- The Texas Legislature convenes its regular session at noon on the 2nd Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years, for 140 days.

That means our State senators and representatives will gather for the 87th Regular Session on January 12th.

That's following the normal course of business as established by the State Constitution in 1845.

But there is little normal about the upcoming session.

Next year, there will be less money, new problems, and more people.

On less money, over the summer, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar shrank his estimate of how much general purpose revenue the State would have this cycle by $11.6 billion, or 9.5%.

And the estimated reduction in revenue could become even more severe should the virus linger.

On new problems, the coronavirus, cities, counties and school districts' budgets are strained.

Many medical facilities are in crisis.

Local control will again be up for debate.

The once every-decade redistricting is on the agenda.

Who should have which emergency powers is a big controversial topic given the recent COVID restrictions.

That's just to name a few.

On more people, Texas continues to be one of the fastest growing States in the U.S., having increased by more than 15% in the last decade.

There are innumerable challenges before our State lawmakers.

So tonight we ask, what's ahead in the upcoming session?

I'm Becky Ferguson.

And this is One Question.

(dramatic orchestral music) What's ahead in the upcoming session?

Tonight, we go to our Senator and representatives for their thoughts on the challenges ahead.

First, Senator Kel Seliger.

He was first elected to the Texas Senate in 2004.

His District, Senate District 31, spans 37 counties, from the Panhandle to the Permian Basin and includes Midland, Odessa, Big Spring and Amarillo.

Born in Amarillo and raised in Borger, Senator Seliger graduated from Borger Public Schools and Dartmouth College.

He spent 35 years in the steel industry.

Prior to his election to the Senate, Senator Seliger served four terms as Mayor of Amarillo.

Kel, thank you so much for coming to visit with us today.

And I want to know how your health is?

- Well, it's fine, thank you.

I did have COVID in August.

I didn't have the regular symptoms that everyone has.

I had absolutely no appetite.

I could taste and smell, but I had no appetite.

And I was so fatigued I could just barely get out of bed.

And that's 24 hours a day.

- [Becky] Wow.

- And I wouldn't eat, which about drove my wife to distraction.

But as I tell people, I also have the distinction of maybe being the only male in America whose wife went to McDonald's, got him a Filet of Fish and brought it home.

(Becky chuckling) - Well, we're glad that you're better.

- [Kel] Thank you.

- That's really great news.

Amarillo has had a tough time with COVID.

That's your neck of the woods, and we're having a hard time now.

But let's talk about the upcoming session.

I know we're expecting to have a budget shortfall.

Can you talk about what's expected, and what you think it's gonna mean?

- Well, the Comptroller of Public Accounts said in the last couple of days that our situation may not be as dire as originally reported.

We use mostly, we use oil and gas, but sales tax is probably one of the biggest determinants.

We've been in this ditch before.

I'm one of those people who think governmental entities ought to be short of money, because that's other people's money, that's tax money.

We oughta have a tough time, because if we don't have a tough time, you're going to have a tough time, with your personal budget.

And so not a lot of areas that can be taxed.

We're not looking at any new taxes.

What we're gonna have to do is some budget cuts.

And so what I'm telling people when they come to me, and lots of people do, is we'll do everything that we can to help.

But first of all, don't ask for an increase in your budget, 'cause you're probably not going to get it.

And the Governor asked for a lot of institutions to decrease their budgets by 5%, with the exception of public schools, higher ed, Medicaid delivery systems, and things like that.

That's fine, but we're gonna have to spend less money.

We're gonna have substantial less money coming into the general revenue than we had two years ago.

And we're gonna have to make those adjustments.

Our economy is fundamentally healthy.

And we'll get past this and we'll have good budget cycles.

This just isn't one of them.

- And I know we have a nice amount in our rainy day fund.

Do you expect that we'll spend some of that?

- We spent a good deal out of the rainy day fund, for transportation, some goes to public education, and things like that.

I feel two ways about it.

One is, I think there's way too much money there.

It comes from one industry, the oil and gas industry, and we oughta substantially reduce it, and reduce that tax burden.

The other thing is we've gotta be careful, we can't have a continuing reliance on that money, 'cause we don't know what years we're gonna have a bunch and only have a little.

And I think for things like higher education construction, we oughta do it for cash.

And this is a small business perspective, don't go borrow money that you already have.

It's a bad mistake.

- Interesting.

- Yeah.

- Okay, I know that you have in the past sponsored legislation that's for something called the Individual Graduation Committee.

