House Speaker Joe Straus said the unusual decision was meant to ensure lawmakers didn’t rush to a decision they might “regret.”
budget
Posted in
Texas Elections 2018
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Democratic challenger Joi Chevalier on why they deserve your vote
In separate interviews, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, a Republican who’s running for re-election, and Joi Chevalier, his Democratic opponent, talked about the state’s looming pension crisis, whether lawmakers should cut taxes and what’s in store for the Rainy Day Fund.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Texas’ school finance problem in one pesky chart
A fresh update of a single budget chart shows who’s paying for public education in Texas: More than half of the money comes from local property taxpayers, just over a third comes from the state, and the federal government spends about a dime of every dollar schools cost.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Property taxes rise, state education spending falls. That’s the design.
Early discussions about the next state budget include an old and politically hazardous debate: Property values are rising, meaning the local share of education spending will rise while the state share drops.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: How to turn a weak Texas governor’s office into a strong one
Gov. Greg Abbott, continuing a quiet project started by his predecessor, is making his office more powerful — at the Texas Legislature’s expense.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: For hints to next year’s fights at the Texas Capitol, watch the investment advisers
Editor’s note: If you’d like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey’s column, click here. The political debates of this election year will foreshadow some of the issues you’ll see when the Texas Legislature meets next year, but some of the best clues — sports gambling is one example — come from the financial advisers to public sector investors.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Texas is finding a new way to call itself a red state
Glenn Hegar, the state’s comptroller of public accounts, is warning lawmakers that Texas’ bond ratings are at risk because of a couple of pending expensive problems. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Posted in
Economy
Texas government risks credit rating downgrade, Comptroller Glenn Hegar says
Without an infusion of new money to cover mounting liabilities, Hegar warned, credit agencies are likely to downgrade Texas’ credit rating, which would make it more expensive for the state to borrow money — and perhaps damage the state’s business climate.
Posted in
Economy
Despite sunny economy, Texas budget forecast is dreary
Though unemployment is low and tax revenue is on the rise, big bills coming due for the state’s highways and health care programs are giving Texas lawmakers some heartburn.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Texas’ most persistent policy problem
You wouldn’t be out of line wondering why Texas school finance didn’t get fixed in 2017. Or 2015. Or 2013. But it’s because this is a hard policy problem and a harder political one. The prompt now is that property taxes have gotten so far out of hand that lawmakers have no choice but to act.
