Five Rural Priorities for State Government

In the fall of 2021, I had the opportunity to discuss rural priorities with a handful of party leaders and candidates for statewide office in Texas, from both parties. In those discussions, I established Five Rural Priorities for State Government. I have encouraged all candidates and party leaders to consider these priorities in their campaigns and policy decisions moving forward. These are nonpartisan issues. These issues do not ask for special treatment for rural voters or rural communities. In fact, it is quite the opposite. These are very basic issues that run to the heart of a community’s ability to prosper and thrive in the future, whether rural, suburban, or urban. Statewide candidates should value rural voters and not take them for granted and rural voters should ask hard questions of the candidates who ask for their votes. I do not profess to have a corner on the market of rural policy wisdom, but I care deeply about the future of rural Texas. I encourage others to help shape this conversation, expand and refine these priorities, and take these issues to our leaders. If you’d like to discuss more (as an interested voter, a candidate, a party leader, a member of the media, or otherwise), please email me from this page.

I. Rural broadband

Rural broadband is not rural electrification, it is the modern-day railroad; it connects a community to the outside economy and its availability picks winners and losers; without accessible broadband, rural communities will wither and die like those communities bypassed by the railroad.

II. Economic development

We need to 1) create opportunities for good jobs, 2) create more remote work opportunities, and 3) prioritize good stewardship of our natural resources. That should be the focus of economic development rather than the historic tendency to toss a bone to a hungry dog, knowing he’s desperate, and call it economic development, regardless of whether it’s actually beneficial to the local community.

III. Healthcare

Rural healthcare has been in crisis for many years, starkly illustrated by Stamford’s hospital closure in 2018; we need state and federal stakeholders to make rural healthcare financially viable, or at a minimum, just not actively work against us; priorities should be emergency service and primary care providers; without minimal healthcare, it’s hard to ask people and industry to locate in a community.

IV. Education

Don’t make life unduly hard on teachers and rural schools with testing regimes, unfunded mandates, or other obstacles that drive good teachers out of the business; encourage more vocational training that can connect locally, so that local businesses can hire local graduates and local graduates can aspire to success locally, reversing the rural brain drain.

V. Infrastructure

TWDB, TDA, TPWD and all other state funders need to continue their good work and grow funding for local drinking water, wastewater, parks, and other projects. We need to find new ways to access funds (state and federal) for other major local needs that have enormous impacts on quality of life (streets, for example). Use the state’s best efforts to get all money that can be applied locally, particularly federal funding sources that are rarely accessed in Texas. Make it easier for locals to know what resources are available, and how to reach them.