Austin’s Senator Kirk Watson: Texans will pay steep price for Legislature’s budget failures
In a mismanaged State budget, when increasing revenue is completely off the table, the price of ongoing operations must still be paid: by the little people, and by the future.
The proposals now before the Legislature don’t adequately fund our schools. Any theoretical good was undone by a stubborn refusal to put the priorities of Texas first - or keep the state’s promise to fund Texas schools and our children’s future.
The legislation attempts to hide a failure that dates back to 2006, when those in control cynically promised Texans a tax cut but refused to do the harder work of cutting spending or replacing the lost revenue. It opened a multibillion-dollar hole in the state’s finances - one that we’d all have fallen into two years ago without billions of dollars in federal stimulus money.
But that bailout is long gone, and the state’s about $4 billion short of what schools need to cope with more students and escalating costs. It’s the first time in known state history that Texas hasn’t paid for enrollment growth.
Faced with that $4 billion debt to our schools, those in control have come up with a novel scheme. They refuse to reform the broken funding system. They fail to relieve the pain of cuts, some of which are necessary, by using reserve funds that are set aside for just this sort of situation. They allow tax loopholes for special interests. And they compromise the education for a generation of Texas schoolchildren.
The bills before the special legislative session make the broken system permanent by ignoring promises made to local districts. They unilaterally redefine the state’s obligation for funding schools and just call it the new normal. They attempt to cover up the state’s unwillingness to meet its responsibility, throwing a rug over the cracked foundation of our state’s budget.
So who’s on the hook for the $4 billion broken promise? You are. Your kids may be packed into bigger classes, their teachers may be laid off, or your property taxes may go up. Unlike the Legislature, districts can’t just push their obligations onto others. They have to be accountable.
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