Texas, Billions in cuts to education and other programs

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Looks like some other states that were considered to be in much better financial shape than here in California are now seeing their share of the financial bite. You still don't hear much about cuts to welfare, although that's much more of a problem here in California than in almost all the other states.


Perry calls for billions in cuts to education, other programs
By Jason Embry | Tuesday, February 8, 2011, 02:50 PM
Gov. Rick Perry proposed cutting billions of dollars in spending across state government Tuesday in his most detailed public reaction yet to the state’s budget shortfall.
In his budget proposal to the Legislature, Perry called for cutting more than $2 billion in state spending on public education and another $2 billion in higher education, plus more than $2 billion in health and human services programs. Those cuts would come with much larger reductions in federal dollars, because states draw federal funding for programs such as Medicaid by spending state money.
Perry’s office released his proposed budget after he gave his biennial State of the State speech. In that speech, he largely avoided the subject of which programs should see spending reductions, instead giving a lengthy defense of the Texas economy.
“As this session gets rolling, some folks are painting a pretty grim picture of our situation, so we need to balance their pessimism with the good news that continues to flow from our comparatively strong economy,” Perry said. “Have the doomsayers forgotten that Texas added more jobs in 2010 than any other state?”
Texas is about $27 billion short of the money it needs to continue current state services. The shortfall is a product of the national economic downturn, the disappearance of federal stimulus dollars that state leaders used to balance the state budget in 2009 and the ongoing cost of a 2006 tax swap in which the state cut $10 billion more in property taxes than it replaced with other taxes.
Perry was reluctant to spell out budget solutions during his re-election campaign last year. His budget proposal is his most direct acknowledgment yet of the scope of the state’s fiscal woes.
Still, the Perry proposal is limited. For example, he does not say which programs within public education or higher education should see their program reduced, but he does say that higher education on the whole should get less money.
“It’s important to the governor to be working with lawmakers to make those decisions,” said Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger.
Democrats took note of how little Perry talked about the budget in his speech.
“He would rather climb a tree to tell us a lie than stay on the ground and tell us the truth,” said Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...ons_in_cu.html