To build opportunity, improve health, increase safety, and pave the way forward for the next generation, Texas has to identify and use resources today, so we create greater prosperity for our state tomorrow.
Most Texans want the best for our state in the future, something that happens when we "pay it forward,” budgeting in ways that bring about what we want our state to be in years to come. What many Texans don’t realize is that in good financial times and in bad, our state has pretty consistently held the line on low investments, even when more is needed to deliver what Texans want and expect from their state. The only variation in spending we see are deep cuts during economic downturns, leading to stark results: continued declines in outcomes for Texas families and children and worsening forecasts for our state’s economy in the future. In times of true financial crisis like the recent recession, the cuts made to Texas services are severe, with vulnerable populations continuing to be hardest hit, but major across-the-board cuts affecting every community and our shared state future.