Following an interrupted and often frustrating 87th regular Texas legislature, state senators and representatives had only a short time to fit in visits to their home districts before a called special session begins July 8.
Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) and newly elected Rep. David Spiller scheduled visits with constituents in the region last week, often planning town halls together in the manner that Perry and former Rep. Drew Springer had done in previous years.
Perry, who visited Dickens and other scheduled cities solo on June 30 after Spiller chose to spend the day in South Texas with Gov. Abbott on a visit to the Texas-Mexico border, described the 87th lege as “a good session” with six of his authored bills passing and “some good wins” for rural Texas—although he said that he had “never seen a more contentious session with regard to personal property and water rights.”
Spiller, who attended Lockney’s open house and viewing of the city’s new ambulance and brush truck the afternoon of July 2, praised the equipment as “vital to this community.” Both vehicles were obtained through FAST grants from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
At Perry’s Dickens County forum, protection from natural disasters was tops on the minds of citizens, in the wake of February’s Winter Storm Uri and its ripple effects on the state’s electrical power grid.
“We were within minutes of shutting down for months or a year” when ERCOT’s grid failed to deliver extra power for heating and industry in mid-February, Perry said.
He explained the problem—and the legislature’s inability to do much about it—as a business equation and a “philosophical discussion.” On one hand, there’s the need for more generating capacity, and on the other, how to convince investors to pay for it. “The grid is not designed to provide energy that isn’t purchased,” he said.
Perry said that although the governor considers the problem fixed, with an acceptable margin of 4% additional capacity to handle emergencies, he personally would feel more comfortable with a bit more cushion. “The governor thinks he has checked off the box on ERCOT, but I disagree . . . we are about 10 gigawatts short of needed capacity in the Texas system,” Perry said, and when asked if there was more that the legislature could do to achieve it, responded, “I don’t know whether I’ll get buy-in” on that.
Successes Perry pointed to as victories for rural Texas included the addition of teledentistry to eligible tele medicine programs in the state; an experimental plan to extract potable water from by-products of oil production in the Permian Basin; renewal of the boll weevil eradication program; progress on the I-27 Ports-to-Plains highway corridor; eminent domain action; and increased access to high-speed broadband internet connectivity.
Several members of Cap Rock Telephone management and staff were on hand to hear Perry’s comments on this issue, which he feels is not widely understood in the state’s urban areas. “The fund (designed to protect rural connectivity) went broke in 2020,” Perry said, “and we got everyone on board (for a bill during the session) but the governor vetoed it.”
“A little bit of pain at the meter would make a difference,” Perry said, if taxpayers and electricity customers would be willing to support increased capacity.
The Covid-19 pandemic, Perry said, had the side effect of raising awareness of broadband needs.
In addition, Perry sees $123 million in funding for rural health care clinics, and $30 million for county jail mental health beds, as victories.
He also views it important to block the Obama-era expansion of Medicaid benefits, noting the tug-of-war between the ten-year extension on the state’s waiver that was granted late in the Trump administration and then “pulled back” by Biden.
Conservative positions on social issues have risen to the forefront of Perry’s platform, and he’s received criticism for his stances. Regarding the “border situation” with non-English-speaking immigrant children set to enroll in Texas schools this fall, he said, “That issue is potentially going to bankrupt our state.”
Perry commented on his position regarding other highprofile bills in the 87th lege—a stand that led Texas Monthly magazine to name him among the session’s list of worst legislators (a label Perry himself raised). “A lot of people don’t understand why I fight (for) transgender bills . . . I’m going to be that guy if my faith tells me to.”
Susanna Feather, chief of staff for Rep. Spiller, and Jennifer Foster, district director for Sen. Perry, were also on hand at the Dickens town hall, which was attended by about twenty people.
“The governor thinks he has checked off the box on ERCOT, but I disagree . . . we are about 10 gigawatts short of needed capacity in the Texas system,” Perry said, and when asked if there was more that the legislature could do to achieve it, responded, “I don’t know whether I’ll get buy-in” on that.
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