80th Legislature: That Pesky Tax Rebate

It seems as though every other story filed by a major media outlet concerning the Texas Legislature either has to do with the “hamburger bill” or the idea of a “tax rebate.” To wit:

GOP Gov. Rick Perry thinks lawmakers should be allowed to rebate money directly to taxpayers, but the check is far from in the mail.

Legislative leaders who are miles short of embracing the idea are concerned about the state’s ability to make good on already-promised school property tax relief and other obligations despite billions in projected new revenue. Some wonder how rebates could be calculated fairly.

Asked what he thinks about the rebate idea, which Perry more than two weeks ago declared an emergency item, Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, replied, “Not much.”

Ogden’s low opinion of the rebate idea should be shared by anyone with any shred of common sense left. Since Texas doesn’t have an income tax, rebating the surplus to the people who actually paid into the state (mostly, for individuals, through sales tax) would be as close to impossible as you can get. That is, unless Comptroller Susan Combs would like to invite every Texan to head down to Austin with a shoebox full of Wal-Mart receipts to prove how much sales tax they paid.

The organizations that provide red meat for conservatives to feast on by the truckload have already come out in favor of rebates, which means that they and Governor Perry are riding the same bandwagon off the same cliff.

The idea of “tax rebates” to anyone is particularly off-putting given that much of the “surplus” actually exists as a result of carryover from past shrunken budgets, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities.

This is “feast or faminie” budgeting. We cut spending so drastically that our most important needs aren’t met (i.e. kicking thousands of kids of child health insurance) and then a couple of years later have a massive “surplus” that every ultra-conservative under the Texas sun wants to “give back” to the taxpayers.

Here’s an idea: give back by putting back. Fully fund CHIP, and do something about the state’s healthcare crisis.