In November Texans will be voting on a ballot measure to basically legalize the cooking of their own books, and Speaker Straus is leading the push to pass it.
This is because the constitutional amendment is designed to keep $2 billion of water funding from counting against the spending cap.
During the 83rd Legislature legislators would not treat as a real priority, by addressing it out of general revenue, the so-called “water crisis”.
Instead, legislators created a replenishing $2 billion water bank that busts the spending cap. They weren’t willing to either spend the money or pass a legalized cooking of the books themselves. Like a hot potato, they passed it on to us.
Now leadership has formed two new PACs to fund “vote yes in November” water propaganda. Chances are strong that the word “spending cap” will never to be uttered in their propaganda.
This is more boondoggle than crisis.
This amendment is set up so that the money will only be spent if the cooking the books is legalized. They don’t want to be seen busting the spending cap. That’s how much of a real “crisis” this water crisis is.
These spending caps were put in place to create fiscal discipline and accountability. This ballot measure is designed to take it away.
What’s driving this?
The Texas ruling class wants badly to raise taxes. Under Straus’s watch, every time tax hikes become a conversation, gambling expansion is put up as an alternative, even though the idea that gambling is a net revenue enhancer is going the way of the dodo bird.
Since Texans so strongly demand fiscal responsibility, two things are needed by the ruling class to sanitize talk about a new tax: create a crisis and deplete the Rainy Day Fund so that taxes are the only crisis-fixer.
It seems Speaker Straus is working hard on both the crisis and the RDF spending fronts.
Peggy Fikac, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News columnist, tweeted the following: “@DavidHDewhurst says Straus told Senators he wants a transpo crisis in 2015 to increase pressure for taxes”
While it seems the 2015 funding crisis based on transportation is being planned, the current raid on the RDF is in full swing in the form of the November water ballot measure.
As previously mentioned, Joe Straus and Rep. Allen Ritter have created a political action committee called Water Texas, or the purpose of raising money and creating propaganda in favor of promoting “crisis” and the constitutional amendment ballot.
Two senators, Tony Fraser and Tommy Williams, have started another PAC for the same purpose called H204Texas PAC.
Will Texans vote for is a replenishing water fund that nobody can track? Time will tell.