MCALLEN, Texas - At a luncheon hosted by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño was fulsome in his praise of the guest speaker, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
“I want to thank you for your professionalism, your bipartisanship and your leadership over some very trying times,” Treviño told Cornyn.
Later, however, the Treviño acknowledged there was daylight between where he and Cornyn stand when it comes to spending by the federal government.
In a Q&A with moderator Julian Alvarez, senior vice president of Lone Star National Bank, Cornyn said the federal government was spending two much money and criticized two pieces of legislation supported by the Biden Administration that the Rio Grande Valley has benefited from.
Asked about Cornyn’s comments later, Treviño (pictured above) said perhaps the government was spending too much money overall but it was not spending enough in the Valley.
Here is what Cornyn said, in response to a question from Alvarez about the state of the economy:
“I believe that the federal government has gotten too big and spent too much money that it didn't need to need to spend after COVID was over. And that's helped fuel inflation which had been up to a four-year high. And, of course, this is not just something that people in businesses feel, they do feel it, but every one of us feel it when you go to the grocery store, when you go to fill up your gas tank. Let's say when you're paying your rent or if you're lucky enough to be able to buy a new house and the price of the house that you buy. Inflation is sort of a silent tax. And but it still bites just like a regular tax.
“So that's been a big challenge. Because after the COVID 19 pandemic, the federal government continued to spend money on something called the American Recoveries Act, and on the Inflation Reduction Act, which I call the Inflation Non-Reduction Act. And look, you can look at the where the money goes and say well that's doesn't sound bad, and no, it's not necessarily bad. But the question is, is it a priority? Is it important enough that the federal government should take the money out of your pocket and spend it or rather should the federal government let you keep more of what you earn and spend it the way you see fit? Well, I think the latter approach is a better approach.”
Asked about those remarks later, Judge Treviño, told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service:
“I think he tried to address some of those (infrastructure) issues. Obviously, his assistance would be helpful with regards to infrastructure. You talked about it from the colonia perspective, (but what about) connectivity, roads. There are opportunities. The problem, from my perspective, is that we (the border region) are so behind with regards to some of these issues, infrastructure being one of them. The fact that we don't have an interstate, the fact that you don't have enough buses or the resources in order to provide those routes from a bus standpoint, from a sidewalk standpoint, from all of these different issues. These have been compounded over generation over generation, decade over decade.
“It goes back to our inability, or the fact that we've been undercounted and therefore we've never been properly funded to our proper basis. And it was made painfully clear during the last Census, when it said that Cameron County had grown by 15,000 in ten years. We know that's an absolute ludicrous statement to believe. Hidalgo County, the same situation. All you need to do is look outside your home, drive around and you can see the growth. But those are numbers that have been resources that we've not been receiving, for education, for housing, for infrastructure, for transportation, for education. All of these are issues that continue to be compounded. We feel that we're making a little bit of progress. And I will say that the Senator has always been receptive to assisting us whenever we've come to ask him. But, it's incumbent upon us to continue to ask and also to make sure that the federal government does its job to to provide the resources that we need here in the valley.”
The Guardian then asked Treviño if he was concerned about Cornyn saying he disagreed with the American Recoveries Act and the Inflation Reduction Act when the border region is looking for funding from those acts.
Treviño responded: “I would look at it this way. I may not always agree with the senator. And maybe as a whole the federal government maybe is spending too much on its credit card. But the problem lies in the fact (of) where they're allocating those resources. So, if they continue to provide resources to those communities that are not woefully lacking in infrastructure dollars and transportation and education and housing, that's where I would say, well re-review that and come back and take a look at the need that we have here in the Valley. And then you multiply that ten-fold, 100-fold, 1,000-fold with regards to the immigration status and the demand that it plays on on a local resources. It's just a compounding of the problem. So, we always need to be mindful that we may not always agree, but we always need to be willing to work together to find those solutions.”
Editor's Note: Here is an audio recording of Sen. Cornyn's remarks on the economy and Judge Treviño's response to some of those remarks:
