Coinciding with his State of the State address, Governor Greg Abbott today released his budget for the 2018-19 biennium, which provides even further insight into the Governor’s legislative priorities. The budget would propose implementing many of the 4 percent agency cuts in the LARs, and would further reduce agency expenditures by an additional 2 percent with the exception of the public school funding formulas and certain other priorities.
Highlights of The Governor’s Budget:
- Adds $500 million for reforming Child Protective Services (CPS)
- Maintains $800 million in funding for border security
- Fully funds $5 billion in additional road construction without new taxes, fees, debt, or tolls
- Fully funds optional, high-quality PreK programs
- Calls for the demise of the “state’s antiquated ‘Robin Hood’ recapture funding scheme”
- Protect programs outlined in the 2016 Tri-Agency Initiative Report
- Fully funds job creation programs like the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF)
- Fully funds the Governor’s University Research Initiative (GURI)
- Fully funds disaster-relief programs
- Cuts taxes on employers (franchise tax) by another $250 million
- Calls for Revenue Caps and Additional Debt Transparency Measures
- Prohibit using state funds to bailout local pensions, state provides guidance and leave local leaders to determine plan designs and funding levels within local constraints
- Encourages expansion of TERP program to address congestion relief projects
- Adds $12.5 million to TWDB flood protection planning programs
- Utilizes a four-year lookback of historical population and inflation data which creates a 5.81 percent allowable growth rate
The Governor’s Budget also addresses previous comments made regarding special session by stating the legislature “must be mindful of its duty to prevent unnecessary expenditures by meeting its obligations to complete the people’s work within the allotted 140 days. In a tight budget session, spending funds to finance additional time for a part-time legislature should be avoided and resources should instead be channeled to the priorities outlined above.”