TexasbudgetBUSTERS.com

Should this type of spending stay in future budgets?

In the 2009 Legislative Session, a member of the Legislature added an earmark to spend an additional $4.2 million to buy a helicopter and station the helicopter in his district in Longview, TX. The expenditure for an additional helicopter was unnecessary, as the Department of Public Safety capital budget accounted for the needed equipment upgrades and expenditures.

Should the Texas legislature cut its budget by 10%?

An individual House of Representatives legislative budget is $13,250 per month or $159,000 per year. This budget is used to hire staff members for casework, constituent correspondence, office administration and legislative research. It is also used to fund district office rent, some travel expenses and annual constituent newsletters. After adding committee and Speaker of House budgets, in total, the 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives appropriated $36,307,136 and $41,033,338 in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The Senate has more leeway with budgets. After consideration of Capitol staff, district staff and committee staff, the Texas State Senate appropriated $33,341,485 and $36,732,396 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. This budget pays for each of the 31 members to also fund district office rent, some travel expenses and annual constituent newsletters.

Elected members in both Houses of the legislature are compensated $7,200 per year. This is mandated by the Texas Constitution of 1876 and it has not increased since ratification.

Should the Legislature enact a measure to limit the state budget to the rate of population growth plus inflation?

The current tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) procedure in the Texas Constitution is fatally flawed. Since 1978, when the current spending limit legislation was put into effect, the growth in appropriations has far outpaced the rate of population plus inflation. If a stricter spending limit was put into effect in 1990, Texas could be spending approximately $35 billion less per year, as seen in the following chart, courtesy of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. This savings could allow for significant property tax relief for taxpayers. Enacting simple statutory changes would simplify the current TEL and further restrict the growth of our State government while benefiting Texas taxpayers.

Should the Texas legislature end gas tax diversions?

Currently in Texas, the state gas tax is 20 cents per gallon, of which 25% is constitutionally dedicated to fund public education. Of the remaining 75 percent that is dedicated to the state highway fund, only 9 cents is actually used for building and maintaining public highways. In total, that means only 45% of our state gas tax money is used to fund non-transportation uses.

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