from Texas public policy Foundation:
Recently, there’s been some kerfuffle over how fast school district spending has grown in comparison to enrollment growth.
Governor Perry stated that between 2002 and 2012, Texas increased public education spending at three times the rate of student enrollment growth. Politifact rated this statement as “False” on their “Truthometer”. Politifact claims that once inflation and other factors are brought into the equation, Governor Perry’s statements don’t hold up…only the Governor made no claims that the numbers were adjusted, he was quoting raw data.
To help settle the matter, let’s go to a neutral, knowledgeable source: the Texas Comptroller.
According to the Comptroller’s Financial Allocation Study for Texas 2010, the most recent study available, “Enrollment in Texas public schools rose by about 19.7 percent in the last decade (Exhibit 3). In the last decade, total spending rose nearly five times as fast as enrollment (95.3 percent versus 19.7 percent).”
Though not identical, the time frame is quite similar to the one referenced by Governor Perry. And the numbers are clear: school spending increased at almost 5 times the rate of enrollment growth.
However you look at the numbers, schools don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem.
more here: http://www.texaspolicy.com/center/higher-education/blog/comptroller-texas-isd-spending-grew-nearly-5-times-faster-enrollment
Showing posts with label Texas Public Policy Foundation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Public Policy Foundation. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Texas Democrat Rep Proposes State Income Tax
Texas Does Not Have a State Income Tax, but one Texas Democrat State Representative, Lon Burnham, Wants us to have a State Income Tax!
At a time when the Texas treasury is overflowing, one state lawmaker says it’s time to introduce a state income tax.
1200 WOAI news reports that State Rep. Lon Burnham (D-Ft. Worth) one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in the Texas House, is proposing a ‘graduated personal income tax’ on all incomes in excess of $250,000 a year.
It calls for a four percent tax on all income over $250,000, and five percent plus $10,000 on all incomes in excess of a quarter million a year.
Burnham declined to return calls seeking comment, but detractors of his proposal had no problem talking about it.
“Texas has been successful as a conservatively run, low tax state without a personal or a corporate income tax,” said James Quintero, an analyst with the free market Texas Public Policy Foundation. “We need to continue on that track to continue to support jobs and income and businesses and wealth.
read more here: http://pushjunction.com/l/CX4
At a time when the Texas treasury is overflowing, one state lawmaker says it’s time to introduce a state income tax.
1200 WOAI news reports that State Rep. Lon Burnham (D-Ft. Worth) one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in the Texas House, is proposing a ‘graduated personal income tax’ on all incomes in excess of $250,000 a year.
It calls for a four percent tax on all income over $250,000, and five percent plus $10,000 on all incomes in excess of a quarter million a year.
Burnham declined to return calls seeking comment, but detractors of his proposal had no problem talking about it.
“Texas has been successful as a conservatively run, low tax state without a personal or a corporate income tax,” said James Quintero, an analyst with the free market Texas Public Policy Foundation. “We need to continue on that track to continue to support jobs and income and businesses and wealth.
read more here: http://pushjunction.com/l/CX4
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Texas Gambling costs aren’t worth the revenues - From Beverly Nuckols Texas GOP Vote
From Beverly Nuckols blog on Texas GOP Vote:
Gambling costs aren’t worth the revenues
“Joe Pags” on WOAI radio hung up on me – again – last night. It’s so frustrating to have the phone sudenly go silent – and, since I’ve turned off the radio while on the phone, I can’t hear Joe’s next comments.
This time, the topic was yesterday’s news about a push for legalized casino gambling in Texas and why Mr. Pagliarulo should be able to gamble legally in Texas, rather than take his money to Oklahoma, Louisiana, or Las Vegas. I’ll discuss the evidence and give references to studies showing the adverse effects of gambling later on, but first, let’s examine Joe’s poor arguments in favor of gambling.
Joe complained about our State property taxes, as one of the highest in the Nation. Yes, we are ranked in the top 10, for property taxes. However, Texas’ State sales tax is moderate and we have no income tax, making our overall tax burden number 45 in the Country.
He accused the first caller of “judging” him, because the man said that he believes that gambling is immoral. No, the man was judging the morality of gambling, never brought up the morality of people who disagree with him.
Besides, aren’t all laws based on morality?
