The Texas Republican fighting Wall Street and protecting the energy industry – POLITICO

BlackRock has denied it boycotts fossil fuels among the trillions of dollars in assets it manages, and has faced criticism from the left for not doing more to cut the emissions of its portfolio.

Most comptrollers toil away among the accountants who measure a states fiscal temperature arbiters of how much legislators can spend on pet projects, tax breaks, education and infrastructure. But the financial ups and downs of the pandemic put them in the spotlight.

Now, as many state budgets are flush with federal funds and record-high tax revenues but faced with a global economy teetering on recession, legislators once again turn to their comptrollers like Hegar to tell them precisely what dollars they can count on.

This being Texas, Hegars ambitions have attracted attention. While hes in the midst of running for a third and final term as comptroller, his profile is fueling speculation about whether the farmer and former state legislator might angle for higher office, perhaps lieutenant governor or senator.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Lets start by talking about the unique financial position many states are in right now. State comptrollers are typically not high-profile officials. But do you now see an expanded role for the job in Texas and other states?

I dont know if I would definitively say yes or no, but it also kind of puts you into the position of: Do you have a little more say in the process?

I try to make sure that I put front and center what are the issues I thought we as a state need to tend to. Weve been fortunate that weve had a healthy economy weve outperformed the national average year after year with a growing economy. But also youve got more of these issues with the growth youve got to deal with. So its a good challenge to have, but theyre challenges. Now the point being is, it depends on [whether] youve used your position and your platform as a discussion topic. Luckily, thankfully, Ive taken that vantage point so now as were looking at an extremely healthy balance sheet for the state of Texas with a very large cash carryover balance, now the discussion significantly changes from Well, if we had money Now we got money.

One of the points Ive tried to make is, yes the economy is extremely strong, it continues to be strong right here in Texas. But a lot of it is inflation driven. Were having significantly more revenues coming in because people are paying more for items and so therefore were driving more tax revenue. So again, trying to manage expectations and manage the discussion, that also means the state has higher expenses.

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The Texas Republican fighting Wall Street and protecting the energy industry - POLITICO