ASPTL - Chapter 11: Public Finance

Summary

Highlights

• State revenue includes general revenue funds, federal funds, and other dedicated funds 💸
• Tuition fees in Texas skyrocketed after the 2003 budget cuts 🚀
• The state budget impacts college funding and student debt 💳
• Texas adheres to a balanced budget to prevent fiscal imbalance ⚖️
• Federal funds contribute significantly to Texas's budget but come with conditions 📜
• Texas has one of the highest sales tax rates yet no income tax 🤔

Key Takeaways

• Texas operates within a balanced budget, crucial for fiscal responsibility 📚
• State revenue comes from a complex system of taxes and federal funds 💵
• Budget decisions significantly impact education and public services 🎓
• Constitutional rules like 'pay-as-you-go' limit state deficit spending 🏛️
• Texas relies heavily on sales tax, impacting lower-income residents more 🔄
• Texas budget process involves political tensions and compromises 🤝

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Purpose The chapter titled 'Introduction and Purpose' covers an overview of the state budget in Texas, explaining its objectives and components. It discusses the allocation and sources of state revenue and spending patterns within Texas. The chapter aims to provide a foundational understanding of how Texas manages its public finances.
• 01:00 - 06:00: State Spending and Revenue Sources The chapter explains the constitutional provisions influencing state budgeting, identifying the key steps, parties involved, and political tensions in budget formulation. It emphasizes the direct impact of state budgetary decisions on college students, illustrating with a historical deficit example from 2003.
• 06:00 - 11:00: Budget Structure and Categories Due to a state constitutional mandate requiring a balanced budget, the state opted to cut funding for higher education rather than increase taxes. Before 2003, tuition and fees at state universities were determined by the state legislature and were lower than those in other states. However, following budget cuts, the legislature allowed university regents to raise tuition to compensate for the shortfall, resulting in a significant increase in tuition and fees in the early 2000s. For instance, in Texas, tuition and fees rose sharply as universities sought to offset the reductions in state funding.
• 11:00 - 16:00: Revenue Collection and Tax System The chapter 'Revenue Collection and Tax System' discusses the significant increase in revenue collection at Texarkana, which rose by 132 percent from 2003 to 2016. Following the legislative session in 2017, additional tuition and fee hikes were implemented statewide. By spring 2018, the University of Texas System Board of Regents had approved these increases for all system schools. The decision made in 2003, which led to spiraling student debt and higher education costs, raised concerns among lawmakers regarding its impact on students.
• 16:00 - 21:00: Constitutional and Legal Constraints The chapter discusses the debate between Texas university leaders and the state legislature over college spending, tuition, and fees. Concerns arose about the escalating costs of attending college in Texas, with some legislators believing spending was uncontrolled. University leaders contended they were more suited to manage tuition and fees than the legislature, and argued that they had kept cost increases lower than the legislature. Additionally, the chapter highlights the significance of passing a balanced budget as the primary responsibility of the state legislature.
• 21:00 - 31:00: Budget Process and Players The chapter 'Budget Process and Players' focuses on the biennial session of the Texas legislature, where decisions are made on allocating funds across various government activities. It highlights the challenges of distributing a limited budget due to the constitutional requirement to maintain a balanced budget, meaning that projected tax revenue must equal or surpass projected expenditures. The budget process involves handling substantial amounts of money.
• 31:00 - 37:00: Future Challenges and Review The chapter titled 'Future Challenges and Review' discusses the constraints faced by the legislature in managing state budget expenditures. It highlights the difficulty in reallocating trust and dedicated funds for other budgetary needs. Federal funds form a significant part of the state budget, mainly supporting education and health services, but often come with specific conditions. The legislature aims to maximize federal funding while reducing state spending.

