🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊 @DeLunaEva Twitter profile

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

7 years

Federal budget decisions affect millions of Americans. Here in Texas, federal taxes make up 33% of the #txbudget , and 15% of the state economy (GDP) through critical income, education, and health supports.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

@DavidGilbertCCM Everyone should make one. So much better than business cards.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Welp. There goes that long-standing excuse of, "See, it's OK to pay teachers and other school staff less in Texas, because it's SO much cheaper to live here." No, it's not, and in many cities across the state, it hasn't been, for years now. #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

That's why we pay for public schools with taxes. Voucher proponents who say they merely "get their $ back" don't understand: vouchers will be paid for with state General Revenue. A family that gets vouchers for 4 kids: $32,000 a year. WAY more than their state taxes/fees paid.

Fred Cantu

@fredcantu

11 months

LOST IN THE ESA/VOUCHER DEBATE— The TX constitution speaks to public education as a benefit to society, but vouchers appear to focus on education as a benefit to the individual.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

"Large" voucher as in, $8,000 per student. Almost TWICE the amount of state revenue on average per public school pupil, according to TEA. Honestly, folks, that voucher proposal is 🐂💩 #txlege #txed

Kristi Hassett

@hassettfive

1 year

HB100-The Senate, of course, has added a large voucher onto the teeny, tiny teacher increase they are offering. #txlege only wants to help #txed if we give them vouchers. Rotten deal. Call your senators; say no to vouchers & yes to using some of the surplus $ to help public ed.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

@ProfNunoPerez @DevinCow @laloalcaraz Someone merits a swift kick in the dairy-erre for that one. Leche me come up with an even worse one...🐮

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Straight from TEA. On average, state revenue per student in a public school was less than $4,200 in state fiscal 2022. SB 1 proposes $8,000 voucher.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

TX has had public school choice for almost 3 decades. The most widely used, state-authorized charters, costs #txbudget $4.3 B in 2023-24. Vouchers aren't "public school choice," in the same way that asking TX taxpayers to subsidize country clubs isn't "public park choice."

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Really? Potential fiscal note: Let's say all 6.2 million school-age children in TX received a $10,400 #txbudget funded ESA (voucher). That's a 2-year cost of $128,960,000,000, or at least $40 BILLION MORE than state spending on public #txed through the Texas Education Agency.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

#txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Private schools aren't required to comply with any state school safety standards, are they?

Bob Garrett

@RobertTGarrett

10 months

'If I'm sending my child to a school that does not have armed guards at that school, should I not be given the ability to choose a different option through an education savings account?' -- @JaredLPatterson , invoking sexual assault victims who he said are trapped in same school.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Glad you asked! 2021-22: Operating spending by TX public schools = $65 B. With 5.4 m students, that's less than $12,000 per student, incl. $2,600 in federal $ That per-student figure for TX? Adjusted for regional cost-of-living differences, it's $4,000 below the US average.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Rep. Talarico back w/data on other states that have seen 70% or more of vouchers go to kids already in private school. Prioritizing kids doesn't guarantee usage: Private schools may not have special ed svcs.; no transportation; tuition/fees are higher than voucher amount. #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

Small favor to ask: instead of referring to Article X of the #txbudget as 'lege pay', please call it FUNDING FOR THE ENTIRE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF STATE GOVERNMENT Thanks in advance.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

Vouchers also have administrative costs. #txed #txlege

Michelle Smith, PhD

@mishshel

1 year

💰Vouchers are for vendors. 💰 #txed #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

@ckopa @DreamSong77 Not for me. Too many shots, suddenly ringing out.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

Yes, you read that right, #txed advocates: Texas state revenue is keeping up with inflation. So it wasn't a lack of state money that's kept the Basic Allotment frozen at the 2019 level ($6,160); it was a POLICY CHOICE. A bad one, for 5+ million students.

