Peggy Fikac, Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN – Lawmakers return to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to a brighter budget picture and calls to use billions of dollars in increased revenues for everything from reversing education cutbacks to tax relief.
A Medicaid IOU and other demands left hanging by lawmakers who grappled with a budget shortfall two years ago quickly will eat up much of a multibillion-dollar balance, however.
Comptroller Susan Combs laid out the parameters for state spending on Monday’s eve of the session when she said the rebounding Texas economy gives lawmakers $8.8 billion left over from the current two-year budget period, plus growth in the next two years.
The state’s general revenue from taxes, fees and other income is estimated to reach $96.2 billion in the 2014-15 fiscal period, with $3.6 billion earmarked for future transfers to the savings account known as the rainy day fund, Combs said.
The total $101.4 billion available for general-purpose spending through 2015 – taking into account the predicted $8.8 billion balance and future revenues – is 12.4 percent higher than the amount available for the budget period ending Aug. 31, according to the comptroller’s office.
The rainy day fund, additionally, will contain $8.1 billion at the end of the current fiscal period and will grow to $11.8 billion in the next two-year cycle if untouched, Combs said.
“We now know we have the resources to start undoing the cuts and give our children the education they deserve. The only question is if Republican legislators will continue to stand in the way,” Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, said in a statement.
Several teacher groups also called for restoring state funding to public education, which in the current two-year cycle got $5.4 billion less than it would have under previous funding formulas.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said Monday that it makes no sense to change public education funding formulas in the face of an ongoing lawsuit over school spending. As the lawsuit works its way through the courts, Williams said he wants to maintain flexibility because he thinks there likely will be a special session on education spending in 2014.
(Read more of this coverage at Chron.com)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- Neighborhood living without water for 5 days (KPRC 2 News)
- Three sent to prison in Houston sex trafficking case (Chron.com)
- Galveston Woman dies after U.S. refuses parental visit (Chron.com)
- Good Samaritans rescue dog shot multiple times in the face (KHOU 11 News)
- 2 arrested in Keystone Pipeline protest (KPRC 2 News)
- Woman pleads guilty in ‘total identity theft’ case (Chron.com)
- METRO targets smartphone thefts (KPRC 2 News)
- A Race without a Footprint (Chron.com)
STATE, NATION & WORLD:
- Texas reservoir level continues dropping (AP)
- HHSC: New Women’s Health Program Has Enough Providers (Texas Tribune)
- Report: $18 Billion Spent on Immigration Enforcement (Texas Tribune)
- Deal restores severance pay for U.S. military gays (USA Today)
- Health Spending Increases Remain At Record Lows (NPR)
- Chuck Hagel’s views on war forged by Vietnam (CNN)
- Oil Sands Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level (New York Times)
- Hints of Syrian Chemical Push Set Off Global Effort to Stop It (New York Times)