Please amend HCR 18 by inserting the following clauses on line 1 of the bill:

WHEREAS, the state of Texas has actively chosen to underfund its schools by $7.8 billion dollars; and

WHEREAS, the Texas House of Representatives just passed HB 1, which should it be enacted will force the loss of hundreds of thousands of public and private sector jobs; and

WHEREAS, our currently proposed budget is short by $6 billion dollars that will be needed to pay for Medicaid, a program that the state is legally obligated to provide; and

WHEREAS, HB 1 may also reduce the number of students receiving Texas Grant scholarships from 86,830 in 2011 to 27,135 in 2013; and

WHEREAS, HB 1 may eliminate $233 million dollars in pre-kindergarten funding and other early childhood readiness programs; and

WHEREAS, in a race to the bottom, our proposed budget reduces Medicaid rates to nursing homes by 10 percent, even though Texas already ranks 49th nationally in Medicaid rates for nursing homes; and

WHEREAS, Texas is not a state of hypocrites and, thus, must acknowledge our own fiscal crisis resulting from the self-inflicted wound of our structural deficit; and

WHEREAS, both Texas and the United States Federal Government must heed the warning of the prophet Daniel who said that God hath numbered thy Kingdom and that thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; and

WHEREAS, both Texas and the Federal Government guilty of fiscal sins, one that spends more than it takes in and the other that does not govern nearly enough to educate our children, protect our air & water, and keep our promise to our elders; and

WHEREAS, we ought both seek balance in all measures and ensure the promise of our great country and our great state; and