WEEKLY REPORT
December 16, 2011
Measuring the Impact of Historic Texas Education Cuts
Since well before the 2011 legislative session began, one question has dominated conversations about the state budget cuts to public education: How will they affect public schools?
(View complete article here.)
School Finance Expert Leaving Texas Legislature
After 20 years, Scott Hochberg is bailing out of the Texas Legislature. He says it’s time. He’ll be 59 when he leaves office a little over a year from now. He won’t have to campaign in a newly drawn legislative district, and he’ll get back his nights and weekends.
(View complete article here.)
Challengers nip at Dewhurst’s heels in Senate race
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst enters the U.S. Senate campaign with considerable cash and name recognition, but a couple of Republican challengers are nipping at his heels, certain they can pull off an upset.
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$1.6 billion surplus projected for Texas
After a long run of tough times brought on by a sour economy, Texas lawmakers got some good news Monday as the state’s chief fiscal officer projected a $1.6 billion surplus that could provide a much-needed financial cushion for the next session of the Legislature.
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Payday loan: The gift that keeps taking
Neon signs advertising easy-to-get payday and auto title loans take on a special glitter during the holidays, when need and desperation for a small amount of cash are at an all-time high. But a predatory lender masquerading as a cash-bearing “Santa” is only an advertising gimmick.
(View complete article here.)
Report: Texas 38th, up from last, in homeless kids
After Angelic Davis was laid off from her job as a collections agent last year and could no longer afford a small Dallas apartment, her 3-year-old daughter Kourtney often became confused about what it meant to be homeless.
(View complete article here.)
NTSB recommends full ban of cell phones while driving
A federal safety board called Tuesday for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving.
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Texas redistricting case: Five things you need to know
For the second time in five years, Texas’s new congressional map is headed for a date with the Supreme Court. And the results could be very significant, both in Texas, in the 2012 election, and for the future of the congressional redistricting process.
(View complete article here.)
More Time, But No Maps or Election Dates for Candidates
The Texas primary elections are still set — precariously — for March 6, but a panel of three federal judges extended the filing deadlines for candidates to Monday. And after a day in court, most of the confusion and the big questions persist, like whether some elections could be delayed.
(View complete article here.)
Holder calls for review of states’ voter ID laws
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a speech in Austin on Tuesday night, criticized the redistricting maps drawn by the Texas Legislature as discriminatory against Hispanics and called for a more aggressive federal review of voter identification laws in Texas and other states.
(View complete article here.)
Medicaid money for Texas to jump
The federal government Monday granted Texas a waiver that could mean billions more in Medicaid dollars to hospitals over the next few years, in return for having them work together to provide better care for the poor.
(View complete article here.)
Administration Ties Medicaid Managed Care Expansion To Performance
The managed care industry’s growing role in Medicaid got a boost Monday when the Obama administration approved Texas’ plan to shift one million additional recipients into private health plans by 2013.
(View complete article here.)
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans – nearly 1 in 2 – have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
(View complete article here.)
Texas among leaders in legislators-turned-lobbyists
In a presidential campaign ad launched today, Gov. Rick Perry criticizes what is often referred to as the “revolving door” in politics, or the practice of members of Congress becoming lobbyists.
(View complete article here.)
Legislature continues its pattern of crisis management over public schools
It’s unfortunate that Texas public school districts must sue the state to ensure that the Legislature carries out its constitutional duty of efficiently financing public schools. But that is the situation.
(View complete article here.)
State Oks 50-year water plan
Texas approved a somberly worded plan Thursday that lays out where the state should spend $53 billion to cope with its water needs over the next half-century and that warns that future droughts may mean not enough supply to keep up with growing demand.
(View complete article here.)
TEXANS LEFT $3.5B IN FOOD STAMP BENEFITS ON THE TABLE, NEW STUDY SAYS
Analysis by Texas Food Bank Network points to need to improve participation in the entitlement program
A new study out from the Texas Food Bank Network suggests that Texas left about $3.5 billion in unused food stamp benefits on the table in 2010.
Policy analyst JC Dwyer tallied the numbers based on two sets of U.S. Census data and then measured existing claims against full eligible population counts. While the data may not provide a good county-to-county comparison, it does provide a fairly solid picture of enrollment gaps, said Dwyer.
“This is not something to shoot a rocket to the moon – it’s an estimate – but it’s probably pretty good for saying what’s happening statewide,” Dwyer said. “County-by-county there is some volatility there with overlap, so there is a margin of error.”
The Texas Food Bank Network completed a similar study last year, but the methodology was different, so Dwyer can’t conclusively say what’s up or down.
Dwyer drew his conclusions based on 130 percent of the poverty level. Using that metric, about 59 percent of all those eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, actually apply for benefits. The ripple effect across the economy, once that money is turned over, is about $6.3 billion, according to guidelines set out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Non-participation, of course, impacts the state’s food banks. According to a survey gathered by the individual food banks, only 31 percent of the food bank’s clients are enrolled to receive food stamps. Currently, the major food banks in the state are using funding from the Health and Human Services Commission to ramp up enrollment, both within existing clientele and out in the community.
