In an article for the Texas Tribune by Aman Batheja entitled Comptroller: Texas Budget Surplus Bigger Than Expected, Mr. Batheja wrote that the State of Texas Rainy Day Fund is conservatively projected by the state comptroller to have a surplus of $8 billion by the fall of 2015. This surplus even takes into account transferring two billion dollars from the Rainy Day Fund to a state water infrastructure bank and, pending voter approval this November, an additional diversion of $1.3 billion away from the Rainy Day Fund to the state highway fund. Earlier this year the web site Politifact.com consulted the Texas State Demographer Lloyd Potter regarding how fast the state was growing. Mr. Potter replied that the state was growing at a rate of 1000 residents per day for the time period of June 2012 through June 2013. That equates to over 365,000 additional residents a year. This rapid population growth will need to be supported by investments in the state’s infrastructure. However, with the next legislative session looming early next year, how will law makers choose to spend some of the projected surplus?
Some will argue for more spending on infrastructure. Others will argue for tax relief, and these are both worthy issues. However, I would argue that Texas lawmakers should invest more in education. Last legislative session, Texas lawmakers restored approximately $3.4 billion of the $5.4 billion in cuts they made to public education in 2011. The math in this situation is simple. After the $3.4 billion restoration last session, public schools in Texas are still operating with 2 billion fewer dollars when compared to funding levels prior to 2011. This fact results in fewer teachers. To compound the problem, the population growth mentioned above means more students in public schools. Tax cuts and infrastructure improvements will attract businesses to Texas, but an educated labor force is just as necessary.
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