Texas Budget Surplus Bigger Than Expected
“The oil drilling boom’s impact on Texas coffers continues to outpace officials’ expectations, according to a report released by the Texas comptroller’s office on Thursday.
“Comptroller Susan Combs reported that Texas ended the 2012-13 biennium with a $2.6 billion surplus, more than double the $964 million surplus her office projected over the summer. The report also predicts that Texas taxes paid by energy development firms will be at least $2 billion more than earlier projections, resulting in $8 billion in the state’s piggy bank by 2015.
“The revisions means that the Rainy Day Fund could be more flush than expected for the 2015 legislative session, even after lawmakers backed measures asking voters to approve tapping the fund’s revenue stream for water and road projects.
“Last month, Texas voters approved transferring $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to a state water infrastructure bank. Earlier this year, state lawmakers also passed a measure that would require dedicating half of the future tax revenue currently earmarked for the Rainy Day Fund to the state highway fund. If voters approve a related constitutional amendment in November, the highway fund will receive an extra $1.38 billion in 2015, and the Rainy Day Fund will receive the same amount, according to Combs’ latest estimates.
“Under that scenario, the Rainy Day Fund will have a balance of $8.1 billion by the fall of 2015.
“Dale Craymer, president of the business-backed Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, said Combs’ projections are still ‘very conservative’ considering the economic activity coming from the oil and gas industry in South and West Texas in recent months.”
Paying the price for someone else’s religion
The story above is from the Texas Tribune.
I understand the indignation of people who don’t like it when other folks’ religions affect their lives. If I lived in one of the counties (or countries, like Germany[2]) where some stores are required to close or have limited hours on Sundays, I wouldn’t like it.
But, unfortunately, I live in a state in which the green religion trumps reason and translates into inane governance over and over again.
I’m looking at you, AB 32. I’m looking at you, California air board. I’m looking at you, Darrell Steinberg.
But will the media help me fight my persecution? Nah, they’re in on it. Never forget the fact that it wasn’t until March 2013[3] that the news pages of the Los Angeles Times mentioned that AB 32, adopted in 2006, was economically risky.
Here’s how pathetic that is: Even the air board acknowledged the economic risks of AB 32 before that, back in February 2012[4].
The L.A. Times: Even more in the tank for green cultists than the California Air Resources Board.
As I wrote earlier this year …
“If reverse Pulitzers were given for coverage of a major issue, the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of AB 32 wouldn’t just be the winner. It would be recalled as the 1927 New York Yankees or the 1996 Chicago Bulls of horrible journalism.
“Or, as the kids say, epic fail.”