March 24, 2015 8:59 AM

House Appropriations passes budget and supplemental budget

Otto says that taxes will be cut this session so it would be “imprudent” not to leave money on the table in HB 1 as it moves to the floor

Texas House budget writers on Tuesday morning sent to the full chamber their versions of the state budget and a supplemental budget that allays some of the fears of Democrats who had been concerned about the way the Medicaid shortfall was going to be paid for under the original proposal.

Though the votes on both were unanimous, Democrats said they are concerned that too much money is being left on the table as the budget moves to the House floor.

Taken together, the budget and the supplemental total more than $200 billion. The budget comes in $8.4 billion under Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s revenue estimate and $2 billion under the state's constitutional spending constraints. The House budget for the next two years adds $7.3 billion in all funds to the starting point budget – $5.7 billion of that is general revenue.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, said that even though the spending plan is advancing through the process, it remains very much a work in progress. “No one is or will be entirely happy,” Otto said, adding that there is much more work to do both on the House floor and in negotiations with the Senate.