NEWSROOM

Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following comments on the Austin American Statesman’s PolitiFact:

Senior Policy Analyst Jane Burstain, Ph.D., on the recently released federal Child Maltreatment report. The report showed a decline in the rate of kids being identified as abuse and neglect victims in 2010 as compared to rates in 2008. Some are claiming this means that there are fewer kids being abused and neglected.

“A more likely explanation for falling rates of identified maltreatment is that budget cuts are forcing state agencies to selectively spend their limited resources on fewer cases. And, in fact, the Child Maltreatment report shows state child welfare agencies are investigating fewer abuse and neglect reports and, when they do investigate, are less likely to identify kids as a victim. So it probably isn’t that there’s less child abuse and neglect; it is more likely that with budget cuts, state agencies can do less to identify and address it."

Senior Fiscal Analyst Dick Lavine on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts revised revenue estimate released yesterday.

“To meet the needs of all Texans for education—the proven path to better jobs—and health and human services—vital protection for Texas families—our state must reform its out-of-date revenue system."

Associate Director Anne Dunkelberg on the approval of the “Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement” Medicaid 1115 Waiver. (Note: This waiver is different from the waiver to block grant Medicaid, which the Health and Human Services Commission has not yet submitted and about which the Center has grave concerns.)

(AUSTIN, Texas) ─ Today, First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy organization, released a report highlighting the enormous and growing gulf in funding between states to help children in poverty that is the result of flaws in the design of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The report, “TANF Supplemental Grants: Reforming and Restoring Support for Children Who Need it Most,” calls on Congress to fix these flaws and restore funding for the TANF Supplemental Grants. The annual supplemental grants provide additional TANF funding for 17 states—including $52.7 million for Texas—that have historically low spending per child in poverty.

(AUSTIN, Texas) - On Monday, Federal officials finalized an application from the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to delay full implementation of a new rule that requires insurers to increase the value of health insurance or provide rebates to policyholders. If approved, Texans who buy insurance on their own outside of the protection of an employer could lose $350 in forthcoming rebates on average.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Census Bureau released new national-level poverty data today. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) is a “work in progress” experimental measure intended to provides a more complete picture of what contributes to poverty by attempting to correct for long-argued limitations of the Official Poverty Measure. The Supplemental Poverty Measure differs from the Official Poverty Measure in many ways, such as including a broader range of expenses necessary to make ends meet (e.g., food, shelter, medical expenses, payroll taxes) and accounting for a broader range of resources such as income from tax credits and federal in-kind benefits (e.g., food stamps and housing subsidies).

Executive Director F. Scott McCown regarding what should be done by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “supercommittee”). The Budget Control Act requires the committee to propose by October 14 a way to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 to $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

“For the good of the country, the committee needs to succeed. But success requires a balanced package that combines selected revenue increases with careful spending cuts. A cuts-only approach would devastate low- and moderate-income Americans because it would mean severe cuts in critical areas like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

“Our state would be among those hit hardest by a cuts-only approach because we have so many low-income families. Doing nothing would also be hard on Texas because it would trigger automatic cuts, including to defense. Texas benefits from significant federal spending, including from military bases and defense contracting. Most important, though, is that doing nothing would leave the country with an unsustainable imbalance between revenue and spending."

Senior Policy Analyst Don Baylor regarding the American Jobs Act:

Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) Senior Policy Analyst Jane Burstain released the following statement today regarding the Federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act:

CPPP applauds and supports the bipartisan Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act introduced on Monday by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, Geoff Davis and Lloyd Doggett. The bill provides needed support to help states better address child abuse and neglect and CPPP urges the U.S. House to pass the bill as quickly as possible.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report that illustrates the struggle low-income Texans face in affording a consistent and nutritious diet. The USDA report, Household Food Security in the United States in 2010, reveals that almost one in five Texas households (18.8 percent, or 1.7 million households) were food insecure between 2008 and 2010, compared to 14.6 percent of households nationwide. Over one-third of these households (6.9 percent) are classified as having very low food security—the more severe condition associated with food insecurity—compared to 5.6 percent of U.S. households. Texas ranks second in the nation for the highest percentage of food insecure households, and is tied for third in the share of households experiencing very low food security.

Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs asked Howard Baldwin to serve as interim commissioner for the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), succeeding retiring Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein. Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following comments.

(AUSTIN, Texas) — The American Dream means working hard to learn, earn, save, and build assets so that our families are financially secure. These opportunities are in short supply in Texas. As today’s new jobs numbers show, Texas’ unemployment rate rose to 8.4 percent, marking the 23rd month the state unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent, which ties the modern-day stretch set in the wake of the 1980s oil and real estate bust (Feb. 1986-Dec. 1987). With the state’s jobless rate higher than the past two recessions, many more Texans are experiencing sharp losses in their family income. A new report released today titled, “Under Attack: Texas’ Middle Class and the Job Crisis" suggests that stagnant incomes, a lack of good-paying jobs, and a lack of health insurance are the real issues that are crippling Texas’ middle class.

