Texas Governor Spoke to All Taxpayers In His State of the State Speech

Today Governor Rick Perry put a face on the Texas taxpayer.

In his State of the State speech at the Capitol today, Gov. Perry gave Texas taxpayers the message they wanted to hear. With talk of a looming $9.9 billion state budget shortfall, Gov. Perry vowed not to raise taxes.

Gov. Perry talked to families when he vowed to set spending priorities and live within the available funds, just as families are doing.

The Governor vowed to closely examine all state spending, saying his zero-based budgeting approach will require that all spending be justified and closely scrutinized.

Gov. Perry said he wanted to end Robin Hood and spoke to parents and teachers vowing to put more of our education dollars toward education, not litigation when he talked about providing teachers with relief from the threat of frivolous lawsuits. He also said teachers should be compensated for school supplies.

The Governor stressed the importance of education, economic development and fiscal responsibility. He also vowed to address the insurance issue and vowed to address medical malpractice with a $200,000 cap on non-economic damages.

The Governor has articulated his priorities, which Texans share, and has established a process for state spending which Texans can live with.

At a time when state spending will be cut and new priorities set, citizens must be vigilant in reminding elected officials that the dollars they are spending are not public dollars, but are taxpayer dollars. Special interests will be fighting to keep every program and for every dollar currently allocated, but it is the taxpayer who foots the bill.