ASPTL - Chapter 11: Public Finance Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hey guys welcome to a safe place to learn the good and the bad with alicia in today's video i'll be reviewing chapter 11 of governing texas public finance the objectives for this chapter include being able to explain the purpose of the state budget and what is typically included describe the general pattern of state spending in texas and where state revenue comes from describe how the money in the budget is
• 00:30 - 01:00 organized into specific funds outline the constitutional provisions that affect how the state budget is made and identify the steps players and political tensions in making the state budget for many college students the state budget seems like something far away and unrelated to their lives however the budgetary decisions made by the legislators every two years directly affects students for example in 2003 there was a 10 billion dollar deficit in the upcoming budget period
• 01:00 - 01:30 being mandated by the state constitution to maintain a balanced budget the state decided to cut higher education funding instead of raising taxes before 2003 tuition and fee rates for state universities were set by the state legislature and tended to be low compared to the tuition in other states the budget cuts led to the legislature giving the regents of state schools the authority to raise tuition and make up the lost funds this led to tuition prices skyrocketing in the early 2000s for example tuition and fees for texas a
• 01:30 - 02:00 m at texarkana rose 132 percent between 2003 and 2016. and then following the 2017 legislative session additional tuition and fee increases were put into effect across the state by the spring of 2018 the university of texas system board of regents approved increases to all system schools lawmakers were concerned with the 2003 decision considering spiraling student debt and higher tuition and fees
• 02:00 - 02:30 made it difficult for texans to attend college leaders believe that college spending was out of control and that if universities could not steady cost then the legislature may have to take action university leaders argued that the universities were better equipped to make decisions about tuition and fees than the legislature was others argued that the universities had kept increases in tuition and fees lower than the legislature had passing a balanced budget is the most important task the state legislature has
• 02:30 - 03:00 during its regular session every two years priorities have to be decided and money must be stretched across a wide range of government activities this leads to difficult decisions being made about how to fund the government activities the texas state constitution mandates the legislature operates within a balanced budget a balanced budget exists whenever the projected income from tax revenues is equal to or exceeds the projected expenditure the state budget involves huge amounts of money much of this money
• 03:00 - 03:30 lies outside of the direct control of the legislature trust funds and other dedicated funds are hard to manipulate for other budgetary purposes resulting in the legislature being left with relatively few places to cut expenditures federal funds make up a large portion of the budget going mainly to education and health and human services and generally comes with strings attached the legislature tries to maximize federal dollars while minimizing state spendings
• 03:30 - 04:00 texas budget is divided into five broad and overlapping categories general revenue funds general revenue dedicated funds federal funds other funds and all funds the general revenue funds include dedicated and non-dedicated funds the non-dedicated revenue accounts function as the state's primary operating fund it also includes three large educational funds the available school fund the state instructional materials fund
• 04:00 - 04:30 and the foundation school fund funds totaled 106.6 billion dollars for 2018-2019 the general revenue dedicated funds is a subset of the general revenue fund composed of over 200 funds for dedicated revenues that target money for specific purposes the legislature can appropriate money from these accounts only for the dedicated purposes the balances in this budget are used to certify that the constitutional pay as
• 04:30 - 05:00 you go limits are being met i'll go over pay-as-you-go limits more later in this video funds amounted to 6.3 billion dollars for 2018-2019 the federal funds include all grants payments and reimbursements received from the federal government by state agencies and institutions such as medicaid funds amounted to 72 billion dollars for 2018-2019 other funds consists of all other funds
• 05:00 - 05:30 going into the state treasury that are not included in the other state budgets including the texas highway fund various trust funds operated by the state and certain revenues held for local higher education amounts 31.8 billion dollars was appropriated from other funds for 2018-2019 all funds is the aggregate of all these ways of financing government and refers to all revenue that goes through agencies
• 05:30 - 06:00 including federal and state programs texas has a reputation of being a low-service low-tax state that seeks to maintain a favorable environment for business texas maintains its reputation as a low tax and low service state and it was ranked 44th on per capita state government expenditures while overall spending has increased state spending per capita adjusted for inflation and population has decreased while overall spending has increased state spending per capita has decreased
• 06:00 - 06:30 on the other hand texas ranked high when compared with other states on per capita federal dollars flowing into the state because of the great recession of 2008 the federal monies available to the state increased for a few years but then fell off even though the federal government has backed away from its 2008 efforts a lot of federal money still continues to flow into texas today it's difficult to compare tax burdens across states as taxation varies widely from state to state there are a variety of state taxes
