Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

RIP, Department of Rural Affairs

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

People say they want to shrink government, except when it happens to them. The Texas Department of Rural Affairs, the office that helps keep rural Texas communities afloat, is scheduled to close in October, and the lawmaker who wrote the … Continue reading →

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Opening bids on the next deficit

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Do I hear $7 billion? Ten billion? How about $15 billion? Early projections indicate that when the Legislature convenes in 2013 it could face another revenue shortfall. Not as severe as this year’s $27-billion gap, but still problematic. “I think … Continue reading →

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Fiscal and health care bills pass

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s one less reason for a special session. One key budget-related bill, Senate Bill 2, won final approval from both chambers this afternoon and is headed to the governor’s desk. SB 2 is an appropriations bill that goes hand-in-hand with … Continue reading →

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The budget is still broken

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What was true at the beginning of the regular legislative session is still true as the special session winds down: The budget is still broken. Instead of revamping the business tax structure or taking aim at tax exemptions, lawmakers cut … Continue reading →

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GOP finally kills Howard amendment

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, this was no surprise. An amendment from Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, that would have directed surplus money from the Rainy Day Fund to pay for enrollment growth in public schools has perished in conference committee. The House … Continue reading →

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Balancing the budget on the backs of charities

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just another “accounting trick” from our Republican legislature. Each year, more than 100 organizations — including the University of Texas, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Special Olympics and the Girl Scouts — earn a collective $2.5 million from … Continue reading →

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Senate not inclined to accept Amazon’s bribe

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. It looks like the Texas Legislature is likely to say no — at least for now — to Amazon.com’s proposal to bring 5,000 jobs to the state in exchange for a temporary break on collecting sales tax. … Continue reading →

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The strip club tax is on the table

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Among the things that conference committee members will be discussing as they try to finalize the budget is a reworking of the strip club tax that was first passed in 2007. This session, while awaiting a ruling on the case … Continue reading →

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A few facts about education employment

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

State Board of Education member Thomas Ratliff brings some numbers to the debate. When you hear the discussion about the increase in the number of “non-teachers” in our schools, consider the following facts. These numbers represent full-time equivalent employees to … Continue reading →

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House Republicans still going after education

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Amazing. Republicans again tried to take away a Democratic victory today. This time, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, was successful as he pushed for a motion to instruct conferees to strip the spirit of an eduction-related amendment by Rep. Donna Howard, … Continue reading →

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House passes budget

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The main objective of the special session has now been accomplished. But not before one of the House’s biggest homophobes nearly derailed it on Thursday. Lengthy debate on a key budget bill featured many retreads of contentious topics from the … Continue reading →

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House defies Perry over Amazon and sales taxes

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is a pleasant surprise. Breaking with Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas House today refused to kill a provision that aims to tighten the state’s rules on when online retailers like Amazon.com must collect sales taxes. The vote could force … Continue reading →

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Republicans admit that the Rainy Day fund has been spent

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you’ve heard Rick Perry and other Republicans talk about how they’ve “balanced” the budget without tapping into the Rainy Day fund. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear that they’re lying. Republicans have given up any pretense that … Continue reading →

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Senate approves teacher furlough bill

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another divisive bill, another party-line vote. Legislation allowing school districts to reduce teacher pay and furlough them — to help absorb big budget cuts — sailed through the Texas Senate on Monday with a straight party-line vote. Lawmakers are working … Continue reading →

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House approves Medicaid changes

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to know what the effect of this will be. Texas lawmakers passed major changes to Medicaid on Wednesday that would privatize the health program in South Texas and allow the formation of health care cooperatives. The 142-page measure is … Continue reading →

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About that Rainy Day fund

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Peggy Fikac puts it in perspective. Why are state GOP leaders so firmly against spending more money from the rainy day fund for public education? As some explain with increasing clarity, it’s because budget writers have all but spent it … Continue reading →

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House Appropriations follows Senate, passes SB1

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The grim march of the inevitable takes another step. The House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines on Saturday to recommend a controversial plan to reduce public education spending by at least $4 billion, cuts which hundreds of Texans later … Continue reading →

