By Randy Keck
Tison prioritizes transportation, education
Regional solutions proposed
Often obscured in the Republican primary race for State Representative in District 61, which covers Parker and Wise Counties, is what the candidates see as the top issues facing the district, and how they plan to address them.
In an interview at the office of The Community News, Joe Tison said the top issue facing the district is transportation.

During his tenure as mayor of Weatherford, Tison said the city availed itself of a program from the Texas Dept. of Transportation that had been approved by the legislature.

Tison said the bill allowed for municipalities to make application to TxDOT for approval in a process that allowed the city to go out and borrow money for projects related to state roads in the city. After completion of the project, TxDOT would then reimburse the city on a per-vehicle basis.
Weatherford is using the funds to construct new access roads along Interstate-20 and to widen the bridge at Highway 51.

“Weatherford made the first application and was the second city approved,” Tison said, but unfortunately “the well is now dry” for other cities to participate.

Tison said he has had a lot of conversation with TxDOT officials on how to get funding for the area. He said he is concerned that the 20-cent per gallon tax drivers pay on gasoline is possibly being diverted for other purposes that roads.

King targets illegal alien problem
Property taxes, transportation on agenda
Illegal immigration “is the greatest threat facing Texas,” State Rep. Phil King said. “It is crushing our schools, hospitals and welfare system. It also threatens our way of life in Texas.”

King said the legislature put $100 million into law enforcement along the border during a telephone interview with The Community News.

“But we don’t have authority to send troops,” he said, saying that is a federal responsibility.

The Republican representative from Weatherford said he has authored a bill to require proof of citizenship to vote. The state is also conducting a trial program in El Paso to put a person’s citizenship status on driver’s licenses. It shows that a person is either a U.S. citizen, or is in the country legally.

Texas is also looking at legislation passed in Oklahoma and Arizona to deal with employers hiring illegal aliens. King said employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens should be punished, but “we can’t make it the employer’s duty (to verify citizenship). We need an easy method to determine if workers are legal.”

King said the state should be “demanding the feds to step up to the plate.”

For more on King and Tison's positions, see the Feb. 22-29 issue of The Community News, on sale now.