Thursday, December 08, 2005

Texas Tax Reform Commission And The "Average Joe"

Join us as two old college buddies and political rivals join together to solve the problems with the tax structure in Texas by harnessing "..the expertise of the leaders of the state's diverse and thriving private sector..", in the feel good hit of the year.

Then follow up that highjinx with the drama, Sorry State, which is a tale of three disgraces:
  • It's a disgrace: Last year Texas was the only state in the union spending less per pupil on public schools than the previous year.
  • A double disgrace: The chief school finance legislation advanced by GOP leadership last spring would barely provide enough to schools to match inflation and meet enrollment growth.
  • With the obligations faced in educating our children, it was a triple disgrace that property tax relief appeared to be Priority 1 for the 79th Legislature. And as proposed, tax reforms wouldn't have sufficiently spread the business burden or raised enough money to meet our schools' needs.
And what could happen if the "..average Joe.." would show up for the meetings. As you see today's "average Joe" meeting was cancelled due to bad weather. It's probably just as we, I'm not sure how man "average Joe's" - I assume they mean people with families, jobs, etc.. - could have showed up on a Thursday at these times? Another thing about the Texas Tax Reform Commission (TTRC) is that they don't appear to have a website. (I haven't been able to find one or anything on the Governor's website. If someone knows of something please let me know). If they had a website - like just about everything and everyone has nowadays - the "average Joe" could go and read hearing transcripts, see upcoming dates and plan for the hearings, and all sorts of other information would hopefully be available. It would allow a place for every citizne of Texas that wanted to to keep up to date on what the TTRC is up to, I'm mean doing. Just a thought.

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