September 30, 2015 5:31 PM

Lt. Gov. Patrick defends lawmakers' actions leading to controversial cuts to services for disabled kids

And he tells HHSC Commissioner Traylor that this is about finding savings and insists kids' services not be cut

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday struck back at critics who have said The Legislature acted callously in passing a budget that calls for deep cuts in services that help disabled children who receive medically necessary therapies all across Texas. A judge in Travis County last week put the cuts on hold and scolded the Health and Human Services Commission for acting outside its own rules and trying to evade oversight.

"Anyone claiming the legislature arbitrarily instructed HHSC to save taxpayers $100 million by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse without consideration of the potential impact on Texas' most vulnerable citizens - is just flat wrong,” Patrick said in a statement sent to reporters.

This assertion is factually true but also potentially misleading.

The legislature did arbitrarily instruct HHSC to save taxpayers $100 million on pediatric therapy for poor kids with severe disabilities. But in the same budget rider, lawmakers ordered HHSC to “consider” potential impact while doing so. As this instruction to “consider” impact is written into the budget, its existence hasn’t been debated.

By Emily DePrang