Governor Perry closes summit saying 'Texas needs less Washington'

On Thursday, Feb. 18, Gov. Rick Perry presented the closing remarks at the Lone Star Legislative Summit hosted in the Baker Pattillo Student Center. His speech focused on Texas' challenges and opportunities in regards to education and the economy as well as some campaigning for the upcoming primary elections.

Perry, the 47th and longest serving governor of Texas, began by briefing the audience on the plane crash that had occurred in Austin earlier that day.

"Our first responders in time of tragedy, disasters are the best in the country," Perry said. "They were very quick to arrive on the scene and very effective in their efforts to secure the area, evacuate the building and control the ensuing fire from the aircraft. Give thanks for those who have responded in such a heroic way." He also said that federal agencies were now involved in the criminal investigation and that it was not an act of terrorism.

As he transitioned into his speech, Perry's focus was the importance of state government over federal government.

"What Texas needs is less Washington. Every time I turn around, it seems like Washington is trying to make another attempt to reverse the progress that we made in this state, whether it is on healthcare, so-called education reform, or another round of job-killing energy policies that come out of the current administration and Congress." Perry said in Texas, it is the government's job to create a "competitive environment" and then "get out of the way."

Perry referred to the national debt to prove his point

"Texas is a model that Washington and other states should look to," he said. If Texas' debt was divided among all of the men, women and children who reside in the state, each person would owe $500. If the same were done with the national debt, each person in the country would owe $39,000. Although Texas has not been immune from the global economic crisis, several projects have been created to boost the economy. The Enterprise Fund is one example, which is responsible for the creation of 54,600 jobs and over $14 billion of capital for Texas. East Texas in particular has seen $55.7 million and 5,900 jobs from this fund, the governor said.

"You don't have to be a political science major from Harvard," Perry, the animal science major from Texas A&M, said, "to understand the principles of government. Don't spend all the money." The other principles he mentioned included having a tax and a regulatory policy in place that is fair and predictable, a legal system in place that doesn't allow for over-suing, a public school system that is appropriately funded and a skilled work force that basically says you have an accountable school system.

"I think it's been our Legislature's very wise and thoughtful appropriations of dollars and creations of programs to make us be more competitive than any other state," Perry said. "I think we have invested wisely for the maximum benefit, maximum economic strength for the state. We have maintained a very disciplined approach to the spending when it comes to your tax dollars."

Although the state has cut about $10 billion out of the budget, it has put $1.8 billion more into public education. Perry stressed the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and aims to double the number of STEM academies in Texas. He also wants to create a virtual high school for those who cannot attend a "brick and mortar" school due to full-time jobs or a variety of other reasons. In order to stress the importance of an education, Perry proposed the idea of requiring a high school diploma or a GED in order for a teenager to receive his or her driver's license.

"I think it's a pretty good incentive," he said.

Perry also discussed Texas' current standing as the top exporting state for the eighth year in a row as well as an $8 billion "Rainy Day Fund" reserved as a result of the tax cuts.

At the end of his speech, Perry mentioned that early voting was currently going on for the upcoming primaries. "Are we going to pick the Washington way or the Texas way?" he asked.