Texas Political Party on Rural Issues The upcoming election features contests not in the national spotlight, but which are important for Texas and for Erath County. One way to assess the difference between the slates of candidates is by comparing party platforms. Here I compare Democratic and Republican platforms for issues important to our rural economy.
I began by searching both platforms for the term “rural”. The Republican Platform used “rural” two times. In the Democratic Platform, “rural” got 50 matches. (Neither party platform specifically mentions “dairy” or “dairies”.)
Republicans call for federal and state measures to support rural volunteer firefighters and first responders. There are some other platform planks that deal with issues of mainly rural impact without using the term “rural”. Republicans are against sales of land to foreign interests and call for measures to stop foreign owned land beingtakenoutof agricultural production. They call for less regulation of meat sales in local farm-to-table markets, and in direct purchase of other edible products from farms. Republicans oppose federal programs that encourage renewable energy sources which may negatively impact neighboring landowners.
The Democratic Party platform includes a lengthy section on Rural Texas and Agriculture. Here are some highlights.
Democrats seek to ensure Texans living in rural areas have necessary access to healthcare and hospitals, by expansion of telehealth options and by providing grants to incentivize healthcare professionals to locate in rural areas. The Democratic platform calls for farm policies that restore fair prices and that address the current credit crisis in American agriculture. There are several planks that address actions to ensure that rural areas will have the water resourcestheyneed. A number of points are listed to ensure that rural students have access to quality education. Texas Democrats also call for reform of eminent domain statutes. Their platform advocates funding new public infrastructure that fosters rural economic development, including rehabilitation of farm to market highways.
The platform calls for expanded access to capital and credit for small businesses in low-income and rural areas. Points are listed in a Fairness to Farmers plank. A featured call is to ensure farmers have the “right to repair” their agricultural equipment. Texas Cottage Food Laws should be modernized to allow families to sell homemade products with greater ease.
The Democratic platform cites rural needs in other main issue areas. For example, it calls for addressing unemployment and homelessness of veterans in rural areas. Party platforms are not the whole story, of course. But still..
David Brock, Erath County resident