Texas Public Policy Foundation’s David Guenthner Says Water Bill Should Be Funded Through General Revenue, Not Rainy Day Fund [AUDIO]

On the Tuesday edition of The Chad Hasty Show, David Guenthner from the Texas Public Policy Foundation talked with Chad Hasty about the latest coming out of the Texas legislative session.

Yesterday, House Bill 11, otherwise known as the "water bill," faltered in the House. The bill would have taken $2 billion out of the state's rainy day fund to help fund water supply projects. Guenthner explained that the problems was Democrats were refusing to vote on the bill unless they received $2 billion to spend on education projects. When the leadership in the House refused, the Democrats pulled a point of order and sent the bill back to committee for another week.

However, it's not just Democrats opposing the water bill. Guenthner said that there are also many conservatives who are not pleased with the bill,. He said he would much prefer to see these water supply projects funded out of general revenue as opposed to digging in to the state's rainy day fund.

"Our belief is that the bill for the water infrastructure should be funded out of the general revenue...because what you're doing is when you're taking it our of the rainy day fund, you're setting up a vote at a later point in time to go over the state spending cap, which is a red line as far as we're concerned. We think the state has enough money, we think the state certainly should be able to meet its priorities within the spending cap and the available revenues."

However, Guenthner expects the bill to return to the floor next week, and says there is a general consensus in the legislature that something must be done about the water issues in Texas. There are less that 30 days remaining in the state legislative session.

Throughout the Texas legislative session, you can listen to David Guenthner Tuesdays at 9:05 during The Chad Hasty Show on NewsTalk 790 KFYO. For more information on the Texas Public Policy Foundation, visit their website at texaspolicy.com.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter @TPPF.