Laura Atlas Kravitz

@LauraAK_TX

1 year

@Glenn_Hegar kicks off his one-on-one at trib fest by talking about next month’s estimate - saying while cash flow is increasing, TX is really just keeping up with inflation. Notes insurance collections are up. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

1) Data: in states with universal eligibility for vouchers, about 70% of voucher-users were never in a public school. Combine that with Texas's heavy reliance on local property taxes to fund public #txed , and a 1% "take-up" rate, and here's what could happen. 🧵 #txlege

Josh Cowen

@joshcowenMSU

10 months

I see young voucher imps taunting that public school advocates fear kids will leave public schools. That’s not the concern. Or what the data say. The issue is #schoolvouchers fund kids never in public schools in the first place. And states can’t afford to pay for two sectors.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Remind me again, why anyone thinks $500 million for no-accountability vouchers should be a #txbudget priority?

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

11 months

The Department of Family and Protective Services has increasingly relied on housing foster kids in hotels when it can’t find them a home. Staff turnover at the agency is now at a record high, with nearly 1 in 3 employees leaving in fiscal year 2022.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Turns out, historic #txed investments WERE made! But peaked in 2003. [sad trombone] $5 billion more a year would get schools back to 2003 per-student current spending. Data from and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. TEA PEIMS data: similar trend.

Bradley W. Carpenter

@Brad_Carpenter

11 months

I’m so tired!! “Texas has made historic investments in education…” I mean…In what world?? #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

TEA confirms, at LBB/Governor's Budget Office hearing, that its 2-year request has $3.8 billion less in General Revenue for schools, as local property values & taxes are assumed to go up 6.77% a year. State share would drop to "mid-30s". CPPP estimate below. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Unofficial tally, ICYW: of over 3,200 HB 1 comments received through House portal, -more than 2/3 were against vouchers, -almost 1/3 were in favor, including a couple dozen who wanted vouchers to pay for child care, -80 or so were some kind of neutral comment. #txlege #txed

🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Final count on how many Texans used the House portal for HB 1: 1,003 pages! If the first 339 pages were any indication, this means close to 2,900 people weighed in. #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Rep. Talarico asks if HB 1 voucher proposal makes it possible for a wealthy CEO to get $10,000 for his 2 kids to attend an elite private high school for four years - $80,000 total. [Answer: Yes] Rep. Talarico: That's a "massive transfer of wealth to the well-off." #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

What this man doesn't understand is that when a child leaves public schools, it relieves the state general fund of much less than the ESA amount. So the move actually costs state taxpayers money AND does not guarantee a choice that parents prefer. Private school gets to choose.

Alex Cranberg

@acranberg

11 months

@DeLunaEva What you don't understand is that when a child leaves public schools, it relieves the general fund of much more than the ESA amount. So the move actually saves all taxpayers money AND provides a choice that parents prefer

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Based on Arizona's scandal-ridden voucher boondoggle, taxpayers and public schools don't win. #txlege #txed

JD

@3peachesmama

11 months

@DeLunaEva @jrphtx When parents choose, everyone wins.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

4 years

Grip yourselves, #txlege ladies and gents - I now present to you the very first @EveryTxn state budget chart, using our new color scheme. (Don't worry - the excitement and awe will die down after a day or so. 🤠)

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

I get a big laugh every time I post a chart straight from TEA, Comptroller, or LBB, and get some response along these lines. Who is being called a liar, exactly? As for my own charts (huge shout-out to awesome public school math teachers I had!): happy to point you to raw data.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

Such an honor to receive this coveted award earlier today at the @CPPP_TX near-end-of-session get-together. "I'd like to thank the Academy, and my fellow nominees, and - hey wait, why's that music playing? I'm not done with my acceptance speech yet. There's charts!" #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

Every time a school district gets asked what its reserve fund or fund balance is, I'm reminded that the state's Economic Stabilization Fund contains more than $10 billion. #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Uh, #txed needs "giant blockbuster adjustments" in Basic Allotment b/c "giant blockbuster" inflation happened since the last increase in 2019 - highest in 40 yrs. Ignoring inflation, and leaving ISDs to struggle with 3+ years of it, is partly why state had a record "surplus."

