It appears that in order to not raise taxes that the Texas Legislature chose to raid crime victims to help balance the state’s budget...

From the Austin American-Statesman, Tuesday, April 12, 2004 (expires 4/18/04):

Money is being used for other programs because of state’s economic woes

By Claire Osborn

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Crime victims seeking monetary help from a state fund established to assist them might be turned away by 2007.

The Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund could run out of money by then, Attorney General Greg Abbott said at a news conference Monday.

The problem is that the bad economy caused the Legislature to use some of the money in the fund to pay for other programs that do not directly benefit crime victims, Abbott said.

The fund’s current two-year budget includes an estimated $114 million to pay for other programs such as foster care and family violence services, according to the fund’s annual report.

That amounts to 40 percent of the fund’s total projected payments over those years.

Abbott said he has formed the Crime Victims Advisory Council to study ways to save the fund from insolvency.

“We are looking at new ways to generate revenue,” he said.

Possible solutions include raising the amount of money collected from criminals.

None of the money in the compensation fund comes from taxpayers. Most of it is collected from court costs, fees and restitution paid by people convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor in state court.

Currently the fund has collected only about 25 percent of what criminals owe, Abbott said. He said the council would consider ways to persuade the Legislature to change that, such as allowing wages to be withheld to guarantee payment.

Another way to encourage people to pay would be to not renew their licenses, Abbott said.

The fund, which was started in 1979, is administered by the attorney general’s office.

During the past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the fund paid out $71 million to almost 16,000 crime victims. In the previous year, the fund paid $44.9 million to crime victims.

So far this fiscal year, it has paid $43 million to $45 million to about 8,000 crime victims, said Herman Millholland, the fund’s chief.

The costs of the fund are expected to rise 12 percent to 15 percent per year, Millholland said.

The fund helps pay for items such as lost wages, funeral expenses, medical costs and therapy.

Mark Huber of Cedar Park said the fund helped him after his 1 1/2-year-old daughter was injured in a wreck Nov. 19, 2002, in Austin.

Her skull was fractured so badly that doctors gave her a “zero chance” of living, Huber said at the news conference.

The girl has recovered, however, and is now 3 years old. Money from the fund helped cover lost wages and pay for the girl’s medical costs, he said.

He said the collision involved a criminal charge but declined to comment on it because the case is pending.

The people who tend to benefit the most from the fund are those who have no insurance, said Verna Lee Carr, the adviser and victim outreach coordinator for People Against Violent Crime, an Austin victims’ rights group.

“When you’re going through the loss of a loved one, that alone is enough trauma in your life than to sit and worry about how you’re going to pay for funeral bills or multiple surgeries,” Carr said.

cosborn@statesman.com; 445-3871