Combs: Texas will be spared recession
March 4, 2009
Combs said she expects the state to lose more than 100,000 jobs by September. About 27,000 already have been lost year to date. Even if more than 100,000 jobs are lost, that is only about 1 percent of the current Texas work force of more than 10 million, she said.
Written by David Hendricks , The San Antonio Express-News
Texas will lose jobs this year but will avoid a recession, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said in San Antonio on Tuesday.
“We are not immune, (but) Texas will not have a recession. We expect (the economy) to be stagnant,” Combs said after appearing at a Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and Ford Motor Co. luncheon honoring six San Antonio women leaders.
Combs said she expects the state to lose more than 100,000 jobs by September. About 27,000 already have been lost year to date. Even if more than 100,000 jobs are lost, that is only about 1 percent of the current Texas work force of more than 10 million, she said.
Retail sales are even slightly higher than they were at this time last year, she added.
“We have to be smart about the state budget,” Combs said during her luncheon speech, listing water, energy and work force issues as priorities for the legislative session.
Combs said she will meet with the Texas House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to discuss budget matters, including the Texas margins tax, which is entering the second year of collection.
About 35 bills have been introduced to reform the revenue-based business tax, but Combs said reforms would be badly timed, given the $9 billion shortfall in estimated revenues over the coming two budget years, compared with the previous two-year state budget.
“This is not the session to change the margins tax,” Combs said. The comptroller's office collected only $4.3 billion from the tax last year. The comptroller's office had estimated collections of $5.9 billion.
About 225 people attended the Women's Opportunity Week luncheon.
The chamber and Ford honored Brenda Vickrey Johnson of Vickrey & Associates, Susan Blackwood of San Antonio Sports, JoAnn Boone of Rio San Antonio Cruises, Valerie Gonzalez-Handly of Delicious Tamales, Carolyn Labatt of Computer Solutions and Lisa Morgan of Texas Environmental Action and Management.
The women were presented with the Brenda Vickrey Johnson Woman of Achievement Award, named for Johnson, who started the WOW week awards program in 2007 when she served as chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
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