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By Lisa Sandberg
San Antonio Express-News Austin Bureau
Saturday, March 21, 2005
Budget ax is hanging over most state agencies
AUSTIN — As lawmakers hammer out a state budget for 2006-2007, a couple things seem certain.
Despite funding increases for education and the agencies that protect the most vulnerable Texans, money for much of the rest of state government — from environmental regulation to parks to the arts — is going to be cut.
And Texas will continue to rank last or near last nationally in per capita state spending.
The shape of a final compromise between House and Senate spending plans has become discernable enough at conference committee hearings for bureaucrats and outside critics to wince.
The Texas Historical Commission, for example, stands to lose about 10 percent of its operating budget, affecting every program in the agency, from the size and number of historic preservation grants to Main Street revitalization efforts, said Terry Colley, the agency's deputy executive director.
"You will see an impact in the parks," warned Mary Fields, chief financial officer for Texas Parks and Wildlife, which is slated to lose $15 million in state funds. Fifty-nine employees stand to lose their jobs, she said, including game wardens and park law enforcement officers.
Texas traditionally has focused its dollars in a few key areas, like education, health and human services and criminal justice.
Current spending proposals are no different, said Eva De Luna Castro, a policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for middle and low income Texans.
Budget negotiators this week settled on $225 million in additional state money for Child Protective Services, driven by widespread calls to reform the beleaguered agency.
But the House and Senate spending plans they are working to reconcile contain significant cuts for many agencies — and while those cuts can't be blamed for children's deaths, they do affect Texans' quality of life, De Luna Castro said.
"The priorities are in place," she said. The issue, as she sees it, is "the size of the pie."
And in one sense, the pie is shrinking. While calling for more state dollars, both plans, when adjusted for inflation and population growth, actually would reduce per-capita spending from the 2002-2003 spending level by about $100, to about $1,200 in per-capita state money, according to the center's analysis.
Dale Craymer, chief economist with the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a pro-business group, said Texas was right to prioritize spending.
"We've always had a limited amount of money, and I think the Legislature is being careful to allocate that money where it does very directly affect peoples' lives," he said. " Texas does tend to be a very frugal, very independent-minded state."
The Senate plan, labeled compassionate and caring by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, calls for overall spending to rise by 10 percent, to $139 billion in state and federal money over two years. The $137.5 billion House plan represents a 8.5 percent spending jump.
The 10 lawmakers on the budget conference committee — five from each chamber — still must reconcile differences on public education funding in the House and Senate proposals, which both contain billions of dollars in new money for schools.
But in both the House and Senate plans, "general government," the catchphrase for various state agencies, would take a pounding.
Parks and Wildlife likely would see a $15 million funding cut, though a rider would allow the agency to keep some of the fees collected at the parks above a certain threshold. The proposed cuts would mean shortened park hours, fewer staffers and law enforcement officers on hand, perhaps a rise in park fees, Fields said.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which regulates 225,000 entities statewide, from petrochemical plants to dry cleaners, is waiting to hear if it will lose 60 full time positions from among its 3,000 employees, agency spokesman Andy Saenz said.
A likely 5 percent funding cut to the Texas Commission on the Arts would limit the size and number of grants to schools and artists across the state, said the commission's executive director, Rick Hernandez.
The Texas Cancer Council also expects a 5 percent cut, on top of a 12 percent funding slash in the 2003 legislative session.
"We've had some considerable hacking in the last two sessions," said the agency's executive director, Sandra Balderrama. The council funds 32 cancer prevention and educational programs across the state.
Texans who never visit a state park or a museum may not notice the cuts, but if enough agencies have their budgets slashed, nearly everyone will be affected, De La Luna said.
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, chair of the budget conference committee, disputed the notion Parks and Wildlife is in store for cuts. The agency can raise its visitor fees, he said.
The goal is to balance essential services with the need to keep taxes from becoming unduly onerous, said Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, a panel member.
"I don't think anyone wants to pay more (in taxes) than they pay today," he said. "It's not perfect. No matter how much you put into (social service) programs, supporters will always need more."
Duncan said the final budget is sure to be far more generous than the one Texas adopted last session to bridge a $10 billion budget shortfall.
Budget writers work within a tradition that puts much of the burden for public services on local governments.
With no state income tax, Texas relies mainly on sales taxes, while local governments depend primarily on property taxes, charging among the highest such rates in the nation. Yet Texas ' overall tax burden is low compared to other states — it ranked 33rd in 2002 with a per capita tax bill of just over $2,700, according to Congressional Quarterly.
Texas ranked 49th in state per capita spending in 2003, ahead of only Nevada . It ranked 41st in the nation in state and local spending combined, according to Congressional Quarterly.
"There just isn't any money," said Frank Sturzl, the Texas Municipal League's executive director. His organization, which lobbies for local governments, calculates state aid to local communities was the second lowest in the nation in 2003, excluding public education. It was $3.11 per person that year, while Wyoming was No. 1 with $296 per person.
It ranks 45th in the nation in per capita public health spending; 46th in mental health spending; 48th in parks and recreation — and dead last in general government funding, according to figures compiled by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, the El Paso Democrat who has long advocated greater social services funding.
Although Health and Human Services agencies are in for a major overhaul and higher funding, the final budget isn't expected to alter those rankings much.
A majority from each chamber on the committee must approve the final budget proposal for it to go to the House and Senate for a vote and — if approved by both — to Gov. Rick Perry's desk.