Category Archives: Budget ballyhoo

I’m sure there will be more on this later, but for now, the Senate is debating the budget that it passed out of committee earlier this week. Despite some rumblings of discontent from the right, the motion to suspend the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst keeps getting shelled for his uncompassionate and non-sensible position on CHIP. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst drew fire Wednesday from several clergy members and leaders of a community action group who said they have lost patience with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s more detail about the Senate budget that came out of committee yesterday. The $152.2 billion, two-year state budget approved 15-0 by the Senate Finance Committee represents a 6.8 percent increase in state and federal spending compared with current levels. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Vince asks a good question: Seven hundred million dollars. That’s how much it will cost to settle the ongoing “FREW” lawsuit concerning Medicaid that has been raging for some 14 years. The settlement means providers will receive bigger Medicaid payments … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Didn’t get to this yesterday, but we appear to have a settlement in the Frew lawsuit, pending approval of the judge. A source close to the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the state would spend more than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Frew lawsuit over Medicaid has been the subject of negotiations between the victorious plaintiffs and various legislators with budget responsibilities, but as of yesterday there was no deal yet. Susan Zinn, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said she had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As he did with the CHIP bill, State Rep. Robert Talton has (temporarily, at least) derailed a measure by Rep. Sylvester Turner via point of order. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s effort to restore electricity discounts for thousands of low-income Texans was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When the state finally cut bait on the disastrous Accenture/HHSC outsourcing experiment, many fingers were pointed at Accenture in blame. But as the Texas Observer reports, a significant amount of blame should land on the shoulders of the Health and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After the opening snuff of multiple Democratic amendments, things got better from a Democratic perspective as an amendment to give teachers an across-the-board pay raise as part of the budget bill. “Bottom line, members, do we want to give teachers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Note: See second update below Whatever you may think of today’s budget bill, keep this in mind: It’s 100% the work of the Republicans, because Democratic amendments are being snuffed before they even get a chance to be debated. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today the House will take up the Committee Substitute for House Bill 1 (CSHB1), which is the state budget bill. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to link to and talk about later today, but for now, here’s two items regarding … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I wish I could say I’m surprised by this, but I’m not. Texas’ new business tax may bring in $500 million to $900 million less per year than originally projected, the state comptroller said in a draft letter to lawmakers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Burka revisits the subject of the Frew v. Hawkins class action lawsuit over Medicaid and the state’s obligations for same, which I last mentioned here. April 9 is fast approaching, and you should expect several shoes to drop once this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Every time the Lege meets, they have one task on their must-do list, and that’s pass a budget. They could do nothing else (and there are times when that would be a good idea), but they have to do this. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today the committee substitute for HB 109, also known as the CHIP restoration bill gets brought to the House floor. You already know what I think about this, so I’m just going to tell you what the Legislative Study Group … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This doesn’t surprise anyone, right? House budget writers, in order to find nearly $78 million more in state funds for the proposed CHIP expansion, whittled proposed increases in other social services, including mental-health care and breast and cervical cancer screening. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You have probably heard that the upcoming ruling by Judge William Wayne Justice in the lawsuit that will require Texas to meet its Medicaid obligations (the case is Frew v. Hawkins) might cost Texas up to $5 billion per year. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’d say “rest in peace”, but that’s an overbid. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission today said its ending by “mutual agreement” a trouble-plagued contract with a private company to determine eligibility for social services and oversee enrollment. The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Previously, we heard the following from Rep. Sylvester Turner: Rep. Sylvester Turner told reporters this morning that the House Appropriations Committee will add money to the budget later today to fully restore cuts to the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Today, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You’d think that if John Davis could figure out that CHIP enrollment needs to be done on an annual basis as it was before its 2003 disembowelment that anyone could figure it out, but you would be wrong. Lt. Gov. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, well, well…look who favors making CHIP more accessible now. “I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Rep. John Davis of Houston, who on Tuesday filed legislation to lengthen the CHIP enrollment period from six months to one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I feel like there’s a point that needs to be made in this story about using dedicated funds as they were intended but which is lacking. From electric-bill help for the needy to parks funding to abolishing a telephone fee, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Patricia Kilday Hart, who is now also posting on Paul Burka’s blog, takes a whack at the maneuvering done by the Republicans, in particular David Dewhurst, to bust the spending cap. She highlights a point that I had not seen … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Paul Burka, who says it feels like May in the House, previews the next budget atrocity about to be visited upon us. Democrats believe that the play is that [Appropriations Chair Warren] Chisum will bring a bill to the floor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

That sound you heard yesterday was the spending cap being officially busted. It took a GOP majority and the need to subsidize billions of dollars in promised local school property tax relief for the Texas Legislature to vote for the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yesterday, the House picked up where the Senate left off on the issue of busting the spending cap to fund the excessive property tax cuts. After a mostly harmonious debate concerning extending the tax cut from the last special session … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee followed the Senate’s example and voted to exceed the spending cap by passing SCR 20, the Ogden resolution. While three of the Lege blogs covered the happenings, for reasons I can’t adequately explain there … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Though the Senate tried to go the constitutional amendment route, in they end they simply voted to exceed the spending cap on their own. “It’s essential in order to permit us to provide local school property tax (relief) to homeowners … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is a real eye-opener. A big majority — 71 percent — agreed that “the school finance plan was only a temporary band-aid because all of the new state tax dollars were dedicated to property tax relief,” according to the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Catching up on an item from last week, the Senate moved closer to passing a constitutional amendment that would permanently remove buying down local taxes from spending cap calculations. Despite complaints that they’re trying to pass the buck to voters, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Governor Perry has reappointed Albert Hawkins to his post as the head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Hawkins, a former official in the George W. Bush White House who has served as commissioner since January 2003, was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Following on the heels of the complaint by Comptroller Susan Combs about the business tax surcharge that Sprint is attempting to levy on its customers, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed suit against the company to make it stop. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Switch away from Sprint, that is. State Comptroller Susan Combs on Monday asked Sprint to quit charging customers a fee reflecting Texas’ expanded business tax, but a spokesman for the wireless phone company said the surcharge will stay. Sprint in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The budget surplus isn’t as big as we thought it might have been. Thanks to our obsessive desire to feed the property tax cut beast, we’ve got $2.5 billion in unallocated money … Continue reading → Continue reading →