Republican leaders in the Texas House and Senate have released initial state budgets that pay for population growth and inflation, but they would not restore deep cuts in state spending from two years ago.
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst says the Senate’s budget is a starting point for discussion and would preserve an economy that has created economic opportunity.
“To maintain that opportunity” said Dewhurst, “ we need to make sure we keep our spending under control, fund our priorities and keep our taxes low”.
The Senate announced an $88.9 billion budget that includes an increase in state spending of nearly two-percent over the current two-year budget.
The House’s starting budget $89.1 billion is a little bigger but doesn't spend most of a project expected surplus at the end of this fiscal.
Both freeze funding for the troubled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, known as CPRIT which has been accused of conflicts of interest in making grants.