Can you explain what that is and what you're planning to do with that in the upcoming session?

- I can.

You're a good example, because you never failed a test in your entire life.

(Becky chuckling) Or made less than about 93.

- All right, Type A, well, let's go with that.

- You're an honors student here.

But if you have not passed all your STAAR tests, you don't get to graduate.

12 years, you've taken all these tests, and all of a sudden it's gonna come down to one test.

Is that right?

And the answer is no.

So what this says is, is if with the agreement of the parties, you, the student, will meet with your principal, or representative of your principal, a teacher, a counselor, one of your parents, and you'll have an individual graduation committee, and maybe ask for a sample of your writing or something like that.

Then that committee will decide whether you can walk across the stage with your graduating class.

59,000 kids have that otherwise might not have graduated.

The important number is, is the 10% or so, probably five to 6,000 who are not allowed to graduate because they weren't eligible.

Administrators and teachers are taking it very seriously.

And they're not used to just getting rid of some of the kids, just get them out of school.

It wasn't designed to do that.

It was designed to see to it that everything didn't come down to one test.

It's been working very effectively.

The last two times I passed it, it's been sunsetted, it runs out in two years.

It's time to go ahead and make it a permanent fixture, like we have the accountability test.

- So that'll be coming up this session?

- Oh, I've already introduced it.

- You have, okay.

- Mm hm.

- What are some of the other big issues that you think will be coming before the session this year?

- We did so many things in public ed with House Bill 3 last time.

I don't know that we have a lot of big public ed type things going on.

A lot of people are dissatisfied with the Governor's use of emergency powers, which each chief executive has to have.

- Be they presidents or governors.

But, some people don't like it.

We only meet every two years.

And so people are talking about some bills to limit the Governor's ability to make us wear masks.

Or only allow businesses to be occupied 50% of the time.

It's gonna be a pretty good discussion because we've got no problem with the Governor acting very quickly if there's a flood or a tornado.

There were more people who died in the United States yesterday than died on 9/11.

Clearly this is a crisis that requires some emergency stuff.

Now, then, that being said, should there be a time where the Governor does whatever he thinks best with a requirement to call the legislature back in the special session and approve by resolution what he's done?

There's a thought there.

And I think there oughta be a good discussion.

But emergencies have to be dealt with definitively and rapidly.

They have not been in Texas cities and counties.

And the death rate shows it.

- Wow.

Are there gonna be any changes in the way the session is conducted this time?

- There have to be, obviously.

So we don't know who's coming in the Capitol.

We have told people like the chambers of commerce that we probably shouldn't have a Coastal Bend day or a Houston Day, Lubbock Day, Panhandle Day, Permian Basin Day.

We don't know, people are gonna have to go into a tent on the North end of the Capitol and say, "Here I am, and here's where I'm supposed to be."

Then they're gonna go to a spot and they're gonna have a test, a rapid test.

And then they're gonna go into a holding room to be admitted.

How are we gonna handle testimony, 'cause we aren't gonna have rooms full of people who want to testify?

We are gonna have plexiglass shields between members of the Senate.

We've got enough room in the Texas Senate for 31 people, maybe one staff person each, because we've got the gallery and the floor.

The House, with 150 members, doesn't.

- [Becky] That's a different story.

- And so what it's gonna look like, we don't know.

- Well we will be watching carefully.

And thank you so much for coming, Senator.

Really appreciate your time.

- Thank you for having me.

- State Representative Brooks Landgraf was first elected to represent Andrews, Ector, Ward, and Winkler counties in 2014.

A native Odessan, his family has been in the ranching business in West Texas for generations.

And Representative Landgraf is active in managing the family's business and ranching operations.

He graduated from Texas A&M and earned a law degree from St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio.

Brooks, thank you so much for coming today to talk about the upcoming session.

I appreciate it.

- It's a pleasure to be here with you, thank you.

- So we've got a session coming up about in the middle of January, and I'm assuming it's gonna be different.

How will it be different?

- Well, certainly, just like everything else in 2020 and 2021, and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Texas Legislative Session is going to look different when we convene in the middle of January next year.

How that's exactly going to manifest, I think there are still some unanswered questions about that.

But I know that there are a large and growing number of legislators, myself included, who understand that what we're doing at that Texas Capitol when the legislature's in session, that's the people's business being done in the people's house, and the people need to have a place there.

Now, of course, we need to make sure that there are protocols in place to ensure that it can be a safe environment, or at least as safe as possible.

