A list of fees and use taxes for like 911, tobacco, gasoline. If you use those you pay these even if you are illegal. Doesn’t change a thing. You can throw the lottery in there too if you want. The only state tax that Texas has that applies to everybody is a sales tax. That’s what funds higher education.
Look, I want them all to go home too. But the feds won’t send them and the states can’t. So they pay the same tax rate in Texas as anybody else. Texas legislator voted 181-4 to grant instate tuition. Perry supports it. That’s the way it is.
My only point was that considering state taxes from other states isn’t an accurate way to look at the Texas tuition situation. We only have one tax. Everybody pays it - citizen, legal, and illegal.
I don’t recall where I mentioned other states nor do I see how that is germane to the TX legislation.
I’m not arguing about the veto proof majority in the legislature. Perry could have “fallen on his sword” and vetoed this (to be subsequently overridden) if he’s as conservative as many say. Standing on principle is a recognized trait among many conservatives.
The only point I’m arguing is the “no cost to taxpayers” comments that get tossed around FR so cavalierly.
Start at page 20 (of 50) of the document to see where the “revenue” for TX education comes from. See Exhibit 9 for a breakdown of where the funding comes from. Hint; it’s not just sales taxes. In fact, “general and local revenue” only account for about 6.4% of the funding. Also note the federal funding piece of that pie exceeds those two categories combined.
http://c0032622.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/FASTp1execSummary.pdf
Look, Texas got what it wanted, fine, the electoral system worked. No problem. But to say that there is no cost to the taxpayers of either Texas or to the rest of the nation is disingenous.