“The spending plan [House] lawmakers will consider is the living definition of hell.” A quote not from the Birkenstock Belt, but from the editorial page of The Dallas Morning News, which like other major Texas papers has shown a literally unprecedented distaste and disgust with the budget proposals under review at the Lege. The state budget will not be finalized until the session ends June 2 (at the earliest), but all pending proposals contain radical cuts in health and human services, public and higher education, and even criminal justice. And those proposals all call for the state to spend money that it doesn’t have; when June rolls around, things may be even worse. But here’s what Texans can expect already:
Health care — After reducing Medicaid spending by $9.3 billion (including both state and federal funds), by 2005 at least 441,000 fewer people will get Medicaid benefits, including at least 80,000 aged or disabled persons and more than 350,000 children and pregnant women. In addition, more than 488,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid clients, and 145,000 poor families, would lose all prescription drug benefits. On top of the Medicaid cuts, at least 170,000 children, and perhaps more than half a million, will lose coverage under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Education — Teachers would lose nearly half of the state contribution to their health insurance. Nonteaching (i.e., lower-paid) employees will lose even more. Textbook spending will be cut by $383 million, principally by only buying new textbooks in subjects scheduled for state accountability testing during the biennium. Funding through the state Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund — which has paid for nearly half the technology now in use in Texas schools and libraries — would be eliminated.
For more of the gory details, visit the Center for Public Policy Priorities Web site at www.cppp.org.
This article appears in April 18 • 2003.