But I think there's a way to continue to invite the public, allow them to participate in their process, and do so in a safe manner.

And that's what I'm advocating for.

- Really important.

I completely agree with you.

I know that one of the biggest issues facing the legislative session is going to be the deficit.

Can you talk about what anticipating in terms of the lack of funds, and how you think you all are gonna tackle that?

- Sure.

Well, there is some good news and there's plenty of bad news.

As you know, and as most Texans know, our State's budget is funded primarily through sales tax revenue.

And in 2020 with the economic downturn that we know very acutely here in the Permian Basin because of a downturn in oil prices, but also just because of the flow of commerce has slowed down so much during the pandemic that there've been fewer sales and therefore a reduction in sales tax revenue.

And so that is going to put quite a hole in the State's budget.

We're looking at, it will be a multi-billion dollar shortfall there.

So that's the bad news.

The good news is is that our State's Comptroller Glenn Hegar just recently, this week, provided some good news that the revenue projections are not going to be as dire as we were thinking.

So it's still bad, but maybe not as bad.

- But not as bad.

- Not as bad as we were thinking.

So it appears that we're possibly avoiding the worst case scenario.

But the reality is is that we will have a smaller budget, which means that there will be budget cuts, which means that there will be some very difficult decisions that we have to make in adopting the budget for the State for the next two years.

- I know we have a very healthy rainy day fund.

Do you think y'all will dip into that?

- I think so.

So the rainy day fund, also known as the Economic Stabilization Fund, has been really at record breaking numbers, thanks, almost exclusively, to oil and gas production, most prominently here in the Permian Basin.

So I'm still waiting on people from Houston and Dallas to write a thank you note.

- To thank us.

- Right, yeah.

(chuckling) I check the mail all the time and it's never there.

But that does show how important we are to the State's economy and to the State's coffers.

But to answer your question, the rainy day fund has been robust.

But, by almost every projection, in order to shore up some of the shortfalls, I believe that we will be looking at tapping into some of those resources.

I don't think it will be all of it, but I think that there will be a portion of it that will be susceptible to being used to make sure that we get a balanced budget this session.

- I know that when Governor Perry was governor, he made the decision that we would not expand Medicaid and take billions of dollars from the federal government for that expansion.

Economist Ray Perryman says, "Please start taking that money.

We need it."

What's your position on that?

- Well, I've had lots of conversations with Dr. Perryman about that, and I certainly understand that we are leaving money on the table by not engaging in Medicaid expansion.

However, I do want to caution everybody that it's not as simple as just those dollars.

First of all, I really have two concerns about it.

One is that there are and will continue to be strings attached to those Medicaid funds.

And then two, when you're talking about federal dollars, which many of which originate here in Texas, then go up to Washington, get recirculated, and then under a Medicaid expansion plan would be sent back to us.

It's not an efficient dollar.

So it's not as much of an apples-to-apples comparison as it may appear to be, and most of the time, those federal obligations, those strings that are attached only become more onerous over time.

So my position is I'm always reluctant to leave money that Texas taxpayers are paying on the table.

But I'm also very wary of incurring any unforeseen or unnecessary obligations that could become more expensive in the long run.

- So you would be a no?

- I would be a no, but, the position that I take when it comes to Medicaid is, and I've advocated for this and have introduced legislation that unfortunately has not been successful.

We do need some help from Washington on this regard.

But what I would like to see is, instead of Medicaid expansion, if we could have a Medicaid block grant program, where in all of the money that Texas is actually paying into that system, we can get back on a very close to a dollar-for-dollar basis.

And so we get that money and then can administer that program on a statewide basis.

And in a state with 30 million inhabitants, we definitely have the need.

We have that critical mass to make that work.

But we don't have to do it in the inefficient way that Washington would currently administer that program for us.

So I think that we can do a lot of good through a block grant program that would be administered by and for Texas.

- That would be something that would pass in Texas, or would it have to be passed at the federal level?

- It would be a two-step process.

We would basically have to have congressional authorization to do that.

But then the program itself would be administered at the state level.

- Okay.

You have introduced another bill that's coming up.

Talk a little bit about that.

- Well, one, actually the first bill that I filed, in advance of the upcoming legislative session, is House Bill 103, which would, which we're calling Leilah's Law.

And what this would do is set up an active shooter alert system in the unfortunate circumstance that, unfortunately, that we've seen here in Midland and Odessa on August 31st of 2019, where we had a mobile active shooter who was going on a rampage and was doing so for more than an hour.

