Rural Texas

Legislators should heed call to help address disparities, problems

Compared to many small towns, Fredericksburg is blessed far beyond its size. Our visitor base and resulting sales tax coffers are the envy of many a small market.

But as a part of rural Texas, we are not immune to the challenges faced by more isolated markets. The Texas Tribune recently held a forum in Lubbock to talk about rural Texas, its obstacles to growth and its opportunities. While Texas overall is succeeding wildly in business, much of the success is centered around our metropolitan areas. We hope to see these issues addressed by our legislators in the upcoming session.

Rural Texas helps put food on the plates and clothes on the back of every Texan. But if we don’t stabilize the continued chipping away of population in rural areas, it could affect our place in the world economy.

Broadband

COVID spotlighted the disparities of some issues, such as broadband availability. Congress last year invested $65 billion in broadband infrastructure investment. And local governments are anxious to get their share of those funds.

High-speed internet access today is as essential a part of running a business as is electricity, water or other basic necessities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.8 million Texas households lack broadband access, and that disadvantage is weighted heavily toward rural areas.

Whether it’s online education or a simple doorbell camera, the digital divide has been highlighted, the Tribune stated.

Downtowns

The Tribune did praise Fredericksburg in that small towns need to invigorate their downtowns, some of which suffer from boarded up areas. It pointed to Fredericksburg as a model for other small towns in that it is an attractive place that can be welcoming to a young workforce. And Rockdale is already on the way.

A leader in the East Texas town of Lufkin praised volunteer efforts there to get more historical and artistic grants. Those can help spur economic development, said one advocate.

Education

A national teacher shortage and finding solutions to deal with COVID-related retirements is another challenge for rural schools. It’s more difficult to find teachers and that issue can be compounded by a high cost of living.

The Tribune interviewed Bill Chapman, who will be superintendent in the small coastal town of Palacios, but also serve as the girls’ soccer coach. Chapman said state lawmakers are not helping much to keep teachers in the classroom. And some are being even more unhelpful by trying to control what and how subjects are taught. Throw vouchers into the mix, and that is another challenge faced by rural school districts, which could see some of its resources drained.

Healthcare

We had big healthcare news here last week, with Hill Country Memorial agreeing to be acquired by Methodist Healthcare System, but we’re more fortunate than most in that we’ve had a strong donor base to support local medical facilities.

Since 2005, two dozen rural hospitals have closed in Texas, the most in the nation. Texas hasn’t expanded Medicaid or increased reimbursement rates to hospitals,

The Tribune noted. But if it did, it could gain $6.3 billion annually to help rural hospitals stay out of the red.

Healthcare facilities also face workforce challenges just like schools.

Agriculture

Crops suffered from parched land this past year with record-breaking heat waves and a historically dry year,

The Tribune noted. The cotton industry alone will lose $2 billion this year.

Drought caused a lack of forage for cattle and many producers headed to the auction barn to cull their herds.

All that has a ripple effect on the economy. The Center for Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech University stated that thousands of people could lose their jobs in agriculture and the economy could lose nearly a quarter billion in revenue.

And water supplies will continue to be challenged in every area of the state as more households and private wells are constructed daily. All that is exacerbated by continued drought.

Texas is a big, diverse state. But as the population centers around the big cities, we hope legislators find concern for the rural areas as they head into the next session in January. It’s important to support rural Texas and help these areas remain as competitive as possible in this dynamic Lone Star State. — K.E.C.