Texas’ government budget is up an excessive 11.8 percent above increases in compounded population growth plus inflation since the 2004-05 budget, and some legislators are frustrated with the budget process because the money saved by cutting spending in one area is often reallocated elsewhere resulting in no reduction in the overall budget. To resolve this problem while relieving taxpayers from the burden of paying higher taxes, we recommend creating the Sales Tax Reduction (STaR) Fund.