Texas House advances bill to restore money to pay salaries for 2,100 state workers after Gov. Greg
Source: Texas Tribune
The Texas House on Wednesday gave the preliminary OK to legislation that will, among other things, restore funding for the salaries and benefits of the 2,100 staffers of the Legislative branch after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed those dollars in the next state budget.
The legislation, House Bill 5, will need another stamp of approval in the House before it heads to the Senate, which has not yet debated its version of the proposal on the floor.
The bill, carried by House Appropriations Chair Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, as passed would restore roughly $316 million to Article X of the 2022-23 state budget, which funds the Legislature and various legislative agencies such as the Legislative Reference Library and Legislative Budget Board. Abbott vetoed those dollars earlier this year as retribution after House Democrats walked out of the chamber in the final hours of the regular legislative session that ended in May to block a GOP elections bill. The veto did not affect lawmakers, whose salaries are constitutionally protected.
HB 5 would also add dollars for the coming biennium toward other issues on Abbott’s special session agenda, including $90 million to the Department of Family and Protective Services to help combat the state’s foster care crisis and over $17 million to the Department of Information Resources to ramp up the state’s cybersecurity efforts.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/01/texas-legislature-article-x-funding/
Full title: Texas House advances bill to restore money to pay salaries for 2,100 state workers after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed Legislature funding
Written by: Cassandra Pollock
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