State Rep. Drew Darby: "The Legislature Gave us a Chicken for Every Pot this Session"

SAN ANGELO, TX — State Rep. Drew Darby talked about the importance of rural Texas to the state’s economy and the challenges of making a mark on State legislation when rural representatives in the Texas Legislature are outnumbered by urban counterparts.

It is important for urban Texas to take into account rural Texas needs, particularly roads. “All fiber, fuel, food , fiber, and hair comes from West Texas,” Darby said. Darby stressed the need for the state to continue to fund highway repairs and improvements in rural Texas. “It’s a safety concern,” he said.

Having the number of representatives to get that done is not going to get better when the figures from the 2020 U.S. Census are released. Darby said Texas is growing rapidly, particularly urban Texas. And while West Texas is growing, too, it’s not growing fast enough to keep up with the growth of urban centers.

The result, he said, will be west Texas and east Texas will each likely to lose a state representative district each. There will be less representatives for rural concerns, Darby warned.

Darby described the 2019 legislative session as “a chicken for every pot.” He talked about school finance and the pitfalls this year’s legislative session will have on future state legislatures should the economy cool down and revenue to the State decrease.

Darby was in San Angelo Thursday for the West Texas Legislative Summit held by the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce. Here are more interviews.