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Senate Finance committee does its thing again

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I wouldn’t call the pace of this special session “fast”, but they do have the ball rolling, starting with the Senate Finance committee as they re-approve a budget, or at least a budget figure. The Senate Finance Committee voted 10-1 … Continue reading →

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Back to school finance

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege has started the process of picking up where it left off on school finance. The Trib reminds us how we got here. [T]he earlier failure of SB 1581, which put a behind-closed-doors conference committee in charge of any … Continue reading →

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Perry vetos Amazon sales tax bill

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Of course he did. Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed legislation that was aimed at tightening the state’s rules on when online retailers must collect sales taxes on Texas transactions, the bill’s author said this morning. Perry had earlier criticized Comptroller … Continue reading →

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Vote on school finance today

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On Friday night, the Lege finally reached an agreement on school finance, which is to say on how to distribute the $4 billion in cuts to public education to the school districts. Today the Lege gets to vote on that … Continue reading →

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Budget passes

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. The Texas House and Senate passed a state budget Saturday that cuts billions from public schools, state universities and health care for the elderly. The $172 billion legislation now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature. Facing … Continue reading →

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We have a budget

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Such as it is. Budget negotiators met briefly this morning and voted 9-1 to adopt a conference committee report that cuts the state budget over the next biennium by $15 billion, or 8 percent. The total amount of funding from … Continue reading →

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Sorry, yacht owners

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Your champion has failed you. Rep. John Davis, R- Houston, said he’s given up for this session on capping the sales tax for big yachts to try to compete with Florida’s more favorable tax laws. But Davis said he’s still … Continue reading →

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Still no school finance plan

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Tonight’s the night for something to happen if it’s going to, because legislatively speaking there is no tomorrow. The 2012-13 state budget agreed to by House and Senate negotiators provides school districts $4 billion less than what they are owed … Continue reading →

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School finance still to be done

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We may have a budget deal, but what we still don’t have is a school finance plan. The Senate’s long-stalled plan to apportion a $4 billion reduction in school aid had been suddenly resurrected, passed and zipped over to the … Continue reading →

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Trauma centers feel the pinch, too

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Like everything else in the state, trauma centers at hospitals will see their funding get cut, and they are warning about the consequences. The officials from Memorial Hermann, Ben Taub and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston came … Continue reading →

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How little do the Republicans care about women’s health?

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They don’t care at all. An innovative women’s health initiative is heading toward oblivion over a legislative impasse between abortion rights opponents and supporters even though the program has nothing to do with abortions. Unless renewed by law, the 5-year-old … Continue reading →

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More on the budget deal

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman: The agreement is hinged on the House passing a so-called fiscal matters bill, Senate Bill 1811, that would free up money to help pay for the $3 billion in additional spending to which the House negotiators agreed. … Continue reading →

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Budget deal reached

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One less reason for a special session. Assuming nothing else goes wrong, and Rick Perry doesn’t veto it out of whatever sense of grandeur and vanity drives him. House Speaker Joe Straus indicated legislative negotiators have reached an agreement on … Continue reading →

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Great moments in understatement

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Rob Eissler, the author of the repeatedly postponed HB400, the bill that distributes the $7.8 billion in public education cuts to individual school districts, says what may be my favorite thing this session: Lawmakers who philosophically endorse reduced … Continue reading →

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The racetracks have given up on gambling for this session

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a clear answer for those of you who may have been holding out some hope for an expansion of gambling. Retama Park officials have all but lost hope that lawmakers will act before the end of the regular legislative … Continue reading →

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Is there still a chance gambling legislation can pass the Senate?

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

All signs still point to “no” if you ask me, but gambling legislation never goes quietly so it might look otherwise on the surface. The quiet formation of a special Texas Senate subcommittee to consider a controversial casino gambling resolution … Continue reading →

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House punts on budget bills till tomorrow

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

After getting off to a slow start, budget negotiators realized they were going nowhere fast and put a merciful end to things for the day. The House has punted to Thursday any floor consideration of the “non-tax revenue” bill and … Continue reading →

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