The Legislative Budget Board has begun distributing (to legislators — not to the public) its recommendations for how to save money and raise money to help balance the 2012-13 state budget. They plan to distribute copies of the budget itself (again, to lawmakers only) later tonight, and all of the documents will be available online to the public tomorrow morning. The details are still coming in, but here are some of the headlines from the LBB’s Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Recommendations.
Austin
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Are Tax Holidays Over?
The Legislature’s starting budget will apparently include proposals to cancel popular back-to-school sales tax holidays, cut discounts for retailers who remit sales taxes early, allow sales of liquor on Sundays to increase revenue from taxes on alcohol, cut the state’s subsidy of dependent insurance premiums for state employees and lower the tax breaks for energy companies that take on certain high-cost gas drilling projects, sources say.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Grin and Beer It
As the inauguration parties kick off with a big party for lawmakers sponsored by the beer lobby, we looked into just how much Texans love their brewsky.
Posted in
State Government
On the Records: Inaugural Word Clouds
Texans heard from two familiar pols today: Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. We turned their prepared remarks into word clouds to help visualize the tone and rhetoric of their inaugural speeches at the Capitol.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Rick Perry’s Inauguration Speech
The full text of Gov. Rick Perry’s inauguration speech, as written.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: David Dewhurst’s Inauguration Speech
Here’s the full text of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s inauguration speech, as written.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Perry’s Third Inauguration Liveblog
Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry is set to be sworn in for an unprecedented third term, and a good-sized crowd has turned out for the festivities (and free barbecue). Stay with us for updates from the speech and swearing-in at the Capitol.
Posted in
Economy
The Looming Cuts
With some top state leaders warning that Texas’ dire fiscal situation will lead to the loss of several thousand state jobs, House budget writers will release their first draft budget today. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, big job cuts may be just the beginning.
Posted in
State Government
Perry on Jerry Brown
Gov. Rick Perry says he and California Gov. Jerry Brown have been comparing notes on the budget, Medicaid, and the federal government.
Posted in
Demographics
Back to Basics
As be begins his second decade as governor, Rick Perry’s plan is to deal with the basics: to make sure the state is on a smooth economic path, to pass a balanced state budget, to coax the federal government into loosening its purse strings and tightening its security on the Mexican border.
