TEXAS SENATE NEWS
The leaders of the House and Senate joined Governor Greg Abbott in front of the Governor’s mansion in Austin on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 to announce they are committed to passing significant changes to the way the state finances its public schools. This would entail major changes to the primary revenue source for education in Texas, local property taxes. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and new House Speaker Dennis Bonnen said that they will work with each other to deliver what Abbott called a “transformative” bill for his signature. “If the three of us are aligned, that we’re going to accomplish a mission, and pass legislation, it happens,” said Patrick. “This is not just a message to the public and to the media, but I think our members will take note, that this is really unprecedented, that we’re addressing these issues beginning of session, totally united with one another.” Patrick added he predicts that this will be the best session in the history of Texas.
Bonnen and Patrick, who preside over the House and Senate respectively, will set the agenda in their chambers, but both acknowledged that the actual plan will be generated by the members in each body. As for what could be included in the eventual reform package, the Legislature held joint meetings over the interim to take input from stakeholders and come up with a plan aimed at both improving the quality of education while fixing the complicated and counterintuitive school finance system. The Commission on Public School Finance released this report in December.
The report suggests reallocating $3.5 billion in existing state resources away from outdated programs or obsolete hold-harmless provisions into new strategies for improving education. It calls for a halt to the continuing decrease in state resources allocated towards public education, and directing more money towards students who need it most, such as low-income, special needs and English language learners. The Commission also recommended a complete overhaul of the formulae that determine how education dollars are allocated to districts and campuses.
Also last week, budget writers found out how much money they’ll have to work with as they figure out how to pay for state services for the next two years when Comptroller Glenn Hegar issued his biennial revenue estimate. The state is constitutionally prohibited from spending more than it takes in, so this estimate sets a cap on how much lawmakers can appropriate. Unlike in 2017, when legislators arrived in Austin to discover they had less money to work with than the previous session, strong economic growth and sales tax collections have increased available revenue by eight percent over last session, for a total of just under $120 billion in non-dedicated general revenue.
Hegar also releases growth projections for the Texas economy with the revenue estimate, and he said that a recovery in the oil market in 2018 and expansion of the national economy led to robust 3 percent growth in gross state product, and forecast an even stronger four percent rate for 2019. Beyond that, he said, economic uncertainties cloud the state’s economic prospects. Rising federal interest rates, a drop in the price of a barrel of oil from its October high, and volatility in the global market and questions about US global trade policy will rein in growth. While the state should still outpace the national economy, he said, his office predicts more modest growth in GSP of 2.5 percent in each year of the 2020-2021 biennium.