The report, co-published by CPPP and national policy center Demos, examines how stagnant wages, falling union participation, the lack of good jobs and health benefits, and the rising cost of a college education are all squeezing the Texas’ middle class.

Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack awarded performance bonuses to the states with the best payment accuracy rates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) in fiscal 2010. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) earned $6.2 million in payment incentives for its performance in two categories: best payment accuracy and most improved payment accuracy. Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) Senior Policy Analyst Celia Cole released the following statement.

“CPPP applauds HHSC Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs for his leadership, and HHSC’s frontline staff for their hard work in achieving this recognition. At 97.87 percent, Texas’ payment accuracy rate was above the national average of 96.19 percent. (Payment accuracy is measured by the amount of benefits issued accurately as a share of total benefits issued.) And at 4.77 percent, Texas’ tops the nation in most improved accuracy rate."

On June 7 the Governor added to the call for the special session: “Legislation relating to the use of the federal Secure Communities Program by law enforcement agencies, the issuance of driver's licenses and personal identification certificates, and the abolishment of sanctuary cities in Texas.”

Last year, we released Common-Sense Principles for Immigration Reform, which is a useful starting point to considering these issues. In that paper, we concluded: “To maintain national security, we must be able to control our borders. To grow our economy, we must welcome immigrants who want to work and who have the skills we need. And, we must enforce our laws in a way that honors American traditions and constitutional principles. We can do all this through a common-sense, fact-based approach to immigration reform.”

As the Legislature considers any legislation in response to the Governor’s call, we urge a common-sense, fact-based approach that recognizes the important role immigrants play to our economic vitality and is consistent with who we are as Americans.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown released the following statement today in response to the budget committee conferees agreeing on the state budget for 2012-13.

“If the Legislature adopts this budget, the Legislature will have failed to meet the needs of Texas.

“The far right’s demand that our state’s revenue crisis be addressed by cuts alone instead of through a balanced approach that uses the Rainy Day Fund and adds new revenue has forced damaging cuts to essential state services. For the present biennium, 2010-11, the state’s general revenue budget totals $90 billion (roughly $82 billion in state general revenue and $8 billion in federal recovery dollars). To provide the same public services in 2012-13, because of more people and higher costs, the Legislature would have to spend at least $99 billion in general revenue. The conferees’ budget deal (with HB 4) would appropriate just under $80.7 billion, leaving the state short more than $18 billion—about $5 billion of which would have gone to public education.

“A balanced approach was the better choice."

With one or more U. S. House-passed, budget-cutting proposals expected on the Senate floor for debate this week, the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) and the Texas Food Bank Network (TFBN) say that the cuts proposed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps) would weaken the program’s proven ability to help poor and hungry Texas kids and families.

“Today the House takes up fiscal matter bills that will determine whether the Legislature can write a budget in the 12 days remaining in the session.The House should encourage its budget conferees to accept the Senate budget, and the House should make the money available to do so through the fiscal matters bills.

“While the Comptroller’s new revenue estimate makes $1.2 billion more available, the conference committee needs that money plus everything in the fiscal matters bills to fund the Senate budget, allowing the Legislature to minimize damaging cuts to public education, higher education, and health and human services.

“At the end of the day, if the House remains short of revenue to fund the Senate budget, we again call on the House to use more of the Economic Stabilization Fund. The Comptroller’s new revenue estimate forecasts another $300 million available for appropriation, and knowledgeable experts suggests that the fund may grow even more. We urge the House to be open to using the Rainy Day Fund to close a budget deal.”

Executive Director F. Scott McCown sums up the case for using the Rainy Day Fund for 2012-13:

“Texans aren’t supposed to protect the Rainy Day Fund. The Rainy Day Fund is supposed to protect Texans. Voters created the Rainy Day Fund by constitutional amendment in 1988 to offset unforeseen falls in state revenue just like the state faces now. The Legislature should use the Rainy Day Fund to bridge the revenue hole created by the Great Recession."

Two years ago, several groups sent a letter to the Texas Legislature urging the Legislature to save the Rainy Day Fund “to address future potential shortfalls as a consequence of the current economic downturn.” Now the same groups have sent a letter to the Texas Senate opposing the use of the Rainy Day Fund to address the current $27 billion shortfall caused in large part by the economic downturn.

These groups have lost touch with reality.The agenda of these extremists is not to save the Rainy Day Fund but to permanently reduce state spending in service to their agenda of ever lower taxes. Instead of pretending otherwise, these groups should just say what they really mean—they don’t care.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown's statement in response to the Senate adopting its version of the state budget for 2012-13.

