Using the Rainy Day Fund to Address the Budget Shortfall 

As Texas faces the largest budget shortfall in its history and devastating cuts to public and higher education as well as health and human services have been proposed, the Legislature must explore all available options to protect state programs and institutions that are critical in the lives of working class Texans.  While some feel that relying only on cuts can close Texas' budget deficit, a cuts-only approach will not only be detrimental to Texans today, but also to our future generations.  

The Rainy Day Fund, which was created to help the state during times of economic struggle, will have a balance of $9.4 billion by the end of 2013.  This money could potentially help to eliminate one-third of the shortfall and would ease cuts to vital services, including education and health care.  Under the current proposed budget, Texas stands to eliminate 250,000 jobs in our public schools alone, a loss that will undoubtedly impact our students' ability to succeed today in the classroom and later in life as they enter our state's workforce.

Representative Johnson meeting with constituents concerned about cuts to the state budget.

While some worry that spending the Rainy Day Fund now will leave us with little to spend in 2014-15, indicators show a future of economic upturn and increased state revenue.  In the worst case, if the economy does not improve, the Legislature can choose to cut during the next session, but we can avoid making such drastic and irresponsible cuts today by looking into the Rainy Day Fund to help cover the budget shortfall.  

Representative Johnson

Defends Insurance Consumer Protection Agency 

A proposal to eliminate all funding for the Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) was introduced yesterday in the Texas House Appropriations Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII, and VIII, of which Representative Johnson is a member.  Representative Johnson expressed strong objections in the Subcommittee meeting to shutting down the agency.  Following Representative Johnson's objections, the Chair of the Subcommittee delayed consideration of the proposal until the full Appropriations Committee meets.

OPIC represents the interests of consumers on matters involving insurance, raising objections to unfair and discriminatory rate increases and to insurance forms that include illegal, deceptive, or unclear language.  The agency also works to educate consumers through materials it produces such as an annual HMO Report Card and an interactive policy comparison function on its website.

Representative Johnson believes it is critical that Texas has a stand-alone agency outside of the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to educate and advocate for insurance consumers.  Critics of OPIC argue its functions should be absorbed into TDI, but Representative Johnson does not believe that the regulators at TDI have the ability to advocate on behalf of and educate consumers nearly as effectively as an independent agency. Rather, Representative Johnson believes that OPIC must continue in its role as a consumer advocate and serious consideration needs to be given to moving additional consumer education functions from TDI to OPIC.