For a generation, Texas budget writers have been taking your taxes and fees, promising to spend the money on worthy causes such as clean air, utility bill relief, parks, clean air, or trauma care, and then quietly diverting that money … Continued
Budget
A Diversion by Any Other Name … Is Still Wrong
Before we get started, let’s take a second to remember the victims of last week’s events in West and in Boston, and to pray for all of those affected by those terrible events. It was a difficult, sad week, but … Continued
A Down Payment, Not a “New Normal”
Yesterday, the Senate passed its draft budget for 2014-15. It passed overwhelmingly – 29-2. Obviously, most Democrats in the Senate voted for it. So did I. Does that mean this session’s budget undoes the damaging budget cuts that our schools endured two … Continued
Austin senator wants public vote on budget trick
Texas needs an honest budget. We got another reminder of that this week, when a state district judge declared Texas’ school finance system to be unconstitutional, unfair and inadequate when it comes to the needs of our children. We can … Continued
Watson proposal would end budget diversions in responsible way
A proposed constitutional amendment, filed by Texas Senator Kirk Watson on Thursday, would end the state’s deceptive, long-standing practice of diverting money away from the necessities it’s meant for and using it for other, less transparent purposes. “We must end … Continued
Legislature must do better on Texans’ priorities
Restore education, repair damage to necessities, reform budget practices Senator Kirk Watson issued the following statement today on behalf of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus in response to the unveiling of the 2014-15 Biennial Revenue Estimate: Today’s announcement of additional … Continued
Proposal raises questions about priorities, accountability
“Taxpayers all hope that the Governor’s words today will lead to more than a handful of headlines and another round of broken promises.” Senator Kirk Watson, Chair of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, released the following statement today regarding … Continued
Texas Can Do Better
Speech to the Save Texas Schools Rally Thank you all so much for taking time out of your Saturday to come out here and do something to support our schools and our kids. They are worth fighting for. A while … Continued
Healthcare, H2o and How to Keep the Lights On
We had a great response to my call last week for people to be a part of our healthcare community.The momentum doesn’t surprise me. After all, people want to improve the opportunities for uninsured people to get the quality medical care they need. And … Continued