There are still a few Republican grownups left

Good to know they still exist.

A day after Gov. Rick Perry touted the chance of more tax relief for Texans, the Senate Finance Committee chairman said he doesn't see how the state can afford broad tax cuts without a big increase in federal funds.

"I don't see how we do broad-based tax cuts and pay for it," Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said Wednesday.

The one exception -- absent a dramatic economic recovery -- would be a big federal funding increase.

"There could be a possibility for tax relief if the federal government in their stimulus package provides a lot of budgetary relief that we don't necessarily anticipate," Ogden said.

[...]

Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, House Appropriations chairman, said Perry's idea is "not fiscally responsible."

"We'll be lucky to maintain the tax relief we've already got on the books and then pass a budget that doesn't severely impact the operations of the state," Chisum said.

That's about the reception that Governor Perry's big idea deserves. And I note with interest that I'm not the only one wondering how the Lege can pay for its grandiose property tax cuts from last session. I know Rep. Chisum was only speaking rhetorically, but if the thought had occurred to him, it's occurred to everyone else as well.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 16, 2009 to Budget ballyhoo