In Texas, a Businesslike Budget, After a Fashion
When Texas lawmakers said they wanted to run government like a business, they left out the part about using Enron and Countrywide as their models.
Starting with a $4.3 billion deficit in the current budget and a $27 billion shortfall in the next budget, Texas lawmakers began by saying they would take care of their financial problems without raising taxes and without tapping the Rainy Day Fund, the state’s $9.7 billion savings account.
In a state where legislators are constitutionally required to balance the budget, you might think that leaves only budget cuts as a way out ...
Comments (1)
IndyTexan
Kudos for making this more understandable, Ross. Is someone going to take a look at the lack of leadership on the revenue side of the equation. That would include what Strayhorn warned about in '06, but additionally the refusal to go after the $4B per year property tax giveaways to commercial owners, land speculators and mansion owners, not to mention the refusal to cut tax loopholes for gas drillers. I'm sure there's lots more money that's been sitting around for various industry people.
There was no pretense at shared sacrifice in this session. It's going to take sincere independent movement to settle the score -- in my biased opinion. Linda Curtis, Independent Texans