Joe argues that “liberty” demands that those of us who object to gambling should allow gambling by those who don’t. He even told one caller that if he doesn’t like gambling, just don’t go to the casino. (Sounds like one of the shaky arguments in favor of abortion or same sex marriage, doesn’t it?) However, Joe is advocating a change in Texas’ State law. Those of us who vote are responsible for the consequences of our votes and for the laws our Legislators make, therefore we are complicit with what we consider immoral, whether we partake or not. Joe is still at liberty to go to a State where gambling is legal. To force us to be complicit with his gambling is “license,” not liberty.
Joe claims that everyone who objects to casino gambling should be carrying signs and protesting the Lottery and racetrack gambling in Austin. Joe may not realize that many of us objected to both of the above before they were legalized – and we were right in that they certainly haven’t solved the State’s revenue problems. Nevertheless, the fact that the rest of us have other priorities (like my own work for traditional medical ethics and pro-life laws), doesn’t mean that we are willing to sit still while the law is changed, yet again.
And then, Joe argues that the fact that Louisiana and other States continue to allow legalized gambling must prove that the benefits of gambling outweigh the costs to those States. That argument hasn’t proven to be true. At best, gambling is a (mostly) voluntary way of redistributing wealth. In fact, this report claims that States only benefit when people from outside come in, leave their money and then go home, and reports that the National Gambling Impact Study Commission goes so far as to report that the evidence that gambling benefits outweigh the costs is “poorly developed and quite incomplete.”
The economic benefits of gambling are often at the expense of other sections of the economy and are short term. In fact, analyses indicate that lotteries and horse racing may actually increase State revenues, casinos and grey hound racing do not. At least one statistical study finds no “relationship between real casino revenues and real per capita income at the state level.”
The societal or socio-economic costs of legalized gambling have been compared to those of drug abuse and include the social ills that accompany addictive behavior:
Costs associated with gambling include: (1) a reduction of approximately 10 percent in state lottery revenues; (2) an investment of approximately 10 percent of revenues in regulatory costs for gambling; (3) criminal justice costs underwriting an 8 to 13 percent increase in crime; (4) lost state and local revenue resulting from diversion of spending from goods and services to gambling; and (5) lost jobs resulting from decreased spending on non-gambling goods and services.
****
The financial costs of gambling are evident in experiences of communities and states:
Bibliography
“Economic Development and Casinos. Do Casinos Cause Economic Growth?” Douglas M. Walker, John D. Jackson. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 66, No. 3 (July, 2007). http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/AJES-growth.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Gambling Economics: Summary Facts” Earl L. Grinols. April 2011 http://www.freedomfoundationofminnesota.com/Websites/freedomfoundation/Images/Gambling%20Economics-%20Summary%20Facts%20by%20Professor%20Earl%20Grinols,%204.29.11.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Is Gambling a Good Economic Development Bet?” Local Government Matters, Volume 4, Issue 13 Excerpt from Economic Development: Strategies for State and Local Practice, 2nd Edition. Steven G. Koven and Thomas S. Lyons. ICMA Press, August, 2010. http://icma.org/en/icma/newsroom/highlights/Article/100498/Is_Gambling_a_Good_Economic_Development_Bet (accessed 10/10/12)
“Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States” Douglas M. Walker. College of Charleston, November 2011 http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/2012/OxfordCh_dist.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social and Economic Costs and Benefits of Gambling” Rhys Stevens. Alberta Gaming Research Institute http://www.abgamblinginstitute.ualberta.ca/en/LibraryResources/Bibliographies/SocialandEconomicCostsandBenef.aspx (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social and Economic Costs of Gambling” John R. Hill, Ph.D. Alabama Policy Institute http://www.alabamapolicy.org/issues/gti/issue.php?issueID=189&guideMainID=9 (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social costs of gambling nearly half that of drug abuse, new book concludes” Mark Reutter. Inside Illinois Archives, News Bureau, Public Affairs, University of Illinois. March, 2004. http://news.illinois.edu/news/04/0308grinols.html (accessed 10/10/12)
“The Costs and Consequences of Gambling In the State of Delaware” State of Delaware, Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf
“Triumph, Tragedy or Trade-Off? Considering the Impact of Gambling” Jason J. Azmier, Robin Kelley, Peter Todosichuk. August 2001. Canada West Foundation, Canada. https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/48165/1/200108.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“VLTs — What Are The Odds Of Texas Winning?” Chris Patterson Texas Public Policy Foundation http://www.texaspolicy.com/sites/default/files/documents/2005-03-vlt.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
Prepared by Health Services Policy Research Group, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
Originally posted on WingRight.org.