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

More accurate recap of TX public #txed funding: 1) Let local property taxes & federal aid make up for years when #txlege lets Basic Allotment lose ground to inflation 2) "Buy down" property taxes without actually increasing state taxes 3) Wait for next recession to undo 2)

Diego Bernal

@DiegoBernalTX

10 months

When it comes to public education people love to say things like, “You can’t just throw money at the problem.” Let me assure you: it’s never happened. We’ve never had that “we overdid it” moment. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

Possibly the single most important thing for #txlege members to understand about Medicaid: almost all enrollees are children, pregnant, older Texans, or people with disabilities, because working-age adults have to be extremely poor AND a parent to qualify.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

For all the House watchers out there #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

ICYW, $1.1 billion a year could also give all public #txed employees a 2.5% pay raise.

jrp

@jrphtx

1 year

So, they released the fiscal note for the new voucher vampire @SenCreighton put into HB 100... they want to take more than $1.5 billion from public schools in 2025 & 2026. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

Almost $11 billion in anticipated general revenue left unallocated through 2025, plus more than $27 billion in "rainy day" fund. Yet #txed will continue to lack the resources it needs.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

@SergioMarBel Turns out it's not "democracy dies in darkness", but rather, whatever room that's in.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

Looking forward to hearing fiscal conservatives in #txlege explain how this was a better use of billions of state tax dollars than, say, teacher pensions, or fixing the grid. Plus, these latter uses wouldn't have destroyed the morale of the TX State Guard for years to come. 😑

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

2 years

Misdemeanor trespassing charges made up about 40% of arrests from Gov. Greg Abbott’s highly touted border security operation between mid-July to Jan. 27.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

As they say, the best policy changes are made in a big hurry with limited or ignored public testimony. No, wait - no one says that. #txlege

Peggy Fikac

@pfikac

7 years

Senate will work at breakneck pace to pass special-session agenda via @expressnews

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

LBB: $93.6 B for Public Ed in 2024-2025, including $18 B for property tax cuts + $5 B for TRS retirees (YAY, finally!). Set those 2 aside and $71 B remains. And is less than the $72 B for Pub Ed in 2022-2023. So where's the $10.8 B increase for preK-12 schools? 🤔 #txed

Brian Phillips

@RealBPhil

11 months

This is a lie. Texas approved the largest education funding increase in the state’s history this year, $10.8 billion. And Democrats have already said they’re willing to leave billions more $$$ on the table to prevent passing ESAs. It’s not abt the money for them. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

#txlege followers, waiting for SB 1 and SB 8 conference committee reports to drop...

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

8 years

Only thing I'd add is, there's no public transportation to the country club. Figure out how to get there yourself. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

"Full funding" meaning, Gov wants to see these special ed. and teacher workforce items from his 2024-25 #txbudget proposal? Surely the ninth largest economy in the world can do better for teachers & other public school employees, and 5.4 million students, than what's in SB 2.

Patrick Svitek

@PatrickSvitek

11 months

. @GovAbbott : "Once ESAs are passed, I will put on the legislative call the full funding for public education, including teacher pay raises." #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Could it be that voucher proposals have always died in #txlege sessions simply because the vast majority of middle-class & well-off Texans aren't demanding or interested in government assistance? Especially if it's means-tested? 🤔

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

10 months

Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas House are at an impasse over education savings accounts. Despite spending months trying to gather support, Abbott so far has failed to break a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans in the House who oppose the idea.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

For #txlege , it's "always look before you pour."

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

So, less than 3 hours before Senate Finance could hear this #txed school finance bill, the text still isn't available on TLO? Cool cool cool. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

George Washington University estimates that Texas state taxpayers have more to lose from Census undercount than any other state, because of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (used for health / foster / child care match). #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Rep. Talarico up next, with more Qs about potential maximum cost of vouchers, if every child already in a private- or home-school setting gets a voucher. "This could cost $7 billion in the next biennium?" he asks TEA. TEA: "Subject to appropriations, yes." #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

From information that the School Finance Commission got from TEA, weeks ago. Why is anyone still trying to argue that state aid has kept up with student growth? Or that total spending has recovered to pre-2011 levels? #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Part of the just-released Senate GOP "health care draft." In Texas, these individuals are known as "children." #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

4 years

Hey #txlege -ers, have you heard scary #txbudget rumors making the rounds about state lawmakers calling for 5% to 20% cuts to 2020-2021 state services? Here’s what you need to know.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

Funny how a #txlege session that was purportedly about helping "struggling Texans being forced out of their homes by high taxes" has turned into a tax INCREASE for the 60% of Texas households with the lowest income. Not "haha" funny, though.

