Legislative Preview: Cut Spending Now

[Elderberry]

Texas Scorecard by Robert Montoya January 15, 2021

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility explains it is government, not taxpayers, who must make sacrifices.

With a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall and Texans hurting from government-ordered economic shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 situation, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility argues now is the time to rein in the size of the state government and for citizens to effectively engage their government.

2020 was filled with issues that affected all Texans. In earlier parts of this Legislative Preview series, we explored citizen concerns such as abortion, education and family rights, election integrity, local government tyranny, medical freedom in regards to coronavirus vaccines, and property tax burdens.

In the final part of this series, we sat down with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility to discuss Texas’ projected budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion, what caused it, and the solution.

What Caused the Shortfall?

For TFR’s new Executive Director Tim Hardin, who previously served as chief of staff for retired State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R–Bedford), it’s not rocket science.

“I think the biggest problem we had in 2020, and the biggest frustration from a lot of the small businesses, was the mandates coming from the governors’ office,” he explained. “We’ve had thousands of businesses close. Many of these mandates are still going on, and it has absolutely destroyed the lives of thousands of people.”

    It’s absolutely caused a shortfall in our budget that we’re going to have to deal with.

He clarifies it is the government—not the virus—that is the problem.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/legislative-preview-cut-spending-now/