What we want to have is a system in place where-- - [Becky] Sort of like an Amber Alert?

- It's just like an Amber Alert system.

- Just like an Amber Alert.

- Yes.

In fact, we're modeling it after that, with some modifications I think that that can make it work better.

But Leilah Hernandez, who was the youngest victim who lost her life in that attack, I've been working very closely with her family, and the families of some of the other victims.

But Leilah's story is unique because she lost her life almost an hour after that rampage began.

And she died with her phone in her hand.

And if she could have received a push alert, and her family members, who were nearby, could have received that alert-- - [Becky] Things could have been different.

- Things could have been different.

She would have been armed with the information to seek shelter, take cover, or avoid that area, or shelter in place until the danger has past.

And, anyway, I'm very proud of this because it does have the support of these family members, but also because, in the immediate aftermath of that shooting, I was getting suggestions for a proposal like this from people all across West Texas, because it just makes sense that that could have been helpful on a day like that.

And so there does seem to be a broad consensus and support for this, and I'm looking forward to getting it passed.

- Well we will watch it closely.

And best of luck.

Thank you so much for coming today, Brooks.

It's really good to be with you.

- It's been a pleasure to be with you.

Thank you.

- Representative Tom Craddick has served in the Texas Legislature for more than 50 years.

His district includes Crane, Dawson, Martin, Midland, and Upton counties.

In 2003, he made history when he became the first Republican speaker of the Texas House.

As speaker, Craddick demonstrated an appreciation for diversity and bipartisanship by appointing a record number of women and minorities, including 12 Democrats, as chairman.

Representative Craddick holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from Texas Tech University.

Hello, Speaker Craddick.

Thank you so much for joining us for this interview.

We really appreciate it.

We have a very big session coming up in January.

And I know from what I have read that we're going to have some serious financial deficits.

Talk to me about that, and what you think that's going to mean.

- Well, at this point, the latest is we're $18 billion short.

- 18 billion.

- That's billion, not millions.

And so we're gonna have to look at ways to cut back.

And of course we did a lot of things in the last session when the economy was really cooking that we didn't know we were gonna need this additional money.

So we've already asked a lot of the state agencies to cut 5% for sure, and we're doing redistricting in the same session.

So they're both kind of, don't mix very well, 'cause, and I guess you're gonna talk about redistricting in a minute.

- I probably will.

- But the budget is a problem.

We gave teachers a huge raise in this last session.

The school districts have had to work out some of the local tax dollars that are available to them.

All that's gotta be looked at.

The budget from the State is gonna roll over to the local because the budgets at the local are made up of property taxes, for instance, for the schools.

And they used the price of oil on January 1st to base that.

And in the Permian Basin, we've had a high price for oil, and now it's low, so that'll cut down on all of those tax revenues from the local districts.

They'll be a lot less.

So it's gonna be a double hit.

- I was gonna say double hit.

I know we have a rainy day fund.

Is it raining?

- It's raining.

But you have to get a 2/3 vote to use some of the rainy day fund.

And we don't have that much in the rainy day fund to cover the shortfall.

- How much is in the rainy day fund?

- I think there's about 13 billion in there at this point.

It goes up and down.

And see, the rainy day fund is made up of 100% of severance taxes.

So if we're not producing oil, we're not getting the rainy day fund at all.

- We're not replenishing it.

There's talk right now about a national bill that would help States and local governmental entities.

Do you see any hope for that?

- Becky, I don't know what you're talking about.

I haven't seen that.

We're gonna get some dollars, I know, from the federal to the State, we've already gotten some, if that's what you're talking about.

And then we'll probably get some at the local levels.

I know roads is a big factor, and we're getting a bunch of federal money for roads.

And we've already gotten some in West Texas, and we'll get more.

- I know a number of years ago that Texas decided not to expand Medicaid and that there are lots of federal dollars there.

Do you think that would be something that would be up for consideration?

- No, I don't think it'll pass.

We couldn't pass it before.

And it sounded good at the time.

It's the out years that kill you on that program where it just is really high what it's gonna cost.

And the States that didn't do it looked at the out years, which for Texas, as large as we are, the number of cases we're having and stuff, it was just astronomical in the out years.

- So what you're saying is that we would get government dollars some years, but not other years, and on those other years, we would have to take it out of our own budget?

- That's correct, yeah, that's correct.

- When you talk about the budget for next year, or for the next two years, I know a huge part of the budget is education.

