Document Reveals Potential $1 Billion In State Budget Cuts

[TexasTowelie]

A document recently obtained by the Austin American-Statesman offers the first comprehensive glimpse of how COVID-19 could affect funding for state services over the long term. State spending could be cut by $1 billion, with 4,000 state employee positions frozen or eliminated.

Asher Price, who’s been reporting this story for the Statesman, told Texas Standard that the 370-page document describes in detail how state agencies expect to cut their budgets to address the revenue shortfall caused by COVID-19’s impact on the economy.

“The bulk of the state budget is spent at the Health and Human Services Commission, and on education, so that’s where we’re going to see a lot of the cuts,” Price said.

Programs that address neglect of children and other disadvantaged people, and those that provide advocacy services for children, are among those slated for cuts, Price said.

Read more: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/document-reveals-potential-1-billion-in-state-budget-cuts/

[Hoyt]

1. Honestly, if a state with a $100+ Billion budget can get away with that,

they’d be doing pretty well in this pandemic. Of course, it depends on which services are hit the hardest.

I bet a lot of states are going to make bigger cuts before impact of CV19 is over.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Texas has over $10 billion in Rainy Day reserve funds.

I think that the situation is such that spending some of those funds to balance the budget will be supported by the citizens.