The deserving versus the undeserving

A Conaway spokesperson said, “It’s not about just getting FEMA to come in and give them money, it’s looking out for the welfare of these communities that otherwise have no outlet for help.”

On his congressional website, Conaway espouses a fiscally conservative philosophy that advocates spending restraint. In a section related to the housing crisis, Conaway says, “I believe that we are all responsible for the decisions we make and the agreements we sign, and so I do not support a bailout of individuals who have made poor financial decisions.”

Asked why Conaway thought that those who have been affected by the Texas wildfires were deserving of federal assistance when the state was short on funds, while those whose livelihoods are in danger because they are behind on their mortgage payments were not deserving of federal assistance, the spokesperson said it was a “fair point,” but that he would have to speak with Conaway to “get a sense of where he’s at on this issue.” A follow-up email seeking a specific response from Conaway to the question received no reply.

Lucy Nashed, a spokesperson for Governor Perry, tried to explain the request for federal assistance. She said that, because of the extent of the wildfires, “it’s gotten to the point where the state cannot continue to cover everything that we need to respond to these fires.” Perry believes that the federal government should not involve itself in what he sees as affairs best handled by the states, Nashed said, but disaster assistance is an exception to the rule.

“There are certain core functions that the federal government is responsible for: border security, military, helping our states in times of disaster when they cannot cover it,” Nashed said. “Beyond that, they don’t need to be coming down here and telling the states, micromanaging how we educate our children, how we deliver our health care, how we clean our air and our water.”

Texas’s own solution appears to be additional service reductions. Texas state lawmakers are now considering cuts to education and health care to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap, and Perry has said that tax increases are off the table.

Asked why Perry thought the federal government was obligated to provide additional assistance to aid wildfire response efforts, while Texas lawmakers were not obligated to raise additional revenue in order to avoid cuts to education and health care, which also have a direct affect on people’s livelihoods, Nashed said, “at the end of the day we have to do the same thing that families and businesses have to do. We have to sit down and look at where we can streamline spending, where we can make things more efficient, and we have to prioritize.”

Families, however, sometimes take extraordinary measures to cover important costs such as education or health care, such as working second jobs or dipping into savings. Couldn’t Texas take a similar approach to raising funds?

Nashed said only that Perry believes that Texans sent a “loud and clear” message in the November elections that they “want a fiscally responsible, limited government.”

The Texas budget

State legislators are currently trying to resolve differences between budgets passed in the state’s House and Senate, including differing proposals relating to cuts in public schools funding and Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Both budgets do contain a $32.5 million reduction in a volunteer fire department assistance program at the Texas Forest Service that helps rural fire departments fight wildfires. Linda Moon, communications manager for the Texas Forest Service, said volunteer fire departments account for 90 percent of responders to wildfires. The cut for the volunteer fire department assistance program would leave only about $7 million per year in funding, hindering the fire departments’ capacities for training firefighters and obtaining safety equipment, Moon said.

“That really sends us a strong message about what our state lawmakers value in terms of public safety for the state,” Moon said.

Remapping Debate sought to ask Texas state legislators about their rationale as they work on budget negotiations, but calls to their offices were not returned.