GOP House Speaker Straus’ Statement Foreshadows Large Budget Surplus

[TexasTowelie]

It’s safe to say after a statement like this from GOP House Speaker Joe Straus that Texas must be awash with cash, USE ALL OF THE HIGHWAY FUND FOR TRANSPORTATION.

The Texas House will propose a budget next year that uses all of the money in the State Highway Fund for transportation instead of sending some of those dollars to other state agencies, Speaker Joe Straus said Wednesday.

Various taxes and fees, such as the gas tax and fees on drivers’ licenses, go into the State Highway Fund to pay for transportation. But for almost 80 years, some of that money has also helped fund agencies that are not directly related to transportation, such as the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Office of State Administrative Hearings.

Using the State Highway Fund exclusively for transportation would increase funding for roads by about $1.3 billion over two years.

“This approach will make the state budget even more straightforward, just as taxpayers expect,” said Straus, San Antonio. “It will also provide needed transportation revenue – without a tax increase – as Texas continues to grow twice as fast as the rest of the country.”

Straus said that the continued strong performance of the Texas economy will allow the Legislature to fund DPS and other agencies affected by Wednesday’s announcement.

What that means is Straus believes there will be enough surplus money in the budget for next biennium that at least $1.3 billion dollars can be used to alleviate transportation diversions. Straus is trying to do the least he possibly can and not get in too much trouble with the GOP base. It likely won’t work, his enemies on the right will hate this. But half measures like this is the best we can expect as long as Texas is governed by one party, scared of an extremist base.

This is foreshadowing that there’s likely to be another large surplus at the beginning of next session. And if the GOP again sweeps all the statewide races they will gain do their best to put off the needs of working Texans that have been neglected for so long? With another surplus, and an overflowing Rainy Day Fund, it is time to address our state’s needs that have been neglected for the last decade. Things like public and higher education, universal pre-K, infrastructure, and health care to name a few.

Unfortunately if history is any guide we know the GOP will look to give tax breaks to their wealthy and corporate donors, and pay little attention to the needs of working Texans. It is time to make sure that stops. And electing Democrats to statewide office is the only way to turn this around and insure that the needs of working Texans are finally met.

More at http://eyeonwilliamson.org/?p=13782 .

[johncoby2]

1. No. He is calling for raiding the rainy day fund

But the RDF can only be used for specific things. Transportation (and water) is not one of those things so, we have to vote to allow it like we did for water infrastructure improvements.

Now dont get me wrong. We need the money to fix our highways. there is no doubt, but raiding the RDF is an emergency fix. It takes no brains, no planning, no common sense. Any idiot can propose raiding the fund. They did it two years ago.

And they will do it again. All because they mismanagemed the funding of our transportation budget.