Problems:

• Government budgets are inherently and vastly different from other types of budgets and should not be compared to company or family budgets.

• Using arbitrary spending limits such as personal income on government budgets hurt public services and private sector job creation.

• There are roughly 20 states with lower unemployment than Texas and only 10 of them have spending limits.

Solutions:

• We believe the the outdated, bureaucratic spending limit should be repealed because it will continue limit the state in providing important services like:
  • public education
  • community college
  • health care
  • private sector job creation

 

 

Texas Constitution

Code – The Texas Constitution
Article – 8 Taxation and Revenue
Section – 22 Restrictions and Appropriations

Code – Government Code
Chapter – 316 Appropriations
Section – 316.001 Limit

 

EPI – Three years into recovery, just how much has state and local austerity hurt job growth?

The Texas Tribune – Spending Limit Could Make Rainy Day Fund Tougher to Tap

Texas Monthly – What We Talk About When We Talk About Spending Limits

Texas Tribune – State Leaders Adopt Spending Cap for 2014-15 Budget

Texas Tribune – What We Talk About When We Talk About Spending Limits

Texas AFT – Easy to Misread: Legislative Budget Board Sets a Spending Limit for 2016-2017 Budget

Ballotpedia – Louisiana Debt Limit Amendment (October 1993)

Ballotpedia – Alaska Limitation on State Budget Appropriations, Measure 4 (1982)

Ballotpedia – California Proposition 4, the “Gann Limit” Initiative (1979)

Ballotpedia – Hawaii Debt Limits and Exclusions, Amendment 12 (1978)

Ballotpedia – Montana Limit State Spending, CI-7 (1976)

Texas AFT – Easy to Misread: Legislative Budget Board Sets a Spending Limit for 2016-2017 Budget

League of Women Voters Texas – Financing State Government; The Budget and Taxes

CBPP – State Spending Caps No Formula for Budget Success