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January 19, 2017      11:55 AM

Details on some big-ticket items absent from budget proposals

Budget brinksmanship begins early with some fundamentally different visions and questions about the future of school finance, CPS, and more

The initial House and Senate budget documents are perhaps better noted by what they don’t say within their pages rather than what budget writers have put down on paper.

The two documents were released within hours of each other, even before Speaker of the House Joe Straus has named his new Appropriations Committee chair. The House touts a pro-child budget, putting money into public education, behavioral health and foster care fixes. The top line on that budget suggests the lower chamber may be willing to tap the Rainy Day Fund.  

The upper chamber’s budget, unveiled by Finance Chair Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, proposes some smaller ticket spending items for education, provides small bumps for pre-kindergarten and graduate medical education and dedicates funding to cut wait lists for community mental health care services. The Senate budget also suggests a 1.5 percent across-the-board cut for state agencies and declines to tap the Economic Stabilization Fund.

By Kimberly Reeves

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