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Dewhurst Sets School Funding, Water, Transportation As Texas Legislature Priorities


The state's booming economy will likely mean more money for public schools. That's a far different situation from two years ago, when state lawmakers slashed education funding.

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst wants billions of dollars from the rainy day fund to help solve three major issues affecting all of us here in Texas.

Will Texas have enough water for residents, enough classrooms to educate children, and enough highways to get around?

Dewhurst says the state's population of 26 million set to double in the next 40 or 50 years and it's time to tap some of the Rainy Day Fund, which could be nearly $12 billion by the end of 2015. He says he's had preliminary discussions with Gov. Perry about it.

"It's still early. I have to talk to the senators; I don't want to get ahead of them, but several billion dollars," Dewhurst says.  "Each decade of the next four or five, we have to increase the number of our classrooms, our teachers, our drinking water and our highway capacity each decade," he says.

Democratic State Rep. Helen Giddings of Dallas agrees the state needs to prepare for the future.

"I think we're in fairly good shape," the Dallas Democrat says. "We don't have money to just throw around. But I think if we're careful with our budgetary process, we can take care of the needs of Texans."