AUSTIN — Two Texas lawmakers are drafting legislation to tap the state’s $12.5 billion rainy day fund to finance a section of wall on the border of Mexico.
Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, and Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, members of the conservative Texas Freedom Caucus, say the bill would apply $2.5 billion toward the wall as the U.S. Congress seeks to prevent a second federal government shutdown over wall funding.
“The bottom line is that Congress has failed to act,” Cain told the Austin American-Statesman. “It’s now time Texas acts.”
A fund managed by the governor’s office would “to coordinate the design and construction of a physical barrier” on the border, Cain said.
Sherri Greenberg, a former Texas legislator and a professor at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs, called Cain’s and Biedermann’s proposal a long shot in a session focused on school finance and property tax reform.
Greenberg noted that Patrick made state regulation of school bathrooms for trans-gendered students his top priority in the 2017 session and the bill failed to win passage.
“I’ve not heard any members of the House or Senate say they were willing to kick in state money for the wall,” Greenberg said after a speech on legislative priorities at The Bond Buyer’s Texas Public Finance Conference in Austin Tuesday.
The proposal from the two lawmakers, who represent districts 170 and 320 miles from the border, is the first that would directly apply state taxpayer funds for the wall that was the centerpiece of President Donald Trump's rally in El Paso, Texas, Monday night.
Trump partially shut down the U.S. government in January, demanding $5.7 billion from Congress to build for construction. A short-term deal was reached to reopen the government without wall funding.
The state lawmakers' proposal comes after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick met with Trump to offer his support for the wall and promised another $800 million in state funds for border security.
Neither Patrick nor Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, have identified wall funding as an emergency item in the current legislative session, emphasizing school finance and property tax reform, among other measures. However, both Texas leaders attended Trump’s speech Monday in El Paso.
Patrick has proposed fewer than 200 miles of border barrier where most illegal crossings come. In meetings with Trump, Patrick proposed using state money to build the wall with federal reimbursement. Trump said the proposal has merit.
Money has been diverted from the state’s rainy day fund for bond programs supporting transportation, with voter approval. But, so far, there has been no discussion of providing debt service for the wall.
The showdowns over the wall and uncertainty about federal funding have made life much more difficult for state and local bond issuers, several speakers at the conference noted.
During the last shutdown, “we fronted the federal government money,” said Elizabeth Reich, chief financial officer for Dallas. The question is: How long can we do that? And the answer is: About 35 days.”