The Capital Area Food Bank, for instance, has four people on staff whose main job is simply to find and assist people filling out the SNAP application. They walk housing developments, go to recreation centers and attend tax preparation services, said John Spencer, communications manager for the food bank.
Food bank personnel can walk the potential applicant through the enrollment process, but the person has to deliver the application to an HHSC office. A pilot program in San Antonio right now is allowing food bank personnel to enter applicants into the state data system.
The Capital Area Food Bank serves 48,000 people a week, of which 20,000 are children. Distribution is up by 50 percent over 2007, and while donations have increased, they still fail to keep pace with a growing clientele.
Dwyer said people don’t apply for food stamp benefits for a number of reasons. Some think it’s limited to the unemployed, although 40 percent of those receiving food stamps are in working households. They also think food stamps are a set pot of money that should be disbursed only to the poorest in the community.
“SNAP is an entitlement for whomever qualifies,” Dwyer said. “You’re not taking the benefits away from someone else when you receive benefits. Congress simply puts more money into the pot. That’s one of those misconceptions that we try to correct in our outreach efforts.”
The state’s efforts around SNAP have improved consistently over the last couple of years, which Dwyer attributes to efforts of HHSC Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs. Specific efforts have included maximizing personnel, adding to overtime pay and changes in management, Dwyer said.
Here is the county-by-county spreadsheet from the Texas Food Bank Network.
AP Interview: Texas Comptroller says Rainy Day Fund likely needed to balance budget
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
The Associated Press
Published: 14 December 2011 08:26 AM
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers will almost certainly have to tap the Rainy Day Fund to balance the budget in 2013, but by how much depends largely on the global economy and policy decisions made in Washington, state Comptroller Susan Combs told The Associated Press.
Many lawmakers have said they did not budget enough money to cover the state’s obligations for the 2012-2013 budget cycle, but the keeper of the state’s books said in an interview Tuesday that lawmakers will need to pass what is called a supplemental bill to make ends meet at the end of the biennium.
A day earlier she forecast that Texas will earn $1.6 billion more revenue than expected during over the next two years, due to the recovering national economy. But that won’t be enough to cover the cost of Medicaid, which lawmakers deliberately underfunded by an estimated $4.8 billion.
“That is the fungus that will eat the planet … that is a national problem,” Combs said of the health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
The Republican said she supported a new law that will allow Texas to enter into interstate agreements that proponents say will reduce Medicaid costs, but that won’t save enough.
“Sales tax revenue is up 9.4 percent year-over-year, and oil and gas is up more than 70 percent, but that’s still not enough to get us out of the Medicaid hole, and that has to have a national discussion,” Combs said.
Combs said there will still be a shortfall when lawmakers meet again in 2013 and they will likely have to tap the $7.3 billion in the Rainy Day Fund.
“I think that’s probably where they will need to get some money,” she said, based on her agency’s economic projections based on current conditions. “I don’t think the Legislature will have a problem with that. The question always is, how big?”
That will depend largely on oil and gas revenue.
“We are significantly better off now than we were in (2011),” Combs said of the last budget biennium, when lawmakers spent $3.8 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to make up a shortfall.
State agencies shouldn’t see any unexpected budgets before the end of 2013, but that depends on the global economy. She said that while Texas ranks as the nation’s top exporting state, the state’s continued progress is dependent partly on how China, India and Europe respond to current economic woes.
About 35 percent of Texas exports go to Mexico and 10 percent of those exports go to Europe, which makes Texas better insulated from European problems, but the state remains subject to global economic woes.
Combs said the lagging sector in the Texas economy is single-family home construction. Texas does not have a problem with a high foreclosure rate, but banks have reacted to global financial problems by making it more difficult for average Texans to get home loans. The result is more construction of multi-family structures, which do not employ as many workers.
She said the future depends on foreign nations, including Greece, Italy and Portugal, working out their debt problems.
At home, she said lawmakers should continue to look at government spending.
“The state needs to look at all of the long-term, ongoing obligations, and by that I really mean debt, pensions and regulatory headwinds,” she said.
Combs declined to discuss her plans for higher office. She is widely believed to be interested in replacing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is the front-runner for a U.S. Senate seat.
She first served in the Texas House and later as agriculture commissioner before becoming comptroller. She has made fighting obesity and promoting good health a priority in all of those positions. In 2011, her office completed a study of the health care costs and economic losses caused by obesity.
“My concern is that we must have a fit workforce that must be going strong,” she said. “If we don’t do anything about how our kids are and the workforce, we will see about $30 billion (in annual health care costs to private employers) by 2025 if we don’t change what we’re doing.”
Combs said her office has started keeping a detailed accounting of the economic impact of federal regulations to protect endangered species and prevent air and water pollution. The goal is to know where and how to intervene to stop needless regulations that could cost Texas jobs and to be ready with a safety net for those companies affected.
Combs also ordered a statewide survey of schools that indexes efficiency by looking at funds spent versus standardized test scores. Researchers then visited the best schools to identify what she calls “smart practices.”
The best schools “are trying to compress their costs and direct dollars to the classroom, which is where I think everybody will agree, we want the dollars in the classroom,” she said.
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