Abbott Talks Jobs, Water
By Monique Ching
San Angelo Standard-Times
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Attorney General Greg Abbott says he is familiar with the challenges water-worried communities face, being from Wichita Falls.
“Very importantly, it is not water versus economic growth — they actually go hand-in-hand, and they are essential,” Abbott said. “Certain things must be done in this state to ensure that we continue keeping Texas No. 1 in the nation for job growth.”
Abbott paid his third visit to San Angelo, since announcing his gubernatorial campaign, to hear about the challenges local business leaders face.
“I wanted to have the opportunity to get back and visit with a bunch of the business leaders right here in San Angelo, because one of the focal points of the campaign is to make sure we continue keeping Texas on the right path to leading the nation in job growth,” Abbott said. “We want to make sure that job growth is robust across the entire state, including right here in San Angelo.”
In brief media interviews beforehand, Abbott addressed some issues of local concern.
“What these people are going to tell me tonight, I predict, because it’s what I’ve been hearing across the state, is if you just get the boot of government off the backs of job creators, they can energize the economy, create more jobs, put more money in the pocket of everyone” he said.
Responding to a question about whether legislators need to revisit state water laws that many scientists have called outdated, Abbott said. “We always need to be looking to see if there are ways that we can improve laws.”
Abbott said Proposition 6 — a constitutional amendment taking $2 billion from the state’s so-called Rainy Day Fund to be put toward water projects — will provide even more money than was already available to help build water infrastructure.
“The solutions that are appropriate in Texas are regional solutions,” he said. “The reality is the needs of people in East Texas and the solutions for the people in East Texas may very well be very different than the needs and solutions for San Angelo or Wichita Falls.”
Last month Abbott said he visited with officials in Abilene about the Cedar Ridge Reservoir project.
“They have worked out what their regional solution is,” he said. “The reservoir is going to address their growing water needs.”
State officials need to work with local officials to find the best regional solutions for a community.
Asked whether he would veto state-level equal pay legislation, as Gov. Rick Perry did in the past, Abbott again answered that he supports the concept and that existing laws ensure equal pay in Texas.
“Equal pay should be the law and, importantly, equal pay is the law in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “We have plenty of laws that are very specific that ensure that equal pay is going to be guaranteed.”
He said the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Texas Labor Code and the Texas Government Code have provisions for equal pay.
“If there are ongoing issues about equal pay, I don’t think the question is whether we need more laws, the question is whether those laws just need to be enforced better,” he said.
Anyone who feels discriminated against should have access to the courts, he said.
“The reality is, in the aftermath of the Lilly Ledbetter law, I’m not familiar with there being an avalanche of lawsuits being filed,” he said. “The goal that we all have and that we all strive to achieve is to ensure that we do have equal pay both in this state and in this country.”
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