Daily Reminder of Texas State Budget Cuts
1) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/us/daily-reminder-of-texas-state-budget-cuts.html?ref=texas
2) Category of Problem/Issue: Financial
3) Level of Issue: State Level
4) Problem/Issue that Individuals/Families face
5) Why this is important to individuals/families OR
How does this affect individuals/families:
The fact
that the transportation department of Texas is in a difficult situation because
they can’t afford to do things they have promised to provide without crossing
the voters. We (individuals/families) are the voters that it can affect because
it could raise taxes or fees.
6) What are your views on the issue/policy?
I
understand it cost a lot just to keep up with wear and tear of the roads around
the state and it makes sense to convert paved roads to gravel because it’s
cheaper road material. The way they reached a decision is totally agreeable,
what you spend is what you get- cut spending, cut expectations. Transportation
department can’t go up against health and human services, and public schools
for state financing but it does hold a unique position when talking about
consequences of its budget. Although, it may not seem like a big deal but we
are on the roads every day you can see potholes and construction projects
everywhere. You can see first-hand that the transportation department is doing
their best to fix our roads and we can see the quality of the services we pay
for. No matter of any circumstances I wouldn’t be able to find one person who
likes traffic anywhere in the U.S. This is an issue we will have to face since
the demands of growth in Texas is increasing so that means traffic jams will
grow worse as more people, and more cars, flow into Texas. Now that sounds like
a huge consequence for us Texas voters.
I agree. It is a double standard because we want these roads fixed but we don't want to pay to fix them. The construction all summer around campus was crazy and annoying. I was late to work a couple of times because of it. But then one day it hit me, we're employing several construction workers. They get paid depending on if they have a job to do. If we cut the construction jobs, then they'll be out of a job. No, it's not our problem if they're out of a job but now I look at it in a more positive light. We get the roads fixed (Sesom looks great) and they get a job and get paid. There's always bad that comes with the good and good that comes with the bad. It's the way the world works. But yeah, we as Texans have to figure out if we want better roads and less paychecks or potholes and better paychecks because we can't have it both ways.
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