At Friday’s November monthly luncheon of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce the speaker was Joe Morris, a government relations consultant who represents Brown County and other rural counties, as well as agricultural and water clients, to the Texas State Legislature.

Morris said the Legislature will begin with a good problem to have:  a budget surplus.  Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hagar has announced that the State of Texas finished its most recent fiscal year with a surplus of $27.5 billion, which represents about 10% of the state’s two-year budget.  So the question, or political battle, will be what to do with that extra money.

One idea is property tax relief.  “The Governor and Lieutenant Governor have put their emphasis on property tax relief.  They want to see at least one-half of the surplus to be spent on property tax relief.  That would come in the form of the State of Texas taking on a greater portion of the M & O (maintenance and operations) portion of public school financing.  That’s the way they figured out we could lower individual and business property taxes if we designate some of this $27.5 billion surplus for that purpose.”

Other ideas on how to spend the budget surplus have been suggested by members of the Legislature:

BORDER SECURITY

Governor Greg Abbot has sent State Troopers from the Department of Public Safety to the southern border to help deal with the problem of illegal immigration.  “The DPS can’t enforce immigration laws or Federal laws being broken, but they can enforce state laws.  They can make the citizens who live there feel more comfortable.  They bring a heightened sense of safety.”

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

“The tragedy that occurred in Uvalde last May brought a greater awareness of some simmering mental health issues that may be out there in the population that need some attention.”

INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR

In this topic Morris spoke of the aging infrastructure of the water systems in the state.  “Most of the water supply pipes and wastewater pipes that we have in the ground today all across the state are old, 50-, 60-, 100-years old.  They are cracking and they leak… There have been some estimates that the leaking water supply pipes leak about 30% of the treated water.”  While various municipalities across the state are trying to find new sources of water, it may be more efficient to upgrade the water supply infrastructures.

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

Texas has 1000-1,200 persons moving into the state every day.  “Most of them are not riding bicycles or taking the bus.  They are driving their own vehicles.”  Morris said the roads in the urban areas of the state need more roads and repairs to existing roads.

WATER SUPPLY

Morris said the Brownwood and Brown County are lucky to have a plentiful supply of water from Lake Brownwood.  But many areas of the state are not so lucky.  Morris said the state will not run short of water any time soon, but some areas will have to find new supplies of water by pumping surface water over a distance, drilling for groundwater, or desalination of sea water.  In all of such cases, the cost of water will rise.

These and other issues will be debated by the Legislature in its next session.  The Texas Legislature meets once every other year for 140 days.  The next session will commence in January and run through May 2023.