Texas Legislature opens on sobering note

The Brownsville Herald

As the state's 81st legislative session got under way Tuesday, news of a $9 billion budget cut and a floundering economy gave a sobering mood to a usually celebratory occasion, according to Rep. Rene Oliveira.

"There's no silver bullet to fix it," said Oliveira, D-Brownsville.

Putting a pause on the climbing cost of higher education is one way Oliveira and fellow Democrat Rep. Eddie Lucio III are hoping to relieve the burden on middle-class families.

"I'm sick and tired of young people graduating from college with, essentially, a mortgage," said Oliveira, who said his 13th term in the Texas Legislature might present the most sobering budgetary obstacles of his career. "Higher education should be affordable and the cost of college is breaking the backs of middle-class families."

Oliveira says there should be a moratorium on tuition increases - and he's not alone.

"In these difficult economic times a tuition freeze would provide a level playing field for students from middle-class homes so that they could afford the cost of college," said Salvador Cavazos, the Brownsville Independent School District assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "A freeze would definitely be advantageous for our students and community."

Lucio also supports improvements in tuition regulation, but cautioned that schools make such increases for a reason.

"I believe that the more oversight we can provide, the better," he said. "At the same time, I don't want to hurt the ability of schools to expand their programs and services."

Oliveira says that the state also has to do a better job of funding universities, but he simply doesn't know where they money is going to come from in this difficult time.

"I think we're going to have to step up as a Legislature and not just throw stones at presidents and administrators of higher education," Oliveira said.

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