How is the Texas economy performing?
With the current economic crises at hand, many Texans are concerned about our state's economy. According to the Texas Comptroller of Accounts' report, Texas entered 2008 with its economy on the wane, largely because of the drags from the nation’s slowing business activity. During the first half of the year, more signs of weakness have emerged in Texas and the U.S., but the state is still doing better than the nation. Through June, Texas had created 118,200 jobs—a 2.3 percent annualized gain. The pace looks good compared with the nation’s 0.6 percent decline, but it doesn’t measure up to Texas’ 37-year average employment growth rate of 2.8 percent. In areas where the U.S. has been hurt in the past year, Texas has either weathered the storm by adding jobs or tempered the blow by not losing as many jobs as the nation. Other things Texas has in its favor: the oil & gas industry and four growing cities (Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin). Thus, although the current state of the economy is dark, Texas seems to faring well. It is important that the state economy do well, so that the state government will be better able to address Texan's needs.
What are Texan's needs and are we meeting those needs?
Texas in changing in important ways. Like most states, we are diversifying, growing, and becoming more urban. In 2003, Texas became the fourth state in which there are more non-white residents. Also, Texas faces the challenges of an aging population assosciated with increased medical costs. A recent study published by the Tax Policy Center and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston concluded that Texas has greater requirements for state spending than most other states, but makes less effort to raise the necessary revenue. The study calculates each state's expenditure need- the amount a state would have to spend on its residents to provide the average level of services, and then seperately calculates how much that state would need to spend in order to meet those requirements. Texas spends only 79% of the amount calculated as necessary to meet the needs of its residents at the average national level.
