Dewhurst admits it's not over yet

Via Eye on Williamson, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has admitted that there's still a few bugs in the school finance system.

In a visit with the Chronicle editorial board this week, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst devoted much of his presentation to touting the improvements to public education to be funded by the new state school finance plan, which includes an expanded business tax and reductions in school property taxes.

Dewhurst acknowledged the predictions of Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and the Legislative Budget Board that the revamped business tax and one-dollar hike in the levy on cigarettes may leave the state confronting shortfalls of nearly $25 billion over five years. According to the lieutenant governor, the plan will consume the current state surplus of $8 billion.

I got a robocall from Dewhurst yesterday in which he breathlessly told me about how the Lege just cut my property taxes by a third, gave teachers a pay raise, and instituted more accountability in schools. Funnily enough, the subject of looming budget shortfalls never came up. Still, as EoW notes, it's nice to see that the Lite Guv has settled the fuzzy math question.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 26, 2006 to Budget ballyhoo | TrackBack