Seven State Parks Could Close Under Proposed Budget
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department would close seven state parks during the 2014-2015 biennium under preliminary budget proposals from the House and Senate, and at least one group is ready to fight to keep them open.
In discussions before the legislative session began, the parks and wildlife department requested that the Legislative Budget Board allocate an additional $18.9 million from the sporting goods sales tax to keep all parks operational. The preliminary House and Senate budgets, released Tuesday, call for only an additional $6.9 million over the next biennium from that tax.
Ian Davis, the director of ...
Comments (15)
Patrick Fortner via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Sounds familiar.
http://www.texastribune.org/2011/03/09/texas-parks--wildlife-agency-faces-big-cuts/
Guillermo Covarrubias ? via Texas Tribune on Facebook
close them, these gun nut, tax hating ideologues don't deserve anything nice like nice public spaces
Marsha Lebkowsky via Texas Tribune on Facebook
No way! Never close a park!
Andrew Goldberg via Texas Tribune on Facebook
close parks, limit education, erode joy...sounds like the Texas GOP to me
Marina Lewis via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Inexcusable. We have carried an inept legislature too long. What else besides education is this ineffective body going to destroy by ignoring and purposeful negligence. Let's see. Oh, Texas State Parks, and let's rake in contracts for all our buddies in their respective interests. Toll roads?! Whose political "friends" do those stockpile income for?Where are finance and economic realists in this legislature? We need a five year and ten year fiscal plan. If that means RAISE TAXES or REVENUE to support and sustain what we have, parks, schools, state health needs, so be it. Yet, who continue to vote these people in? We get what we select. Welcome to the world of education for the past five years, plus - this with increasing enrollment and increasing needs and costs. Sad for state parks. Sad for our state.
Eric Dana Jensen via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Keep parks open, safe and clean at any expense.
Richard Stone via Texas Tribune on Facebook
(*sigh*) Who are we kidding? Let's just get it over with and de-fund state government. A fire sale for the state's assets begins in 3 ... 2 ... 1
Ronnie Odom via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Close them. Give them to private enterprise. Pery is all for that.
Danny Jones via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I'm sure they could justify asking for twice as much because there's so much that's been neglected for too long. I suspect Prickberry would like to sell the state parks to his campaign financers.
visule
seems reasonable. close the most difficult to maintain and least visited.
Karen Spivey-Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Hell NO. WTF is wrong with these idiots? Fire sale to their crony friends? HELL NO.
C.g. David via Texas Tribune on Facebook
When you hire poor management and then defund because of lack of income, isn't that fraud?
Norman Shupe
The legislature has many prosals that many of them are not even informed about, such as the current proposals to put reachers and public employees on 401 retirement programs. Many of these people have never been in the social security system and have no other source of retirement income. WTH is the matter with these people? The legislature should start by honoring the committments they already have before they start trying to spend reserves.
Norm Shupe
Retired teacher and avid outdoorsman
Kathi Thomas via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Lege need to quit stealing their money AND pay back all they've misdirected in the past.
mary stallings
Did I miss the list of the 7 parks, or haven't they decided which sell to their bestest GOP friends yet?