Staffing

TSEU Legislative Agenda 2019-2020
for more information, please contact TSEU Political Organizer Tyler Sheldon in the Austin TSEU office (512.448.4225)

Increase staffing to improve services to the most vulnerable Texans

Over the last 22 years, the total number of state agency employees has decreased by 4% since while the state’s overall population has increased by nearly 54%. A fast growing population has created a higher demand for state services in Texas. Over the years the Texas Legislature has not funded staffing levels to keep pace with population growth. From caring for the intellectually disabled to protecting abused children; adequate staffing is necessary to meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. The decline in the state’s workforce coupled with increasing population has also resulted in unmanageable caseloads for current employees and increasing turnover rates. Excessive workloads undermine the quality of state services delivered by multiple state agencies.

INVEST IN THE FUTURE OF TEXAS
Fund Texas Universities!

  Texas institutions of higher education were established to provide quality, affordable education for Texas residents. However, as a percentage of overall public university budgets, state funding for higher education has fallen nearly every year for the last two decades. In 2000, state formula funding made up 27% of academic state university budgets. By 2014 it made up just 16% of university budgets. The legislature’s long divestment from public higher education has already forced dramatic increases in tuition that have put college out of reach for many Texans. The legislature’s cuts have also forced the elimination of thousands of university teaching and staff positions, in addition to consolidation and privatization of services, threatening the quality of our state’s higher education.

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