The architect of Texas Rainy Day Fund had critical reasons for setting it up. Texas is a unique state for various reasons. Demographics reveal that 83% of Texans in inner city Houston are African-Americans. Hispanic, Asian Americans and white Americans constitute the other 17%.
Majority of these people are poor with little or no education. Service industry is the leading employer for Texans. Unlike other states, Texas lacks vital social services and coherent water policy. It is against the backdrop of perennial crisis that Texans decided to save a dime of their dollar so that they can use it on a rainy day. As senator for the state, I propose tapping into the Rainy Day Fund to alleviate the current crises in Texas.
Texas Rainy Day Fund was set up to help Texans survive hard economic times. Each year, the state allocates certain percent of all revenues to the fund. It is a means to save when there is money with a view to spend it during economic crisis. The conditions for tapping into the money are very strict.
This is meant to protect against capricious withdrawal. Sitting in Austin, Texas lawmakers have proposed to tap into the fund to alleviate acute water shortage in the state. Even if the legislature approves the bill, Texans will have to vote in a referendum to reduce the threshold for accessing the fund. It is time Texans approve tapping into the funds for reasons extrapolated in this paper.
Many people in Texas are poor. Most of them have little or no education. Like most inner cities, sanitation in Houston is poor. Access to clean and safe water is below the national average (Champagne, Anthony, and Edward 12).
Schools are few and access to primary healthcare is limited. It therefore defeats logic to swell the Rainy Day Fund with more dollars while every day is a rainy day in Texas. Inner city Houston living condition is a shame to America. I propose for 40% access to the fund. This will be followed by creation of a revolving fund to support youths to engage in economically productive activities. Similarly, the state can use part of the funds to improve infrastructure. This will stimulate growth.
There is a 48% approval among Texans to tap into Rainy Day Fund to improve living conditions. Those opposed to opinion polls as basis of policy formulation can take reprieve from the resurgence in oil and gas production in the state. Champagne, Anthony, and Edward project that revenue from oil and gas industry will replenish the fund (23).
It defeats common sense to subject our citizens to deplorable living conditions in the name of saving for the future. As state senator, I am going to rally support from the highest echelons of my party to amend the constitution and lower the threshold of access into the funds.
Texas Rainy Day Fund seeks to bail the state out of hard economic situations. In this paper, I have argued that it is already a rainy day in Texas. The acute water shortage is a manifestation of even bigger problem in inner city Houston.
Texans continue to languish in poverty in the midst of vast wealth. It is irrational to stack dollars in an account while our own citizens need it to make something out of their lives. I would therefore be rallying my Democrats colleagues to push for the constitutional amendment to allow for more access into the fund.
Works Cited
Champagne, Anthony, and Edward J. Harpham. Governing Texas: An Introduction to Texas Politics. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2013. Print.