And you mentioned a minute ago that last term you all gave teachers raises.

Will there still be adequate money to continue those raises?

- I believe there will be, but I think something else is gonna have to be cut to do that.

And they're looking at different avenues to cut spending.

- What are the big buckets?

I know education is a big expense.

What are some of the other large expenses that the State pays for?

- Well, it's Medicare and Medicaid.

These are problems for the State.

We've got, transportation's a huge, huge problem, with the growth going on in the state and across the whole state, not just in one part, all over.

And we've already tapped into the rainy day fund for additional dollars for roads now.

And so that's another problem.

When you talked about the rainy day fund, you've got X dollars in there, and we used to be in a situation where we hadn't tapped anything into it.

Now we've tapped several different things into it.

In fact, I tried to tap into it last session for what we call the Grow Fund, which was a fund for dollars in oil-related counties, that they'd be assured of X dollars each year out of the rainy day fund to be spent.

And the reason being for that is we're getting, you give me a dollar this year and then you get nothing in the next year and you're in the same situation as like the schools, you plan for it.

So this was a situation where we get a percentage of it.

If it went up we get, if we went down we get that percentage of that amount.

It passed the House, it didn't pass the Senate.

- Okay.

How do you think business is going to be conducted in view of COVID?

Can you all meet remotely?

Or do you have to be on the premises?

- At this point it's on the premises.

And there's a lot of different things being looked at.

They're thinking about building little cubicles around our desk, and so that you'll have this, it's like plexiglass, and you'll do that.

There's talk about meeting from your office, which you'll have a thumb print where you have to do it, someone in your office can't vote for you.

They're gonna limit the number of committee hearings you can have, like the House will have two days a week and the Senate will have two days a week to use the big, big rooms in the underground because you wouldn't be able to have a hearing in these small committee rooms.

You wouldn't have the distancing.

And so it's gonna make a big difference.

For instance, on swearing in, it's always been that people take their kids and grandkids and whatever.

They're not gonna let you have anybody, not even your spouse.

They all sit in the gallery.

So it's gonna be totally different.

And I don't know where they're talking about limiting the number of bills per member, and they're talking about in the Senate side, and you may have visited with some of them.

They may only have like, I don't know, 20 bills period, the whole session, that's it, and they're gonna do them quick.

- Wow.

Well, I am so glad to see you.

And I'm glad that you're healthy, and I hope that you will stay that way.

And thank you so much for spending some time with us.

- You bet, my pleasure.

Thank you.

- It's a challenging session ahead for Texas lawmakers.

It will be important for all Texans.

So we will stay in touch with our Senator and our representatives in the months ahead and keep you posted as well.

Our painting this evening is called "Paris" by Vernon Newswanger, 1900 to 1980.

Newswanger was an Amish painter who hailed from the Leola area of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where his family had lived and worked since the 1700s.

His Cubist works are reminiscent of Stuart Davis.

His wife, Myrna Butterworth Newswanger, from Philadelphia, was also a painter as was their son, Christian Newswanger.

Although the Newswangers traveled the world painting, both Vernon and Christian returned to the Lancaster area where their works of Amish subjects provided a rare look at everyday plain life in the first half of the 20th century.

This painting can be seen at Baker Schorr Fine Art Gallery in Midland.

Finally tonight, thank you for watching One Question.

We'll be back each Monday at 5:00 following Basin Life with Krista Escamilla, where we will answer the questions you want to know from the people who know.

If you have a question, send it to us at onequestion@basinpbs.org.

Coming up on Basin PBS, BBS World News America with Katty Kay, followed by PBS News Hour.

I'm Becky Ferguson.

Good night.

(dramatic orchestral music) - [Announcer] Wait, what?

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Nothing to do in Midland, a project of Priority Midland.

Because we know Midland is more than just dirt and oil.

- At Miss Cayce's we're on a mission, to help you share holiday cheer.

- When you shop at Miss Cayce's you can decorate your home to inspire happy memories for years to come.

You'll love it so much you'll feel like a kid again.

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(children laughing) - [Becky M.] Shop Miss Cayce's to be inspired.

- [Kathy] And add a little cheer to your world.

♪ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ♪ ♪ Everywhere you go ♪ - [Announcer] What do you get when you bring local talent together during the holidays?

Main Street Unplugged Yuletide.

Tune in Thursday, December 10th at 7:00 PM for the live holiday concert you don't want to miss.

Underwritten by H-E-B.

♪ And since we've no place to go ♪ ♪ Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

♪