• 06:30 - 07:00 including state income taxes general state sales taxes specific state sales taxes local sales taxes and property taxes two measures are often used to compare tax burdens across states state and local tax burdens per capita and state tax collections per capita texas ranks very low in state and local tax burden per capita as well as in state tax collections per capita texas is one of the seven states that do
• 07:00 - 07:30 not have a personal income tax but texas has one of the highest sales tax at 6.25 percent the 13th highest in the nation when combined general state and local sales taxes in the state can reach 8.25 percent although texas state taxes are low compared with other state taxes local taxes are a different story in 2011 texas ranked 14th among the states in terms of property taxes per capita when state and local taxes are taken
• 07:30 - 08:00 together however taxes remain fairly low in the state of texas government and public policy in texas are funded from a variety of sources many of which are based on complex formulas including severance taxes on oil and natural gas produced in the state licensing income interest and dividends and federal aid sales tax is the most important single tax financing texas government the general sales tax is six point two five percent with an additional two
• 08:00 - 08:30 percent sales tax for county city and metropolitan transit authorities that means eight point two five percent of the retail sales price of all tangible personal property and selected services goes to taxes texas has an oil severance tax of 4.6 percent and an oil regulation tax the tax revenue fluctuates with the price of oil and the volume of oil produced in texas this can lead to budgeting problems the natural gas production tax is similar to the oil tax the
• 08:30 - 09:00 revenue from the 7.25 tax fluctuates depending on the amount produced the motor fuels tax in texas is 20 cents per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel there is a 15 cent per gallon tax on liquefied gas the motor fuels tax is a dedicated tax appropriated to the texas department of public safety and the texas department of transportation whatever isn't used on the texas dot or texas dps is used for public education
• 09:00 - 09:30 all motor vehicle sales are subject to a 6.25 percent tax and newly manufactured homes are taxed at five percent of the first 65 percent of the sales price in addition there's a 10 tax on rental vehicles for the first 30 days and 6.25 thereafter while the great recession did take its toll on revenues from these taxes things have recovered and projected to continue growing franchise taxes based on earnings for
• 09:30 - 10:00 all corporations doing business in texas the franchise tax is a complicated and controversial tax on businesses based upon earnings among other taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products each 20 pack of cigarettes has a dollar 41 tax on it the revenue from this is shared between the general revenues fund and the property tax relief fund just like with tobacco there's a variety of taxes on alcoholic beverages a complex schedule of tax rates is
• 10:00 - 10:30 applied to insurance premiums insurance premiums for life health and accident insurance are taxed at 1.75 percent on gross premium receipts utility taxes include taxes of varying rates on gross receipts of gas electric and water utilities additional taxes are imposed on gross receipts of utilities and on gas utility pipelines rates vary from 0.581 percent to 1.997 percent based on the size of the city population
• 10:30 - 11:00 there is a six percent tax on the hotel and multiple occupancy bill paid by the occupant tourism can really impact how much is collected other taxes are additional taxes on a variety of items and services including things like attorney services cement sulfur coin operated machines and bingo rental receipts as i said before texas does not have an income tax some supporters of an income tax argue that it's more reliable as a source of revenue for the state
• 11:00 - 11:30 some also argue that it would be fairer unlike sales and use taxes which are applied equally to everyone whatever their income because business is boss in texas very few politicians have supported an income tax because it attracts businesses to texas in the late 1980s there was a serious attempt to impose an income tax but this generated a lot of controversy and by 1993 lieutenant governor bullock had backed off the idea and proposed a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of any personal
• 11:30 - 12:00 income tax and specifying that any revenue would be used to support public education it is unlikely that voters will choose to have a personal income tax anytime soon texas has a regressive tax system this means that the tax burden falls more heavily on lower income individuals sales property and uses taxes generally fall into this category poor homeowners and renters generally pay more of their income in property taxes than wealthy ones do
• 12:00 - 12:30 a 2015 study done by the institute on taxation and economic policy found that texas had the third most unfair tax system in the nation with progressive income tax people with lower income pay a lower tax rate than people with higher income progressive income taxes thus place a higher tax burden on the rich than on the poor the federal government provides the largest source of revenue for texas texas also generates revenue through
• 12:30 - 13:00 licenses fees fines sales of goods and services provided by the state the lottery land income and a settlement with the tobacco companies there has been controversy over the lottery and tobacco products federal grants and matching funds federal monies going to the state based on state spending for a program have been kept low total federal contributions remain relatively low because texas keeps spending on state federal programs low the money in texas's budget comes from
