At the State Fair Governor's Luncheon in Tampa on Monday, Governor Rick Scott repeated his mantra that Texas, under Governor Rick Perry, has been the best state in the nation at economic development.
"Texas has done a better job of building jobs than any place in the country by a long shot," he said
Scott is correct that Texas has seen more job growth and less unemployment than most states in the country in these recessionary years, but the bill is coming due to the Lone Star state soon: According to the Texas comptroller, Texas is expected to have a $27 billion deficit over the 2012-2013 period.
The New York Times' Paul Krugman wrote this in early January:
What about the budget? The truth is that the Texas state government has relied for years on smoke and mirrors to create the illusion of sound finances in the face of a serious structural budget deficit that is, a deficit that persists even when the economy is doing well. When the recession struck, hitting revenue in Texas just as it did everywhere else, that illusion was bound to collapse.
The only thing that let Gov. Rick Perry get away, temporarily, with claims of a surplus was the fact that Texas enacts budgets only once every two years, and the last budget was put in place before the depth of the economic downturn was clear. Now the next budget must be passed and Texas may have a $25 billion hole to fill. Now what?
Given the complete dominance of conservative ideology in Texas politics, tax increases are out of the question. So it has to be spending cuts.