A key Texas House panel advanced a budget with property tax cuts, border security initiatives and the first pay raises for state employees and teachers in over 10 years. It leaves out requests such as funding for rent relief and childcare programs.
services and another $3.5 billion for cost-of-living adjustments for retired teachers — their first in nearly 20 years., R-Friendswood, told committee members. “You’ve worked extremely hard for many hours and made some very difficult decisions, and I’m very proud of what you have delivered.
“I’m not convinced that these numbers do anything to confront the inflationary costs in our schools. I want to see something [more] that’s just not set in concrete, and if there are opportunities to make different investments, that we have that," said Martinez Fischer, a member of the committee who voted against the bill. “When I take this vote, I want to be able to tell my constituents that I’m still working for money for pub ed.
The committee’s budget proposal, which is more than 1,000 pages, is expected to hit the House floor for debate right before Easter weekend. The new version is the culmination of 95 hours of testimony by more than 700 witnesses from across the state in 25 separate public hearings over the past six weeks.
After it leaves the House floor in about two weeks, with more anticipated changes, the proposal will go to the Senate Finance Committee, which has been working similarly to craft its own version of how Texas should spend its money in the next two years. Once the Senate passes its plan, the two chambers will attempt to hammer out the differences in a series of nonpublic meetings over the next month before presenting a compromise bill to both chambers for a final vote in late May.in the budget, and then to the state comptroller to certify that the budget is balanced, as required by the Texas Constitution.
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