Austin American-Statesman - Texas Senate budget writers appeared to reach bipartisan agreement Monday that the state needs an official definition for ‘border security’ so they and law enforcement can measure the effectiveness of a prolonged and state-bankrolled enforcement effort at the Texas-Mexico boundary.
The consensus came after Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee – joined by one Republican – jumped on the lack of detail in the upper chamber’s proposed budget about how exactly to spend the $815 million the two-year spending plan allocates for border security efforts.
...“There have to be performance measures,” said state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler.
“Christmas polls well in my house,” he continued, but “every dollar needs to be accounted for.”
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, agreed with Eltife: “We do need to define what border security is.”