Editor’s note: Here is a perspective on the electric rate hike issue pending before the Austin City Council from a graduate student at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The LBJ school is a co-sponsor of a mayoral debate with KXAN on Monday.

In 1995, Newt Gingrich was the first Republican speaker of the House in over 40 years, George W. Bush was in his first year in public office and Ben White Boulevard was nearing completion.

Keep reading at KXAN.com.