The latest budget news from The Texas Tribune.
You wouldn’t be out of line wondering why Texas school finance didn’t get fixed in 2017. Or 2015. Or 2013. But it’s because this is a hard policy problem and a harder political one. The prompt now is that property taxes have gotten so far out of hand that lawmakers have no choice but to act. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Public Safety is feeling the heat over a budget-related decision to lay off 117 officers serving in a retire/rehire program. Full Story
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The infestation of Norwegian rats in a state building where health regulators work is not only a big, embarrassing mess — it's a metaphor for a persistent problem in Texas government. Full Story
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Though poverty rates have remained consistent, Texas has significantly reduced the traditional welfare it provides to poor Texans through cash assistance over the last two decades. Full Story
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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a $60,000 vermin problem, and is hiring private exterminators to deal with an estimated "several hundred" sewer rats in the building. Full Story
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The Texas Legislature's list of things to do in 2019 is already piling up, and it was an expensive set of chores before anyone ever heard of Hurricane Harvey. Full Story
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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Tuesday delivered some welcome news to weary state lawmakers: Their coffers should be richer than he previously anticipated. Full Story
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A new report says the deferrals and other fiscal tricks lawmakers used this year — and are considering in the current special session — are digging a hole legislators will have to fill when they return to write a new budget in January 2019. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state's next two-year budget Monday, but vetoed tens of millions of dollars in funding for various programs, including measures meant to improve the region's air quality and assist impoverished border communities. Full Story
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Did the Texas Legislature boost funding for border security? What about public education? Did they dip into the Rainy Day Fund? Here’s a wide-angle look at what's in the $217 billion budget the two chambers ultimately settled on. Full Story
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Amid increased talk of a special session over other issues, both the Texas House and Senate voted Saturday evening to approve a $217 billion, two-year budget, the only bill lawmakers are required to pass. Full Story
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The House grudgingly voted to accept the Senate's supplemental budget proposal, which would not restore funding for disabled children's therapy services. Full Story
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Lawmakers cut a $3 million initiative to help victims of sex trafficking, ending child welfare advocates' hopes that 2017 would be the year they would finally see funds set aside to help children who had been sold for sex. Full Story
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Lawmakers, scrounging for cash in a tight-fisted legislative session, agreed to dip into the state’s savings account and to make use of an accounting trick using funds set aside last session for highway projects. Full Story
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After moving at a glacial pace several times this Legislative session, the Texas House on Saturday kicked into high gear and passed measures that could help them avoid a special session. Full Story
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A proposal to dramatically reshape the state’s savings account to set aside more funds for tough economic times has effectively died in the final days of the legislative session. Full Story
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The Texas Senate Finance Committee has voted to spend about $800 million in state funds to cover a Medicaid shortfall in the current two-year budget. Full Story
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Members of both chambers of the Texas Legislature say they are getting closer to agreeing on a budget. One of the last sticking points? Higher education. Full Story
Rumors of a special session are a normal feature in the last days of a regular session. There's no emergency that would force a special session, but don't discount the Texas Legislature's ability to force one by failing to finish its work. Full Story
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Initiatives to boost small businesses and help poor students get through college could lose their funding amid the Senate's attempt to fix how the state pays for higher education. Full Story
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