LATEST WORK
Texas Faces a Struggle to Write a Budget That Meets the State's Needs for 2010-11
May 12, 2008
The state budget funds critical public systems upon which we all depend. Unfortunately, a realistic analysis of both sides of the state’s balance sheet—income and expenses—shows that Texas faces another tight budget in 2010-11. While the state will probably have more available revenue than it did for 2008-09, it will also have more people and higher costs, quickly using up any additional funds. Recently, however, the Speaker suggested that the state might have a $15 billion “surplus” by the end of the biennium, with the Comptroller saying that her most recent estimate projects $10.7 billion. But neither is using the term “surplus” in its ordinary sense. In fact, both estimates include expected balances in the Property Tax Relief Fund, which is already committed to pay for previous tax cuts, and in the Rainy Day Fund, which is reserved for emergencies. In all likelihood, the state will again be unable to fund critical public systems without new sources of revenue.
Building Texas: The 2008 Tax and Budget Primer
May 6, 2008
This up-to-date and easy-to-digest booklet will help you think about the challenges facing us as Texans. Our public systems and structures—such as our public and higher education systems, civil and criminal justice systems, and transportation system—help to make this a great state, securing the common good for all Texans. This new primer discusses what we need to do to maintain our democracy and enhance our prosperity and how to pay for it.
A Central Pillar of Texas Health Care is at Risk: Federal Medicaid Rules Would Cost Texas $3.4 Billion
April 16, 2008
Federal Medicaid officials are trying to impose a number of rules that, if implemented, would make program cuts that would threaten our most vulnerable citizens, limit our ability to serve more low-income children in CHIP, and shortchange taxpayers at the same time. Texas Medicaid officials estimate that these rules would cost Texas Medicaid $3.4 billion in lost federal support over five years. The cuts would force Texas to cut services for children with disabilities and frail seniors as well as support for safety net hospitals, or else raise taxes to make up the lost federal funds. Governor Rick Perry, the National Governors Association, and the National Association of State Medicaid directors all have urged Congress to stop the rules from taking effect, and Congress is now debating bills that would delay the rules for at least a year. In every case, these rules attempt to impose harsher policies than underlying federal law, and in many cases policies that have been specifically rejected by Congress. Read more about the rules and how you can help prevent these cuts (including a letter from Governor Perry urging Congress to stop the rules from taking effect).
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