Texas must think big again

December 30, 2008

One fundamental question faces the 81st Legislature: Are we going to embrace the future, or are we going to fight it?

The response to this question has defined our state’s history. Our prosperity rose from the vision of Texas’ bold, forward-looking founders. The state constitution enshrined commitments to educate our children, create great universities and take other formative steps to sustain Texas. This is our greatest inheritance.

But in recent years, the state’s leadership has too often failed to answer this call for boldness. Instead, policy makers have leaned heavily on the status quo — legislating from year-to-year and budget-to-budget, and sacrificing long-term vision for short-term tactics.

In so many areas, the Legislature could make a difference simply by following the legacy of Texas’ legend — by looking for opportunities to make investments and bolster institutions in ways that will make a difference today and for generations to come.

The bills and budgets of this legislative session will decide whether our children and grandchildren will receive the inheritance that we have enjoyed. So the Legislature should take every opportunity to provide the training, planning, infrastructure investment and health protection that will allow the state to thrive.

• Clean energy: We need to develop wind generation, solar power, alternative fuels and other innovations that will drive the new economy. And we have to confront the reality of climate change by addressing emissions issues and preparing the state’s energy and manufacturing sectors for the 21st century.
• Higher education: Texas’ two nationally recognized public universities — the University of Texas and Texas A&M — were founded in the state constitution more than a century ago. Now, they’re both approaching capacity, even as the state continues to grow. It’s time to make a serious effort to elevate other state universities to the ranks of UT and A&M. And we must ensure that our public colleges and universities are affordable to middle-class Texans. Nothing we can do would mean as much to Texas as a generation of new college graduates.
• Children’s health insurance: Texas leads the nation in the percentage of uninsured children. This is, to be sure, a tragedy for these children, a needless expense for emergency rooms and a hurdle for schools that must teach sick kids. But it’s also a missed economic opportunity. The state is losing federal money that could help Texas doctors, health clinics and other state businesses. We should look for every chance to help our economy, and protecting children’s health is one of the best.
• Small businesses and the budget: The state’s new business tax, passed in 2006, has been fraught with unintended consequences. It failed to pay for promised property tax cuts and has hurt many small Texas businesses. We should make every effort to protect entrepreneurs who are so important to the state’s economy and its future. And we must be more open and honest about how we raise money and make the investments for our future.

The Legislature also will have critical opportunities to reform the state’s insurance system so it’s less about companies and more about customers; to ensure that schools prepare kids for a changing global economy; to restructure the Texas Department of Transportation so that the state is more transparent and cities, counties and other jurisdictions have more authority and resources; and to make meaningful, long-term investments in infrastructure.

It won’t be easy to resolve these challenges. But our biggest obstacle will be the instinct to do as little as possible and push our problems off to future legislatures and generations.

Instead, we should embrace this chance to go in a new direction. We should discard perennial excuses and seek out opportunities. And we should answer the call of our founders to make Texas great.It’s time to think big again.