Texas Legislative Watch: Texas Republicans Propose Deep Budget Cuts

If there is one document the lays out a government’s vision for public policy it is a budget. No other piece of legislation lays out the priorities of an administration more clearly than a budget proposal. The budget proposals that have been introduced in the Texas House or Representatives and the Texas Senate clearly layout public policy priorities for the current Legislature. What are they priorities of the Republican majority? Protect business, corporations, and special interest, while selling out middle and working class Texas families. Governor Perry and Republican lawmakers in Austin are willing to place the economic burden on the backs of Texas families as a consequence of the failed economic policies that they have promoted, which will undermine the long term economic health of Texas.

As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the proposed budget in the House is $156 billion of state and federal money for 2012-13 that is 17 percent smaller than the current two-year budget. Republicans proposed closing the $27 billion budget shortfall entirely with budget cuts without using any of the $9 billion so-call rainy-day fund and without raising any new revenue. Of course significant cuts where made in programs that many middle class and working class Texans rely on, such as health and human services and pubic safety. According to analysis 9,610 positions from the 241,000 jobs in state government would be eliminated. Also there is a proposal to close a prison in the Houston area and to close four junior colleges which would eliminate work forces that pump money into surrounding local communities.

Among the hardest hit by the budget cuts is the foundation for the long term economic success of Texas: the public schools. The American Independent reports that in the House budget public education funding would be reduced by $3.1 billion (9.1%), including reducing funding for the Foundation School Program (to be $9.8 billion below formula requirements after accounting for student population growth) and cutting other programs by two-thirds, including teacher incentive pay and pre-K grants, in addition to increasing the maximum student-teacher ratio in elementary schools. Higher education funding would be reduced by $2 billion (15.6%), including cutting general higher education funds by 10%, shutting down four community colleges and reducing funding for the need-based TEXAS Grant program. According to a report by the American Independent, the Senate budget would not make as drastic cuts as the House version but the cuts would still be substantial. Austin analyst Lynn Moak predicts the loss of 100,000 jobs in school districts across the state if the cuts are implemented.

It is often said that the Great Recession did not have as much of an impact on Texas as it did the rest of the nation. As I have noted before, that perception is much more about perception than it is about reality. The middle and working class in Texas have felt the effect of the recession as much as if not more than the rest of the country. Now Texas Republicans want to let hard working Texans bare the brunt of the burden of a budget shortfall that was created by Republican policies.