Statement on Comptroller Susan Combs’ 2010-11 Revenue Estimate

Statement by The Honorable Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy

"The comptroller's revenue estimate makes clear what we have suspected for several months: while Texas has positioned itself better than just about any other state, we will not be immune to the effects from this national recession.

"The Texas Legislature needs to demonstrate leadership this year by pruning state spending now. Already, there are calls by some groups to expand entitlement programs and raise taxes, but Texas must not follow the examples of other states that have wrecked their economies by letting their budgets spiral out of control. Restraining our spending now will give us more options in the event that this national recession is prolonged.

"In 2001, the legislature convened with a $6 billion surplus and the knowledge that the state's economy was slowing. Instead of showing fiscal restraint, the legislature increased the state’s budget by 16 percent – an increase that absorbed the entire surplus. Even worse, much of the new spending went toward new programs that would become even more costly in the next budget cycle.

"Two years later, the legislature returned to a $10 billion budget deficit. The irresponsible budget adopted in 2001 forced the 2003 Texas Legislature to make deeper, across-the-board spending cuts than would have been the case had it started off with both a smaller budget hole and some cash reserves to help cover it."

The Honorable Talmadge Heflin is Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. Heflin served 11 terms in the Texas House of Representatives and chaired the House Appropriations Committee in 2003, leading the Texas Legislature's successful efforts to close a $10 billion budget deficit without a tax increase.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. More information can be found on the Foundation's website, www.TexasPolicy.com.

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Texas PolicyCast: Opening Texas' books

Texas has set the national standard for government financial transparency, thanks in large part to the leadership of the state's Comptroller of Public Accounts, Susan Combs. Her agency's "Where the Money Goes" website lets you see how state agencies are spending your money - right down to the pencil. And last week, Combs unveiled Open Book Texas, an initiative that will provide an even more comprehensive view of government spending, and she discusses it with us on this episode.

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Statement on Comptroller Susan Combs’ Transparency Initiatives

Statement by The Honorable Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy

“Almost 53 percent of spending by Texas governments is done at the local level. Unfortunately, detailed information on that local spending is virtually inaccessible to taxpayers, who are the true local control.

“As our new report Texas Transparency: Then and Now published earlier this week shows, Texas’ experience with spending transparency undercuts all the excuses not to provide detailed expenditure information to the public. The technology is available, powerful, and inexpensive. The state’s savings were many times the startup costs, and hundreds of local school districts have seen value in embracing spending transparency.

“Texas has set the national standard in spending transparency thanks largely to Comptroller Susan Combs’ leadership. Today’s debut of the Texas Transparency Check-Up website affirms her commitment to open government.

“Texas already has open records and open meetings. The next step toward transparent and accountable government is open checkbooks, and the 81st Texas Legislature should make that the standard for local governments as it already is for the state. Taxpayers deserve to know how all levels of government are spending their money.”

The Honorable Talmadge Heflin is Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. Heflin served 11 terms in the Texas House of Representatives and chaired the House Appropriations Committee in 2003, leading the Texas Legislature’s successful efforts to close a $10 billion budget deficit without a tax increase.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. More information can be found on the Foundation’s primary website, www.TexasPolicy.com, or its government spending transparency website, www.TexasBudgetSource.com.

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Foundation launches TexasBudgetSource.com

AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation debuted TexasBudgetSource.com today, a new website that will provide a comprehensive resource for information on state and local government budgets and spending.

“Texas has been a leader in the movement to increase transparency of state and local government spending,” said Foundation president Brooke Rollins. “Citizens become better informed voters when they can see how their tax dollars are being spent. Spending transparency also puts governments on notice that they can no longer get away with spending tax dollars in wasteful, duplicative, or self-serving ways.”

TexasBudgetSource.com features the following information:

* Original research and analysis on the Texas state budget produced by the Texas Public Policy Foundation;
* A “spend-o-meter” that keeps a running tab on how much Texas state government has spending during the current budget cycle;
* Links to the “Where The Money Goes Website” on state agency expenditures, as administered by Comptroller Susan Combs;
* Links to the online budget information (where available) of all 254 Texas counties and Texas’ 25 largest cities;
* Links to the online check registers of more than 150 Texas independent school districts;
* “Fast Facts” about Texas government spending;
* A glossary of key budget-related terms to help the public’s understanding of budget documents; and
* Videos featuring Combs, Rep. Mark Strama, Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, and others talking about the importance of transparency in government spending.

“Instead of having to walk into dozens of different government buildings or painstakingly search all over the Internet to find how tax dollars are being spent, you can simply go to TexasBudgetSource.com,” said Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy and a former chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee.

“Transparency forces government to be smarter about how it spends the taxpayers’ money,” Combs said in one of the videos to be featured on the site. “It creates a culture of transparency that guards against waste.”

“The Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a longtime champion of transparency in government spending,” Rollins said. “Not only have we shown the possibilities through the legislation that passed last year, but TexasBudgetSource.com provides a template that other states can follow to make government spending more accessible to taxpayers.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.

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