Texas Rainy Day Fund

 

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Tea Party 911 Alert!

 

 

Texas Rainy Day Fund - HANDS OFF!

Texas Rainy Day Fund - Tea Party 911 Alert!
Updated March 4, 2011

Calling all Patriots! Time to contact Texas Legislators about the Rainy Day Fund and tell them HANDS OFF!

Read more about the Texas Rainy Day Fund (Economic Stabilization Fund)


Action Item - Sign Petition

Sign the petition to stop Texas from raiding the Rainy Day Fund!(Set up by the NE Tarrant Tea Party)

http://www.petitiononline.com/NETTP1/petition.html

The Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund, was established by the Texas legislature to provide funds for unexpected emergencies. The education budget is a known and continuing expense. The current budget situation requires a long-term, responsible solution. The Rainy Day Fund is a spending source that will not support ongoing obligations. Using this money depletes the fund and does not address the root problem of excessive spending. Holding the line on spending will not be easy. It will require establishing thoughtful priorities and the realization that we can no longer afford the level of spending we have had in the past. In these difficult economic times it makes no sense to spend our savings account and still be left with the same budgetary predicament.

The Rainy Day Fund is for unexpected, one-time emergencies. Please sign this petition now to let Texas legislators know that the current budget deficit does not rise to the level that justifies raiding the Rainy Day Fund.


Hand Delivered Letters to Representatives (Free Service by EmpowerTexans)

The written word remains the most powerful way to communicate with your elected officials. As postage rates soar and letters crawl through the system, e-mail is a tempting alternative. But spam, technical glitches, and a host of other problems make it an unreliable means of communication.

To help you be effective in your communications, EmpowerTexans is happy to provide this format for writing letters. Simply choose who want to send the letter to (even if you don't know who your state representative or senator is, we can take care of adding that), write your note on any subject, and EmpowerTexans will hand-deliver it to their Austin office.

Write a letter to be hand delivered to a Representative in Texas


Contact Texas Representatives via Phone, Email, or Fax

To contact your Texas Representatives go to this link to find phone & fax numbers:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/

Please contact not only your own representative, but every rep in the Appropriations Committee!

Jim Pitts | Sylvester Turner | Jim Aycock | Angie Button | Warren Chisum | Myra Crownover | Drew Darby | Dawnna Dukes | Craig Eiland | Helen Giddings | Lance Gooden | Scott Hochberg | Eric Johnson | Susan King | Dee Margo | Armando Martinez | Ruth McClendon | Doug Miller | Geanie Morrison | John Otto | Diane Patrick | Debbie Riddle | Charles Schwertner | Mark Shelton | Raul Torres | Mike Villarreal | John Zerwas


What Is the Economic Stabilization Fund? (Rainy Day Fund)

In 1987 the Texas legislature wisely began the process of creating a fund to prepare for a possible fiscal crises. The result was the Economic Stabilization Fund commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund. Revenue for the fund is provided by taxation on production from the oil and gas industry. Quoting directly from the bill, “The comptroller may transfer money from the economic stabilization fund to general revenue to prevent or eliminate a temporary cash deficiency in general revenue.” Texas lawmakers clearly intended to apply this resource to temporary situations and not to ongoing budget obligations.

There is a revenue shortfall and now legislators and members of the media are seeking the easy solution instead of making difficult, but necessary choices. The head of every household knows that when the family’s expenses grow beyond income the solution is not to drain the savings account and demand a pay raise. The obvious response is to cut expenses and to change spending habits. State government spending has increased dramatically and considering the trajectory it is unsustainable. Looming over all of this bad economic news is the impending fiscal crises created by “ObamaCare” mandates. This will accelerate future spending even further. Additionally, there may be unintended consequences resulting from the massive changes the federal government is requiring in Medicare and Medicaid. With all of this uncertainty it is irresponsible to deplete the Rainy Day Fund.

Every state in the country is facing tough economic times. Until we get our fiscal house in order we must recognize that there are some things we will have to do without. The state will need to preserve its financial flexibility for as long as possible. People have lost confidence in government and institutions and are looking for competent leadership to solve these problems. This is an opportunity for courageous legislators to emerge, restore faith, and lead this state and our country to a better future. Now is the time to create conditions and form policy that will enable economic growth. It is important to spread our message and to convince our citizens through logic and reason that personal responsibility, fiscal responsibility and limited government intrusion is the best course of action.

We must convey to legislators and members of the media that we expect fiscally responsible action. If they have strong support from citizens they may find the courage to make painful budget and program cuts. That is why this petition is important. The whole point of the Rainy Day Fund is to have it there for an emergency.

http://www.petitiononline.com/NETTP1/petition.html

Tom Moore
NE Tarrant Tea Party
March 1, 2011


Blog about the Economic Stabilization Fund

The question posted on the GrassrootsTexans.net blog is "Should the Texas Legislature Cut Spending, or Raid the Rainy Day Fund?"

Where do YOU stand on this question?

SOUND OFF at GrassrootsTexans.net!


Conservatives, let them hear from you today. They ARE hearing from the liberals!


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