Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

Looks like the new business tax may need to be fixed even before it gets put into effect. The law dramatically expands the number of business taxpayers. But it’s also riddled with errors and in some cases created new loopholes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two, four, six, eight, welfare reform wasn’t so great. When Texas became one of the first states in the nation to overhaul welfare by insisting the poor work, the governor made a bold prediction. “I believe this bill will make … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yesterday, we discussed how there’s $2.5 billion in the state budget for $4 billion worth of priorities, at least once you factor in the sacred and all-consuming property tax cuts. Today, Lt. Gov. Davis Dewhurst shows that he wants that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Let’s talk state budget priorities for a moment, shall we? Legislative leaders outlined a starting-point spending plan for the next two years that puts a priority on local school property-tax rate cuts but doesn’t earmark money for new prisons, increased … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The good news, as we already knew, is that the Governor’s Task Force on Appraisal Reform will not recommend another attempt at mandating a lower appraisal cap for property taxes. The bad news is that they’ve chosen an even more … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Whatever else I may think of the gambling industry, I have to admire their ability to get stories in the paper about their efforts to expand in Texas, even if there’s really nothing new to report. Battle lines already are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Bummed out about that new cigarette tax that’s burning a hole in your pockets, smokers? If you want to save a few bucks, why not try rolling your own? Two weeks into the new tax, retailers have made a curious … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t normally expect to see anything remotely political in Ken Hoffman‘s column, but this time is an exception. There’s a proposal floating around Austin that would expand legalized gambling in Texas. […] Now I say to the Legislature the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, the Legislative Budget Board has done its thing, and the spending cap is set at a little more than $7 billion above was was allocated in the last biennium. As that’s barely half of what’s needed to pay for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Susan Combs will take her first meaningful action as State Comptroller today when she releases the revenue forecast for the next biennium later today. “The numbers we put out on Monday will be the dollar numbers the Legislature can spend … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The other day, I lamented the lack of data on housing prices in Houston. As it happens, yesterday’s Chron provided some. Overall, single-family homes in Houston appreciated more than 6 percent last year, the best home appreciation rate since 2001, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The task force appointed by Governor Perry to study property taxes and appraisal caps has issued its report, and going by news coverage it’s a little hard to tell what they said. Depending on who you read, you might come … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Texas has a surplus in it. There are worse things to have. After considering basic demands like school enrollment growth and making good on a highly touted promise to lower local school property tax rates, there are choices to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a disturbing story from last week that had slipped past me. Shoddy health care, substantial neglect and harmful treatment techniques have jeopardized the lives of Lubbock State School residents, federal investigators said in a report that criticized nearly every … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ready or not, that new cigarette tax is coming soon. Texas smokers will pay significantly more for cigarettes starting Jan. 1 when the excise tax increases by $1 a pack in a move that health experts hope will discourage folks, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One more story from last week to catch me up on current events: The state’s Health and Human Resources Commission has finally realized what everyone else knew to be true months ago and cut bait on Accenture. Texas is drastically … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know, the libertarian in me is perfectly willing to accept an expansion of legalized gambling in Texas. As with many other potentially pleasurable but not really good for you things, it’s hard to make a case for banning or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The CPPP has a nice, concise explanation (PDF) of the constitutional spending cap and why it must be lifted to pay for the property tax reductions that were passed in the special session this year. Among other things, they note … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another day, another screwup in the privatization of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Glitches in the state’s new computer system have left investigators unable to check for fraud and overpayments in food-stamp and other benefit programs in the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, that’s progress. With Democrats poised to take control of Capitol Hill, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is ordering an evaluation of the state’s contracts with two lobbying firms with close ties to congressional Republicans, his spokeswoman said Tuesday. The contracts … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember the Office of State and Federal Relations and the partisan DeLay-connected lobbyists that were hired by Governor Perry to supplant them? (Sure you do – see here and here for background.) Well, the Statesman remembers them, and they call … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The folks at the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) have just released a paper on Updating and Outsourcing Enrollment Public Benefits: The Texas Experience. It’s a 60-page PDF file, just the thing for a little light reading before bedtime. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And another story you may not have seen, via Ramblings of an HHSC Employee: Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins has failed to disclose his ties to a non-profit that has received millions of dollars from the state of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember back in May, after the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) had to bring back workers it had let go to keep things from completely falling apart on Accenture, when three lawmakers (Democratic Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve spent a lot of time bashing the contract Accenture received to privatize services that were formerly provided by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC). And they richly deserve it, as their performance has sucked, with none of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There was a story in yesterday’s Chron about a State Senate hearing on “school choice”, which is the euphemism given for vouchers. I think there are two points that need to be made. Much of the public testimony Friday centered … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I like the link title for this story: “Some fear state budget will hurt health, education”. I believe that one goes into the “No s–t, Sherlock” file. Unofficial estimates from Gov. Rick Perry’s office identify money totals – factoring in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Also from the inbox: Chad Khan, candidate for State Representative in District 126, will be hosting a seminar on August 24 at 6pm on the effects of House Bill 3, which will have significant effects on the tax bill due … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may recall that a local taxpayers agitprop group filed a lawsuit in June claiming that the state’s Legislative Budget Board violated a constitutional spending limit by overestimating how much the state’s economic growth would be. Yesterday, a judge threw … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The top lawyer for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission says that yeah, things do suck with Accenture, but they don’t quite suck enough to fire them. “Termination is always a pretty severe remedy, and it’s the one that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers wants to fire Accenture for its poor performance. Sixty state representatives asked the Health and Human Services Commission today to fire the contractor in charge of processing applications for Texas’ low-cost insurance program for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I didn’t get around to this before the holiday, so let’s catch up: The next big issue in the governor’s race may well be gambling, as the realities of HB3 are forcing everyone to look around for the revenue to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A couple of Democratic State Reps are out there on the op-ed pages making the case that what happened in the Lege this past spring did not represent success in dealing with school finance. First, Rep. Lon Burnam chides the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron gives an overview of the new school tax along with a calculator to help you determine what your rate might be this year and next. Emphasis on “might”, for this is how they disclaim it: Remember that this … Continue reading → Continue reading →