But that's not the primary concern. The main problem is the time constraint they are facing with only 31 days left. Obviously the budget proposal is the necessary motive for these sessions, but debt is a simultaneous deterrent at the time also. If the members don't reach a consensus in time it'll lead to a special session.
Senator Ogden proposed what he calls an "adequate" bill that he is struggling to get sufficient votes for and is the prime culprit of why decision making has dramatically slowed down. Aside from that, the House and the Senate seem to be having a hard time reaching an agreement on the budget for the next two years to come. The Senate is proposing a 12 billion dollar higher proposal than the House. The amount difference is due to higher budgets for Health and Human Services, public schools, and scholarships proposed by the Senate, the House has cut funding form all these areas.
Another idea of Senator Ogden's was to dip into 3 billion dollars of the state's reserves in case the economy doesn't improve; which of course stirred up further controversy and continues to slow down progress even more. Many say that using that back up would only worsen the situation and that we should save as much as possible, but the senator believes it necessary in order to further support those previously stated services. No one is saying it's they are going to take out more money from the reserves, he is only keeping that option open in case the expected growth of the economy is not met.
Hopefully an agreement is made and a debate can start before a special session has to be held. Most importantly, hopefully funds are not cut from the ever so important educational services. Like I always say, priorities must be set and Congress must organize a level of importance to these services up for debate. Education is the key to our future and aside from the most essential of services it should be last on the list of budget cuts. This will have a very long and detrimental effect on the state in the long run if placed last on the list of importance. Representatives need to take a long hard look at what is really worth keeping alive and what isn't, because they hold the fate of this state's potential.
I completely agree with your opinion on cutting funding from education. It should be a last resort area because of the current state of the Texas education system.
ReplyDeleteIt's very disappointing seeing how it stands up against other states. In the report, Texas on the Brink, Texas is 43rd in its ranking of High School Graduation Rate, 45th in SAT scores, and 50th in the percent of the population 25 or older holding a High School diploma.
The stats are quite embarrassing; how did it get to this point? With the changes already in motion to drop events from the History curriculum, it doesn't look like education in Texas is going to get any better. If they were to cut funding for education, which is already low compared to other states (ranking in at 38th in current expenditures per student and 44th in State and Local expenditures per pupil), wouldn't that put Texas even further down the education ladder?
I understand that there must be cuts in all areas, but when it comes to education, consideration must be made or there will be long term effects on the state, as you stated. I too, hope that agreements can be made and education is not hit too hard by the budget crisis.