Chapter 12: Public Policy

When combined together, all the various types of state taxes total to what percentage of revenue?

49 percent

In what way does Texas's political culture affect state spending on health and human services?

A belief in self-reliance and a suspicion of the federal government lead Texans to limit the state's spending on health and human services.

If the U.S. Department of Transportation provided a grant to Texas to conduct needed highway maintenance and bridge repairs for safety purposes, which category of state revenue sources would this represent?

A grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, a federal agency, represents federal income.

Which of the following would be an example of a progressive taxation scheme?

An income tax that charges a higher percentage of income to people who make more is an example of a progressive taxation scheme.

In the video, Ben Barnes says that there is only one option besides instituting an income tax to raise more revenue. What is it?

Ben Barnes says that the only option besides instituting an income tax to raise more revenue is expanding sales tax to a wider variety of items, perhaps including food.

Despite ranking 33rd of the 50 states in 2014 for per capita spending in this policy area, which of the following state program did Texas spend the most money in fiscal year 2014?

Heath and Human Services

Which of the following is the first stage of the policymaking process?

Issue emergence

In 2013, 17.6% of Texans were living below the poverty line. How does this percentage compare with the rest of the country?

It is slightly above average.

Which of the following health care programs administered by the state of Texas relies heavily on federal funding?

Medicaid relies heavily on federal funding.

Which of the following is the last stage of the policymaking process?

Policy evaluation

Which one of the following is required for an issue to emerge and be placed on a government institution's agenda?

Political actors must identify it as a problem that needs to be addressed.

What is the difference between progressive and regressive taxation?

Progressive taxation requires those with higher incomes to pay higher percentages of their income on those taxes. Regressive taxation requires those with lower incomes to pay higher percentages of their income on those particular taxes.

Fill in the blank. ______ is the action taken by government to address an issue.

Public Policy

What is public policy?

Public policy is action taken by government to address a particular public issue.

What is the central transportation issue facing Texas today?

Road construction and maintenance has not kept up with population growth and the associated increase of cars on the state's roads and highways.

What are the two biggest sources of state revenue?

State taxes and federal income combined represent approximately 75 percent of all state revenue.

Which of the following played a key role in prompting legislative action to address the state's water needs?

The State Water Plan's proposals for funding the state's water needs played a key role in prompting legislative action to address Texas's water needs.

Considering state expenditures by function, what is the proportion of spending on health and human services to spending on general government operations?

The budget for HHS is about 14 times that of the budget for general government.

In what way does the policy evaluation stage create a "feedback loop" in the policymaking process?

The enactment and implementation of a policy creates a feedback loop in the policymaking process by helping to identify new problems, which starts the policymaking process all over again.

Which of the following is the largest single contributor to TxDOT's annual revenue?

The federal government contributed 40 percent of TxDOT's annual revenue in 2014-2015.

A slight majority of Texas' revenue comes from sources other than state taxes. Of these sources, which of the following is the single largest component of government income?

The federal government.

Which of the following BEST summarizes Texans' attitudes toward the ACA?

The majority of Republicans and independents consider the ACA very unfavorable, while the majority of Democrats consider it favorable or very favorable.

Texas's decision to not participate in two key provisions of the ACA will have which of the following results? (ACA == Affordable Care Act == Obamacare)

There will not be any increase in federal funding of health care for Texans or any increase in health-related services provided by the state.

What does Figure 11 suggest about Texans' attitudes toward traffic congestion?

They recognize population growth as causing traffic problems but minimize the impact that transportation spending would have on addressing such problems.

If Governor Abbott gave a speech highlighting the large numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into Texas and calling for greater security along the border, which stage of the policymaking process would this represent?

This is an example of agenda setting, the process of determining which issues will receive attention.

If school administrators in Texas began redesigning curricula to meet new educational standards adopted by the State Board of Education, which stage of the policymaking process would this represent?

This is an example of policy implementation, which happens when executive agencies and the state government bureaucracy carry out the policies enacted by the legislature or by the executive leadership of those agencies.

Texas has one of the most regressive tax systems in the United States. Which one of the following is the BEST definition of a "regressive tax system"?

Those at the lower end of the income spectrum pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes.

Why does using local property taxes to fund schools create inequalities across Texas's public education system?

Wealthier districts generate more tax revenues to fund their schools.

What was the policy solution ultimately enacted by the legislature and approved by the voters?

a constitutional amendment to take $2B from the Rainy Day Fund and distribute it via SWIFT and the Texas Water Development Board

In Texas, the combination of population growth and limited spending on social services has contributed to which of the following?

a poverty rate higher than the national average The combination of growth, low spending levels on social services, and the recession meant that 17.6 percent of Texans were living below the poverty line by 2013, about 2 percentage points higher than the national rate of 15.4 percent.

What is the central water issue facing Texas today?

a water shortage created by a growing population and an extreme drought

Considering state expenditures by category, roughly what portion of the state budget goes to education grants?

about a quarter of the state budget goes to education grants

Why is it difficult for state government to raise new revenue?

because Texans are generally resistant to raising taxes and would rather cut funds to balance the budget When asked about what overall approach they preferred as a response to the expected 2011 budget shortfall, only 22 percent of Texans favored increasing revenue while 49 percent favored budget cuts.

Politics takes place in and in between each stage of the policy process. Politics in this context is BEST defined as:

competition and conflict between stakeholders over the direction of policy.

From 2010 to 2014, how much faster did Texas's population grow relative to that of the nation as a whole?

more than twice as fast The state's population grew by 7.2 percent—over 1.8 million people—between 2010 and 2014, compared to a population growth of only 3.3 percent nationally.

As the Texas Water Development Board makes decisions about how to allocate the money from the Rainy Day Fund, what stage of the policymaking process does this represent?

not policy enactment

The court challenges over gaps in public-school funding illustrate which step of the policymaking process?

policy evaluation

Which of the following is a persistent policy issue related to education in Texas?

the use of local revenues to fund public schools The funding of public schools is the central recurring issue in Texas education policy.

Rapid population growth in Texas has created difficulties in which of the following policy areas?

transportation and water