By Ruben Hinojosa
When I took office in January of 1997, the unemployment rate for Hidalgo County sat at an unconscionable 22 percent. I made it my goal to do all I could to bring this number down to a single digit and we succeeded.
Within the first ten years, I led a group of Rio Grande Valley leaders and we brought the rate down below 6 percent. However, we all know that due to events on a national, state and local level that figure remains in flux and can waiver depending on the political climate and the corporate mood.
In 2008, our nation was hit with the Great Recession, but the latest figures released this week by the Texas Workforce Commission show that we have made great progress and are getting much closer to our 2007 numbers.
The numbers show that the unemployment rate in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has fluctuated but is as of now, steadily being lowered. This reduction in unemployment has come despite the tremendous population growth we experience every year.
How did we accomplish this? In 2009, with a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, we passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or the Stimulus Bill to help stop our slide into an actual depression. We needed to get people back to work in order to boost our economy nationally and locally. Some of the provisions to the ARRA included investment in transportation, environmental protection and other infrastructure to provide long-term benefits.
I made certain that federal funds were brought to our communities to create jobs and boost our economy. Federal funding annually has increased in my Congressional District 15 by over 250% from $3.6 billion to $9.2 billion over an 18-year period during my public service in congress.
The steady reduction in the unemployment rate did not happen overnight and it didn’t happen easily. Throughout my time as your Congressman I worked with some of my colleagues to obtain millions in federal funding for our new Interstates, 69 and 2, for our levees, our water infrastructure and our two new international bridges in McAllen/Mission and the Donna/Rio Bravo. These infrastructure improvements allow us to attract more companies and create more jobs.
It also took a lot of hard work and planning by our local municipalities. In Deep South Texas we continue to lower our unemployment rates by aggressively attracting business to our area through the hard work of our chambers, our city leaders and our Economic Development Corporations (EDC). It is very clear to me that the people of the Rio Grande Valley want to work.
We want to help our workers obtain the skills they need for the 21st century workforce, because having a well-trained workforce strengthens the economy and improves the quality of life for residents of South Texas and across the country. All of these measures and more are why the Rio Grande Valley will continue on its successful path to keeping the unemployment rate at the lowest single digit possible.
We have come a long way, but there still is much to do. But our future is bright. The opening of our new UT-RGV and the new Medical School will create great new opportunities in new career fields, but we need to be ready to take advantage of the large state and federal investments being made in college education for all, as well as health care, job training and infrastructure. Working for Texas we can continue to improve the quality of life for all!
Ruben Hinojosa is a Member of Congress representing the 15th District of Texas and a Texas Border Business Guest Writer. TBB
