GOP Rep says the 2011 Leg increased state spending on education; Truth-o-meter: Pants On Fire
In a letter to constituents, state Rep. Myra Crownover strikes a familiar Republican chord by suggesting the 2011 Legislature dealt with tough times without shorting Texas public schools.
Crownover’s message, which a reader pointed out to us on her campaign website in January 2012, says: "Most importantly, we balanced the state's budget with the first overall decrease in state spending in 50 years. We also were able to increase state spending on Education by $1.6 Billion even in the face of the worst recession in decades."
We wondered if Crownover, R-Denton, was right about state education aid going up while the Republican-majority Legislature balanced the 2012-13 budget without a tax increase. That’s proved a common refrain from some Republicans including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate.
Crownover’s chief of staff, Kevin Cruser, provided a statement from Crownover pointing out that lawmakers last year wrote the budget after learning the state would reap $27 billion less in tax revenue over the two years than it would need to maintain "current services" spending, which takes into account the impact of growing demands in major funding areas including education, health and human services and employee benefits, according to the December 2011 "Fiscal Size-up" report by the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Board.
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2012/feb/20/myra-crownover/myra-crownover-says-2011-legislature-increased-sta/
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