(Editor’s note: Every week, for the remainder of the legislative session, BurkaBlog will be publishing an original column by R.G. Ratcliffe, who was the state political reporter for the Houston Chronicle for twenty years. During those two decades, I’ve known R.G., who resigned from the Chronicle in February to work on a book, to be one of the most trusted voices in the Capitol press corps. I’m thrilled to have him posting here. His columns will offer a deeper take on one of the week’s top stories. –P.B.)

This session’s budget crunch has turned into a twisted episode of “The Biggest Loser,” the reality television show in which overweight contestants compete to see who can lose the most weight. At the Capitol, the question is, which parts of our state budget will lose the most money in the plans being floated to bridge the $27 billion shortfall. Who will be our biggest loser? Most of the attention has been on teachers, children, and the elderly in nursing homes. Rallies at the capitol and heavy coverage on the nightly news about the impending disaster these groups could face from state cuts have put them at the forefront of the debate. But as the House prepares to vote on a bare bones available-revenue-only proposal next week, there’s another, more often overlooked contestant on the show—Texas’ 154,000 state employees, many of whom could face effective wage cuts of up to 40 percent under current Texas budget plans.

Who are these folks? Well, they are child protection caseworkers, prison guards, tax auditors and rank and file bureaucrats. They work for the government. In a staunchly fiscal conservative, Tea Party world, these employees are often viewed skeptically. (more…)

Tagged: employee retirement system, health insurance, jim pitts, public sector, state budget, state workers, Texas house

So the retired teachers and state employees will not get their $500 checks, which was previously going to be a 13th check. The news has been greeted by silence by the state’s leaders. They cover for each other. Somebody clearly made a mistake here. Why isn’t anyone interested in getting to the bottom of this? One reason, I suspect, is that the budget writers and the governor are only too happy to have the money remain in limbo where it can be used next session to help fill the budget hole. Here’s my list of suspects:

1. The Legislative Budget Board. They put the budget together. They are supposed to know how this stuff works.
2. Ogden and Duncan. They were lead budget writers for the Senate. Duncan had responsibility for the retirement system. They never were thrilled about the idea of giving out the checks.
3. On the House side, Pitts and Truitt. He’s the chairman of Appropriations; she’s a lackluster chair of Pensions, Investments, & Financial Services.
4. Shapiro, Eissler, Hochberg. They’re the lawmakers who are responsible for the education side.
5. Combs. She’s the comptroller. The money was sent to her. She could have caught the mistake before certifying the budget. Knowing how the money is supposed to be handed out is part of her job description.
6. Abbott. He always gives the leadership what they want. Clever of him to issue his opinion on the Monday before Thanksgiving when nobody is paying much attention.

This is the problem with a one-party state in which the governor and lieutenant governor have been in office forever. Oversight is nonexistent. Nobody wants to rock the boat. Nobody wants to turn over any rocks. Just get reelected. Is Straus going to be a party to this conspiracy of silence?

Tagged: employee retirement system, teacher retirement system