The Texas legislature is getting back to work.
This time around the budget is taking center stage. I’m writing this while I wait for the head of the Dallas Federal Reserve to talk about how oil prices have affected Texas.
Two years ago, the price of oil was dropping, but the outlook on the budget wasn’t so dire. The head of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank is telling us Texas has succeeded in diversifying its economy, plus he expects the price of oil to get back into the $60 range.
If that happens, he says the rig count in Texas would go back up.
“That’s great!” I thought to myself, realizing it’d be good for the state’s economy. And then I realized that I’d have to pay more for gas.
Already, I find myself skulking around trying to find a gas station where the price is less than $2, harkening back to when gas first started getting expensive and I’d do the same thing.
That’s getting harder and harder to do, but even with a tighter budget, Texas is still drawing in people from other states.
Texas is still the fastest growing state, so where do we put all those people coming from California?!
The governor talks a good game about drawing in companies from out of state, but does he have to sit in the traffic these new Texans create?! I’m really asking. Back when I worked in Houston, President Bush came to town after Hurricane Ike. I rode in the media car of his motorcade and thought it was amazing how quickly we moved during rush hour.
Then I saw police were blocking ramps while we passed.
That’s how you make good time on the freeway if you’re the president, but the governor doesn’t get the same treatment.
Back to the legislature, though. To make people those people coming from California feel more at home, I’d encourage our lawmakers to introduce a bill that would start playing the theme from Three’s Company at the Texas border. That’ll make people from California feel at home and also let them know it’s getting kind of crowded here.