Texas Democratic Party officials have issued a statement blasting Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller for a recent change to the fee schedule at the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Under the fee schedule created by the Texas Department of Agriculture in 2016, several types of fees were increased within the department. Today party officials said that the fees have continued to stay high, while the department has built a surplus.
Members of the Texas Democratic Party issued a statement today criticizing the fee changes as "a slap in the face of the constituents [Miller] is supposed to represent."
"We rural Democrats call on Commissioner Miller to stand with the farmers and ranchers of Texas and reduce these fees effective immediately and operate within the budget provided by the Legislature," party officials said in a statement, "This Republican money grab from our farmers and ranchers forces them to pass on the costs to the consumer, impacting our ability to compete in an increasingly tough environment for American agriculture."
In the end of the statement, party officials called for an audit of the Agriculture Department. The party officials wrote that the audit is needed to check the solvency of the department since Miller took office.
