BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -Texas’s 87th legislative session could see a lack of funding due to the impacts of COVID-19.
The Texas economy has felt the impacts of the Coronavirus especially in areas like oil and gas and sales tax revenue, which will make it tough on state political officials in 2021.
“We are going to be short of funds,” said State Rep. John Raney, (R) - District 14. “So there is not going to be anything that I would guess you would say ‘new funding.‘”
This lack of funding is going to force political officials to think outside the box.
“We are going to have to get creative,” said State Rep. Kyle Kacal, (R) - District 12. “The rainy day fund is now I think as the Comptroller reports it closer to $9 billion. The key to that is it sounds like we have an extra $9 billion available, but I think in the 85th session or a few sessions ago we put a floor on it around $7 billion so that only allows us 1.8 to 2 billion dollars of leeway.”
Texas could be 20 billion dollars short of making budget, leaving legislators a lot of work to do.
“That’s a lot of money to make up,” said Raney. “The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker have asked all agencies to cut their spending by 5 percent, and I think they are trying to do that. That will be helpful.”
The 87th Texas Legislature is set to begin on Jan. 12, 2021.
With the session six months away, Kacal is advocating for changes to the legislature to make sure they can get their job done.
“[January is the time] for us to meet quickly, pass a budget, pass some emergency items and then when we have a vaccine or we have a plan for the COVID, we can come into a special session and take care of those local bills that are so important to everybody,” said Kacal.
On July 20 the Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is set to release a budget estimate, according to Rep. Kacal. This will provide more insight into the state’s budget for the 2020-2021 biennium.
Copyright 2020 KBTX. All rights reserved.
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A lack of state funding could impact Texas's 87th legislative session - KBTX
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