Gambling costs aren’t worth the revenues
“Joe Pags” on WOAI radio hung up on me – again – last night. It’s so frustrating to have the phone sudenly go silent – and, since I’ve turned off the radio while on the phone, I can’t hear Joe’s next comments.
This time, the topic was yesterday’s news about a push for legalized casino gambling in Texas and why Mr. Pagliarulo should be able to gamble legally in Texas, rather than take his money to Oklahoma, Louisiana, or Las Vegas. I’ll discuss the evidence and give references to studies showing the adverse effects of gambling later on, but first, let’s examine Joe’s poor arguments in favor of gambling.
Joe complained about our State property taxes, as one of the highest in the Nation. Yes, we are ranked in the top 10, for property taxes. However, Texas’ State sales tax is moderate and we have no income tax, making our overall tax burden number 45 in the Country.
He accused the first caller of “judging” him, because the man said that he believes that gambling is immoral. No, the man was judging the morality of gambling, never brought up the morality of people who disagree with him.
Besides, aren’t all laws based on morality?
Joe argues that “liberty” demands that those of us who object to gambling should allow gambling by those who don’t. He even told one caller that if he doesn’t like gambling, just don’t go to the casino. (Sounds like one of the shaky arguments in favor of abortion or same sex marriage, doesn’t it?) However, Joe is advocating a change in Texas’ State law. Those of us who vote are responsible for the consequences of our votes and for the laws our Legislators make, therefore we are complicit with what we consider immoral, whether we partake or not. Joe is still at liberty to go to a State where gambling is legal. To force us to be complicit with his gambling is “license,” not liberty.
Joe claims that everyone who objects to casino gambling should be carrying signs and protesting the Lottery and racetrack gambling in Austin. Joe may not realize that many of us objected to both of the above before they were legalized – and we were right in that they certainly haven’t solved the State’s revenue problems. Nevertheless, the fact that the rest of us have other priorities (like my own work for traditional medical ethics and pro-life laws), doesn’t mean that we are willing to sit still while the law is changed, yet again.
And then, Joe argues that the fact that Louisiana and other States continue to allow legalized gambling must prove that the benefits of gambling outweigh the costs to those States. That argument hasn’t proven to be true. At best, gambling is a (mostly) voluntary way of redistributing wealth. In fact, this report claims that States only benefit when people from outside come in, leave their money and then go home, and reports that the National Gambling Impact Study Commission goes so far as to report that the evidence that gambling benefits outweigh the costs is “poorly developed and quite incomplete.”
The economic benefits of gambling are often at the expense of other sections of the economy and are short term. In fact, analyses indicate that lotteries and horse racing may actually increase State revenues, casinos and grey hound racing do not. At least one statistical study finds no “relationship between real casino revenues and real per capita income at the state level.”
The societal or socio-economic costs of legalized gambling have been compared to those of drug abuse and include the social ills that accompany addictive behavior:
- increased criminal justice system impacts
- health-care related to the treatment of problem gambling
- costs borne by individual problem gamblers and their families
- displacement effects in retail, entertainment and food service sectors
Costs associated with gambling include: (1) a reduction of approximately 10 percent in state lottery revenues; (2) an investment of approximately 10 percent of revenues in regulatory costs for gambling; (3) criminal justice costs underwriting an 8 to 13 percent increase in crime; (4) lost state and local revenue resulting from diversion of spending from goods and services to gambling; and (5) lost jobs resulting from decreased spending on non-gambling goods and services.
