9. SB 4 - Barrientos Amendment

Motion to table Floor Amendment 6 by Barrientos. 4/28/99, p 1275 The Barrientos Amendment was tabled 20-10.

YCT Yea. The bill is relating to mandatory teacher pay raises when the Comptroller finds that estimated revenue from the undedicated portion of the general fund on August 31, 1999 or August 31, 2001 is greater than the estimated revenue on April 27, 1999. An automatic 40% of the projected surplus would go to teacher pay increases and 40% to higher education, while only 20% would go to property tax decreases. This amendment would have automatically given teachers pay increases according to a projected statewide revenue projection. Teachers, like other professions, should be given raises based on performance and quality, not an estimated budget surplus. This amendment would also spend money that may not necessarily be in the budget because it is based on a projected revenue increase. The Barrientos Amendment would also limit much needed property tax cuts. This amendment would have limited the Legislature’s ability to allocate money to other necessary programs in the future and would have tied their hands.