When a family sees a drop in income, as many families are seeing right now, what do they do? During tough times does a responsible parent say, "The first thing that must go is the healthcare of my kids and the food on their plates”? No, we expect parents to first cut what isn't needed, then look at savings, and then do everything they can to somehow bring in more income to take care of their kids. This is the reality that so many Texas families are struggling with. Unfortunately, the solution posed by some Texas leaders for our state's own fiscal shortcomings is to strike at these very core needs.
These are tough times. We hear that in the media in terms of economic trends and public debt; yet it seems that the voice of the individual family is often forgotten. As we look at unemployment rates and job growth, there are individual households in each statistic.This really struck me as I learned that Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, and House Speaker Straus were responding to the economic trends by calling for cuts to state agencies that serve Texas families -- our families who are already getting hit hard. Isn't this the time when we expect our state to shore up our families? Is this hour of need the time to take more from Texas families? Isn't the first duty of any government to serve its people?
Let's be clear regarding the fat in the Texas budget. It isn't in social services. If you look at our state programs, and, tragically, our state outcomes, it's clear that our state is spending much less to take care of its people than our sister states. Our state hasn't recovered from the major slashing of budgets of 2003, let alone kept pace with population growth and changing needs. Our bottom of the nation status in key indicators such as education, healthcare access, and poverty make that clear.
All this is not to say that our state does not need to consider expected shortfalls in revenue. Our state balanced its budget with federal dollars filling holes this past session, and we are unclear on what relief, if any, we will find for addressing our structural deficit next biennium. I suggest, though, that any discussion of balanced budgets only makes sense if we are talking about a budget that finances a working state system. In the same way we expect individuals to take responsibility and provide for their kids, we need our state leaders to provide for a healthy Texas.
