Reality Check For Perry & Strayhorn

The Bell campaign last night sent out a helpful “fact check” on the debate.

Here are some of the claims & “fact checks:”

Perry’s claim tonight: “What we were successfully able to do was… lowering property taxes by a record amount.”

Reality Check: The property tax cut is an illusion.

Statewide, the average homeowner will only receive a $150 tax cut this year – less than $8 percent of the $2,000 promised by Rick Perry’s TV ad.

According to the Harris County Tax Collector-Assessor, the average homeowner living in the Houston Independent School District with a house assessed at $160,000 will pay $140 more in property taxes this year, for a 4.2 percent increase over last year.

Strayhorn’s Claim Tonight: That she did not break her promise not to take campaign cash from those with business before her office.  [“Chris, you’re absolutely incorrect on that.”]

Reality Check: When asked if she would take contributions from companies with business before the comptroller’s office, Strayhorn answered:  “When you’ve got these huge tax matters, I would not. I would also instruct my campaign staff not to take contributions from anyone with a pending tax matter.”

A 2005 state audit reported that Carole Strayhorn gave $461 million in favorable tax rulings to companies whose representatives had given almost $2 million in contributions to her campaign account.

In 2006, Strayhorn gave the largest tax refund in state history – nearly $130 million dollars – to Texas Instruments, who was represented by Strayhorn’s single largest donor.

Also, I recall Strayhorn saying something like, “There are 2200 cases pending at one time, you couldn’t possibly know who they all are.” Uh, but you sure as hell could check.

Rick Perry’s Claim Tonight:  “I was proud to announce a $10 billion infrastructure development in wind energy that will continue to keep us moving forward, giving us the diversity and the ability to bring down electric rates.”

The Reality: Rick Perry’s energy policy has driven up prices and harmed the environment.
As Lt. Governor, Rick Perry pushed deregulation.  Perry pushed the deregulation bill through the Senate early in the session despite the controversy surrounding the plan.

Wholesale electricity prices have skyrocketed an astonishing 293 percent in Texas since deregulation.

Perry has ordered the fast-tracking of permits for 17 new coal-fired power plants.  11 of these plants belong to TXU, and these 11 plants alone will generate 9,079 megawatts of energy and 78 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

By contrast, renewable energy, which includes wind, solar and water sources, powers only 3 percent of the state’s electrical needs.

Rick Perry’s Claim: “Texas is a tough on crime state.”

The Reality Check: The crime rate for the state of Texas is 23.41% higher than the national average. There are 738,000 adults under correctional supervision in Texas and the correctional supervision rate is 34.87% higher than the national average.

Rick Perry’s Claim: “I think our public schools are doing a wonderful job.

The Reality: A study by the Intercultural Development Research Association found that 36 percent of the 2001-02 freshman class left school prior to graduating in the 2004-05 school year.
Texas ranks 48th among all states in average SAT scores.

Bill Haney, professor at Boston College’s Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy, says:  “There are a lot of ways to raise average test scores without improving the actual learning of students.  Unfortunately, that’s what seems to be happening in Texas.”

Rick Perry’s Claim: “What Texans really want to see is that budget reform, from the standpoint of making sure that every dollar that is dedicated to a particular agency goes to that agency.”

The Reality: Over $10 billion from gas taxes have been diverted from the state’s main transportation fund in order to fund unrelated pet projects.  These project included cemetery construction, tourism promotion, and State Capitol maintenance.
Of the $101 million bond issued for park infrastructure improvements under Proposition 8 in 2001, Texas state parks received $36.7 million from the bond for 2001-2002, nothing for 2003-2004, and only $18.1 million of the requested $50 million in bond money for 2005-2006.

At the end of FY 2005, $60.7 million of hunting and fishing license fees remained unappropriated in Account 9, the Game, Fish and Water Safety Account.  According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, there will be an estimated $50 million remaining in the account at the end of FY 2006.

Instead of going towards city and local park improvement, Rick Perry and the Legislature have kept millions of unappropriated dollars in Account 647, General Revenue – Texas Recreation and Parks that were specifically dedicated for local parks.  Local parks received 53 percent ($16.3 million) for the 2004-2005 biennium and only 34 percent ($10.5 million) for 2006-2007.  According to the LBB, since the reduction of appropriations in 2004, Account 647’s unappropriated balances have grown to an estimated $55.3 million.

The state charges Texans a $20 dollar vehicle title transfer fee and raises money through registration and inspection surcharges for commercial vehicles and through a fee on the sale or lease of off-road diesel equipment.  The state left $314 million sitting in the account at the end of this budget cycle.

In Sep. 2005, Rick Perry emptied the $427 million from the System Benefit Fund and as a result 363,317 low income households in Texas were denied utility rate relief.(Source: Public Utilities Commission of Texas.

Strayhorn Claims:  “I have my same core values that have always been” —Carole Strayhorn in response to a question about her inconsistencies.

The Reality Check: Strayhorn backed a voucher measure in 1999 and even got in hot water for using state letterhead to raise money for Leininger’s pro-voucher think tank.

But after she announced for Governor and began courting teachers unions, she announced that she was now against vouchers and promised to veto any voucher legislation.
“She has been pro-choice on abortion, although she now says she opposes abortion personally and would rule out tax dollars for its practice.” (Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 1985, “Is party switch of former Austin mayor part of a trend or merely opportunism?”)
As comptroller, she recommended repeatedly that Texas should “build more toll roads.”
But tonight, she repeated her rant about the Trans Texas Corridor, without admitting her role in pushing toll roads.
Strayhorn was such a strong advocate for the bill that led to CHIP budget cuts and the privatization of the Medicaid call centers that the bill’s sponsor, Arlene Wohlgemuth, has called her “The Grandma of HB 2292.”

Now that she’s running for Governor, Carole Strayhorn is calling for full restoration of the CHIP budget.

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Each and every one of the reality checks have a cited source as well. However, for the sake of better reading, I’ve pulled those out.

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