Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

The entitlement argument against removing a sales tax exemption

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by State Rep. Rene Oliveira, continues to examine tax expenditures such as sales tax exemptions, and the whining coming from some of the potentially targeted businesses is really starting to annoy me. The … Continue reading →

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The untouchable tax breaks

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

You know how some Republicans like to say that there’s no such thing as temporary spending, because once something is in the budget it tends to stay there forever? Clearly, the same is true for tax expenditures, more commonly known … Continue reading →

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Kaiser study on health care costs

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, state officials from HHSC Commissioner Tom Suehs up through Governor Perry have been claiming that the Affordable Care Act will cost the state of Texas a lot more than the CBO estimates. There’s quite a bit of … Continue reading →

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Obstacles to expanded gambling

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Burka lays out the reasons why expanded gambling will have a tough road ahead in the Lege next year, even as budget writers openly speculate about it, and concludes it won’t happen. I think the situation is more fluid than … Continue reading →

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Some cows are more sacred than others

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

To quote Mel Brooks, it’s good to be the king. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will not be denied his steroid testing money. The Texas Education Agency had included the $1 million cost of the steroid program among its $135.5 million … Continue reading →

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Business tax falls short again

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Same story, next verse. The state business tax again comes due Monday, and no one is suggesting it will yield near the approximately $6 billion originally forecast. The tax is expected to bring in $4.3 billion this year. “I think … Continue reading →

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Our Hispanic schools

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Take a look at the future. If you want to see how profoundly the state’s population is changing, look at the faces of the children in Texas public school classrooms. In all but rural areas, Hispanic enrollment is rapidly surpassing … Continue reading →

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The stalking horse

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Peggy Fikac brings up a familiar point about expanded gambling. [Rob Kohler, a Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission consultant working against gambling expansion] suspects the gambling talk is paving the way for a new push to lease the state lottery … Continue reading →

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Science textbook delay

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The adoption of new science textbooks may be delayed a year as a budget maneuver. The $1.4 billion price tag for new science textbooks and other materials has been causing sticker shock among state officials bracing for the upcoming budget … Continue reading →

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Rodney Ellis makes the case for expanded gambling

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via the Trib, here’s State Sen. Rodney Ellis on why he will once again carry a bill to expand gambling in Texas: For what it’s worth, the “People are already gambling, why not let them do it here where we … Continue reading →

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“Perry’s Fiscal Flim-Flam”

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just go read this article/slide show from the Texas Observer about the gap between what Rick Perry says about the state’s finances and the truth. It’s stuff we mostly knew already, but it’s still sobering to see like that. And … Continue reading →

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Prison health care

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just another dimension to the complex budget picture. An early casualty of impending state budget cuts could be the health care contract that serves most of Texas’ 154,000 prison convicts. Top officials at the University of Texas System, whose Galveston … Continue reading →

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And in case you were wondering about gambling

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

And to complete this impromptu three–parter about the state’s budget situation, we ask the question “What about gambling?” Lawmakers had been warned to expect a shortfall of at least $11 billion in the next two-year budget period. But Appropriations Chairman … Continue reading →

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We will keep trying the same solutions until they work

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Speaker Straus says that all options are on the table for dealing with the budget shortfall, as long as we’re talking about spending cuts. The table isn’t big enough to accommodate any other kind of options. Straus, R-San Antonio, said … Continue reading →

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Where have all our sales taxes gone?

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege would like to know. “The situation is not good,” said Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, who has asked representatives of Comptroller Susan Combs to testify before his Appropriations Committee. State revenues remain “well short” of predictions, although sales tax … Continue reading →

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The unemployment tax and the Enterprise Fund

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that unemployment insurance taxes have gone up, and we know that the increase is more than it would have been had Governor Perry not rejected $555 million in stimulus funds for unemployment insurance. But there’s another way in … Continue reading →

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Get ready for larger class sizes

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in 1984, one of the school reforms that resulted from the Perot Commission was a mandate that elementary school classes could have no more than 22 students in them. Many things have changed since then, but that standard has … Continue reading →

