Oh No, Rural Texas!

With closing of agency, worries about services for rural Texans

This article in the Austin American Statesman discusses the closing the Texas Department of Rural Affairs as part of the budget cuts, and incorporating it into the Texas Department of Agriculture. Governor Perry justifies this action in the name of no duplication of services and consolidation. In response, people express fears about being incorporated into a much larger agency (mostly regarding the loss of services), but also express there may be potential benefits.
More than anything else, it’s worth giving this article a glance because it demonstrates a way in which Texas budget cuts are affecting an already largely “unseen” group of people—rural Texans. Sure, there may be benefits of being included as part of a large, well organized, and possibly well-funded agency. But what happens when the parts of rural Texas that aren’t necessarily agricultural, like hospitals, schools, or other parts of the economy, are brushed under the table? The threat of these people losing not only their services and livelihood, but also their voice remains a possibility as part of a larger, only slightly related agency. Furthermore, giving the Texas Department of Agriculture an entirely new responsibility can stretch the agency a little thin, especially when the responsibility is, again, only marginally related as far as previous responsibilities of the TDA go. It seems like this maneuver is playing with fire and could end with a lot of burnt crop fields (something we really don’t need with this drought going on!)