The proposed budget would increase state funds for education by about 17 percent but cut funding for health and human services by about 3 percent.
budget
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas lawmakers indicate they may use rainy day fund for school security, hurricane recovery and teachers’ pensions
Hurricane Harvey, school safety and teacher pensions all made the list of priorities likely to receive funding from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund.
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Higher Education
Texas Tomorrow Fund needs $211 million from the next state budget to close shortfall, comptroller says
The prepaid tuition plan is guaranteed by the state, so lawmakers will need to set the money aside when they write a new budget this year.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar gives lawmakers cautiously optimistic revenue estimate for 2019 session
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday that the state will have $119.1 billion for lawmakers to use in putting together the state’s 2020-21 budget.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: To the relief of Texas lawmakers, voters just aren’t into state budgets
Most of what the state government does is spelled out in the budget Texas lawmakers write every two years. Lucky for them, most voters don’t pay close attention to what’s in that big stack of numbers.
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Guides
What’s the point of Texas’ rainy day fund?
Texas’ Economic Stabilization Fund holds more than $11 billion and is the largest in the country. There’s a lot of disagreement over how and when to spend the money.
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Politics
Analysis: These Texas candidates are about to find out what they’ve really won!
The campaigns were long and hard, and now we know the winners. Let’s look at what they’re in for once they take office in 2019.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Legislative report: Harvey recovery has cost $2.7 billion so far — most paid by feds
A report released Friday by the Texas Senate’s budget-writing committee laid out past and future costs related to recovery from “the most costly disaster ever to hit the Texas coast.”
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
With record $12.5 billion in Texas’ savings account, lawmakers set $7.5 billion minimum balance
The decision means Texas can invest more of its massive rainy day fund — and signals lawmakers’ confidence that the current balance is healthy.
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Public Education
Analysis: Is ending a tax break easier to swallow than a tax hike?
Lawmakers looking to realign the state’s public school finances while also cutting local property taxes can’t do both without a lot of money. They don’t want to raise taxes, but they have nearly $60 billion in annual tax exemptions that might provide a solution.
