Chapter 11 Flashcards
Texas is considered a _________________ state.
low tax–low service
The Texas Constitution requires the state to maintain a
balanced budget.
The “pay-as-you-go limit” in the Texas budgeting process means
that the comptroller must certify that all bills proposed in the legislature are within available budget limit projections.
In theory, Texas has a “dual-budget” system, which means that the responsibility for preparing an initial draft of the budget is shared by the ____________ and the ____________.
governor; legislature
The organization that was created by a 1949 law to recommend appropriations for all agencies of state government is the
Legislative Budget Board (LBB).
The most important single tax financing by the Texas government is the
sales tax.
One of the attractive features of Texas to businesses has always been the absence of a(n) _____ tax.
income
Supporters of an income tax in Texas argue that it would
reduce the regressive nature of the Texas tax system, which falls too heavily on lower-income individuals.
Next to taxes, the second largest source of revenue for Texas is
federal funds.
Texas’s largest single state expenditure is that for
public education.
The second-largest expenditure by the state is for
health and human services.
The _____ budget is a nondedicated revenue account and is Texas’s primary operating fund where most state taxes and fees flow.
General Revenue Funds
Many of the funds in the Texas state budget lie
outside the direct control of the state legislature.
Among the 50 states, where does Texas rank on per capita state government expenditures?
at the bottom
In order for a personal income tax to be put in place in Texas,
the measure would have to be approved by voters in the state first.
At 6.25%, the state sales tax in Texas is
one of the highest in the country.
A major source of nontax revenue comes from
a settlement the state reached with tobacco companies.
The official name of the Rainy Day Fund in Texas is actually the
Economic Stabilization Fund.
The _____ Fund was established through a state constitutional amendment in order to provide funding for universities seeking to achieve national prominence as research institutions.
National Research University
According to the authors of the textbook, probably the biggest constraint on the budgetary process has to do with
time limits.
The Welfare Spending Limit in Article III, Section 51a of the Texas Constitution provides that the amount of money the state pays to or on behalf of needy dependent children and their caretakers not exceed _____ percent of the state budget in any biennium.
one
The Texas legislature addressed the 2011 budget crisis by
making spending cuts concentrated in education and health care.
Which office is responsible for advising the Texas governor on fiscal matters?
the Governor’s Office of Budget, Planning, and Policy
What information provides the basis for the Legislative Budgeting Board’s funding recommendations for each state agency?
the agency’s strategic plan
Aside from the Great Recession, what was the other major cause of the financial shortfall faced by the 2011 state legislature?
property tax reform
