Texans are set to decide whether to ratify a constitutional amendment creating a $2 billion water infrastructure fund, billed as the answer to a growing and drought-vulnerable state. It'll finance new dams, reservoirs, desalinization plants and the development of new groundwater supplies. ...it's never a bad idea first to take a look at who may stand to benefit from taxpayer-financed water projects.
The three members of the full-time board tasked with making distributions from the fund aren't members of the disbanded Texas Water Development Board or water-policy nerds who breathe this stuff. They're the governor's acolytes, appointed by Rick Perry himself. One is the owner of a natural gas company and chair of the Texas Lottery Commission. Another appointee is the director of governmental appointments from Perry's own office. And the last is a commissioner appointed by Perry to the state environmental regulatory agency. The deck is stacked with buddies...
With Perry appointees holding the purse strings, there is reason to worry that the otherwise laudable intent of the fund will get twisted to crony-ish ends. One need not reach back too far into history to find other goal-oriented piles of money that in hindsight look more like taxpayer-fueled slush funds to reward political supporters. Think of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
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