Statement by the Honorable Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy:

“The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts published the state’s 2014-15 Certification Revenue Estimate which provides an update on the state’s fiscal position. As detailed in the report, Texas state government revenues are outperforming initial estimates thanks to economic and employment growth that have benefitted from the Texas Model.

The Texas Model of low taxes and limited government continues to impress. As the Comptroller’s new 2014-15 Certification Estimate shows, Texas’ conservative public policy prescription has created the ideal environment for businesses, jobs, and people to prosper-and when the private sector produces, the public sector benefits. The report shows that the state ended the 2012-13 biennium with a $2.6 billion surplus and the state’s rainy day fund will be at least $2 billion higher than earlier projections. 

“Moving forward, it is critical that lawmakers resist the temptation to grow government unnecessarily and instead use the state’s enhanced fiscal position to provide meaningful tax relief to Texas families and businesses that provide jobs and ultimately prosperity to the Lone Star State.”

The Honorable Talmadge Heflin is Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Heflin served 11 terms in the Texas House of Representatives and chaired the House Appropriations Committee in 2003, leading the Texas Legislature’s successful efforts to close a $10 billion budget deficit without a tax increase.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.

 

 

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