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ive posted this a million times the past couple of days, but average texans dont give a about public and/or higher education. they just want to watch football and not pay taxes.
CG: Texans get their first look at what type of cuts can be expected to balance the state budget. Not a very pretty picture.
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A sobering reality settled over the Texas Capitol late Tuesday as the state's budget challenge emerged in black and white.
The multivolume Legislative Budget Board publication provides the first real picture of what it will take for Texas to dig itself out of a deep budget hole without raising taxes or using the $9.4 billion rainy day fund.
It is apparent that very little escaped the knife in this first draft of the budget, including previously untouched public school funding and money for higher education and Medicaid reimbursements.
The release of the do ents had been pushed into the night to avoid overshadowing the day's inauguration of Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. The information was delivered in hard-copy form to legislators, many of whom were out enjoying the inaugural festivities, and will be posted on the budget board's website this morning.
Today, House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, will take questions from members on the House floor, and more details will emerge as legislative staffers, advocates, lobbyists and others dig into the details.
Pitts set out to balance the budget with the $72 billion in taxes and fees that will be available for the 2012-13, two-year budget. That amount is $15 billion less than the current budget and $27 billion less than what agencies say they need to continue the current level of services.
Public education
Direct state aid to school districts, which has been untouched in previous rounds of cuts, was trimmed by $953 million in the proposed budget.
But school districts will also forgo $9.8 billion owed to them under current school finance laws, such as money to cover growth in student enrollment.
Grants for teacher incentive pay, pre-kindergarten and classroom technology were also eliminated.
Higher education
Student financial aid, including the main Texas Grants program, and funding for public universities would take substantial hits.
Financial aid was slashed by half, closing off assistance for new students.
Governor's office
Perry's largest economic development fund remains largely unchanged, but the governor's programs that promote film production in Texas and foster research and development of new technologies were hammered in this first draft of the budget. The Emerging Technology Fund was cut 85 percent.
Criminal justice
In public safety and corrections programs, the budget report recommends shutting down a unit in Sugar Land, three Texas Youth Commission lockups and 2,000 private prison beds, a move that could close at least two additional lockups. About 1,562 prison jobs were also chopped.
Probation programs would see funding cut by 20 percent, parole supervision would be cut by almost 9 percent, and the agency's construction and maintenance funding could be cut by 83 percent, along with 90 jobs. The Victims Services Division would be eliminated.
Health care, other cuts
Medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors, nursing homes and other health care providers were whacked by 10 percent.
The proposal also includes closing at least one of Texas' state supported living centers, facilities that serve Texans with mental disabilities.
Overall, about 9,600 state positions would be eliminated from the payroll.
The state will also drop its contribution to the pension systems for teachers and state workers to 6 percent, the minimum allowed by the state cons ution.
Some small en ies, such as the State Law Library, were eliminated. Others, including the Historical Commission, are still standing but had much of their funding cut.
Earlier Tuesday, a group of conservative legislators laid out suggestions for reducing spending by $18 billion withouttouching transportation, public safety or criminal justice.
Representatives of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Ins ute said education bore the brunt of the cuts - $12 billion - because federal health care laws prevent states from reducing eligibility for people covered through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Neither Pitts nor his counterpart in the Senate, Steve Ogden, was involved in developing the conservatives' budget blueprint.
But the recommendation could provide a good indication of the will of the two chambers given the conservative bent of the Texas Legislature.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-...s-1194464.html
ive posted this a million times the past couple of days, but average texans dont give a about public and/or higher education. they just want to watch football and not pay taxes.
Perry's base won't feel anything from these cuts..
why don't you guys go ahead and eliminate all science studies?
Damn, Schools are getting bent over hard.
'bout ing time. In some districts, public schools spend 4 to 5 times as much, per student, as do private schools.
Yes a few more teachers get to lose thier jobs through no fault of their own... but there is a positive for conservatives becaquse they get to blame obama for the lost teacher jobs!
maybe im under the wrong impression, but aren't smokers covering the Children's Health Insurance program?
Yeah, and they provide services private schools don't. And don't ing cut funds until you have a way to cope with the ing cuts. ing re ed.
The Kiss of Death for some community colleges, I'm afraid.
Pretty much. Sadly.
Yep. Some districts will be able to recoup some of that by raising their property tax rate. But there's a state cap on how high those rates can be so any district that is already charging that is S.O.L.
That being said, I did read somewhere that something like 45% of a school district's budget is going to administration, so I do think there is some fat that can be trimmed there.
Partially, IIRC.
Hey man. Two Rights in the Cons ution. Texans just trying to live the Dream.
Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too
I wonder how this affects charter schools.
Not a smoker but we really should legalize pot. Just makes too much sense not to which means Texas will be the last state to do it.
Dude Texas won't even legalize gambling so forget pot.
Well over half of TX counties, the Baptist Bible belt, make Al Cohol illegal.
the Wall St Bankerster running the Fed are making sure taxpayers continue to pay for the Banksters Great Depression:
The Fed Has Spoken: No Bailout for Main Street
The Federal Reserve was set up by bankers for bankers, and it has served them well. Out of the blue, it came up with $12.3 trillion in nearly interest-free credit to bail the banks out of a credit crunch they created. That same credit crisis has plunged state and local governments into insolvency, but the Fed has now delivered its ultimatum: there will be no "quan ative easing" for municipal governments.
On January 7, according to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the Fed had ruled out a central bank bailout of state and local governments. "We have no expectation or intention to get involved in state and local finance," he said in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee. The states "should not expect loans from the Fed."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-...tml?view=print
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And the Repugs killed the Buy America Bonds program that was a low-cost cash lifeline for state/local govts.
Why does it have to be teachers? Most public school districts are top-loaded with administrators, "specialists," and other dead wood.
If it were a necessary service -- in the pursuit of education -- private schools would offer it. And, they'd do so more inexpensively.Yeah, and they provide services private schools don't. And don't ing cut funds until you have a way to cope with the ing cuts. ing re ed.
You want to cope with cuts. Allow vouchers. I'm already paying for school twice, as it is. Let me redirect all those ing school taxes to my private school tuitions.
There's some truth here....do we really need 3 assistant superintendents? A curriculum quality coordinator? There's alot of job programs in the public schools.
Dan and I had this discussion a couple of weeks ago and I learned a bit about the way public schools and private schools handle disabled or learning challenged kids. The private schools have the easy road, which was not what I had expected or understood.
Accommodating the handicapped is not a large percentage of the budget.
And, accommodating the profoundly handicapped is a whole other discussion. I'm not sure some are even well-served by being placed in a classroom setting.
But, considering all publicly accessible facilities, including private schools, must be ADA Compliant and accessible, it's an equitable share of the respective budgets.
I think they should eliminate lots of school districts and consolidate them into bigger districts. For instance, divide San Antonio into 4 districts and use I-10 and 410 as the dividing lines. You could cut out lots of administration salaries and cut the costs of running all those offices. It would also help small, poor districts by consolidating them into a large district where the tax base is better.
Gosh, I hope my property taxes go up.
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