Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

A little cheery news for your morning. Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Duncan Klussmann said recently that every school district in the state faces bankruptcy in three to seven years unless the Legislature makes changes when it convenes next year. Klussmann … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s that time of the year, isn’t it? House Speaker tom Craddick today announced the Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform, headed by the inimitable Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton. Otto’s been around long enough to know that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last year, the Lege passed HB109, which restored some of the families that had been cut from CHIP back to the program. Despite some fierce resistance from various Republicans, it reinstated a 12-month period for enrollment; the 6-month period that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From yesterday, a familiar litany. Lawmakers are worried that a partly privatized system for determining who receives public assistance is still shaky and may not be salvageable. Paperwork for applicants has been lost. Needy Texans have received little help from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This Statesman editorial nails it. Because of an effort five years ago to run part of state government more like a business, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is struggling to provide food and medical services to some of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From the “Stuff I bookmarked then totally forgot to blog about because the primary was so crazy” comes this story about more trouble with the TIERS system. To Texans applying for food stamps, it may not seem to matter whether … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Strange days. For the first time, the Houston school district expects that it will have to pay several million dollars to the state under the controversial Robin Hood funding system. The oddity involving the state’s largest district is prompting renewed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another attempt to override President Bush’s veto of expanding S-CHIP is on the agenda for today. The struggling economy gives Democratic lawmakers another weapon in their effort to expand a popular children’s health insurance program. In the end, however, they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Since State Rep. Phil King has once again raised the awful idea of massively hiking sales taxes in order to reduce property taxes, the CPPP has once again swung into action to explain why it’s so dumb (PDF) to do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I got word of this last week but didn’t get a chance to mention it – Ramblings of an HHSC Employee is being updated again by our intrepid and anonymous employee of the “food stamp” office in Texas. Just in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Much as I like to see Governor Perry and his malarkey about the property tax cuts get smacked down, I rather wish there weren’t so much space given in the story to those who seem to see tax cuts as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice try. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, predicting voters will see through Democrats’ bid to turn health coverage for working-poor children into a “political football,” on Tuesday defended his August and September votes against a proposed expansion of the Children’s Health … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The new business tax won’t be collected for another six months, but there’s already a media campaign being waged against it. Radio ads in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston draw on tidal waves and scary movies to make a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Want to know who’s actually providing services to the HHSC these days? The CPPP is keeping track. Earlier this month, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission released two draft Request for Proposals related to the development and operation of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another audit, another bad report for the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System, a/k/a TIERS. Auditors didn’t find any significant errors in how eligibility was determined and benefits were calculated in the cases they studied. But, they concluded, the Health and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The TxDOT advertising blitz has drawn some scrutiny from state lawmakers. “My concern is that Texas agencies, including TxDOT (the Texas Department of Transportation), have exceeded the proper role of state government and, potentially, their legal authority provided by state … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not surprised. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who last month was the highest-ranking Republican to support a Democratic bill to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, flipped her stance Wednesday on a key procedural vote. The Texan essentially voted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The great community college funding fiasco has finally come to a resolution. Texas community colleges will get $154 million in vetoed money after all under a deal struck by top state leaders including Gov. Rick Perry, who had deleted the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

No surprise at all. Thankfully, this won’t be the last we hear of this. Which means there will be more opportunities for the holdout Republicans to show how utterly out of touch they are. I’d be gleeful if it weren’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In addition to being U-Line Day, today is also S-CHIP day, as the House and Senate vote to override President Bush’s veto. In anticipation of that, the CPPP has some reading for you. On October 18, Congress will vote on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After being all mean and cynical yesterday, let me now say something nice about Senator Hutchison: She is absolutely doing the right thing regarding S-CHIP. If only some of her fellow Republicans would follow her lead. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Rep. Garnet Coleman sends a letter to Attorney General Greg Abbott: I am writing you today to ask you to file or join a lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services to block a recent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good. Some providers of sexual abstinence programs in Texas schools are cutting back their operations because $50 million in federal funds for abstinence promotion quietly expired last week. Despite an 11th-hour extension of funding until Dec. 31, the effect is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last month, Comptroller Susan Combs issued a report saying that the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) had been undervaluing commercial properties, which in turn was shorting HISD of revenue – see here for some background. Now they’re saying maybe not. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The following is excerpted from an Americans United for Change press release, which is part of a big national effort to put pressure on various Congressional Republicans to vote for an veto override on S-CHIP. They’re targeting Rep. Kay Granger … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The CPPP has issued the following statement to John Cornyn regarding his SCHIP claims: In the debate over reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Senator Cornyn is talking about plans that did not pass Congress. He is touting the so-called … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having now been vetoed, the next phase in the fight over S-CHIP is the override attempt. “Congress will fight hard to override President Bush’s heartless veto,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada vowed. Republican leaders expressed confidence they have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As expected. President Bush, in a confrontation with Congress, today vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children’s health insurance. It was only the fourth veto of Bush’s presidency, and one that some Republicans feared could carry steep … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Off to the President. The U.S. Senate Thursday gave final legislative approval to the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. President George W. Bush has promised to veto the measure, which would add $35 billion to the program, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Close, but no cigar. The House voted Tuesday to expand health insurance for children, but the Democratic-led victory may prove short-lived because the margin was too small to override President Bush’s promised veto. Embarking on a health care debate likely … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The battle over S-CHIP will be re-joined today as the House takes up the a compromise bill that was agreed upon last Friday. An earlier version of that bill, HR 976, passed with 68 votes in the Senate last month, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You might have noticed in that story about the lack of help being given to Hurricane Rita victims that a part of the problem was with getting private contractors geared up to distribute benefits. That’s a phenomenon with which we’re … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Congress will try again to pass an S-CHIP bill that can make it past the President, one way or another. Senate and House negotiators said Sunday that they had agreed on a framework for a compromise bill that would provide … Continue reading → Continue reading →

At a public hearing on Tuesday, aides to Governor Perry proposed various crazy schemes to restore the $154 million of community college funding that Perry vetoed in June, for which he’s been regularly pilloried ever since. Although lawmakers left unspent … Continue reading → Continue reading →