More than 30 House members, along with local officials from the border, stood up at a Capitol news conference behind what they cast as a bipartisan, wide-reaching and permanent solution to enhance safety along the border and throughout Texas.
The push — outlined in three bills — would add state police to the border, use retired state troopers to assist police work, toughen penalties for smugglers, build southbound checkpoints and create a border prosecution unit, among other things.
“Rather than an on-again, off-again effort to fill the gap created by the federal government … we are here to create a consistent, permanent and thought-out effort that all Texans can count on,” said GOP Rep. Dennis Bonnen, who authored one of the bills.
But the proposal, which bears the imprimatur of House Speaker Joe Straus, was also noteworthy for its unanswered questions.
Some House members admitted that they were waiting to read the fine print of the legislation. Others said they had reservations about how the push would affect other policy on immigration and border security.
And even Bonnen admitted that he couldn’t pinpoint an exact cost for the plan.
“The price tag for my measure is incredibly low,” the Angleton Republican said, without offering a dollar amount.
Border security has proved to be a major point of contention for the Legislature. Though there are significant areas of agreement, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, have been more aggressive in touting their border remedies.
The Senate’s base budget, for instance, outlines an $815 million spending plan for border security. That includes new technology, additional troopers and money to keep the National Guard along the border.
Abbott’s proposed border security plan isn’t far off of that, checking in at $735 million over the next two years. It also includes a focus on beefing up the state Department of Public Safety’s forces, while also extending the Guard’s stay along the border.
But the House’s initial budget, by comparison, spends $397 million over the next two years on border security.
That plan assumes the National Guard deployment would end and certain one-time expenses wouldn’t be repeated. And Straus, a San Antonio Republican, noted last month that the state can’t just “keep tripling and doubling” its border security spending plan.
It’s unclear how exactly the three-pronged approach would interact with the proposed House budget.
But officials on Monday said the House Appropriations Committee, after consulting with state agencies, would ultimately determine its cost. And Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, who chairs that committee, told reporters that the expense for the new proposal would probably come on top of the base amount.
“The House is committed to funding what is necessary to accomplish the goals that have been laid out,” he said.
©2015 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
