The House Ways & Means Committee heard testimony on HB 31 and HB 32, the bills that together make up the House tax cut plan. CPPP’s wonks provided live analysis on Twitter.
.@dlavine on tax cuts – Economic growth requires solid foundation of healthy and educated workforce and sound infrastructure. #txlege
— Texas Forward (@TXForward) April 14, 2015
Over the course of yesterday’s hearing several witnesses (and wonks) made the same point. LeRoy Cavazos of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce stressed that while tax cuts might sound good in the short term, lawmakers should also take into account the long-term impacts on funding for education, health care, and transportation.
SAT chamber of commerce right. Education more important than tax cuts. Also, once revenue gone, never come back #txlege
— Dick Lavine (@dlavine) April 14, 2015
Eva DeLuna Castro pointed out that the proposed tax cuts would wipe out almost all the projected increase in revenue for the upcoming biennium. Even when the Texas economy grows, our revenue system wouldn’t be able to keep up.
One way to put House tax cuts in context: #txlege would be forgoing almost 2 yrs’ worth of TX’s ability to fund svcs. pic.twitter.com/hmnlSWD1So
— Eva DeLuna (@DeLunaEva) April 14, 2015
This would be very bad news for public services already stretched thin by population growth and rising costs. Several witnesses and committee members questioned the wisdom of the proposed 25 percent rate cut to the franchise tax, 100 percent of which comes out of school funding.
MALDEF contrasting tax cuts to need to respond to court ruling on school finance #txlege
— Dick Lavine (@dlavine) April 14, 2015
All the talk of cutting the franchise tax also gave us a strange sense of déjà vu…
Remember: franchise tax helps pay for schools. When state cut public ed $ by >$5 B in 2011, schools cut almost 25,300 jobs. #txlege
— Eva DeLuna (@DeLunaEva) April 14, 2015
The decision to prioritize tax cuts over investments in our state comes with its own costs, and several witnesses who testified against the tax cuts pointed out that those costs will be borne by future generations.
Children’s Defense Fund: TX 43rd in child well-being, 48th in per capita spending. No coincidence #txlege #yougetwhatyoudontpayfor
— Dick Lavine (@dlavine) April 14, 2015