Posted on 05/21/2004 6:03:40 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Strayhorn generous in criticism for Perry's call to special session Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who goaded Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address the state's ailing public school finance system, on Thursday chastised him for calling the session without a "real plan."
"I am disappointed that the governor called this fourth special session that just concluded without a long term plan to fix our education system," Strayhorn said at the weekly Rotary Club of Houston luncheon. "It was a waste of taxpayers' money and a waste of lawmakers' valuable time for the governor not to have a real plan before he called the session."
Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor presented a proposal and had gained strong consensus for the broad issues contained within it before calling the 28-day special session, which began April 20.
Lawmakers, however, rejected Perry's plan, which would lower residential property taxes by 17 percent, to $1.25 per $100 in appraised land value. The current rate is $1.50 per $100 appraised value. Business property tax rates would have been reduced by a more modest 7 percent.
To replace funds lost through lowering property taxes, Perry's plan calls for raising or imposing various "sin taxes," including a $1-per-pack cigarette tax, a $5 "admission fee" to adult entertainment establishments and allowing state-taxed video gambling at racetracks.
"I don't want my five granddaughters growing up in a state where the governor says partnering with sexually oriented nightclubs is an acceptable way to finance their education," said Strayhorn, who recommended the cigarette and gambling options last year.
Perry's proposal would create $12.1 billion in taxes and levies and more than a $10 billion deficit over the next five years, the comptroller said. It is a proposal that suggests "sleaze taxes" not "sin taxes," she said.
"I know that you cannot regulate morality, but we can certainly say some things are just wrong," Strayhorn said.
Criticism comes easy, but solutions take more work, Black countered.
"It takes leadership to offer solutions," the governor's spokesman said.
I wish Strayhorn would just announce she's running for Governor and get it over with.
I am not too enthusiastic about Perry, but what Strayhorn is effectively doing is lobbying against taxing strippers on the basis that they are unwholesome. That is about as stupid a position as I have ever heard a politician take.
Unfortunately, the republicans in the Texas legislature are just as bad as the democrats were on redistricting. Right now, the cities, counties, and school districts are effectively bribing them not to lower property taxes.
The school districts are especially egregious. They literally have so much money that they don't know what to do with all of it, and they are lobbying for more. Several superintendents make several hundred thousand a year (I heard of one who makes $300k, another $500k), outrageous amounts for local public servants.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.