"There is not a $27 billion deficit, and I don't think there is even a $15 billion deficit," Dewhurst explained. He went on to express his faith in the rebounding economy to bring in more revenues, and the Legislature's ability to address the problem efficiently.
Yes, that's right. All we got to do is jam that baby in the bathtub and it's free pony rides and lollipops for all the little folks. Just, good God, don't raise taxes cause we don't need the "gummint" messing with the healthy bid'ness climate that grew our problems away last time.
All we had to do back then was to give the locals a giant property tax cut and fix that ol franchise tax loophole and that whole "structural deficit" that WE WERE NOT making would be all fixed and everything. Trust me. I'm just saying.
But that was then, and this is now:
At the time, Dewhurst called huge budget shortfall projections "hypothetical and speculative."
He now says he knew that revenue projections from the revised business franchise tax "were inflated" and told Senate members in closed-door caucus meetings at the time that the tax would not perform as advertised.
Dewhurst said he also believed at the time that "we would grow out of it by now."
Maybe he did believe it, but no one else did. In any event, we were wrong, the money is gone, but that's all gonna end up being a good thing because we're gonna maybe get that baby in the bathtub at last.
Dewhurst said he expects the state will eliminate 8,000 jobs, but promised that most of those positions are vacant. Every section of the budget will be cut, Pitts said, including public education, health and human services, higher education and the Legislature's budget. He has refused to discuss any other details.
"We went through every agency and every program that those agencies performed. We looked at the core functions of those agencies and we'd see what we need to fund out of that core function," Pitts said. "If it wasn't their core function, we made a decision in the House that we may not fund those other things."
Rumors of specific cuts whirl around the Capitol. Higher education may take a major hit, with community colleges taking the biggest cut. Public education could lose at least $500 million. State employees who make over a certain amount could face mandatory salary cuts.
But, its not like we really want to fund government in the first place:
Legislators do have a few options to minimize the cuts, though they are reluctant to use them.
First is the "rainy day fund," a $9 billion savings account created for just this kind of situation. But Republican lawmakers, who comprise a 101-49 majority in the House, say they won't touch it.
And then there is the Texas Franchise Tax, a business tax created in 2006 so that lawmakers could cut property taxes. The franchise tax has failed to meet revenue targets. Dewhurst and at least one prominent Republican senator have said it may need to be "refined" to make it perform as intended.
I get it -- People are Taxed Enough Already -- but surely the healthy bid'ness climate in the Great State has created enough wealth that we might expect some of our benevolent corporate citizens would be willing to share some of this sacrifice our only Lt. Governor refers to and kick in a bit more in taxes.
On the other hand, if we did raise taxes, that baby would just get all fat again and we'd never get it in that bathtub. Couldn't have that.
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