Deck 27: Public Policy in Texas

Question 1

On which budget item does Texas spend the most money?

A) transportation
B) education
C) health and human services
D) corrections programs and prison maintenance
E) welfare

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following was not a proposed solution to the 2011 budget crisis?

A) Eliminate various regulatory agencies involved with overseeing business and environmental regulation.
B) Cut funding to elementary and secondary education.
C) Cut the governor's salary.
D) Curtail or even eliminate funds going to the poor through the Medicaid Program or the TANF Program.
E) Raise tuition at community colleges and state universities.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which programs in Texas receive the largest amount of federal matching funds to supplement state tax dollars?

A) education
B) transportation
C) health and human services
D) public housing
E) welfare

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following statements about education policy in early Texas history is false?

A) The Constitution of the Republic of Texas established a public system of education.
B) The establishment of a public school system in Texas did not occur until it had become a state.
C) The Constitution of 1876 placed restrictions on how money could be used for public education.
D) Throughout the entire history of Texas as a state, public education has been a statewide affair.
E) The debate over public education policy in Texas extends back to the break with Mexico.

Question 5

Which of the following is the best definition of a dedicated fund?

A) money that is given to a state or local government through citizens donating extra tax dollars for specific projects
B) the type of funding that requires a state agency to make biannual budget forecasts, rather than just yearly ones
C) spending priorities that are beneficial to specific interest groups, which always have groups of politicians backing them
D) portions of the state budget that are mandated to be spent in specific ways, such as for Medicaid payments
E) money set aside specifically to pay off the state debt

Question 6

When people with lower incomes pay a lower tax rate than those with higher incomes, it is called

A) progressive taxation.
B) regressive taxation.
C) compensatory spending.
D) mandated spending.
E) unfunded taxation.

Question 7

Why do Texas budgets not run into debt?

A) The oil booms of the last century have always provided plenty of income.
B) The Texas constitution places several limitations on the ability of the legislature to get into debt.
C) The political ideology of Texas has always made borrowing money politically unpopular.
D) The tax levels have always been among the highest in the nation, so there is plenty of money available.
E) The money brought in by the recent high-tech boom has offset any debt the state might have incurred.

Question 8

Which of the following is not taxed in Texas?

A) utilities
B) alcohol
C) gasoline
D) income
E) retail sales

Question 9

What was Texas's response to the federal government's order to desegregate schools in the 1950s?

A) Texas launched an immediate, statewide resistance to desegregation.
B) Some school districts quickly desegregated, while others resisted integration well into the 1960s.
C) Unlike much of the Deep South, Texas integrated its schools with little trouble.
D) Texas school districts have never been legally segregated.
E) Texas immediately rejected the order and the U.S. National Guard had to be brought in to enforce it.

Question 10

Which of the following was not part of the Gilmer-Aikin Laws passed in 1949?

A) A minimum length for the school year was established.
B) State schoolteachers' salaries were raised.
C) The state made its first attempt at school desegregation.
D) State funding was used to supplement local revenues.
E) School districts were consolidated into 2,900 administrative units.

Question 11

What is the greatest source of revenue for Texas?

A) taxes
B) federal matching funds
C) licenses and fees
D) tobacco company settlement money
E) stimulus money

Question 12

The Texas legislature writes a(n) ______ budget.

A) quarterly
B) annual
C) biennial
D) decadal
E) monthly

Question 13

Each of the following is a source of revenue for Texas except

A) gambling casinos.
B) the state lottery.
C) federal matching funds.
D) lawsuit settlements with tobacco companies.
E) oil and gas taxes.

Question 14

Sales and use taxes in Texas have led some to complain that the tax system in Texas is too

A) complex.
B) onerous.
C) progressive.
D) regressive.
E) lenient.