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Accounting tricks

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Everyone knows that the current budget shortfall means the Lege will be searching for cutbacks and new revenue sources. But there is a third option, too, one that doesn’t usually get much attention but which has certainly been done before: … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder about Perry’s unemployment tax increase

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Falkenberg watches some video of Texas Workforce Commission Executive Director Larry Temple testifying before the Senate and reiterates something we knew. Temple acknowledged Thursday to the Senate Committee on Economic Development that Texas’ decision not to take $556 million … Continue reading →

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The food banks pitch in

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s great that they’re making such a difference. It’s a crime that it took so long and that the problem got to be so bad before they were called in to help. Last year, food banks had to step up … Continue reading →

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Texas rejects high-risk insurance pools

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No big surprise. Gov. Rick Perry told federal officials Friday that Texas would not participate in health insurance pools for high risk individuals that are being set up under the new national health care law. Perry, citing some of the … Continue reading →

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Filling the void

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve heard a number of reasons why we “need” video lottery terminals at horse racing tracks, but this one, espoused by Texas Racing Commission Chair Rolando Pablos, may be the most entertaining. Though he does not gamble, Pablos studied gaming … Continue reading →

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Where there’s a sacred cow, there’s a lobbyist protecting it

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Star-Telegram reminds us that while legislators may be hunting for sacred cows to help fill the budget gap, actually bagging them will be hard to do. The renewed look at tax breaks has generated a widespread case of jitters … Continue reading →

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The coming train wreck

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Two local school superintendents – HD Chambers from the Stafford Municipal School District and Louis Stoerner from the Alief Independent School District – wrote an op-ed for the Chron about the financial catastrophe that school districts are facing. With a … Continue reading →

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Who will administer Texas’ health insurance exchange?

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, one of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act is the creation of health insurance exchanges for those who are currently uninsured and need assistance in getting it. The states are supposed to operate these exchanges, and … Continue reading →

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The pitch from the gambling industry

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that the gambling industry, which never sleeps, has been busy preparing for the next legislative session. The Trib gives us an overview of their pitch, about which I’m sure you’ll be hearing plenty more in the coming months. … Continue reading →

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Feel the fees

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reviews the bidding from the 2003 legislative session as a preview for what’s to come next year. The 2003 session most closely mirrors the current scenario — a national recession, a previous budget balanced with the use of … Continue reading →

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Nothin’ but good times ahead

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In his recent conversation with the Chron’s Peggy Fikac, State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden said the following: Q: How likely is it that lawmakers will face another big budget shortfall in 2013, with fewer resources to bridge the … Continue reading →

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First, you have to admit you have a problem

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Peggy Fikac has a frustrating conversation with State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden. I say frustrating because I know he knows what the correct answer to this is, and I also know he’s never going to say it out … Continue reading →

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More arguing over health care costs

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There are many things to say about this. The debate over how much federal health care reform will cost Texas put the state’s health and human services chief on the defensive on Wednesday, as he presented a budget estimate to … Continue reading →

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State auditor issues recommendations for fixing food stamps

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s about what you’d expect. The state agency that oversees Texas’ food stamp program is outdated and staffed by inexperienced workers, leading to long delays and inaccurate processing, said the state auditor in a report released Tuesday. “To improve the … Continue reading →

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Hunting sacred cows

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If there’s one item on the budget fix to-do list for which there is fairly broad agreement, at least in principle, it’s the idea that the existing tax code ought to be examined to see what things are being exempted … Continue reading →

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The hole keeps getting deeper

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve said multiple times that even if we survive the 2011 legislative session, the budget problems we’ll be dealing with next year aren’t going away. The reason for that is because we have a structural deficit, as the giant unaffordable … Continue reading →

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Fixing school finance, the neverending story

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Work on dealing with the state’s revenue shortfall and what it will mean for the schools is already underway. Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, co-chair of the 15-member panel, acknowledged that the funding system is in trouble and needs … Continue reading →

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