Rainy Day Fund for Texas Roads

    The Legislature planned to cough up $1.2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to build roads. The Legislature will let the voters decide in 15 months whether they want to use the Rainy Day Fund or not. The politicians in the Capitol allow the roads to fall into poor condition and no plan to repair it. This is caused by an ideology of against raising tax, also fees. Injecting $1.2 billion for a $4 billion project will not fix the problem, instead they are just putting 'band aid' on it. It looks like the government is trying to do something, but actually they are not doing much.

     In my opinion, the notions of not raising fees and taxes are just a way to gain popularity. Lowering taxes and fees might solve some problems, but poor and unsafe road condition is just another problem. Why would the government allow the roads deteriorate without any plans of repairing it? Instead of fixing the problem, they just stick a ‘band aid’ on it. Rather than using paved roads, they might downgrade it to gravel road to save money and maintenance fee. The government should also put the fast growth of Texas economy and population into consideration. These growths mean more vehicles are using the roads. More usage of the roads means more money needs to be injected for maintenance and new road. The more the Legislature postponing their actions in solving this problem, the more expensive it gets to fix it. If the deficit keeps accumulating, then the future state government will suffer from the huge deficit and blamed for it.