AUSTIN –Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero will testify before House Committee on Elections, TODAY, Monday, March 30, 2015 at 2:00 pm CDT or upon adjournment in room E1.026 of the Texas State Capitol. Mr. Quintero will focus his remarks on House Bills 134, 1182, and 1380, which, if passed, would improve debt transparency at the ballot box.
“Local government debt in Texas has reached alarming proportions. According to the Texas Bond Review Board’s latest data, local debt totaled more than $333 billion in of fiscal year 2014, a jump of almost $35 billion since fiscal year 2009,” said James Quintero, director of the Center for Local Governance. “That much red ink means that every Texan owes about $12,500 for his or her share of local debt.”
“A big reason why local debt is growing by leaps-and-bounds is that Texans are not provided with basic financial facts at the ballot box on new debt propositions. It is not a stretch to say that most voters probably don’t know the total cost of a new bond, the amount of existing debt, or the projected tax impact of a particular measure. Yet the current system asks voters to make long-term fiscal decisions anyway. Properly educating voters at the ballot box is an absolute necessity.”
| WHO: |
James Quintero, Director, Center for Local Governance, TPPF |
| WHAT: |
Testimony before the Texas House Committee on Elections |
| WHEN:
|
TODAY, Monday, March 30, 2015 2:00 p.m. CDT or upon adjournment |
| WHERE: | Texas State Capitol, Room E1.026 |
More information about the hearing can be found at: http://txpo.li/1bJILgt
To schedule an interview with Mr. Quintero, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
James Quintero is director of the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.