Tonight, House Democrats released the following statement regarding the announcement of the Republican budget deal:

Republicans Agree to Cut Billions: A Raw Deal for Texans

Today, Tea Party Republicans put a permanent stamp on the state of Texas. They’re patting themselves on the back for firing teachers, closing schools, and cutting funding for seniors in nursing homes. And it’s a sad day for the people of Texas.

Republicans shut Democrats completely out of the process. Their budget is riddled with accounting gimmicks and padded with billions in funny money.

The Republican deal is a shameful mess that puts special interests first and Texas families last. Republicans had a chance to fix the ongoing deficit problem that they created.  Instead, using band aids and chewing gum, they threw together a shoddy deal that doesn’t use one dime of the Rainy Day Fund.

House Democrats are still combing through the details of the Republican “deal”, but we know for a fact that many Texans will be hurt by this budget.  Republicans can’t cut at least $15 billion from the budget and not expect tragic consequences.

Texas parents will not be satisfied with a $6.3 billion cut from their kids’ schools.  That kind of cut kills Pre-Kindergarten, advanced math and science classes, art and music classes.  It ignores the 160,000 new kids who will enroll in Texas schools in the next two years. That kind of cut will close schools.

Texas elderly will not be happy to see the funding for their nursing homes cut. As a result of Republican decisions, those seniors may lose the chance for community-based care, even though it would save money for taxpayers, and even if they’ve been on the waiting list for a year.

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In 2005, Governor Rick Perry line-item vetoed the budget for the Texas Education Agency because lawmakers left “$2 billion in some bank account”.

When Gov. Rick Perry called the Legislature back into special session in 2005, he chastised lawmakers for leaving $2 billion “in some bank account” that could have been used for “teacher salary increases, textbooks, education technology and education reforms.”

“I cannot let $2 billion sit in some bank account when it could go directly into the classroom,” Perry said, in announcing his veto of the Texas Education Agency budget… (http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2011/05/perry-once-condemned-hoarding-education-dollars/)

This year, Governor Perry and his crew of Tea Party Republicans, made a clear choice. They’re handing $1.2 billion a year to big players in the oil and gas industry instead of fully funding our schools. And House Republicans are happy to play the accomplice to Governor Perry – who is more focused on his national profile than on Texas kids.

Today, Republicans called it quits and settled on this stinker of a budget “deal”. They slathered lipstick all over the pig, and now they’re hoping that no one notices the squealing.

Today the extremists won, and nearly every Texas family has lost.  It’s a sad day for the people of Texas.

House Democrats reject this raw “deal” that slashes and burns, abandons our most vulnerable citizens, and permanently cripples critical state services. Our children and grandchild deserve far better.