If the legislature won't give us appraisal caps and spending limits, then I guess it is up to private citizens to ask the courts to enforce a proision of the Texas Constitution that has lain dormant ever since it was passed 28 years ago.

A Houston taxpayer group said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that legislative leaders have repeatedly violated a state spending limit in the Texas Constitution.

Edd Hendee, executive director of Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes, sued Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Tom Craddick, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and the Legislative Budget Board.

"The limitations in the constitution need to be defended against Republican leadership that has fallen intoxicatingly into this habit of spending more money than the constitution allows," said Hendee, a restaurant owner and a KSEV radio talk-show host.

He is asking the court to enforce a provision approved by Texas voters in 1978. The section states that the growth in appropriations shall not exceed the growth in the state's economy.

The lawsuit, filed in Travis County state district court, alleges the Legislative Budget Board has used artificially robust estimates of economic growth to justify high spending limits. The board, made up of Dewhurst, Craddick and other legislative leaders, develops recommendations for state agency appropriations.

Hendee wants a judge to declare the recently passed school finance appropriations unconstitutional. The Legislature spent nearly half of the state's $8.2 billion surplus to cover initial property tax cuts, a teacher pay raise and new high school spending.

CLOUT has been critical of a new state business tax enacted to help pay for property tax cuts.

Now the attack on the school funding plan concerns me, as it could lead to the closure of Texas schools if granted. But I do believe that the proper outcome would be some sort of constraints upon the state spending, in accordance with the state Constitution.

A copy of the suit may be found here.

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 339 words, total size 2 kb.