“T” for taxes…and tuition

With the new, 9951 Republican majority in the Texas House, there already is talk about conservative lawmakers dusting off old, hotbutton issues that have failed in the past, including illegal immigration, voter ID and private school vouchers. The Dallas Morning News offers a preview today of what likely will be a very difficult legislative session for educators and other providers of underfunded public services, who also will be battling uphill against GOP plans for huge budget cuts.

Tuesday’s election results didn’t change the fact that Texas needs a new, equitable revenue stream, but that isn’t going to happen, predicted political consultant and wordsmith Bill Miller.

“There will be no tax bills coming out of the House of Representatives,” Miller told the newspaper. “If anything starts with a ‘T’ for tax or ‘F’ for fee, forget it. They’re struck from the legislative alphabet.”

One “T,” however, will keep rising. That’s the “T” for tuition, which two of Miller’s good buddies, Gov. Rick Perry and former Speaker Tom Craddick, put in the unregulated hands of university regents several years ago. Tuition has soared ever since and will continue soaring, while the new antitax GOP majority will pretend not to notice as it hacks away at education budgets.

Meanwhile, with a revenue shortfall that could be as big as $25 billion and public schools already struggling financially, wasting tax dollars on private school vouchers shouldn’t even be part of the discussion. But there is no underestimating ideologues who suddenly find themselves in a political candy store.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/110410dntextxxgr.20cde75.html

0 Comments

There are no comments yet

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *