Texas GOP lawmakersโ border and education wishlist would expand state budget by $2.7 billion โ and counting
If bills now being considered pass, lawmakers will be left with $3.3 billion to take care of unforeseen costs over the next two years. Some experts worry that Texas canโt sustain its massive spending on the border and public education.
Texas lawmakers have a $27 billion surplus, but a spending cap complicates their goal of lowering property taxes
Texas homeowners have some of the highest property tax bills in the nation, a byproduct of the stateโs reliance on such taxes to help pay for public schools and the stateโs lack of an income tax.
Texas House speaker pitches spending more than $100 million for mental health, school safety programs
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had asked House leaders to support his push for arming school police officers with bulletproof shields after the Uvalde shooting. House Speaker Dade Phelan is also asking for more money for mental health and school safety programs.
Texas Supreme Court may decide next plot twist in the Democratic walkout, and the fate of 2,100 state employees
The stateโs highest civil court has been asked to decide if Gov. Greg Abbott has the power to cut off funding for legislative staff, a move Abbott hoped would keep Democratic lawmakers from leaving the state and shutting down a special legislative session.
Texas lawmakers take first steps to restore Legislatureโs funding after Abbottโs veto
The House Appropriations Committee voted on Friday 21-0 to move forward a bill that would reinstate the funding after Abbott vetoed it to punish House Democrats who broke quorum in the final days of the session to kill two of his priority bills.
Jerry McGinty to head troubled Legislative Budget Board
Austin Price for The Texas TribuneLong headless, the Legislative Budget Board has a new director: Jerry McGinty of Huntsville, the CFO of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. McGinty has worked at TDCJ for nearly three decades, serving also as budget director and in human resources and communications roles, according to an announcement Thursday from Lt. Gov. โJerry has the management skills and the extensive experience needed to fulfill the LBBโs core mission of serving and advising lawmakers on prudent fiscal options for our state,โ Patrick said in a statement. Jerry McGinty has been named the new director of the Legislative Budget Board. TDCJSome lawmakers, particularly in the Texas House, praise the agencyโs work as crucial.