AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation praised Governor Rick Perry for the budget reform package he laid out today, saying that the measures – when adopted – would produce a state budget that is both leaner and cleaner.
“One of the most important tasks facing this Legislature will be to close the gaping loophole in our state spending limit,” said TPPF Chief Economist Byron Schlomach. “When times are good like they are now, that is when it becomes imperative to hold the line against growth in government. We must do better than we have in the three decades that the current limit has been in effect.”
Schlomach also applauded the other measures in the plan that will improve the transparency and rationality of the state budget. These reform proposals include ending accounting maneuvers such as delayed payments; requiring dedicated funds to be used as intended or rebated to taxpayers; requiring detailed instead of lump sum budget line items; and improving the public’s ability to see how state agencies are spending their tax dollars.
“As important as it is to tighten the state’s spending limit, it is just as vital to give policymakers and the public the information and tools to better identify wasteful or ineffective spending,” explained TPPF Visiting Research Fellow and former House Appropriations Chairman Talmadge Heflin.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation – a non-profit institute in Austin that advocates for limited government – has done years of detailed research on state spending. It produced a series of “Policy Briefing” papers last October on the various components of Gov. Perry’s budget reform package. Those papers can be found in the Publications section of the TPPF website (www.TexasPolicy.com) under the “Center for Fiscal Policy.”
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