. But our fiscal policies and education reforms have contributed to strengthening economic development, making the Texas economy more competitive in the global market.
Actions by the Texas Legislature, under Republican leadership, have been instrumental in helping to impose fiscal discipline, ensuring that the state is now in healthy shape financially. Five years ago we faced a $10 billion dollar deficit. Rather than raise taxes to bridge the gap, we found ways to be more efficient and operate government with the revenue available. When the legislature convenes in January 2009, some people estimate that we may enjoy a $15 billion surplus even after passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history. Although the property tax cut has not been as evident to some because of skyrocketing appraisals, we are determined to solve this issue in the next legislative session. Last week, I announced the formation of the Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform, which will oversee all matters relating to property tax relief and reforming the property appraisal system. We are committed to doing everything we can to provide meaningful and responsible property tax relief to those who are strained by the burden of soaring taxes. Texas tort reform laws have now made the state an even more attractive place to invest and do business. Prior to these reforms, Texas was losing good doctors and frivolous lawsuits clogged our courts' dockets. Tort reform has had enormous economic benefit to Texas. Yesterday, the Waco based company The Perryman Group issued a report that tort reform laws have boosted economic growth by 8.5 percent in the state and has benefited my constituency of Midland alone by creating over 1,600 jobs. |
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Recently, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) projected a $3.6 billion shortfall by the year 2015 adding that increased maintenance costs could cause further reductions in new construction contracts in the future. TxDOT is now canceling numerous projects because it cannot afford new construction. This could cause companies to lay off workers and sell equipment. The public will continue to be stuck in traffic, desperate for more roads. This is an unnecessary and inexcusable situation. In 2003, the state realized its infrastructure was strained while experiencing exponential growth. The legislature responded by authorizing $5 billion in highway construction bonds. Over the last few years, TxDOT has periodically issued bonds to keep up with the state's infrastructure needs.
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By Representative David Swinford, Chairman of the House State Affairs Committee
Border security and illegal immigration are today's top issues of concern among Texans. Most of us will agree that these are genuine issues with real consequences. However, the public needs to understand that there is some real progress being made on these fronts.
As chairman of the State Affairs Committee in the Texas House of Representatives, most of the bills concerning these issues come before our committee. Many of the bills in our committee considered during last year's legislative session were deemed unconstitutional by the panel of experts from the Attorney General's office. Immigration and border security are constitutionally dedicated to the federal congress so when states start writing immigration laws, it is guaranteed that they will be overturned by the federal courts.
The Attorney General's panel was asked about our odds of successfully defending these bills in court. When they decided that we would eventually lose each of these cases and that we would have to pay the other side's legal fees as well as out own, it was decided that spending the taxpayer's money on securing the border was a better use of public dollars rather than wasting them on legal fees.
The Texas Legislature has now authorized over $100 million to secure the state's border. This will also save us billions of dollars in costs related to drug crimes, illegal immigration, health care and education. Our border security plan is now maturing and the records show that we have dropped the influx of drugs and illegal immigration by 45 percent across our 1200 mile border with Mexico.
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By Representative David Swinford, Chairman of the House State Affairs Committee
We have clearly entered the campaign silly season. Voters can expect posturing and insincere pandering as one candidate attempts to gain advantage over another. The latest examples are in Waco, Fort Worth and El Paso, where candidates have distorted the legislative record on immigration reform to get to the right of their opponents. People whom I would otherwise respect have engaged in revisionist history as if everything we accomplished on border security and immigration reform during the last legislative session never happened.
Their actions might partly be explained by polls, which tell them that Republican primary voters are deeply troubled about the problems caused by illegal immigration. We all have those feelings. Although border security is primarily the responsibility of the federal government, the Republican leadership of the Texas House has aggressively pursued every option legally possible to address this important issue. We passed a historic funding bill that adds more than $100 million for local and state law enforcement operations to secure common smuggling routes used by drug dealers and for illegal activities. We believe this $100 million will save our taxpayers $1 billion in cost of drug- and illegal alien-related activities. In addition, we increased penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens and stood up to those who advocated the reckless policy of providing them with valid Texas driver's licenses. |
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