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Rainy Day Fund

The latest Rainy Day Fund news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Perry: Protect Rainy Day Fund

    By Elise Hu

    Gov. Rick Perry told lawmakers Tuesday he is against tapping the state's $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund to close the budget shortfall: “That approach would not only postpone tough, necessary decisions." Full Story 

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  • A Conversation with Rob Eissler

    By Evan Smith

    For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the chairman of the House Public Education Committee to talk about the coming cuts to public ed: how big they're likely to be, the prospect of tens of thousands of teacher and non-instructional-staff layoffs and whether new revenue sources are on the table. Full Story 

    State Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, speaks with Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith at TribLive on Feb. 3, 2011.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Heflin: Most Sensible Solution Is Reduced Spending

    By Talmadge Heflin

    More money is not the answer to our current woes. Just as anyone managing a household budget knows, when a family’s expenses grow beyond its income, the solution is to cut back — particularly if its spending habits resemble the state's. Full Story 

    Former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin is the director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy.

  • Castro: Start by Casting Aside Wishful Thinking

    By Eva DeLuna Castro

    We need a balanced approach that uses our reserves and adds revenue. And we have to start by casting aside wishful thinking; we are writing the 2012-13 budget, with higher costs and increased enrollment in education and health care services — not some past budget. Full Story 

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  • Texplainer: Is It Raining Yet?

    By Christopher Smith Gonzalez

    The Texas Constitution says that money from the Rainy Day Fund can be spent to “prevent or eliminate a temporary cash deficiency in general revenue.” With the state facing a budget shortfall estimated somewhere between $15 billion and $27 billion, some say if it ain't raining now, it ain't ever going to. Full Story 

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  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    The Trib staff on the sweeping cuts in the proposed House budget, Grissom on what's lost and not found at the Department of Public Safety, Galbraith on the wind power conundrum, Hamilton on higher ed's pessimistic budget outlook, Stiles and Swicegood debut an incredibly useful bill tracker app, Ramsey interviews Rick Perry on the cusp of his second decade as governor, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist's quest for asylum in the U.S., Ramshaw on life expectancy along the border, M. Smith on the obstacles school districts face in laying off teachers and yours truly talks gambling and the Rainy Day Fund with state Rep. Jim Pitts: The best of our best from January 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story 

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  • What 99 Means

    By Ross Ramsey

    When a party wins everything, as the GOP has in Texas this year, it gets almost everything its way. It also has everything to lose. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The Ditch: How We Got Into It

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    Even though we fared better than other states, lawmakers face a budget shortfall of $10 billion or more when they return to Austin in 2011. Ben Philpott — who covers politics and public policy for KUT News and the Tribune — looks at the shortfall and proposed solutions. Full Story 

  • What are the Odds?

    By Ross Ramsey

    Start with a shortfall and a Legislature that doesn't want to raise taxes, then dangle budget-balancing money from "volunteers" — a.k.a., gamblers. With that strategy, promoters think they've got their best shot in years to legalize slot machines while adding $1 billion a year to state revenues. Full Story 

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  • The Last Time Around

    By Julián Aguilar

    How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad. Full Story 

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  • Cloudy with a Chance of Money

    By Abby Rapoport

    The Rainy Day Fund seems like weather word play waiting to happen. It can plug holes in the budget, defend against an economic perfect storm and keep the deficit clouds at bay. That’s certainly how some see it when looking at the next biennium's projected shortfalls. Full Story 

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