With Texas in a budget crisis, the GOP-controlled Lege may not be in the mood to do anything but cut
Police accountability. Medicaid expansion. Voter access. Marijuana reform.
There’s no shortage of big issues for the Texas Legislature to grapple with when it convenes in January for the first time in two years.
There’s a problem, though. Texas is facing a budget shortfall of at least $5 billion — likely more — that will suck most of the oxygen out of the room. The COVID-19 pandemic has cratered the state’s economy, draining state coffers and raising questions about how much larger that deficit may grow.
What’s more, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle face pressure to maintain the increased school funding they approved last session, when they hammered together a plan that would give public schools a budget boost while limiting property taxes.
“This session is likely to be lean in terms of significant legislation passing,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “I think we’ll see the Legislature do what it usually does and cut its way to a balanced budget.”
Read more: https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2020/12/01/breaking-the-bank-with-texas-in-a-budget-crisis-the-gop-controlled-lege-may-not-be-in-the-mood-to-do-anything-but-cut
= new reply since forum marked as read
