BUDGET

Uncle Sam needs you to enlist in a national effort to stop “budget reconciliation” by contacting your congressional representative and Texas senators. We have prepared a short message in Q&A form to explain how very much is at stake for low-income Americans in this battle.

Workshop presentation at "Funding State Services" Conference in Washington, DC, analyzing Texas' spending of TANF federal and state funds over time and compared to other states.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant is the sixth largest source of federal funds in the Texas state budget. TANF is second only to Medicaid in the support it provides for state health and human services. This Policy Brief analyzes Texas’ fiscal and policy choices regarding TANF, in light of pending federal reauthorization and mounting federal deficits.

CPPP has prepared a backgrounder on federal tax cuts, federal spending, the cost of Katrina relief, and federal budget deficits, as well as a letter to Texas' Congressional delegation on these issues.

One month ago, as part of a national effort, we asked you to urge your senators and congressional representative not to cut federal spending on critical health and human services such as Medicaid and Food Stamps. Because of your efforts, Congress delayed taking action, but congressional committees are again moving ahead with plans to mark up cuts during the week of October 17, with the Budget Committees slated to package the cuts around October 26, and Congress to consider bills making the cuts shortly thereafter. Please join us and other citizens across the country in a National Call to Action by telling our senators and representatives what we want.

Presentation in Dallas by Eva De Luna Castro to National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Policy Institute on Sustainable Communities, on changes in state and local government sources of revenue/taxes/federal aid.

The Regular Session of the 79th Texas Legislature has ended and SB 1, the state budget bill for 2006 and 2007 has been passed. The Governor has vetoed certain line items in the budget. The bill incorporates funding to restore some of the Medicaid, CHIP and other health care programs cut by the 2003 Legislature, but leaves some major 2003 cuts unrepaired, and the fate of others up in the air.

With the final state budget of $139 billion for 2006 and 2007 nearing approval, some are warning that a 10 percent increase in state spending is too much. Let’s think about this a little differently. Imagine an early spring day somewhere in Texas, with a high of 60°�"about average for that time of year. Overnight, a cold front moves in, dropping the temperature to 30°�"low enough to kill the most vulnerable plants left out in the cold. The next day, the temperature rises to 50°. Is it a 66 percent increase in temperature, compared to the previous night’s low? Or is it 10° below average?

The Dallas Morning News reports that state leaders are being accused by both the left and the right of runaway spending as they finish writing the state’s budget for the next two years. Runaway spending? What hogwash.

State budget conferees are almost done reconciling the House and Senate’s different proposals for state spending in 2006 and 2007. This Policy Page gives a preview of where spending levels are likely to end up, and provides some benchmarks against which any increases in spending should be compared.

The Budget Conference Committee is rapidly finishing marking up the budget. The Senate and House propose to fund (and leave unfunded) different things. Critical services such as Medicaid Adult Benefits and Medically Needy Coverage may not be restored. Now is the time to make your voices heard by contacting the conferees and the leadership. CPPP has sent its recommendations to the conferees. Our memo largely focuses on Article II, but also concerns some other areas. To give you an idea how far off the legislature is from our recommendations, funding everything we recommend--at least, what is in this memo of critical items--would add approximately another $522 million in General Revenue to the House's proposed level of spending and approximately $416 million to the Senate’s.

The Senate and House versions of the state budget differ in some important respects in their proposed funding for Medicaid, CHIP and other health care programs (See Policy Page #228 for details on SB 1, the “base” General Appropriations Act for 2006-2007, as first introduced). Soon, the "conference committee" on the state budget will begin to hammer out a final compromise budget for the next two years. Proposed restorations of benefits cut in 2003, funding to reduce waiting lists, and funding simply to allow for population growth and inflation may not survive in the final budget unless the legislature adopts legislation that raises additional revenue to support state government.

This ten-minute video by Executive Director Scott McCown is designed for you to use to teach others about the funding challenges facing Texas. There's no waiting--the video begins instantly.

Read where the state gets its money and what its revenue options are.

While our Legislature is trying to write a budget, so is Congress. What Congress does is particularly important to Texas since more than one third of our state budget revenue comes from the federal government.

Forget any reassuring news you may have heard about the state having a small budget "surplus." The truth is that the state budget as introduced leaves health and human services short by at least $2 billion.

Public hearings on the budget for Article II health and human service programs in SB 1, the General Appropriations Act for 2006-2007, began Monday February 7, in both the Senate Finance committee and the Health and Human Services Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (HAC). On a faster track than in previous sessions, the budget committees plan to complete their subcommittee/workgroup activities (including taking public testimony) on HHS agencies before the end of February. This means major decisions about whether to add funds to the Legislative Budget Board's (LBB) proposed budget (SB 1) are being made in the next few weeks.

Legislators began debating the proposed budget for health and human services programs this week (for fiscal 2006-2007), which includes a reduction of 4,809 eligibility staff at the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) by fiscal 2007. The proposed reduction represents a 60 percent cut in staff.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities offers the following comments on LBB's proposed FY 2006-07 budget for the Health and Human Services Commission.

Public hearings on the budget for Article II health and human service programs in SB 1, the General Appropriations Act for 2006-2007, will begin Monday February 7, in the Health and Human Services Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (HAC).

State Budget Issues for 2006-07 and Effects on Substance Abuse Programs is a presentation to the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals, describing how funding for substance abuse programs might fare at the state and federal levels.

The $64.7 billion in General Revenue that the Comptroller estimates will be available to fund the 2006-2007 budget is not enough to fund current services.

A 2005 pre-legislative session forum hosted by the United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County.