Today, I testified at the first Senate Finance Committee hearing of the session. Below is a summary of what I shared with committee members: Last session, $5.3 billion was cut
Today, the Senate Finance committee kicked off public hearings on Senate Bill 1, the proposed state budget for 2014 and 2015. At $89 billion in General Revenue, the Senate’s starting
In our weekly Austin American-Statesman column, our executive director F. Scott McCown lays out why the proposed constitutional limit on spending would handcuff our future investments – By F. Scott
Should the legislators you elect be trusted to decide how large the state budget should be, or should a rigid limit be written into the Texas Constitution so that future
Today, we learned a little about what the House and Senate budget proposals included, as well as what the Legislative Budget Board estimates is necessary to cover 2014-15 growth. We spent some
This weekend, Eva’s piece ran in the Austin American-Statesman’s Legislative Preview series: We believe in Texas. We believe in the people of Texas. We know it’s hard for families, especially
On the face of it, “school choice” sounds like an intriguing concept. But, a key component of the school choice proposal presented by Senate leadership, which purports to allow for
There’s plenty happening with Medicaid and CHIP this session. The first big hurdle in 2013 will be ensuring that the “Medicaid IOU”–$3.7 billion at HHSC, and another $1 billion at
Health Care Protecting and improving Texas Medicaid and CHIP will help ensure access to a decent standard of health care for millions of low-income Texas seniors, children, and families who
(AUSTIN, Texas)–January 7, 2013–The Center for Public Policy Priorities Executive Director F. Scott McCown made the following statement in response to today’s release of the biennial revenue estimate by the