From the beginning of the 88th Texas Legislature, the Texas Border Coalition advocated for priorities that are vital to our region’s future: broadband and water. With support from the leadership of border Representatives and Senators in the legislature, these key issues are the ballot November 7.
The Texas Border Coalition urges a vote YES on Propositions 6 to create the Texas Water Fund to finance water projects and Proposition 8 to create the Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund to finance high-speed broadband access.
Long before the pandemic, border leaders knew that lack of broadband internet is holding back border communities. The pandemic underscored how much the broadband deficiency hurts border areas but highlighted especially its impact on young people striving to learn. Study after study has demonstrated that broadband accessibility is a key factor to escaping poverty.
That is why we worked with border leaders in Austin to pass bipartisan legislation putting Proposition 8 on the November ballot. The amendment would facilitate $1.5 billion for the proposed dedicated Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund. The fund will be critical to the drawdown of dollars from the bipartisan federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act broadband expansion program.
For years, border communities, especially those in South Texas, have dealt with historic heat and drought. Water levels at Lake Falcon got so low that federal, state, and local leaders had to scramble to extend water intakes into the lake and install auxiliary pumps to capture its flows closer to the lakebed. The other border reservoir, Lake Amistad, reached levels so low they rivaled points when the lake was first filling 50 years ago.
TBC worked with allies across the state to help pass legislation to put Proposition 6 on the ballot. The initiative would approve over $2 billon to improve water infrastructure and improvement of flood and drainage projects, including $1 billion for the proposed Texas Water Fund, and $625 million for flood and drainage infrastructure. In addition, $550 million would be set aside for coastal barrier projects. Like Proposition 8 for broadband expansion, the package would enable Texas to match federal funding for water infrastructure projects made available by the bipartisan federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
These initiatives are key to the future for border communities and for the entire state of Texas because without them our ability to grow and prosper will be limited compared to other regions and states.
The Texas Border Coalition urges a YES vote on Propositions 6 and 8.
Editor’s Note: The above op-ed was penned by David Stout, an El Paso County Commissioner and chairman of the Texas Border Coalition. TBC is a collective voice of border mayors, county judges, and economic development commissions focused on issues that affect 2.8 million people along the Texas-Mexico border region and economically disadvantaged counties from El Paso to Brownsville. TBC works closely with the state and federal government to educate, advocate, and secure funding for transportation, immigration and border security, workforce development, economic development, and health care. For more information, visit the coalition website at www.texasbordercoalition.org.