****
The financial costs of gambling are evident in experiences of communities and states:
- 24 out of 57 counties in the U.S. with casinos experienced job losses
- Atlantic City went from 50th in the nation for per-capita crime to first and violent crimes rose by 78 percent, during the first three years of casino gambling
- Sales declined 10 to 20 percent in Natchez, Mississippi after gambling was legalized
- Counties with casinos have a bankruptcy filing rate that is 13.6 percent higher than in counties without casinos throughout the nation
- Delaware reports spending between $1 to $1.5 million annually on gambling-related costs and Wisconsin reports spending $63 million annually
Bibliography
“Economic Development and Casinos. Do Casinos Cause Economic Growth?” Douglas M. Walker, John D. Jackson. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 66, No. 3 (July, 2007). http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/AJES-growth.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Gambling Economics: Summary Facts” Earl L. Grinols. April 2011 http://www.freedomfoundationofminnesota.com/Websites/freedomfoundation/Images/Gambling%20Economics-%20Summary%20Facts%20by%20Professor%20Earl%20Grinols,%204.29.11.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Is Gambling a Good Economic Development Bet?” Local Government Matters, Volume 4, Issue 13 Excerpt from Economic Development: Strategies for State and Local Practice, 2nd Edition. Steven G. Koven and Thomas S. Lyons. ICMA Press, August, 2010. http://icma.org/en/icma/newsroom/highlights/Article/100498/Is_Gambling_a_Good_Economic_Development_Bet (accessed 10/10/12)
“Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States” Douglas M. Walker. College of Charleston, November 2011 http://walkerd.people.cofc.edu/pubs/2012/OxfordCh_dist.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social and Economic Costs and Benefits of Gambling” Rhys Stevens. Alberta Gaming Research Institute http://www.abgamblinginstitute.ualberta.ca/en/LibraryResources/Bibliographies/SocialandEconomicCostsandBenef.aspx (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social and Economic Costs of Gambling” John R. Hill, Ph.D. Alabama Policy Institute http://www.alabamapolicy.org/issues/gti/issue.php?issueID=189&guideMainID=9 (accessed 10/10/12)
“Social costs of gambling nearly half that of drug abuse, new book concludes” Mark Reutter. Inside Illinois Archives, News Bureau, Public Affairs, University of Illinois. March, 2004. http://news.illinois.edu/news/04/0308grinols.html (accessed 10/10/12)
“The Costs and Consequences of Gambling In the State of Delaware” State of Delaware, Health and Social Services, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf
“Triumph, Tragedy or Trade-Off? Considering the Impact of Gambling” Jason J. Azmier, Robin Kelley, Peter Todosichuk. August 2001. Canada West Foundation, Canada. https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/48165/1/200108.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
“VLTs — What Are The Odds Of Texas Winning?” Chris Patterson Texas Public Policy Foundation http://www.texaspolicy.com/sites/default/files/documents/2005-03-vlt.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
Prepared by Health Services Policy Research Group, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. October, 2002. http://www.udel.edu/healthserpolresgrp/gamrpt02.pdf (accessed 10/10/12)
Originally posted on WingRight.org.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Texas US Senate Debate Jan 12 w/ Cruz, Dewhurst, James, Addison & Leppert. Cruz #1 in Fundraising So Far
Finally! The top three Texas US Senate Candidates will be in the same room together for a candidate debate!
On Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 7 p.m., Empower Texans and the Texas Public Policy Foundation will co-host the first debate of the Texas Republican US Senate candidates of 2012! You can watch the debate live online by going to http://www.empowertexans.com/
Confirmed participants are: Glenn Addison, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, Craig James and Tom Leppert. They are trying to take over the Texas US Senate seat that will be open thanks to Senator Kay Baily Hutchinson retiring.
Thus far, the two candidates who seem to be in the lead (and getting all the attention) are Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst.
David Dewhurst is the Lieutenant Governor of Texas and is extremely wealthy. He is the leader of the Texas State Senate. He has name recognition and money to easily fuel his campaign. Ted Cruz is the former Solicitor General for Texas. He does not have much name recognition or money, but he is the Tea Party darling and has garnered impressive endorsements from big conservative Republicans and conservative organizations (such as Club for Growth, National Review, YCT, Red State, Dr. James Dobson, Senator Jim DeMint, Senator Rand Paul, George Will, David Barton, etc.) His big draw is that he is seen as a fresh face and he has actually argued for his conservative principles in front of the Supreme Court and won (defeating Obama in one case).
