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Replacing Property Taxes with Sales Taxes is the Wrong Answer for Texas Families and Public Schools

Anonymous on August 7, 2012 - 2:59pm

Public education is the foundation of our democracy and the engine of our economy, and Texans have a collective responsibility to ensure that public education is adequately supported. This responsibility needs to be fairly distributed among Texas families in a way that supports economic growth. Recently, some have proposed that Texas replace local school property taxes, or even all local property taxes, by increasing the rate of the state sales tax or expanding the sales tax to more goods and services. Such a tax swap would be a bad deal for businesses, families, and public education.

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What We Know About the Medicaid Expansion

Anonymous on July 31, 2012 - 6:42pm

The U.S. Supreme Court's June 28 decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could benefit Texas more than any other state, offering an opportunity to dramatically improve uninsured rates, increase family economic security, and reduce uncompensated care burdens. Legal experts say that the only change to the ACA was the removal of a full loss of federal Medicaid funds as a potential penalty for states denying coverage to U.S. citizen adults in 2014--all other Medicaid provisions remain in effect.

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With One of Every 11 Kids Calling Texas Home, New Report Ranks State Low for Child Well-Being

Anonymous on July 24, 2012 - 4:58pm

Texas ranks 44th among the states in overall child health and well-being, according to data released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Click here to the full presentation on the KIDS Count Data Book.

Click here to access our webinar recording on the KIDS COUNT Data Book (audio and visual).

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Essential Health Benefits in Texas

Anonymous on July 23, 2012 - 4:48pm

Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that health insurance plans for individuals and small businesses contain "essential health benefits" – a new floor for benefits that will help ensure people have comprehensive coverage. Essential Health Benefits (EHB) must also be included in the benefit package offered through the Medicaid expansion to adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level starting in 2014.

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Statement: National Task Force Calls for Reform of State Tax and Budget Systems

Anonymous on July 17, 2012 - 2:30pm

Texas one of six states studied in detail (AUSTIN, Texas)--The State Budget Crisis Task Force, a national blue-ribbon group convened by Richard Ravitch and Paul Volcker to study state tax and budget issues, released its recommendations today at a press conference in Washington, D.C.  Texas was one of six states studied in detail. We have closely followed the work of the task force.  Several of its recommendations are important for our state.

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