Dick Lavine

@dlavine

5 years

LBB equity analysis of @GregAbbott_TX , @DanPatrick , @RepDennisBonnen tax swap plan seems to show that Texans who earn less than $99k a year will pay more, while those who earn over 6-figure salaries will see reductions #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

Hard to pay teachers what they're worth when per-student funding - which #txlege sets - is stuck at pre-pandemic, Fall 2019 levels. Some school districts are using federal COVID aid to make up for inflation (of at least 19%), but what happens when that runs out? #NoSurplus

Gina Hinojosa

@GinaForAustin

2 years

"My 5th grader didn't get a teacher this year because there are just no teachers," she said. His class was instead divided & combined with 2 others. "So he's in a giant class, teachers are struggling, kids are struggling..our schools are in crisis” #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

As voucher bills continue to be filed in #txlege , watch for how much goes to admin, by the state or new "middlemen." Regular session's SB 8 allowed up to 8%, or for a $500 million voucher scheme, up to $40 million. How low can that share be and still prevent fraud & abuse?

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

Some time this week, I reached the "1,500 followers" milestone on Twitter. For someone whose posts are 99% state-budget / 1% cat- related, that is AWESOME. Thank you all! Much appreciated.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Rep. Gina Hinojosa asking many of the questions that need to be asked about the quickly escalating cost of voucher proposal in HB 1. And again, that's if only HALF of kids already in private or home-school apply and get on the waitlist. #txlege #txed

🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

HB 1 fiscal note online at Top of p 12: in 2nd year, amount of vouchers would quadruple, to $1.9 B, or $4 B (w/admin) in 2026-27 #txbudget . If voucher users end up being primarily kids already in private school, FSP savings would be lower than estimated.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Think about it, #txlege conservatives: $8,000 in state General Revenue per voucher - for PRIVATE schools - just when you've almost eliminated cash assistance for kids from #txbudget . And way higher than GR per public #txed student - less than $3,500 in 2024-25, even with SB 2.

Thomas Ratliff

@RatliffT

11 months

Hey #txed and #txlege friends. $500M is the ONE YEAR cost for vouchers for school year 2024-25 if SB1 takes effect. So, the cost could be $1 billion or more for the next biennium. SB 1 is an entitlement program without transparency or accountability. Not conservative.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

#TBT : That time I was called a socialist & blocked on Facebook for pointing out that the TX Constitution now prohibits a state tax on real estate transfers, making it an unlikely way to replace school property taxes anytime soon. Oh wait - that was an hour ago. #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

Some day, I won't feel compelled to make a chart or spreadsheet out of #txlege proposals. Today is not that day. #txbudget #RescuePlan

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Here's a "different approach" to school finance: figure out what an adequate public education costs for TX students, then fund it. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

There, I fixed it for you, #txlege (Except that... State/Local Govt Implicit Price Deflator is a better measure of the inflation faced by school districts than the TX CPI that TEA uses; also ignores the changing needs of students.)

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

@ClaraJeffery @DevinCow Totally. Even though some might say it's a, uh, cowardly thing to do. 🤠

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

Conveniently leaving out the part of TX history when #txlege cut franchise tax (Property Tax Relief Fund $) by $2.6 B/biennium + diverted $5 B in General Revenue from sales tax to State Highway Fund, meaning $7.6 B less in state aid for schools that property taxes must cover.

Jeremy Wallace

@JeremySWallace

5 years

In a acknowledgement of Texas history, Lt Gov Dan Patrick says they are trying to craft property tax reforms that stick, a nod to past reforms that, as he says, “disappear into thin air” because of government growth.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

In 2018-19, $1.3 B / yr of lottery 💰 already goes to school districts. Earmarking some of that for teacher pay isn't "new funding" #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

4 years

3-second take on Comptroller's revenue forecast through Aug. 2023: much better than expected previously. #txlege #txbudget

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Public school advocates think that school choice is "taking money away from public schools" because that's exactly what it does. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Maybe the Senator should try what a state House member did: visit all the schools in his district. #txlege

Bob Garrett

@RobertTGarrett

7 years

On school finance, @SenLarryTaylor says, "We’re just throwing money in there and we don’t know where it all goes." #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Reminder to #txed aficionados everywhere: When you hear a state official say "We are putting $5.8 billion more into public schools in the next budget," here's what they're probably not mentioning. Oh, and Basic Allotment stays at $5,140 from 2016 to 2019. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

Great point by Rep. Wu during discussion of SB 19: why do #txlege members identifying themselves as fiscal conservatives support so many measures highly likely to trigger lawsuits the AG has to defend in court? How many million$ in state taxes are spent on those lawsuits?

