91.   Even though the state budget is the primary job lawmakers face every two years, the budget process in recent sessions has been largely ignored.

92.   Fixing the school problem will only be tougher now that the state budget has been tightened.

93.   For example, last month, when asked whether he would raise income taxes, he instead criticized the way Governor Whitman had balanced the state budget.

94.   For more than a decade, state budget cuts forced the Commission to all but suspend its searches.

95.   For the past few years, Texas has enjoyed such a booming economy that any news about the state budget has usually been good.

96.   Fueling the boom of private prisons is the public demand for more prison beds, which has placed growing demands on state budgets.

97.   Furthermore, legislative actions that cut into the property-tax base affect more than just the state budget.

98.   Gov. George Pataki and legislative leaders Thursday abandoned their effort to pass a state budget on time because of the budget impasse in Washington.

99.   Gone are debates over local property taxes, education reform and stressed state budgets.

100.   Granted, the new state budget can afford the Finneran pay hikes.