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Texas
George Bush, Republican
Legislature: Divided
Took Office: 1/95
Grade: B
The motto these days in Texas is, "The son also rises."
In his first term as governor, George W. Bush, the former
president's eldest son, has racked up an impressive fiscal
and economic record. He is enormously popular and is re-
garded by many as the GOP's front-runner for the White House
in 2000. In an era of prosperity when many of his Republi-
can gubernatorial colleagues have launched wild spending
sprees, Bush has been surprisingly tightfisted. In four
years state general fund spending has risen by 29 percent.
However, the state's economy has grown even faster. On an
annual basis, spending growth has been held more than 1.5
percent below the growth of both population and personal in-
come. In his press releases and reelection campaign docu-
ments, Bush touts four other accomplishments: tough-on-crime
judicial reforms, stringent educational standards, tort re-
form, and tax cuts. He earned high marks for pushing
through litigation reforms that were ferociously attacked by
the state's trial lawyers but have cut legal costs. Bush's
one major political debacle was an ambitious but ill-fated
tax-restructuring plan conceived in 1997. Designed to re-
duce property taxes and corporate taxes, the reform was uni-
versally opposed by small business owners--a key Republican
constituency--who saw it as a back-door tax increase aimed
at them. Bush eventually withdrew the unpopular plan and
settled for a $1 billion property tax cut instead. On the
national stage, Bush has earned a reputation as a vocal sup-
porter of free trade and immigration--two policies that he
correctly notes are hugely beneficial to Texas. It is said
that Bush has no enemies, just skeptics, but his record so
far has put to rest some, though not all, of that skepti-
cism. His record of fiscal restraint ranks him near the top
of the list of America's governors.
Utah
Score
Grade
Rank
Overall Fiscal Policy Score
69
B
4
Spending Score
85
A
1
Revenue and Tax Rate Score
62
B
6
Amount
-3.1%
Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Direct General Spending through 1996
-5.0%
Average Annual Change in Direct General Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1996
-1.5%
Average Annual Recommended Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Spending through 1999
-2.0%
Average Annual Change in General Fund Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income 1996-98
1.9%
Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Tax Revenue through 1997
-0.2%
Average Annual Change in Tax Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1997
-5.0%
Average Annual Recommended Change in General Fund Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1999
-1.9%
Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Revenue 1996-98
-0.9%
Average Annual Recommended Tax Changes as % of Prior Year's Spending through 1999
0.0
Change in Top Personal Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)
0.0
Change in Top Corporate Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)
4.5
1998 Combined Top Income Tax Rates (Personal plus Corporate) (*0.5)
0.0
Change in Sales Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)
0.0
Change in Gas Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (cents per gallon) (*0.5)