While Texas is an economic leader, California's economy looks like it's about to drown in the Pacific. One longtime Harris County legislator says the states went separate ways in 2003.
Talmadge Heflin served in the Texas Legislature from 1983 to 2005.
"Texas balanced their budget by budget cuts and no tax increase and California took the other way around."
Heflin says most Texans have a different attitude about responsibility.
"You get used to depending on government or you get used to depending on yourself and I think we see Texas as the latter."
Heflin says it's not a partisan thing; as we saw during Hurricane Harvey, he says democrats and republicans in Texas like to take care of themselves.
"I think it's the attitude of 'don't grow government faster than you need to' and I think that's prevailed in Texas. In California I think they look more to government to solve their problems."
California has the nation's highest state income tax rate while Texas has no state income tax.