Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) is hoping the Texas Legislature will take aim at revitalizing the state’s aging infrastructure during the session, but not before the biannual budget is complete.
“In every session, your primary accomplishment has to be passing a budget,” Fraser said. “We always try to make sure it is a conservative budget — that we live within our means — but still takes care of the state’s needs. But you can’t spend more than you take in.”
Fraser has represented Blanco County in the Texas Senate since 1997 and that means he’s built a lot of seniority in the Legislature. He chairs the Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee, and is a ranking member of the Nominations, State Affairs and Transportation committees. He served as the Senate’s president pro tempore from 2009-2011. In that role, he was the third in line of succession if the governor or lieutenant governor were out of the state.
Yet it is his experience heading the resources and economic development committee that informs much of how he approaches the state budget. It is a powerful committee that balances the state’s resources, like water and oil, with business and commerce. Previous to this session, Fraser headed the Natural Resources committee and the Business and Commerce committees; however, Lt. Dan Patrick reconstituted those committees under one umbrella.
“Texas has been going through an amazing economic boom for some time now,” Fraser said. “We are seeing about 1,200 people a day move to Texas and that is very good for the economy, but it is a challenge to make sure that those people have water when they turn on the tap and have potable water, or when they turn on the electricity, that the lights come on and when they drive on the highway, it is a decent system. If they have children, they need a good educational system. All of those things are important.
“And our infrastructure is starting to be a challenge to the state,” Fraser continued. “Now add in a drop in oil prices and it gets complicated. We have to truly understand what it means to have oil drop from $100 [per barrel] to $50 [per barrel]. It is going to have an impact — not only on the state budget — but on the economy as well.”
Texas has seen this challenge before. In the middle 1980s, oil prices plummeted. Some counties in the state saw revenues slashed by nearly two-thirds of previous valuations. Most economists agree the state is better positioned now, boasting a more diversified economy; however, a growing population creates new challenges for Texas lawmakers as they hash through the budget process.
“It’s going to be a challenge making sure we correctly interpret what is going on with the economy, while balancing the infrastructure needs of the people,” Fraser observed.
Fraser noted that immigration issues are a big concern to the constituents he serves.
“There is a strong sentiment in our area that we need to spend more money protecting our border,” he said. “Right now, we are looking at numbers put in the budget on the Senate side [as opposed to State House calculations] are about $800 million additional for border security.
“Another thing we hear a lot about is, because the economy is doing well, there is a lot of interest in a property tax decrease, where we refund money back to property taxpayers and/or to businesses that are paying franchise taxes,” Fraser added. “My view is that if we end up with a surplus, I’d like to see the money go back to the public.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has made it clear he would like to see some new revenue funneled into the state’s highway system. Fraser said the Legislature might be able to accommodate Abbott’s request.
“We believe we have between $4 and $5 billion that we can put into our highway system without a tax increase or taking money away from something else,” Fraser said. “We believe we can scrub the budget and find some money for highways.”
Fraser said the Legislature has a “great challenge in continuing the economic momentum that has resulted from the energy boom,” while continuing to move “economic development legislation to move through the Legislature.”
Fraser also represents the following counties: Bandera, Bell, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba, Taylor (70 percent), Travis (5 percent).
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