Its a neat trick, and one the Texas Leg is attempting. From the Chron:
Lawmakers struggling to soften deep cuts that would be required in the face of a massive budget shortfall and no-new-taxes sentiment are looking at options such as deferring billions in state payments, speeding up tax collections, taking ownership of unclaimed property quicker and offering amnesty on penalties to laggard taxpayers.
"Right now, there is a tremendous amount of effort being invested in identifying new revenues that avoid being called a tax bill," said Dale Craymer of the business-based Texas Taxpayers and Research Association.
"Politically, a lot of members have pledged not to raise taxes," he said. "Obviously, members are seeing the impact of the budget proposal, and there's a desire to try and raise new revenue to protect the budget without violating the no-new-taxes pledge."
