AUSTIN –The Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement on debate in the Texas House over House Bill 4, a bill to establish a revolving water fund:
“We agree that Texas needs greater and more reliable supplies of water to sustain its growth and industry. However, HB 4 presents two challenges,” said Arlene Wohlgemuth, Executive Director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “First, on the policy front, it’s problematic that a full 20 percent of the funds that may be dedicated to this plan are earmarked for environmental education and conservation, neither of which is guaranteed to expand the available supply of water in Texas. Second, whatever funding is eventually going to be used for this initiative should not come from the Economic Stabilization Fund and must be within Texas’ spending cap.”
Josiah Neeley, Policy Analyst, Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment of the Texas Public Policy Foundation said, “Federal regulations as well as state restrictions on the sale and repurposing of water rights and inter-basin water transfers act to make Texas water projects unnecessarily expensive and time consuming. More money without reform doesn’t address these key issues.”