...K P F T news...K P F T news
|
Related Articles Enron hasn't been prosecuted by Texas Texas' employs new tactics to increase graduation rates Perry argues with Sanchez, but both agree Will HMOs amongst Medicare patients become a thing of the past? The race is about money, but whose? Voting guides bore, embarrass city Texas HIV Medication Assistance Program to drop 1/3 of its role Gubernatorial mudslinging examined Preventing youth smoking in Texas Craddick likely to be next Speaker in Texas HISD to feel Texas budget crunch Texas, others project shortfalls City's HIV/AIDS woes rise for blacks Craddick criticized by LULAC Related Links |
Perry: "In funding the most sacred of obligations no expenditure should be immune from inspections. We must not let the most worthwhile of programs collapse under their own weight; either because the spending goes uncontrolled or unquestioned. Every dollar spent by government, every line item in the budget must be analyzed and justified."
As Governor Rick Perry gave his Texas state of the state address last night to a warm reception at the capitol, not all Texans greeted Perry's budget as enthusiastically. When Pat Vals-Trells of Texans for Humane Assistance, analyzes the proposed Texas state budget, she cannot help but notice the hit Medicaid takes and says the budget priorities for Governor Perry are questionable: "If Medicaid is cut it will hurt low income people." Valls-Trells questions Governor Perry's ability to cut funding to a program where existing overhead is not being met. "My understanding of Medicaid and CHIP, program for insuring low income children, is that there has not been enough money in either of those program to adequately take care of the needs of the uninsured. I don't see how a cut can be made to that program (Medicaid) without hurting low income people." That 6 percent cut to Medicaid translates $700 million that the state of Texas will no longer be able to provide. The Austin-based think tank, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, estimates the revenue shortfall for 2004-2005 is near $15 billion, and Perry's budget cuts and one revenue increase account for some $9 billion, still short almost $6 billion. Medicaid is not the only social program to get in Governor Perry's hit list to balance the state budget. He also proposes a 9 percent across the board cut for social agencies. Budget analyst of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Ava Deluna, highlights how local agencies will be forced to scramble this year in governor Perry's projected budget: "Other than Medicaid or child protective services and foster care ... those are programs that are going to have to turn somewhere else for help, the local government maybe. But if they can't do it there, a lot of kids that are being abused or that are not in a really great placement right now because there's not a good foster care home for them; they'll have to wait for two years and a lot of damage can be done to children in two years." President of the local multi-task social service agency, Anna Bavin of the Catholic Charities, says with the national debt, federal funds allocated to pass through to local agencies are likely not to be renewed under Perry's proposed state budget. "Nine percent reduction in already lean budgets will have dramatic impact on Catholic charities agencies across the state. If you know anything about this community, it's shifting the burden to local communities. It will then be Harris County dealing with some issues. It will be the city dealing with some issues. You know, city, county, state and federal government are all facing deficits. Many of these organizations warn that the effects of this budget shortfall will have more dire consequences on civil society as a whole ... more than just a mere issue of cutting funding for social agencies, once cuts are made, many worry that funding will not be Governor Perry's top priority during better economic times. Jackson Allers, KPFT News, Houston.
E-mail Jackson Allers at jacksonallers@hotmail.com .
|