Border still fighting to get its share

MySA.com: Metro | State: "A Brownsville legislator recently learned that competing with other border lawmakers for scarce dollars to shore up their long-neglected region isn't as bad as it could get.

Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, went scrounging for $400,000 to save a medical residency program at Valley Baptist Medical Center that helps produce doctors for a part of Texas that is chronically underserved.

At first, Lucio had to compete with himself for funding.

Senate leaders suggested Lucio take the money from a $3 million state appropriation for a birding center on South Padre Island that is expected to stimulate tourism dollars and jobs."