Question 15

The policy on criminal offenders in Texas favors

A) rehabilitation programs.
B) imprisonment of only violent offenders and use of probation and community service for nonviolent offenders.
C) imprisonment of both violent and nonviolent offenders.
D) using early pardons and suspended sentences to reduce the prison population.
E) a focus on probation and community service.

Question 16

What was the effect on Texas prisons of the Supreme Court case Ruiz v. Estelle?

A) Texas was compelled to suspend the death penalty during the 1980s.
B) Texas's prison system was declared unconstitutional, and the federal courts stepped in to oversee its administration.
C) The Texas policy of leasing prisoners as workers to private companies was declared unconstitutional.
D) Death by hanging was declared constitutional.
E) Execution via electric chair was declared unconstitutional.

Question 17

______ is the name for federal money given to a state based on the amount the state spends on a particular program.

A) Grants-in-aid
B) Categorical grants
C) Mandate receipts
D) Matching funds
E) Unfunded mandates

Question 18

What are the two most important agencies or offices responsible for preparing the Texas state budget?

A) the Legislative Budget Board and the comptroller
B) the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee
C) the governor and the Senate Finance Committee
D) the Speaker of the House and the governor
E) the governor and the Legislative Budget Board

Question 19

Which form of taxation is not used in Texas?

A) income tax
B) property tax
C) oil production tax
D) sales tax
E) cigarette tax

Question 20

The formal certification of the state budget is the responsibility of the

A) secretary of state.
B) comptroller of public accounts.
C) secretary of the treasury.
D) Department of Public Safety.
E) Texas State Internal Revenue Service.

Question 21

Many commentators have argued that the Texas tax system is regressive, falling more heavily on the poor.

Question 22

Which of the following is the best description of the Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. San Antonio ISD?

A) The state may not deny federal education dollars to underperforming school districts.
B) The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment compels states to fund all school districts equally.
C) Segregation based on a student's ethnicity is unconstitutional.
D) It is not unconstitutional for Texas to fund school districts with unequal levels of property taxes.
E) The state may not fund schools differently based on the ethnic makeup of the schools.

Question 23

The origins of modern welfare policy lie in

A) the Grange reforms of the 1870s.
B) the Progressive era of the 1910s.
C) the New Deal of the 1930s.
D) the Shivercrat movement of the 1950s.
E) President Johnson's "Great Society" program.

Question 24

When the Texas legislature voted on welfare reform in 1995, the result was

A) narrow passage in both the House and the Senate, with support coming only from Republicans.
B) overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.
C) rejection after a long and acrimonious debate in the House.
D) immediate rejection after little debate in either the House or the Senate.
E) limited support from both parties until Republicans took over the legislature in 2002.

Question 25

In the mid-1990s, growing discontent over welfare policy across the country encouraged many states, including Texas, to seek ______ so that they could experiment with welfare reform.

A) block grants
B) grants-in-aid
C) preemption
D) waivers
E) funded mandates

Question 26

Texas has one of the lowest rates of incarceration in the nation.

Question 27

How did education reforms in Texas in the 1990s differ from those in the 1980s?

A) Reforms in the 1990s cut education spending compared to those in the 1980s.
B) Reforms in the 1990s further centralized school administration at the state level.
C) Reforms in the 1990s gave back more autonomy to local school districts.
D) Reforms in the 1980s emphasized more bilingual education than was offered in the 1990s.
E) Reforms in the 1990s began providing higher levels of funding for education than those in the 1980s.

Question 28

What limits does the Texas constitution place on welfare spending?

A) No more than 1 percent of the budget may be used for welfare spending.
B) The ratio of federal dollars to state dollars must be set at no less than 4 to 1.
C) The legislature cannot appropriate more than 10 percent of the budget for welfare.
D) All welfare spending must be paid for through property taxes, with tax levels set by each county.
E) There are no limits on welfare spending in Texas.

Question 29

Poverty among children in Texas is

A) average for a state in the United States.
B) lower than most other states.
C) much higher than in the United States as a whole.
D) lower than any other state in the United States.
E) impossible to measure accurately.

