Introduction
A recession can be defined as a continued decline in the Gross domestic product (GDP) as well as the employment rate of a particular state thus resulting in a poor and declining economy (Peck, 2011). The GDP is relatively a good measure of a country’s level of production.
Recently, there has been an increased rate of recession in the U.S. thus compelling the federal government to cut its budget so as to realize a higher economic growth rate. Due to the recession, the government has been under intense pressure to cut its spending on Texas.
This move will have a great impact on the various economical sectors within Texas and thus the need to identify potential areas where the budget can be cut without adversely affecting the economic state of Texas.
Government expenditure
Areas of high government expenditure in Texas include: education, public safety, transportation and social services. According to Heinrichs, education for instance is a sector that has suffered greatly in budget allocation (Heinrichs, 2012).
The future of Texas and any other state lies on the scholars and thus the need to increase spending on this sector of the economy. Currently, government spending on education per pupil in Texas ranks among the lowest in the country which poses a great risk on the future of Texas.
The National Education System reported that the average spending of Texas is 8,908 dollars per pupil which is below the average national spending per pupil of 11, 463 dollars. As such, cutting the government spending on education in Texas will have far reaching impacts on the future of the education sector as well as the quality of education delivered to the pupils.
Additionally, technological developments might end up being affected in the long run due to inadequate knowledge within the future generation.
Peck notes that the transport sector in Texas has been experiencing a massive growth rate and expansion programs which have seen planning and construction of highways become the center of attention on government’s spending (Peck, 2011).
Texas spends over 95% of the total funds allocated to the state through the State Highway Fund in the planning and construction of highways. Such heavy spending has seen the state of Texas ranked as the highest of the 49 states combined in government expenditure.
The increased spending by Texas is highly attributable to its bi-annual budgeting and as such, cutting the budget allocation on roads will go a long way in reducing government expenditure in Texas.
There is already a good transport network in Texas and therefore, cutting the government expenditure on development of road networks will help a great deal in averting the recession in the U.S.
Peck points out that the public safety and corrections sector has been rated as the fourth largest area where the government’s expenditure is high (Peck, 2011). This is highly attributable to the high number of people detained in prison.
The high number of inmates is due to an increasingly high population and the heavy penalties as well as stricter sentencing imposed on prisoners. This has seen the government spend approximately 5% of its total net state spending towards the welfare of the inmates in the state prisons.
The total number of incarcerations has been on the increase in the recent past thus the budgeted amount for Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) has been growing at double-digit rates annually. By reducing the number of incarcerations, the government can in turn cut down the budget allocated to the TDC.
For instance, inmates who have committed minor offences can be put on a community service program so as to avoid overpopulating the prisons and thus cut down the cost incurred in the public safety sector.
Conclusion
Although the idea of cutting the budget is not an informed decision, the government can reduce its expenditure in sectors that cannot be adversely affected by cutting down their budget. This will help to rescue the current state of recession and thus improve the economic growth rate of the country.
References
Heinrichs, A. (2012). The great recession. New York: Children’s Press.
Peck, D. (2011). Pinched: How the Great Recession has narrowed our futures and what we can do about it. New York: Crown Pub.