Hammond lauds lawmakers for sticking to their guns" on base budget calls for strategic limited use of Rainy Day Fund to balance budget fund priorities
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Texas Association of Business President and CEO Bill Hammond called the states budget difficult but doable" and suggested that the sky isnt falling" when it comes to the budget challenges facing lawmakers this Legislative Session.
Its easy to read the headlines and hear the talk around the Capitol and think that the sky is falling when it comes to the budget challenges our state is facing" said Hammond. I prefer to describe it as difficult but doable."
The State has $72.2 billion available for general-purpose spending during the 2012-13 biennium leaving a $15 billion gap from the current general revenue spending of $87 billion.
This is the second time that Texas legislators have been faced with a general revenue shortfall in the past decade and this shortfall must be addressed in the same way by reducing spending and without raising taxes or fees" added Hammond. While we congratulate House Members for sticking to their guns and presenting a base budget that is within existing revenues we must continue to fight to ensure that we implement cost-saving reforms that reflect Texas commitment to prosperity and to economic growth."
TAB recommends state lawmakers focus on the following actions that would ensure the state closes the budget gap without raising taxes creating fees or increasing existing fees:
Hold general revenue spending at its current level of $87 billion;
Use $6 billion of the Rainy Day Fund to fill the budget gap;
Expand Medicaid managed care statewide to see $1.2 billion in savings;
Fulfill the Legislatures commitment of using $550 million of the Available School Fund to fund textbooks and instructional materials and use the rest of the $1.5 billion to fill the budget gap;
Delay the date of payments by the State by one day into the next fiscal year-- a useful tactic implemented when Texas last faced a significant budget crunch in 2003. This simple action could save the state $3 billion - $4 billion alone;
Pass legislation to allow slot machines at existing Texas racetracks and Native American Indian reservations. These machines would generate as much as $850 million in direct state tax revenue during the current biennium and nearly $1 billion per year at full implementation; and
Pass legislation that requires probation with mandatory treatment for first-time low-level drug possession offenders with no prior violent sex property or drug delivery crimes allowing for an estimated $500 million savings by 2012.
Founded in 1922 the Texas Association of Business is a broad-based bipartisan organization representing more than 3000 small and large Texas employers and 200 local chambers of commerce. Follow us on Twitter @txbiz and find us on Facebook at fb.me/txbiz.
