Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

We have the bad budget news. We also have nine billion dollars in the rainy day fund. What are we going to do about it? [Comptroller Susan] Combs’ forecast was grimmer than anticipated by some leaders, noted House Appropriations Committee … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Look out below! Comptroller Susan Combs today estimated that Texas has about $9 billion less to spend – $77 billion – than it did two years ago. Combs called her revenue estimate, which caps how much lawmakers can spend in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t think the election of Rep. Joe Straus as Speaker of the House really changes the equation for the gambling industry and its hopes for an expansion of their business in Texas, but I can understand why they’re feeling … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I note this in anticipation of Monday’s revenue report from Comptroller Susan Combs. The state collected $1.86 billion in sales taxes last month, a 2 percent increase from December 2007. The collections represent sales that took place in November. While … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m sure this will spark a lot of debate. At a time when the oil and gas industry was reaping record profits, producers got a break under Texas’ new business tax, according to a draft report from a state advisory … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Once we finally do get past the Speaker’s race, various college-related issues will be on the agenda for the Lege. [E]xpect lots of debate about freezing tuition when the Legislature convenes in mid-January. But with dozens of bills dealing with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I was listening to the podcast version of Car Talk the other day, and towards the end of the show Ray went off on a rant about how we should implement a 50-cent-per-gallon gas tax. You can read what he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just not so important that it will get anything more than another Band-Aid, but you take what you can get, I guess. “Are we going to start school finance from the ground up? I don’t think so,” said Rep. Rob … Continue reading → Continue reading →

More evidence, as if we needed it, that things are tough all over. The ailing economy could make it more expensive for Texas school districts and their taxpayers to borrow money as the state has temporarily postponed its school bond … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s all like a bad dream now. Texas and Accenture LLP on Friday reached a final agreement on ending a controversial social services deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The settlement — worth more than $100 million to the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We may as well operate on that assumption, anyway. Comptroller Susan Combs said Texas government “is relatively still in good shape” from tax collections, but she noted lawmakers are likely to face immediate and unavoidable spending needs that will leave … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Same as it ever was. Texas’ new business tax is $1.2 billion short of what it was expected to bring into state coffers its first year, even after adding extension payments made so far, the comptroller’s office said Tuesday. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The last thing you’d want to have happen during the hot summer months is to have your electricity cut off. Lawmakers and consumer advocates have asked the Texas Public Utility Commission to impose a moratorium that would prevent companies from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The dispute between HISD and the Comptroller’s office over the disparity between what the latter says Harris County’s property values are and what the appraisal district collected has been resolved. The Houston school board accepted a settlement Thursday with the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And it’s not going to get better any time soon. School districts across Texas are likely to face extreme fiscal hardships over the next two years as transportation costs spiral out of control, enrollments continue to grow and the transition … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is a step in the right direction. Lawmakers on Wednesday took one step closer to anointing a third public flagship by inviting leaders of Texas’ seven “emerging” research institutions to pitch a case for why they should become the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We first heard about this last month, and now it seems certain: The new business tax will fall well short or revenue projections. “It’s almost certain we’re going to come in about a billion dollars below what we estimated,” Sen. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This came out last month, a little before some of the recent angst about the business margins tax hit the news. It’s not something we haven’t heard before, but it’s definitely something we need to hear again. The quality of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This can’t be good. State social services officials now plan to switch 1 million or more needy people in the next year to a different application process for benefits, including Medicaid and food stamps. The state says it intends to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Consider this to be another warmup for the next Legislative session. Tuition at Texas universities rose 58 percent between 2003, when schools were first allowed to set their own rates, and 2007. Student fees have gone up, too. “With tuition … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Unless something changes in the next few months, this is going to present an unpleasant surprise for the next Legislature. Texas’ new business tax has brought in $4.2 billion so far, raising questions about whether it will hit the $5.9 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s true. He says so himself. A bigger and broader sales tax is being kicked around at the Texas Capitol once again by legislators wanting to scrap the new business tax and further reduce property taxes. “We need to return … Continue reading → Continue reading →

New item: Lawmakers debate how to help electric consumers. Sort of. Anticipating a long, hot summer with record-high electric rates, members of the House Regulated Industries Committee on Monday said Texans are right to expect some sort of relief. “Rates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rick Casey devotes a column to the HISD versus HCAD situation, and points to the obvious solution. Texas is one of only five states that doesn’t require that sales prices of real estate be reported to the state. The government … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One way or the other, this will lead to a bad outcome. The Houston school board voted Thursday to sue the state comptroller’s office if the school district loses its appeal over rising property values. The Houston Independent School District … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From last week, the Chron’s Alan Bernstein notes a problem the Republicans will be have to deal with for November and beyond: [Thursday], across Discovery Green from the downtown convention, two Democratic state House members and Democratic candidates for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s a start. One by one, representatives of the state’s universities were called before a Senate subcommittee Wednesday to explain why they have raised tuition 50 percent or more during the past five years. “It was done after much anguish,” … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s a good thing I’m tanned and rested from my weekend vacation, or else this Clay Robison column might have caused me to faint. How much college tuition would $1.4 million cover? The simple answer, of course, is not nearly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is the least surprising news item of the week. Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday urged university regents to consider several potentially controversial changes in policy, including merit bonuses for some teachers and state grants of scholarships, or “vouchers,” directly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For some reason, I wasn’t invited to this august gathering to discuss the matter of rapidly rising college education costs, but no worries. I can save them a bunch of time and solve the problem from here. Gov. Rick Perry, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The colossally ineffective TIERS system has been given the go-ahead to expand in Texas, though not by very much. The federal agency that oversees food stamps this week agreed to let Texas expand a new computer enrollment system in a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Not too surprisingly, small businesses are complaining about the new margins tax even though it still hasn’t been officially collected yet. Small businesses launched a fresh push to change the revamped franchise tax Thursday, saying they’re facing huge increases that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we know, school districts are sounding the alarm about their rising costs and the lack of capability they’ve been given to deal with those costs. Here’s more about this problem. Unless a fix is enacted during next year’s legislative … Continue reading → Continue reading →

At least, they’re good for the budget. The nation may be on the verge of a recession, but the Texas economy is doing well enough for Comptroller Susan Combs to predict Tuesday that the Legislature will have a $10.7 billion … Continue reading → Continue reading →