Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

Just when you thought Texas couldn’t possibly get any less accomodating to indigent defendants, along comes a proposal to return some money earmarked for post-conviction appeals to the state. Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller last week suggested … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State House Speaker Tom Craddick says there will be no state income tax adopted this year. “I would not think that there’s any chance we’ll pass an income tax,” said Craddick, noting that a provision in the Texas Constitution requires … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here, via Greg Wythe, is some more detail about that $10 billion budget deficit and how big cuts will have to be if our elected leaders are serious about no tax increases: 1.) While the Texas budget totals around $113 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It appears that Governor Goodhair misspoke when he said recently that he didn’t want Texas to become “like Mississippi”. According to this article in the Chron, Mississippi does better than Texas in several significant categories: In what radio commentator Jim … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Awhile back I asked When is a tax increase not a tax increase? Answer: When you can get someone else to do the tax-increasing for you, as the Lege is fixing to do by cutting $1 billion out of their … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Things were pretty busy for me this past week, so I haven’t had much time to write any analytical stuff. I’m finally getting things back to normal, so in that spirit let’s take a look at the state of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the underappreciated aspects of our Governor Goodhair is his high standards. How else can you explain his recent remarks in which he said that he doesn’t want Texas to be “like Mississippi”? [Rick] Perry, a Republican, was quoted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

An op-ed in today’s Chron suggests reducing the prison population as a means of helping the current budget crisis. It’s something I’ve talked about before (see here and here), and it’s something that I hope picks up momentum. As the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Answer: When you can get someone else to do the tax-increasing for you, as the Lege is fixing to do by cutting $1 billion out of their education allocation, thus passing the bucket to individual school districts. Those that can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With all of the blame for the state budget shortfall being assigned to that bad ol’ 2001 Legislature, I started wondering what effect the vaunted Bush tax cuts of 1997 and 1999 may have had on the state’s revenue stream. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The New and Improved Budget Deficit Estimate is $9.9 billion, nearly double the $5.1 billion estimate that Comptroller Strayhorn had once insisted on. This is an early AP wire story that mostly recycles its previous story, including Governor Goodhair’s attempted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Comptroller Carolyn Keeton Strayhorn has released her report on money saving measures for the upcoming budget. Called “Reinventing Government” Limited Government, Unlimited Opportunity, the report claims to find a total of $3.7 billion in savings, mostly from efficiencies, as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having boldly declared that he would have balanced last year’s budget all by his lonesome if only he’d had the time, Governor Goodhair has now proclaimed that there will be no new taxes this year. Fees, on the other hand, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Our newly married state comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander Strayhorn has announced that the state budget deficit isn’t $5.1 billion as she once insisted but really will be significantly more. Strayhorn said she will release the official estimate of what lawmakers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Holofernes points me to this NYT story about how state budget battles are affecting the War on Some Drugs and other crimes: After three decades of building ever more prisons and passing tougher sentencing laws, politicians now see themselves as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

State Rep Warren Chisum, better known for his crusade against gay marriage, has what I think is a pretty good proposal in the works regarding issues of the environment and the budget: Charge a fee for bigger engines. Cars, off-road … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is going to be such a fun year for the State Lege. The Legislative Budget Board can’t even agree on projections for state economic growth and its implications for next year’s budget: In a battle portending more to come, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s stories like this one that make you want to pull your hair out. Texas, like all states, gets federal money to help pay for health care for uninsured children (Children’s Health Insurance Program, called CHIP). This year, Texas is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander says the projected state budget shortfall really is only $5 billion, despite what some Gloomy Guses are saying. The Gloomy Guses are sticking to their guns. “There has been recent speculation of a $7 billion, $10 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Remember that $5 billion budget shortfall that’s predicted for next year? It’s now $7 billion. And both candidates for governor know exactly what they’re not going to do about it: “We’re going to scrub the budget. We’re going to look … Continue reading → Continue reading →