Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
SB 413, if passed, would modify the Water Code by affecting
the qualifications for membership on the Texas Water Development Board. The
Board has three members appointed by the governor. Currently one member must
have had experience in the fields of law or business. The other members need
not have any specific qualifications.
SB 413 would require that one board member have experience
in the field of production agriculture, and one member be a registered voter in
a county with a population of 155,000 or less and reside in a rural area. No
specific qualifications would be required of the third member of the Board.
It is reasonable to desire that members of the Texas Water
Development Board be familiar with water policy. Whether or not the specifications
which would be required in SB 413 make for good policy is questionable. On the
one hand the specifications point the governor in the correct direction, on the
other hand it is possible that they would lead to the exclusion of a very qualified
candidate.
Independent of whether or not SB 413 makes for good policy, it is an administrative matter within the purview of the legislature to establish qualifications for members of a board which was legislatively created. This neither infringes nor supports our liberty principles. Thus, we are neutral on SB 413.