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

hey, @LindyWPatton , Great resource from IDRA at showing just how few private schools (little blue triangles) are in rural areas. Anyone good at "Where's Waldo?" will spot 'em right off the bat. Caution: some turn out to be mountains. 🤠 #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

4 years

Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson closes hearing on SB 1 by laying out her 4 goals for 2022-2023 #txbudget : 1) maintain state's commitment to education 2) provide resources to defeat the coronavirus and keepTexans healthy 3) reignite the economy 4) strengthen public safety

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

What Rep. Martinez-Fischer was referring to earlier: if TEA funding in CSHB 1 goes up $11.3 billion, but $12 billion of that is for NEW tax relief (in addition to $5 B in tax cuts already required by law), school districts will be getting $700 million less. #txlege #txbudget

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

You know what else would be reasonable and common-sense? Ideas about where Texas will get the $291 million in additional state taxes needed for Medicaid, CHIP, foster & child care, and adoption assistance for each 1% population undercount.

Texas Tribune

@TexasTribune

6 years

“A question on citizenship is a reasonable, commonsense addition to the census.” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz revealed that he was among those who requested that the 2020 questionnaire ask about citizenship status. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

@joshuak08 @scottbraddock If you prefer facts to assumptions: ➡️ Governor vetoed funding for the Legislative branch ➡️ House and Senate leadership did not make stand-alone bills restoring that funding - or the general supplemental #txbudget bills - the top priority (urgency and/or $ of money involved)

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

13 years is an ENTIRE GENERATION of preK-12 kids, folks. We can't do better for the next generation? #txlege #txed

Shannon Halbrook

@shannonhalbrook

11 months

Lots of #txlege testimony today about TX's abysmal per-pupil spending. It looks even worse when you account for inflation. Our public schools need a *meaningful* increase in the basic allotment. SB 2 ain't it

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

🎻🎺👢🎊 ¡Orale! , or as some might say, "Yeehaw!" 🇲🇽🇺🇸🤠🎺🎻

Commit Partnership

@Commit2Dallas

5 years

When a high school mariachi band from San Antonio meets a high school ballet folklorico from Victoria at the State Capitol. This is public education in Texas! #txed #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Though, reading it closely, that constitutional #txbudget cap on assistance grants for children uses the word "needy." And many of the families whose kids are already in a private school would say "Uh, we're not needy." In which case: WHY GIVE THEM A $10,400 VOUCHER?

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

In 30 years of listening to #txlege sessions, I've learned to pay extra attention whenever a bill author introduces his proposal with, "This is just a simple technical matter..." and in response to the many Qs that follow, insists that it doesn't change anything important.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

Census: "In states that expanded Medicaid eligibility, 10.3% of counties (187 of 1,814) had an ...uninsured rate above 20% among working-age adults living at or below 138% of poverty, [vs] 82.5% of counties (1,096 of 1,328) in states that didn’t expand Medicaid eligibility."

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

@TroyMooney @jrphtx Does ANYONE really believe the voucher push is mostly grass roots?

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

So many candidates for TX public office take credit for "job creation" - much of it in low-pay, no-health-benefits service sector, driven by pop. growth (high birth rate) - while ignoring the fact that statewide, schools are a major employer & the heart of communities. #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

196%, to be exact. Know what else spiked since 1997? The TX population. And don't forget the rising cost of providing roads, schools, water/wastewater infrastructure, etc. Adjust property tax growth for population & inflation, and the increase is 1% per year. #txlege

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

@startelegram

7 years

Texas has seen a spike of nearly 200 percent in property taxes since 1997

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Big "thanks" to Rep. L Gonzales for clarifying that when some in #txlege say "we are providing more 💰for schools", that "we" is local taxes.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

Back by popular demand! School finance chart based on one originally prepared by State Rep. Gene Wu. 2023 version: Best guess at what inflation-adjusted #txed funding would look like if Basic Allotment stays at $6,160 & state aid is based on attendance rather than enrollment.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