• 13:00 - 13:30 several sources and can go into 400 funds in the state treasury from there the funds are redirected most revenue goes into the general revenue fund the non-dedicated portion is the state's primary operating fund and money can be spent directly from this fund or transferred to other special funds or accounts the permanent school fund was created in 1854 to provide money for primary and secondary schools the psf is funded by the sale of certain
• 13:30 - 14:00 public lands and is managed by the state board of education this land came from stipulations in the constitution of 1876. the fund distributes money to school districts across the state on the basis of attendance and guarantees bonds issued by local school boards enabling them to borrow money at lower interest rates this year we've seen how this can affect the public school system because the state distributes funds based on attendance schools are encouraged to return to
• 14:00 - 14:30 business as usual the available school fund is a dedicated fund established by the constitution for the support of public education in the state this fund is fueled by the psf and 25 percent of the state's motor fuels tax the asf also provides funds for another fund the instructional materials fund which funds state purchases on instructional materials the state highway fund supports the construction maintenance and policing of roadways and
• 14:30 - 15:00 acquires rights of way funded through a variety of taxes such as the motor vehicle registration fees the federal highway fund and the sales tax on motor lubricants the economic stabilization fund is commonly known as the rainy day fund this was established by a constitutional amendment in 1988 to provide relief during times of financial stress if collections from oil and gas taxes in any year exceed the 1987 amount 75 percent of the excess
• 15:00 - 15:30 is transferred to the fund esf monies can be appropriated with a three-fifth vote of members of both houses in extraordinary circumstances or for purposes with support of two-thirds of members present in both houses much debate and controversy surround how to use the growing fund in 2014 and 2015 constitutional amendments transferred rainy day funds to water and transportation initiatives in the state
• 15:30 - 16:00 some funds such as the permanent university fund or higher education fund were established to channel money directly to certain institutions of higher education the permanent university fund was established in 1876 and funded from the proceeds of land owned by the state monies go to various universities in the university of texas and texas a m systems all income from surface leases of this land goes into the available university fund
• 16:00 - 16:30 to distribute puf monies income from mineral leases and proceeds from the sales of puf lands go into the puf and are invested in 1999 an amendment to the constitution authorized the university of texas to channel investment income into the auf two-thirds of the monies going to the auf go to the ut system and one third goes to the texas a m system the first obligation of any income earned by puf is to pay the debt service
• 16:30 - 17:00 on outstanding puf bonds the higher education fund is for universities without access to the permanent university fund it's funded through the general revenue fund the texas higher education coordinating board makes recommendations to the legislature for budgetary allocation to each school out of the hef the national research university fund is intended to encourage universities to behave in certain ways and to achieve a specific set of
• 17:00 - 17:30 legislative objectives the national research university fund was established in 2009 to provide funding to universities seeking to achieve national prominence as research institutions funded by the higher education fund eligible schools must meet specific criteria including recognition by the higher education coordinating board and must spend at least 45 million dollars a year in specifically defined types of research in addition universities must meet at
• 17:30 - 18:00 least four out of six criteria the first being maintaining an endowment of at least 400 million dollars in the two preceding academic years the second being producing 200 phd degrees during the two previous years having a freshman class of high academic achievement being designated as a member of the association of research libraries have a phi beta kappa chapter or be a member of phi kappa phi
• 18:00 - 18:30 have a certain number of tenured faculty who have demonstrated excellence by winning a nobel prize or other prestigious fellowships or have been elected to one of the national academies and finally being able to demonstrate excellence in graduate education the biggest issue in the budgetary process is the time constraint constitutional provisions that the legislature must write a biennial budget while meeting only once every two years for 140 days seems crazy to me this forces executive
• 18:30 - 19:00 agencies to project their budgets without a clear understanding of what might be needed another issue is that most of the budget is dedicated to special purposes through federal or state statute limiting where the funds can be spent there are several constitutional provisions like the pay as you go limit and the spending limit that limit the appropriations process in very specific ways the pay as you go limit also known as article 3 section 49a is the portion of the texas
• 19:00 - 19:30 constitution that requires the state to maintain a balanced budget the general revenue budget may not exceed the comptroller's projected available revenue all appropriations must be sent to the comptroller of public accounts for certification that they are within the budget the comptroller is at the center of this process and can have a lot of power the spending limit also known as article 8 section 22 was passed in 1978 specifying that the growth in appropriations cannot be more than the
