Action Update - Issue 64 :: February 8, 2006
Taxpayers:
The Grades Are In!
Texas taxpayers who want to know whether their state legislators “made the grade” can consult
Americans for Prosperity-
Texas’ 2005 Taxpayer Protection Legislator Report Card
released this week, which grades lawmakers on their efforts to restrain the growth of government. Legislators earning “A” grades for their votes to support taxpayer protections and to reduce taxes and spending in 2005 received “Defender of the American Dream” awards from the grassroots citizen group, while those with “F” marks have been relegated to the Texas “Taxpayer Hall of Shame.”
Texas Senate Report Card
Texas House Report Card
Overspending the Biennial Budget in Texas:
Appropriation vs. Expenditure
by Talmadge Heflin, Texas Public Policy Foundation
In May 2003, the Texas Legislature passed the Appropriations
Act (Budget) for the 2004/2005 biennium
totaling $117.4 billion. In May 2005, the Texas Legislature
passed the Appropriations Act for the 2006/2007 biennium
totaling $138.7 billion. That is a 17.5 percent
increase over the budget passed in 2003. However, the
budget writers claim only a 9.5 percent increase, representing
only half the actual budget increase from biennium
to biennium. Which number is right? Good cases
are made for each of the budget increase measures as being
correct. A fair question is, “Where is the accountability for tax dollars spent by state government in Texas?”
One can understand why some taxpayers are saying, “There is not a revenue problem, but a spending problem.”
Granted, the increase in the state’s spending may
have been due in part to population growth—more people
accessing services such as Medicaid and some restricting
of funds for a certain use—but there is much
room for improvement in accountability. Members of the Legislature, if interested, need to be equipped with information to justify the appropriated versus spent amounts. <continued>
____________________________________________________________
Texas Medicaid Watchdog Teaches New York
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
The official in charge of policing Medicaid in Texas gave a tutorial yesterday to New York State lawmakers, showing how his state prevented hundreds of millions of dollars in waste and abuse, while also making it clear how far New York has to go.
(as published in the NY Times)
<continued>
Recommended Reading
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