Two years ago, several groups sent a letter to the Texas Legislature urging the Legislature to save the Rainy Day Fund "to address future potential shortfalls as a consequence of the current economic downturn." Now the same groups have sent a letter to the Texas Senate opposing the use of the Rainy Day Fund to address the current $27 billion shortfall caused in large part by the economic downturn.

These groups have lost touch with reality.The agenda of these extremists is not to save the Rainy Day Fund but to permanently reduce state spending in service to their agenda of ever lower taxes. Instead of pretending otherwise, these groups should just say what they really mean—they don't care.

(AUSTIN, Texas)─Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown released the following statement today in response to comments made yesterday by Lt. Governor Dewhurst on the use of the Rainy Day Fund by the Senate Finance Committee in its version of the state budget for 2012-13.

“One week ago today we applauded Lt. Governor Dewhurst and the Senate Finance Committee for their valiant attempt to write the best state budget possible given the Great Recession and the political climate. Yesterday in comments to the press, however, the Lt. Governor disavowed the committee budget saying he “disagreed” with the committee’s use of the Rainy Day Fund.

“Unfortunately there is no path to an acceptable budget that does not use billions more from the Rainy Day Fund. In light of Lt. Governor Dewhurst’s position, we turn from applause to jeers. We urge every Senator to vote no to bring the budget up for debate. If the budget comes up for debate, we urge every Senator to vote no. There is no reason to support a budget that the Lt. Governor won’t help defend in conference.

“Unless the Lt. Governor and the Speaker make a decision to stand up to the Governor and to the far right, we see no good outcome to our state’s budget struggle.

“We urge Texans to call upon Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus to disavow the know-nothings trying to wreck Texas and to provide the leadership Texas needs to cope with the aftermath of the Great Recession.”

Over the past several years, unregulated and high-cost, short-term lending has taken a toll on Texas consumers and communities. Without state oversight, Texas consumers do not have basic protections against abusive lending practices or a way to escape the cycle of debt which traps Texans with unlimited fees. The 82nd Legislature has a unique opportunity to address these problems by enacting House Bill (HB) 2592, 2593, and 2594.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown released a statement in advance of the Senate Finance Committee voting this week on its version of the state budget for 2012-13.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) released the following statement regarding U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget resolution.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following statement in response to the House passing House Bill 1, its proposed state budget for 2012-13.

Executive Director F. Scott McCown made a statement in response to the House Appropriations Committee recommendation of House Bill (HB) 1, the proposed state budget for 2012-13; HB 4, which would revise the state budget for 2011; and HB 275, which would appropriate $3.2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to fund 2011 appropriations.

F. Scott McCown made the following statement in response to the Governor’s claim that he will not sign a 2012-13 budget that uses any of the $6.2 billion remaining in the Rainy Day Fund after using $3.2 billion to cover the 2011 deficit.

Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown gave the following statement in response to the Governor’s State of the State address today to a joint session of the House and Senate.

“When the Governor signed the current budget into law, after using his line-item veto to cut everything he considered unnecessary, the Governor assured Texans we had a lean budget that targeted our priorities, saying: ‘We worked collectively throughout the session to ensure our state’s priorities were met while remembering that every dollar spent is that of a hard-working Texan.’

“Now we are $27 billion short of being able to fund these very same priorities at the same lean level over the next two years. With a revenue shortfall this large, the Governor needs to be realistic and the Legislature needs to take a balanced approach that includes using all the Rainy Day Fund and adding new revenue."

(AUSTIN, Texas) — A new report and analysis released today by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) shows in the wake of a massive revenue shortfall the proposed state budget will invest $10 billion less in Texas kids over the next two years, even while more of the state's children live in poverty, have no health insurance, and are born too early and too small. The state is approximately $27 billion short of what it needs to write a budget that funds all essential services at current levels.

Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following statement in response to the proposed House budget bill released late today.

“Late today the proposed House budget bill was released. The proposed budget is merely a starting point for hearings and debate leading to the official state budget, but we already know that the cuts-only approach taken in the proposed bill would hurt Texas families, cost us jobs, and undermine our economic recovery."

Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following statement in response to today’s release of the biennial revenue estimate by the Comptroller.

“Today the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts delivered her constitutionally required biennial revenue estimate. While she projects continuing economic recovery, her forecast shows a $4.3 billion deficit in the current budget and only $5 billion more in General Revenue for the upcoming two fiscal years than in the current biennium adjusted for the deficit. When increased population and higher costs are taken into account, Texas is at least $26.8 billion short of the General Revenue needed to provide for current services into the next biennium. In other words, we are short by at least 25 percent.