• 19:30 - 20:00 growth of the state's economy as determined by the legislative budget board the welfare spending limit also known as article 3 section 51a is a constitutional provision limiting welfare spending for needy dependent children and their caretakers not to exceed one percent of the state's budget not including medicaid the limitation on debt payable from the general revenue fund article 3 section 49 makes it so state debt cannot exceed more than 5 percent
• 20:00 - 20:30 of state revenue under a 1997 amendment to article 3 section 49j the legislature cannot authorize additional debt if the resulting debt service is greater than 5 percent of the average general revenue fund revenue for the three preceding fiscal years this excludes dedicated spending the texas debt burden is relatively low texas per capita state debt was ranked 45th out of the 50 states the budget execution authority article
• 20:30 - 21:00 16 section 69 was passed in 1985 allowing changes to appropriations by the governor or the legislative budget board with the approval of the other between legislative sessions the governor or the lbb may propose one that an agency stopped spending money appropriated to it in the budget two that the money be transferred from one agency to another or three that the purpose for an appropriation to a particular agency be changed texas has a dual budget system where
• 21:00 - 21:30 responsibility for the budget preparation is shared by the governor's office of budget planning and policy and the legislative budget board in reality it's the legislature that's responsible for the budget in 1949 a law was enacted to establish a 10-member lbb whose primary job would be to recommend appropriations for all agencies of state government the board is chaired by the lieutenant governor the vice chair is the speaker of the house other members include the chairs
• 21:30 - 22:00 of the house appropriations committee the house committee on ways and means the senate finance committee and the senate state affairs committee two additional members from the senate and the house are chosen by the lieutenant governor and the speaker the lbb appoints a budget director who brings together budgeting requests from the various state agencies and prepares appropriation bills for them the lbb is also responsible for evaluating agency programs and developing estimates of the probable
• 22:00 - 22:30 cost of implementing legislation introduced into a legislative session the lbb's draft budget not the governor's is the basis for final legislation the first stage in implementing a budget is having the legislative budget board develop a draft budget based on requests supplied by state agencies and the comptroller's office prepares the biennial revenue estimate detailing its forecasted revenue this draft budget follows a series of
• 22:30 - 23:00 steps first each agency develops a strategic plan which includes a mission statement a statement about the goals of the agency a discussion of the population served by the agency and explanation of the means that will be used to achieve the goals and an identification of the measures to be used to assess the agency's success in meeting these goals while the draft budgets are being prepared the comptroller's office prepares the biennial revenue estimate or bre a detailed
• 23:00 - 23:30 forecast of the total revenue that the state is expected to take in over the next biennium the bre includes other information to assist legislators in the budget process including statements about the anticipated revenue from different sources an analysis of the economic outlook facing texas and the nation and a detailed accounting of the funds in the state treasury the biggest issue with this is that it can be difficult to accurately project tax
• 23:30 - 24:00 revenue as many revenue streams are dependent on a fluctuating energy industry the second step in implementing a budget is having the lbb submit appropriations bills to the house appropriations committee and the senate finance committee by the seventh day of the legislative session the bill follows the regular mark-up process with final versions of the budget prepared by the two committees once each house votes on the bill it's reconciled by a conference committee made up of members of each chamber
• 24:00 - 24:30 items that appear in both versions of the bill must be included in the final conference committee report items that appear in both versions of the bill with identical amounts allocated to them may not be changed by the committee items that appear in both versions of the bill with differing amounts allocated to them cannot be eliminated the committee has the discretion to fund these items at a level not larger than the largest allocation or smaller than the smallest allocation items that appear in one version of the
• 24:30 - 25:00 bill but not in the other can be included or eliminated from the final bill subject to the discretion of the committee however no more money may be allocated then to that item than is found in the original version of the bill items found in neither version of the bill may not be included in the final conference report however the conference committee has the discretion to propose the appropriations of money for bills that already have been passed by legislature the final bill is certified by the
• 25:00 - 25:30 comptroller's office and sent to the governor for signing vetoing or line item veto if the general appropriations bill is not certified by the comptroller it's returned to the house in which it originated the lion item veto also potentially gives the governor enormous power to limit expenditures in certain targeted areas the bill takes effect on september 1st in odd-numbered years with the state auditor's office monitoring agency compliance the governor and the lbb have the authority to
• 25:30 - 26:00 execute the budget which includes the power to shift funds between agency programs or between agencies if necessary when the legislature is not in session this power to execute the budget is an important one the texas state government cannot approve a budget deficit and must pass a balanced budget every two years the budgetary process is a complicated process full of uncertainty projecting program expenditures and tax revenue is difficult leading to a deficit or a surplus of funds
