After 15 and a half hours of debate on hundreds of amendments to the Texas House budget, lawmakers in the lower chamber passed the two-year, $218 billion document, with 131 votes in favor and 16 votes against.
Edgar Walters
Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin. He is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked as an editor for The Daily Texan. When not in the newsroom or at the Capitol, he could be found on the volleyball court, standing 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Posted in
Economy
Amid clash over procedure, Texas House moves to defund Enterprise Fund
While the Texas House on Thursday voted to defund a controversial economic development program and put the money toward services for vulnerable children, a group of Tea Party Republicans complained about the way the vote was handled.
Posted in
State Government
Three things to know as the Texas House kicks off a marathon budget debate
If history is any guide, the Texas House is poised for a long day with its fair share of drama as the chamber takes up a $218 billion budget that has drawn 400 proposed amendments.
Posted in
State Government
House budget amendments seek to ignite controversial topics
House lawmakers seek to force debate on controversial topics such as transgender rights, bathroom use, border security and abortion when the state’s proposed two-year budget comes up on the House floor on Thursday.
Posted in
Health care
Texas House budget writers send budget to full House with massive health care cut
“I am absolutely confident that services won’t be compromised,” state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, said of the cuts.
Posted in
State Government
Texas Senate approves its budget, shifting school costs to local taxpayers
The Texas Senate passed budget that would shift $1.8 billion in public education costs to local taxpayers.
Posted in
Politics
Straus condemns “bathroom bill,” talks local control
House Speaker Joe Straus said the controversial bathroom bill felt “manufactured and unnecessary.”
Posted inState Government
Texas Senate accounting maneuver finds $2.5B in budget; Straus calls it “cooking the books”
By delaying a diversion of sales tax money for transportation projects, Texas Senate leaders said they had an additional $2.5 billion to spend on needs such as health care and schools.
Posted inState Government
House leaders push for withdrawing $1 billion more from state savings account
The proposal from state Rep. John Zerwas would withdraw about $2.4 billion from the Rainy Day Fund.
Posted in
State Government
Lawmaker blasts Abbott appointee, health agency over contracting; agency fires back
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione is demanding to know why dozens of large Texas Health and Human Services Commission contracts don’t appear in the state’s budget watchdog’s database. The agency says it isn’t responsible for the problem.
