From the Eagle: State legislators meet on Texas A&M campus to discuss pressing issues

A look at what the 84th Legislative Session might focus on:

Local state representatives in the Texas House and Senate gathered on the Texas A&M campus Thursday afternoon to reflect on the last legislative session and what the future holds for hot-button issues facing Texans.

State Sen. Dr. Charles Schwertner and State Reps. John Raney and Kyle Kacal were joined by Evan Smith, the Texas Tribune's CEO and editor-in-chief, for a discussion covering everything from public education to immigration to deregulating tuition for higher education.

The conversation began with spending on public education. Texas ranks 46th in the nation in spending per pupil, spending about $2,500 less than the national average per student. Schwertner said the issue of public education is the highest priority for the state, and Raney said the state should focus more on outcome than money.

Kacal lauded House Bill 5, which lowered the number of state standardized tests for high school students before graduation and changes the courses needed for a diploma, pointing to the opportunities for increased exploration of vocational education.

The budgetary constraints on public education led to water and transportation, for which lawmakers turned to the Rainy Day Fund in the last legislative session. Smith pushed the representatives and senators to answer whether there's enough money in the state budget to tackle those issues, since the projects couldn't be paid with general revenue.

Kacal said he thinks the state is in a "good spot," since the most recent session was able to balance the budget and the state continues to experience economic growth. Schwertner said he's not for raising taxes and stated that the state's economic success can be attributed to its tax policy and tort reform.

As spending for public education and health care continues to rise, Raney said higher education is losing the battle for the limited funding available. Schwertner said he'd look into re-regulating tuition, which would require the state to be more willing to help with costs like tuition revenue bonds, which fell through in the last session. Raney said he doesn't know how the state would do that currently, and Kacal said he would have to look into the tuition deregulation issue.

Texas has the highest number of uninsured people in the nation and health care costs continue to rise. Texas turned down the federal Medicaid expansion, and Kacal said he thinks there's a "Texas Solution" to permanently attack the problem of rising health care costs. As for what a "Texas Solution" is, he turned to Schwertner, who said it's a public health system that is free-market based, affordable and sustainable and increases awareness of the costs of health care.