Texas Republicans Raise Some Taxes - Steal Others

Before the last election the Republicans running for office in Texas made a rather ludicrous promise to the voters. They said they could balance the budget and make up a $27 billion deficit in the next biennium without raising any taxes or severely hurting any services delivered by the state. If their current budget proposals (either the Senate or the House version) are passed they will break both of those promises.

It is obvious that services will be cut and will affect nearly all Texans. In education alone they are proposing to cut between $5 and $9 billion -- a move that would mean the layoff of as many as 100,000 teachers and other school employees. And that's just the start. Nearly every state agency will be cut, especially the social service agencies providing services for children, the poor, and the elderly. But that was to be expected, since Republicans love to cut programs that aren't needed by their rich donors.

A little more surprising, at least for those who actually believed the Republican campaign promises, is the fact that they are also raising taxes (even though they still claim they aren't). They have raised fees for services provided by many state agencies and other things. They would like voters to believe that fees are not taxes, but they are. The fact is that more money will be coming out of citizen pockets (and anytime the government takes money from a citizen for any reason it is a tax, regardless of what state officials want to call it).

And those aren't the only taxes that have been raised. They have also passed a bill that will insure internet retailers can't avoid charging a sales tax to their Texas customers. The Republicans will try to say this is not a tax raise since this tax was supposed to already be collected (according to the comptroller). But the point is that it hasn't been collected in the past and now will be. That's more dollars coming out of the citizens' pockets that wasn't prior to this legislative session, and you can bet that those who now have to pay it consider that a tax raise.

But these same legislators are doing something else that is even more dishonest and unethical than just lying about raising taxes. They are also stealing tax money dedicated for a specific purpose and using it instead to pay for their own incompetence in funding the general budget. The Texas Observer has written an excellent article exposing some of this theft and misuse of tax money by the legislature. Here is some of the fund misuse they discovered:

* Every electric customer pays a monthly fee of $0.65. This money is supposed to be used to help the poor and the elderly pay their electric bills. But this legislature has decided to steal three-fourths of that money to put into the general fund and help balance the budget. This is nothing less than stealing from the poor and elderly (so the rich can pay less taxes -- like the sales tax cut on yachts costing $250,000 or more).

* There is a sporting goods tax on items like hunting and fishing gear, camping equipment, and bicycles. This tax raises about $100 million a year and is supposed to be used to purchase parkland, improve existing parks, and pay for some conservation efforts. Legislators have decided to steal three-fourths of this money and put it in the general fund also.

* The state sells several specialty license plates where the public has been promised that the money would be used for projects at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (including the Texas Wildlife Action Fund). But most of that money is now going into the general fund instead.

* There are also specialty license plates supposed to fund cancer prevention, veterans benefits, and advocates for abused & neglected children. At least half of this money has been taken by the legislature and put into the general fund.

* Then there is the Driver Responsibility Program that puts a surtax on Texas drivers who get traffic tickets. This program has not lived up to expectations, but still gathers $150 million a year -- which was supposed to be used to fund trauma care facilities and help pay for the medical care of uninsured patients. Guess where most of that money is really going. That's right -- the general fund.

* Then there's a tax on chewing tobacco (to help rural doctors pay student loans), a tax on heavy trucks (that's supposed to go into the state's clean air program), and a fee on CPA licenses (to help pay for student scholarships). All of these funds have also been raided by the legislature.

I seriously doubt these are the only funds being raided to cover for the incompetence of state Republican leaders. Personally I consider this use of dedicated taxpayer funds in a manner in which they were not authorized to be used an even greater sin than lying about raising taxes. And in its own way can be considered not only theft but a tax raise, since the funds are not being used as Texas citizens were told they would be used.

It would be bad enough that these Republican legislators lied to the public and raised taxes, but it is even worse to steal from the poor, the elderly, abused children, cancer patients, veterans, and many others. But while telling the truth doesn't seem to be a Republican value, lying to and stealing from the citizens certainly seems to be.