Texas Governor Vetoes Study of Border Health While Congress Holds Hearings on the Issue

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) vetoed his first bill on May 27, striking down a measure, which had been unanimously passed by the state Legislature, that would have called for a study of statewide health care needs with an "emphasis" on issues at the Texas-Mexico border. In vetoing the bill, Perry said any study of the border would be "ineffective" without assistance from Mexico. However, Perry added he would order the Texas Department of Health to study the state's health care needs. State Sens. Eliot Shapleigh (D) and Garnet Coleman (D) said the veto indicated Perry is willing to talk about "border issues to get votes but not to act to help the border" (Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle, 5/27).

Field Hearings
Just two days after Perry vetoed the Texas bill, Congress on May 29 held a field hearing in El Paso, Texas, regarding the proposed Border Economic Recovery Act, which would improve health care, housing, transportation, infrastructure and judiciary services on the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas). The hearing featured testimony on the "decades of neglect and lack of funding" for this area. The Dallas Morning News reports that officials from the Pan American World Health Organization and Texas Tech University Health Science Center recommended creating a "multidisciplinary research agenda" to bridge the gap between studying problems on the border and implementing solutions. Pete Duarte, CEO of El Paso's Thomason Hospital, said, "We need a Marshall Plan that will bring the border to the level of the rest of the state." The congressional proposal is expected to cost between $800 million and $1 billion. Congress plans to hold another field hearing in Laredo, Ariz., and perhaps a third in California (Lopez, Dallas Morning News, 5/30).