One of the many television attack ads state Sen. Dan Patrick aired last spring in his successful bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor cited a 2013 Wall Street Journal editorial that called on Gov. Rick Perry to veto the state budget passed last year because it had too much spending.
“All you need to know about the lieutenant governor’s current budget is every Democrat praised and voted for it. As a conservative Republican, I didn’t,” Patrick says in the ad, vowing to “cut property taxes for all Texans.”
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BUDGET SURPLUS ESTIMATES
- Texas Taxpayers and Research Association: $5.2 billion
- Center for Public Policy Priorities: $6 billion
- Texas Public Policy Foundation: $10 billion
ANNUAL COST OF THE “FOUR WANTS”
- Tax cuts ($5 billion to repeal franchise tax on businesses; varying amounts to increase franchise tax exemptions and for property tax cuts)
- More money for roads ($3.3 billion)
- More money for public schools ($2 billion in unrestored 2011 cuts; plaintiffs in lawsuit asking for $6.4 billion more)
- Paying down state debt ($1.9 billion a year for road debt)
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