Lottery, which schools already get, pays for 4 school days. Making schools spend half of it on raises/bonuses is "unfunded mandate." #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

Getting close to hitting another Twitter milestone, I'd like to thank all my followers for showing an interest in #txbudget -related charts & graphs. Much appreciated, y'all. For now, I'm going to party like it's 1999 - minus who knows how many bots.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

10 months

Final count on how many Texans used the House portal for HB 1: 1,003 pages! If the first 339 pages were any indication, this means close to 2,900 people weighed in. #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

THIS is what's happening in public school finance. "New" money comes from local property taxes, not state. SB 2 won't change that. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Better yet, do a #txed pay raise or Basic Allotment increase as a constitutional amendment -- the same way billions got sent to other areas of the #txbudget , so voters could dedicate $$ and not have it count against spending caps. Next date for such an election, May 4, 2024?

Scott Braddock

@scottbraddock

11 months

The only enforcement mechanism for what's on the governor's call is his signature or veto. Lawmakers can send him a teacher pay raise now and dare him to veto it. Earlier this year, they passed a property tax proposal that wasn't on his agenda, and he signed it #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

On the way to my #txlege -related job today, I saw an actual dumpster fire. #TooLiteral

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

6 years

Ever have one of those days where you wonder, "Gee, what would the TX Education Agency's 2020-2021 budget proposal look like if adjusted for public school enrollment growth & consumer inflation? And where would the revenue come from?" #okItsJustMeThen #txlege #txed

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

5 years

TPPF witness mentions "three-legged stool" other states have to support schools, other public services: property, sales, and income taxes. Does not mention that a complete elimination of property taxes - replaced by sales tax - turns TX's 2-legged stool into a pogo stick. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

ICYW, here's the "effective tax rate" for TX households, state taxes + school property tax. To have "prepaid" the cost of vouchers for 4 kids, family would be at income level of $666,666 a year. If they're not: the rest of us will be paying for that.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

At House Appropriations hearing, Rep. Jarvis Johnson asks for a definition of "disaster" - because invoking that authority is what has led to Governor's Operation Lone Star #txbudget transfers, starting right after 2021 regular session.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

8 years

"What if Texas blew billions of dollars because someone misread an obscure business report 15 yrs ago?" #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

2 years

At 7-hour, 35 minute mark of House #txbudget hearing that has included very grim testimony (Uvalde), Rep. Sherman talks about his visits to TX prisons: AC in warden's office. In the chapel. In the commissary. But not in all the areas where inmates are housed. #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

3 years

Public Service Announcement: if my House #txbudget Tweets get a little garbled in the next hour or so, it might be because pretzels, an espresso, & a glass of red wine are not the makings of a balanced meal. 🥨☕️🍷 #ShouldveHadDonutsAndWings

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

In TX, when real spending per student increased significantly (from 1992 to 2003 or '04, depending on source): YES, outcomes improved. And it would help if the way we measure #txed outcomes didn't keep changing every few years. Ye olde info from

mybugattimychoice

@MacguirePierce

11 months

@DeLunaEva Question: do states with higher spending per student have better educational outcomes?

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

Another important element of the proposal, which should have been in the #txbudget from the very beginning back in January: raise the Basic Allotment by $1,000, to make up for the purchasing power lost to record-high inflation since Fall 2019.

🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

1 year

See for presser on tax relief for more Texans, including the 3.8+ million households that rent their homes. (And who most likely are paying more, as a share of their incomes, of the state revenue that would pay for school tax cuts.) #txlege

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

7 years

@EricaGrieder More context for @jonathanchait : #txlege has cut taxes & diverted $5 B+ to highways. Medicaid expansion vs. public ed wasn't the choice.

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🧮 Eva DeLuna 📊

@DeLunaEva

11 months

Florida did not have "better educational result" for voucher users. As for education taxes: For decades, #txlege approach hasn't been "What level per student gets us the best product"? Rather, "What level of $ keeps us out of courts? OK, state will pay less than half of that."

JaylaJisSmilng

@JSmilng

11 months

@DeLunaEva At least that money will now be used for a better educational result overall. If we are being taxed for education, the money should be used to get the best product.

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