Cruz and Dewhurst have Drawn Most of the Attention in this Race
It is only logical that Texans want to see these two debate each other on the issues. Surprisingly, there have been no debates between the candidates so far. Ted Cruz has offered to have debates but so far David Dewhurst has not accepted. David Dewhurst probably has hoped that he could rely on his name recognition to keep him in the lead without having to debate Ted Cruz. I can’t say that I blame him because Cruz has debated in front of the Supreme Court and is a very good speaker. It probably was a good strategy on the part of Dewhurst, but it was a strategy that could only work as long as Ted Cruz was not a major threat. Surprisingly though (or not surprisingly), Ted Cruz has been rocketing up the polls, has been fundraising well, and has been getting big conservative endorsements every week. Now that Cruz is no longer a long shot and he is at the top of the Senate race with Dewhurst, people want to see a debate.
Bloggers from all over Texas have demanded to see the two top senate candidates in a debate with each other. Big conservative organizations like King Street Patriots and the Grassroots Texans Network have offered to put on the debate. David Dewhurst has even taken some heat from Texas newspapers like the San Antonio Express News for not scheduling a debate with Cruz.
Debate will be held at 7 p.m. on January 12, 2012, at the Downtown Austin Hilton
The people of Texas will finally get what they want. They get a debate between Cruz and Dewhurst.
That is not all they get though.
There are other candidates in this US Senate race too, even though Cruz and Dewhurst have stolen the spotlight.
I personally am voting for Ted Cruz, but I certainly want to be fair and list all the candidates in the race. It is also important to note that I am not voting against any candidate. For instance, just because I personally support Cruz over Dewhurst does not mean I dislike Dewhurst. I just think that, out of all the good guys, Cruz is the best conservative guy for the job, he has won in the US Supreme Court, and he is a fresh face.
The Other Texas US Senate Candidates:
Craig James (no website?) just recently joined the US Senate race. James has some name and face recognition because he has been working for ESPN and is seen on TV regularly by anyone who watches ESPN. James certainly makes the race more interesting but he has a lot of catching up to do.
Glenn Addison is from Magnolia, TX. He owns a funeral home business. He is a pretty nice guy but he has not gained much traction and does not have much money.
Lela Pittenger is a very nice, Christian conservative but she has not gained any traction and does not have much money.
Tom Leppert is a former mayor of Dallas. He certainly has great name recognition in that part of Texas. He also has lots of personal money to spend on his campaign. He certainly has the potential to be one of the top candidates but he has just not been able to get the attention like Cruz and Dewhurst.
April 3rd, 2012 Republican Primary Election
The 2012 Republican Primary Election will decide who wins out of these 5 gentlemen and 1 woman. This Primary Election should will on April 3rd, 2012. The Supreme Court could change that date though. It has already been pushed back to April from March because of a couple activist judges and a big Texas Redistricting mess. One of the Federal Judges in this Redistricting Battle is Brother in Law of Texas Democrat Senate Caucus Chairman. Is that crazy or what?
With half a dozen candidates in this US Senate race, it is unlikely that any one candidate will get a majority of the vote. There will likely be a runoff election between the two top vote getters.
Ted Cruz is Leading in Fundraising/Individual Contributions and Social Media
Below are the fundraising totals for the top 3 candidates, as of the last Campaign Finance Reports that have been posted on the Federal Election Commission’s website. I have also posted some interesting social media info about Cruz and Dewhurst).
As you can see below, Cruz is the fundraising leader and has received the most individual contributions. Leppert and Dewhurst are close behind though. What is most interesting about these fundraising totals is that Cruz has raised all this money with very little money to start with. Dewhurst and Leppert each put 2 million dollars or more of their own money into their campaign in the form of candidate loans. Cruz has only put loaned his campaign $70,000 or his own money. This would indicate that Cruz has a significant amount of grassroots support and his name is really getting circulated around Texas.
It is also interesting to see that Cruz has really dominated the social media. He has significantly more friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter than any other candidate so far.
Individual Contributions: $2,753,833
Candidates Loans: $70,000
Unique Donors/Contributors: 2,217
Facebook Friends/Fans: 68,740
Twitter Followers: 18,048
Individual Contributions: $2,456,934
Candidates Loans: $2,000,000
Unique Donors/Contributors: 1,157
Facebook Friends/Fans: 25,393
Twitter Followers: 5,702
Individual Contributions: $2,462,297
Candidates Loans: $2,600,000
Unique Donors/Contributors: 1,681
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