• 26:00 - 26:30 generally a surplus occurs when the comptroller underestimates revenues flowing into the state coffers the legislature must choose between cutting taxes spending more on existing programs creating new programs or moving money to the rainy day fund generally a budget deficit occurs when oil and gas prices drop unexpectedly leaving the legislature to reduce spending or raise taxes with a republican-dominated legislature the focus on keeping taxes and social
• 26:30 - 27:00 program spending low will continue programs that are expanded or added such as transportation will likely address the needs of the business community or the economy as a whole not all tax cuts or tax increases are the same different interests are served by different tax cuts or increases the process will remain complicated with different interests fighting for money passing a meaningful balanced budget is hard work involving many compromises and sacrifices
• 27:00 - 27:30 it's the hardest and most important work that the legislature engages in during every regular session if you're still having trouble trying to wrap your head around how difficult it is to make a budget for two years for the entire state think about making a budget that you have to stick to for the next two years or even just a year in your own home i think that a lot of us have a general idea of what our budget would be or at least i hope we would but to come up with an exact number that you have to stick to seems super crazy to me and i'm not sure
• 27:30 - 28:00 that i would be able to do a budget for two years public finance will continue to be an issue in the future because so much is uncertain about the future of national and international economies because texas relies on a sales tax a declining economy can result in consumers spending less money and affects sales tax revenue falling housing prices can adversely affect property tax revenue falling prices for oil and natural gas
• 28:00 - 28:30 can cut into severance tax revenues and the revenues flowing into the rainy day fund on the other hand if the tax revenue is higher than budgeted a surplus can lead to the rainy day fund growing tea party republicans see texas as the cutting edge of the national economy and will likely continue to dominate texas for many years to come four things define public finance first economic conditions look favorable in the short run assuring the state a healthy flow of
• 28:30 - 29:00 revenues from its complex structure of state and local taxes second there will be increased demands from the federal government for paying for expanded federal initiatives in health care third increased population will lead to increased demands on state agencies for services ranging from health care to roads to water and to public education fourth there is a growing anti-government feeling among portions of the population in texas that state government is too big already intensifying demands for expanded
• 29:00 - 29:30 services and the hard place of no new taxes may be the most difficult problem legislators face in the foreseeable future all right so let's go over our objectives explain the purpose of the state budget and what is typically included texas is required to operate within a balanced budget the budget can be considered in light of five revenue streams the general revenue funds the general revenue dedicated funds federal funds other
• 29:30 - 30:00 funds and all funds describe the general pattern of state spending in texas and where state revenue comes from texas spends less than the national average in a variety of policy areas including education and highway spending although texas does not have an income tax it has one of the highest sales taxes in the nation however the per capita revenue from these sales taxes is among the lowest in the nation property taxes in texas are among the
• 30:00 - 30:30 highest in the nation among other important state taxes are the natural gas production tax and the oil production and regulation tax although a controversial issue in the past a state income tax has little support either in the legislature or in the population as a whole texas also has on average fewer state employees per capita than other states describe how the money in the budget is organized into specific funds money flows into and out of a variety of
• 30:30 - 31:00 400 different funds controlled by the state among the most important are the general revenue fund the permanent school fund the highways the state highway fund and the economic stabilization fund also known as the rainy day fund the existence of these funds makes budgeting a complicated process outline the constitutional provisions that affect how the state budget is made there are many constitutional restrictions on the budget including the requirement for a biennial budget
• 31:00 - 31:30 a pay-as-you-go limit a welfare spending limit a limit on the growth of some appropriations rules on the spending of funds by state agencies and limitations on debt payable from the general revenue fund these restrictions play an important role in shaping the budget policy making process identify the steps players and political tensions in making the state budget in theory texas has a dual budget system
• 31:30 - 32:00 with budgeting shared by the governor and the legislature in reality the budget is the responsibility of the legislature there are a series of steps that the budget must go through to be passed by the legislature among the most important is the requirement that the texas comptroller certify the budget as being balanced at the beginning of the budgetary process the legislature can be faced with projected surpluses or projected deficits that call for very different responses in recent sessions budgetary politics
• 32:00 - 32:30 has been dominated by the republican party's desire to lower taxes and when necessary cut program spending all right so that is it for today's video thank you so much for joining me i really hope you learned something new today as always please remember to like and subscribe down below i hope you have a great day thanks bye