Deck 11: The Way Forward

Question 1

The mainstay of the Republic of Texas tax system was:

A) luxury taxes
B) income taxes
C) tariffs on imported goods
D) property taxes

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Who was the Reconstruction Era Republican governor of Texas?

A) Sterling Robertson
B) Edmund J. Davis
C) Edward Clark
D) Frank Lubbock

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The first state to adopt a general sales tax in 1932 was:

A) Mississippi
B) Texas
C) Massachusetts
D) California

Answer 3

A

Question 4

At its height in the mid-1950s, the severance taxes on oil and natural gas provided what percent of Texas revenues?

A) one-tenth
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds

Question 5

At the state level, the general sales tax in Texas is:

A) 4.25 percent
B) 5.25 percent
C) 6.25 percent
D) 8.25 percent

Question 6

Who beat Texas Governor Mark White for re-election in 1986?

A) George W. Bush
B) Ann Richards
C) Dolph Briscoe
D) Bill Clements

Question 7

The "three-legged stool" of state revenues refers to all but which of the following revenue types?

A) property taxes
B) sales taxes
C) income taxes
D) inheritance taxes

Question 8

Texas is one of how many states that has neither a corporate nor a personal income tax?

A) 2
B) 5
C) 9
D) 15

Question 9

In 2006, the Texas legislature revised the corporate franchise fee. It is now called:

A) income tax
B) value added tax
C) margins tax
D) flat tax

Question 10

Texas and only one other southern state has no personal income tax. Which of the following is the other state?

A) Mississippi
B) Florida
C) Alabama
D) South Carolina

Question 11

The former Texas governor who declared personal bankruptcy in 1987 was:

A) John Connally
B) Dolph Briscoe
C) Preston Smith
D) Bob Bullock

Question 12

Which president of the Republic of Texas started a navy and invaded New Mexico?

A) Frank Lubbock
B) Sam Houston
C) Mirabeau B.Lamar
D) Sterling Robertson

Question 13

The historian Randolph Campbell reports that in the 1850s the value of slaves constituted about what share of the state's total tax assessment?

A) one-quarter
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) two-thirds

Question 14

The federal income tax was approved with the adoption in 1913 of which Amendment to the Constitution?

A) 5^th
B) 12^th
C) 14^th
D) 16^th

Question 15

Tax reforms implemented by governors Lanham and Campbell in the early 20^th century included all but which of the following:

A) income tax
B) inheritance tax
C) severance tax
D) franchise tax on capital investment

Question 16

In what year did Texas adopt the General Sales Tax?

A) 1941
B) 1951
C) 1961
D) 1971

Question 17

Who was the Texas Comptroller who pushed for an income tax in the 1980s and 1990s?

A) William Hobby
B) Bob Bullock
C) Mark White
D) Dolph Briscoe

Question 18

George W. Bush was first elected governor of Texas in:

A) 1986
B) 1990
C) 1994
D) 1998

Question 19

Setting aside federal revenues, what portion of Texas revenues come from sales taxes?

A) 50 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 80 percent

Question 20

Texas passed a severance tax on oil in:

A) 1905
B) 1925
C) 1945
D) 1965

Question 21

Since 1990, Texas state tax revenues have been about what percent of the national average for state tax revenues?

A) 60 percent
B) 70 percent
C) 80 percent
D) 90 percent

Question 22

The Tax Foundation "tax effort" measure of the percent of personal income taken in state and local taxes places Texas where among the 50 states?

A) 30^th
B) 35^th
C) 40^th
D) 45^th

Question 23

Texas is one of how many states without a personal income tax?

A) 3
B) 7
C) 13
D) 19

Question 24

State income tax rates generally bear what relation to federal income tax rates?

A) state rates are tied to federal rates
B) state rates are higher than federal rates
C) state rates are lower than federal rates
D) federal rates are lower than state rates

Question 25

If Texas were to pass an income tax, two-thirds of the revenue would constitutionally be required to go to:

A) reduce property taxes
B) improve public education
C) develop a water plan
D) improve transportation

Question 26

What do you make of the fact that Wisconsin was the first state to adopt an income tax in 1911, Mississippi was the first to adopt a general sales tax in 1932, and Texas has a general sales tax but not an income tax? Think political culture!

Question 27

What accounts for the volatility and, more importantly, the sharp decline in severance tax revenues as a share of total revenues since 1950?

Question 28

How would you revise the Texas revenue system to put the state on a firm revenue footing for the future?

Question 29

Upon which social class does the sales tax fall most heavily and why?

Question 30

As severance tax revenue has fallen from one-third of Texas revenues to less than one-tenth today, what revenue source has Texas tapped to make up the difference?

Question 31

What led Texas Comptroller and later Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock in the 1980s and 1990s to call for an income tax?

Question 32

How did Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock respond to the pushback against his proposal for an income tax in Texas?

Question 33

How did the tax law changes of the late-1980s and early 1990s help the revival of the oil and gas industries in Texas and reduce the severance tax revenues into the state treasury?

Question 34

When Texas entered the Union in 1845, the federal government seized 150 million acres of unclaimed land within the state.

Question 35

The Texas state income tax was approved in 1957.

Question 36

The General Sales Tax in Texas is 6.25 percent with municipalities allowed to add up to an additional 2 percent.

Question 37

If an income tax were ever approved in Texas, two-thirds of the revenues would have to go to reducing property taxes.

Question 38

The former Texas governor who declared personal bankruptcy in 1987 was_______

Question 39

Who was the Reconstruction era Republican Governor of Texas?_______

Question 40

The federal income tax was approved in what year?_______

Question 41

Texas passed a_______tax on oil in 1905.

Question 42

Texas oil is sold into an _______ market.

Question 43

A tax system that takes a larger percentage of the income of the poor than of the wealthy is called a _______ tax system.

Question 44

The _______ tax passed in 2006 was a revision of the old franchise fee.