The necessity to plan the budget is evident and undeniable, especially in conditions of democratic states. It not only helps to arrange the possible and predicted expenditures effectively and organize saving accounts, but also contributes to the trust in the government from the population (Senate Research Centre, 2017). It is crucial to demonstrate to the citizenry that their money paid in taxes improves the life of the entire state. In addition, such accountability allows the population to make their own proposals and highlight the spheres, which require considerable funding. This opportunity is extremely valuable for the function of a democratic country (Senate Research Centre, 2017). As for Texas, it is a large state within the United States of America. Therefore, planning its budget rationally is a matter of importance, as legislators should take into consideration the interests of a vast number of people. As a representative of the 22nd Congressional District, I should analyze the needs of the populations specifically and pay attention to pressing concerns. This way, the purpose of the paper is to review the current plan, consider the priorities of my congressional district, and address them.
The Current Plan
First of all, it is essential to mention the priories, which were highlighted during negotiations at the Texas Capitol on the topic of public programs, which should receive funding. Walters & Cameron reported that the total budget for 2020-2021 was considered to be $251 billion, and this sum does not include the Texas saving account (2019). In addition, Texas lawmakers regarded the field of school funds and teacher salaries as one of the most important expenditure items. According to Walters & Cameron, it was decided to “increase base funding for each student by $1,020 and let school districts determine staff pay raises” from the final budget (2019, para. 6). The House and Senate arranged to spend around $11.6 billion on new school funds and tax reduction (Walters, 2019).
Property tax relief is among other spheres, which appeared to be the most crucial in 2020-2121. After the ineffectiveness of the sales tax increase for cutting property tax, the proposal for supplying additional funding was preferred. $5 billion is planned to be spent for reaching this aim. Such a measure will allow to reduce the payments on “average 8 cents per $100 property valuation in 2020 and 13 cents in 2021” (Walters & Cameron, 2019, para. 7). Therefore, this decision is supposed to be more beneficial than the previous one.
$66.5 billion was agreed to be invested in the healthcare field. The final budget included the proposal to receive $900 million from the federal-state insurance program for the citizenry with low income and disabled people in order to realize cost containment. Moreover, $4.4 billion was allocated to mental and behavioral health needs. This sphere was also arranged to be funded from the state saving account for supplying the hospitals with appropriate equipment. Other fields, which were considered to be prior in 2020-2121, are early childhood intervention, judicial salaries, prison guard and parole officer pay raises, community attendant pay, and adult protective services pay raises. In general, the expenditures for the aforementioned needs are planned to be $833,2.
The Health Care Field
At the current moment, it is possible to review the budget plan, which was discussed in 2019, and propose some changes in accordance with today’s real events. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the economics of the entire world. It is worthy to note that the U. S. was in the first place in the context of the number of infected citizens. Therefore, the impact of coronavirus in present-day developments should not be underestimated. Apart from the overload in the health care system, the population had to encounter considerable economic hardships, as lockdown prevented the majority of them from working as usual. This way, this factor appears to be the most meaningful one when offering some changes in the budget plan.
Consequently, it is essential to increase funding in the health care field. Suppling the population with individual protective gear and all the state public institutions on a regular basis requires significant expenditures. Apart from that, it was obligatory to install additional lung ventilators in hospitals and provide infected patients with total isolation. The more people catch coronavirus, the more beds in hospitals were required. At the peak of the epidemic, specialists were in high demand, and for this reason, reprofiling was established. The 22nd Congressional District was among the regions, who suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic considerably. Therefore, considering the mentioned factors, the necessity to increase the investments in this sphere at least twice becomes apparent.
However, it should also be highlighted that according to the Constitution, the budget of Texas should be balanced. For this reason, it is essential to propose the spheres, which can be supposed less prior during this period (House Research Organization, 2019). Although the country has to rise to a serious challenge in order to supply the common well-being, the planned expenditures on salary increase can be postponed till the moment of the invention of the vaccine. These arrangements are important in the long run, though it is crucial to address the consequences of the pandemic at first. Otherwise, there will be no possibility to realize the plans for a salary increase at all.
The Economic Status of the Population
As has been mentioned above, the spreading of new infection affected not only the public health, but also the economic status of the population. A great number of people had to stop working under the necessity to maintain self-isolation. In addition, businesses suffered from the coronavirus prevention measures too. Some of them, for instance, bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, hotels, and others, had to restrict their operation to a large extent, which decreased the revenue significantly. However, there are some companies, which stop their working processes at all. This regards museums, cinemas, tour agencies, holiday organizators, and other businesses connected with large crowds of people.
All the citizens should receive financial support from the local authorities, such as concise payments, which are equal to the minimum wage. In addition, businesses, especially the small and medium ones, which are widespread in the 22nd Congressional District, should be given some privileges during this tough period. One possible approach implies supplying the enterprisers, who had to suffer from the pandemic to a large extent, the opportunity not to pay the taxes for this year. Although this measure may result in a budget decline in the next year, it would be beneficial in the long run. Company operation is essential for preventing the considerable economic recession, and the measures presented above would definitely contribute to the rapid recovery.
The approximate sum of realization of this approach is $3 billion. This amount of money can be saved on organizing public events, such as A City Day and others. These days, they are restricted due to the threat of spreading of COVID-19. Moreover, a part of this sum may be borrowed from the saving account, as this measure regards emergency situations. Although it is not advisable to use the money from the saving account, this action will be useful in improving the current economic situation.
Education
The pandemic conditions resulted in the need for the organization of distant education both for schools and universities. Before this event, it was not a common sight, and for this reason, it is essential to adjust to the current reality. In order to realize the learning program, all the teachers should be supplied with appropriate technologies, such as laptops, headphones, and other devices. In addition, all the state educational institutions should be provided with special platforms, where they can conduct lessons, post the tasks, and communicate with the students. Apart from that, there is a need to purchase some monitoring systems for organizing examinations. Therefore, state schools, colleges, and universities should receive additional funding on establishing distant learning of high quality. For this reason, the changes in the budget can be applied, and the plans for school funds can be redirected to address the issues, which were outlined earlier.
Conclusion
In summary, Texas local authorities considered all the needs of the populations while planning the budget for the two years in 2019. They decided to give priority to the school funds, teacher salary increase, property tax reduction, Medicaid funding, investments in mental and behavioral health, and other spheres. However, the necessity to conduct some changes in accordance with the pandemic conditions is evident. The budget expenditures should address the negative consequences of coronavirus infection and supply the health care field, the population, and the organization of the educational process with financial support.
References
Senate Research Centre. (2017). Budget 101: A guide to the budget process in Texas.
House Research Organization. (2019). The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed budget for fiscal 2020-21.
Walters, E. (2019). Texas House, Senate approve budget deal with agreements on school finance, property taxes, Hurricane Harvey recovery. The Texas Tribune.
Walters, E., & Cameron, D. (2019). From property taxes to teacher pay, here’s how the Texas Legislature handled spending priorities. The Texas Tribune.