Question 30

What is the best explanation for the drop in the number of Texans on welfare in the late 1990s?

A) the success of the welfare reforms of 1996
B) the booming economy and the rising demand for all types of labor
C) the change in the state's definition of poverty
D) the mass migration of poorer Texans to other states
E) there was no drop

Question 31

In 1980, the federal courts declared Texas's prison system to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Question 32

The state constitution requires that Texas maintain a balanced budget.

Question 33

In what case did the Texas supreme court declare that the Texas constitution required that each school district be funded at approximately the same level?

A) Edgewood IDS v. Kirby
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) Rodriguez v. San Antonio ISD
D) Ruiz v. Estelle
E) Smith v. Allwright

Question 34

During the 1980s, what controversial policy did the education committee SCOPE, headed by H. Ross Perot, recommend?

A) a "no pass, no play" policy for student athletes
B) the equity-in-school-funding plan known as Robin Hood
C) quicker desegregation of the schools
D) more decentralization in school administration
E) No Child Left Behind

Question 35

One common criticism of TAKS testing is that

A) too much class time is spent "teaching to the test."
B) the evaluation standards are not uniform throughout the state.
C) there are not enough evaluations of students in early grades.
D) there are too many subject areas that are tested.
E) some schools perform better than others, causing disparities in state funding.

Question 36

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is best described as a(n)

A) unfunded mandate.
B) block grant.
C) revenue enhancement package.
D) in-kind benefit.
E) unsuccessful program.

Question 37

As it pertains to Texas, what is the Robin Hood plan?

A) a law that demands that anyone found guilty of a property crime involving more than $1,000 must spend at least five years in jail
B) a program designed to equalize school funding by transferring funds from wealthy to poor schools
C) a new state welfare policy that imposed a tax on all businesses that lay off more than ten workers
D) a program that sends the top 10 percent of graduates from any Texas high school to any Texas state university
E) a policy that requires lottery winners to pay a portion of their winnings to charity

Question 38

Which of the following ethnic groups make up the majority of Texans living in poverty?

A) whites
B) African Americans
C) Hispanics
D) no single ethnic group
E) Native Americans

Question 39

The tax on oil and natural gas is the most important source of revenue for Texas government.

Question 40

The largest expense in the Texas budget is transportation costs.

Question 41

What are some of the different means by which Texas raises revenue? Which forms of taxation are the most important? What forms of taxation are not used in Texas? What sources of revenue does Texas rely on other than taxes?

Question 42

What has been the trend in terms of incarceration of criminals in Texas? What is the philosophy behind Texas's corrections policy? What are some of the necessary reforms Texas has made to its prison system?

Question 43

The Robin Hood plan is a controversial program of transferring funds from wealthier schools to poorer schools to equalize funding.

Question 44

The rate of graduation in Texas high schools falls in the top 50 percent in the country.

Question 45

The Gilmer-Aikins Laws of 1949 made racial segregation in Texas public schools illegal.

Question 46

In Texas, about one in every three African Americans is poor.

Question 47

Hispanics currently make up the majority of Texans living below the poverty line.

Question 48

What have been the major issues dominating education policy in Texas over the past thirty years? Describe some of the struggles to desegregate Texas public schools. What have been some of the controversies surrounding equity in school funding? How have Texas policy makers attempted to promote excellence in student performance?

Question 49

School reform in the 1990s led to the centralization of education policy in Austin.

Question 50

Assess the welfare policies Texas has adopted. What effect did the federal welfare reform of the mid-1990s have on Texas? Have these reforms been successful, according to experts? Explain why or why not.

Question 51

Since 1995, the number of Texans on welfare has fallen.

Question 52

Describe the process by which Texas develops a budget. How does the Texas constitution constrain spending? What are the roles of the Legislative Budget Board and the state comptroller? Why is Texas often called a low-tax, low-service state?