San Antonio – Upon the release of a revised revenue estimate this afternoon by Texas Comptroller Carole Rylander, Jeff Judson, President of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, stated his support for dedicating all of the additional $807 million to tax cuts.
“Dedicating these additional revenues to anything but tax cuts would be irresponsible,” said Judson. He went on to say, “If legislators grow government further with these funds, we will pay a heavy price in future years when we will not have a surplus and will be forced to raise taxes or cut programs. There is no new government spending that can be justified with these surplus funds, not even for teachers.”
Judson also expressed concern about the extremely partisan atmosphere in the legislature this session and the impact it might have on tax cuts. “Enacting significant tax cuts has nothing to do with helping Governor Bush or doing the Republican thing. It has everything to do with making wise fiscal decisions that are best for Texas.”
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a San Antonio based non-partisan research institute that produces analyses supporting limited government, free enterprise, and individual responsibility.
Last week, the Foundation participated in a press conference with sixteen other statewide organizations representing over 300,000 Texans to support tax cuts of at least one-half of the surplus. The Foundation’s econometric tax model shows that each $1 billion in biennial sales tax cuts creates over 27,000 new jobs and $2.25 billion in new capital formation, and each $1 billion in biennial property tax cuts creates over 17, 000 new jobs and $2.17 billion in new capital formation.