Our view: Early budget drafts reveal commitment to priorities
AGN Media Editorial Board
The first drafts of the state’s budget for the next two years were made public late last week with lawmakers in both chambers closely aligned on priorities but approximately $7 billion above the general revenue estimate provided by the state comptroller prior to the session.
Just prior to the start of the session, Comptroller Glenn Hegar cautiously estimated $112.5 billion for the next two fiscal years, although the ongoing pandemic and its prolonged impacts left the projection “clouded in uncertainty.” Legislators must also work through an estimated shortfall of almost $1 billion in the budget that ends in August.
Texas House, Senate propose similar spending amounts in preliminary budgets
Mitchell Ferman
The Texas Tribune
Texas leaders in the state House and Senate have each proposed budgets that spend $119.7 billion in general revenue for the next two fiscal years, signifying notable agreement on the top lines as lawmakers try to draft a state spending plan while they confront the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposals from the two chambers, issued first on Thursday by the Senate and then by the House, are about $7 billion over the amount of general revenue Comptroller Glenn Hegar said lawmakers have to spend during the session.
State lawmakers are required to pass a balanced budget, meaning they will have to either cut down that spending later in the budgeting process, delay spending on certain items until a later budget cycle or tap into the state’s rainy day fund to pay for some of its expenses, among other accounting maneuvers budget writers could use.
State Sen. César Blanco of El Paso talks priorities as leaders unveil budget plans
AUSTIN, Texas The Texas Tribune held interviews Friday with three new members of the Texas Senate: César Blanco, D-El Paso; Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio; and Drew Springer, R-Muenster. Tribune politics reporter Alex Samuels moderated the discussion.
The new state senators all former members of the Texas House discussed their priorities as they head to the Texas state Capitol for a challenging legislative session.
(You can watch the entire discussion in the video player above.)
It comes as leaders in the state House and Senate have each proposed budgets that spend $119.7 billion in general revenue for the next two fiscal years, signifying notable agreement on the top lines as lawmakers try to draft a state spending plan while they confront the coronavirus pandemic.
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