Four-day workweeks, or even forced furloughs, for state employees? A projected budget deficit, for next year, of 10 percent of the total budget, perhaps more?
We're in California, right? Arizona? Nevada? Or, if not in a Sunbelt housing bubble state, we're in Michigan? Ohio?
Nope, we're in Texas, and those dire warnings of state belt-tightening come from Speaker of the House Joe Straus.
Dire enough that a leading House Republican is both talking the truth, beyond Straus, about the degree of the deficit, and increasing his push for legalized gambling.
Gov. Rick Perry likes to talk about his jobs creation, the state's low-tax nature and other things, but here's the truth.
Texas may not have a state income tax, but it has one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation. At the local level, your city, county and school district property tax bill will be among the highest in the nation. And, in the years since the GOP has gotten control of both houses of the Lege, "fees," or taxes under another name, have increased, increased and increased.
As for income? Texas has one of the highest rich-poor gaps of any state in the country. It has the highest uninsured rate of any state.
It has a dysfunctional state government, with an anachronistic Legislature that not only is a part-time critter, but meets only every other year!
A part-time, but annual, legislature would be bad enough, but this is horrible. Yes, various committees are holding hearings, etc., but unless Tricky Ricky Perry wants to risk his re-election, and put his campaign fundraising on hold while it would be in session, there will be no special session of the Legislature. Texas will have to wait to officially address its problems by legislative votes until next year.
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