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They probably have a surplus because they underfund health care system, among other things... (I remember being surprised at the full-time firefighting budget c

They probably have a surplus because they underfund health care system, among other things... (I remember being surprised at the full-time firefighting budget cuts not long before the huge fires two years ago) EDIT: Oh and apparently there is no surplus http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-usa-deficits-states-idUSTRE71314420110204 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-usa-deficits-st...

yummies 14y ago
the article cited was from last year. from last week: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/texas-budget-surplus-proves-as-contentious-as-a-previous-shortfall.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/texas-budget-surplus-pr... "A boom in revenues from sales taxes as well as taxes from oil and natural gas production have given Texas a budget surplus that the state comptroller has estimated at $8.8 billion." Of course this will start a new debate about how it's only a surplus because of previous budget cuts, but that's for another time and place. Still others will crunch the numbers differently and say there was actually a deficit. Politics is fun.
tsotha 14y ago
2011? Try to keep up.
- afterburner 14y ago
  Meh, original comment about shitty services holds http://www.texasobserver.org/how-the-budget-got-cut/ http://www.texasobserver.org/how-the-budget-got-cut/
  - tsotha 14y ago
    I don't see anything in that article that isn't sensible. There's no reason government expenditures have to keep going up in good times and bad.
    - afterburner 14y ago
      Quite the contrary, when times are bad, social services are needed more, not less.
      - tsotha 14y ago
        In broad strokes states have essentially two functions - education and social services. Of course when you make substantive cuts that's where they're going. There's no "right" amount of social services - as a state you pay for what's reasonable at the time given budgetary constraints. It's no coincidence the Economy in Texas has recovered while the economy in California hasn't. This is particularly galling given the number of tech companies in Northern California with highly compensated employees. In any event, California didn't slip into a budgetary black hole by coincidence. State employees are grossly overcompensated, and much of that compensation takes the form of generous retirement benefits. The state will be raising taxes and using budgetary gimmicks for decades because the real problem is unfunded pension liabilities, not delivery of current services.
rsheridan6 14y ago
Texas has really crappy Medicaid coverage, but is anyone here really going to base their decision on which state to live in based on that?

yummies 14y ago

the article cited was from last year. from last week: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/texas-budget-surplus-proves-as-contentious-as-a-previous-shortfall.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/texas-budget-surplus-pr... "A boom in revenues from sales taxes as well as taxes from oil and natural gas production have given Texas a budget surplus that the state comptroller has estimated at $8.8 billion." Of course this will start a new debate about how it's only a surplus because of previous budget cuts, but that's for another time and place. Still others will crunch the numbers differently and say there was actually a deficit. Politics is fun.

tsotha 14y ago

2011? Try to keep up.

afterburner 14y ago
Meh, original comment about shitty services holds http://www.texasobserver.org/how-the-budget-got-cut/ http://www.texasobserver.org/how-the-budget-got-cut/
- tsotha 14y ago
  I don't see anything in that article that isn't sensible. There's no reason government expenditures have to keep going up in good times and bad.
  - afterburner 14y ago
    Quite the contrary, when times are bad, social services are needed more, not less.
    - tsotha 14y ago
      In broad strokes states have essentially two functions - education and social services. Of course when you make substantive cuts that's where they're going. There's no "right" amount of social services - as a state you pay for what's reasonable at the time given budgetary constraints. It's no coincidence the Economy in Texas has recovered while the economy in California hasn't. This is particularly galling given the number of tech companies in Northern California with highly compensated employees. In any event, California didn't slip into a budgetary black hole by coincidence. State employees are grossly overcompensated, and much of that compensation takes the form of generous retirement benefits. The state will be raising taxes and using budgetary gimmicks for decades because the real problem is unfunded pension liabilities, not delivery of current services.

rsheridan6 14y ago

Texas has really crappy Medicaid coverage, but is anyone here really going to base their decision on which state to live in based on that?