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By R.G. Ratcliffe
Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Friday, January 14, 2005
'06-'07 budget begins in the black
Extra $1.2 billion will increase the spending for schools, services
AUSTIN - Legislative leaders announced Friday that they have produced a starting-point budget for 2006-07 that is $1.2 billion in the black — a stark contrast to 2003, when lawmakers began the session with a $9.9 billion shortfall.
A joint House-Senate news release said the budget will increase overall spending for public and higher education by $3.2 billion; Medicaid and other human services by $2.4 billion; and transportation by $2.8 billion over levels in the current two-year state budget.
The announcement said budget cuts were being made in at least 100 state agencies, but it did not say which ones.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the budget came out so late Friday that it could not immediately be subjected to a full analysis. "We just received this budget and will be reviewing it further over the weekend," Coleman said.
The total state baseline budget for 2006-07 is $134.4 billion, with $63.5 billion in general-revenue spending. General revenue is the money from state taxes and fees that the Legislature has direct control in spending.
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced Monday that legislators will have $64.7 billion in general revenue available to them.
She estimated a budget that maintained state services and paid for population increases in public education and human services programs would have just $400 million left over.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the legislative leadership worked to produce a "base budget that protects essential services while keeping taxes low for hard-working Texas families." He called the budget a "good starting point."
House Speaker Tom Craddick said "the base budget bill is a worthy example of a productive collaboration between the House, the Senate and the (Legislative Budget Board) that has given us a good starting point from which to proceed."
The Legislative Budget Board is the Legislature's budget-advisory agency.
In the past, the Legislature's base budget has been a document that reflected current spending by state agencies plus growth to cover inflation and population increases.
Lawmakers threw out that form of baseline budget writing in 2003.
The legislative leadership and Gov. Rick Perry asked state agencies last year to submit budget requests that cut their funds by 5 percent from their 2005 operating budgets.
The agencies then could ask for additional spending.
The base budget the LBB produced spends $6.8 billion more in general revenue than agencies had budgeted for2005.
The three major budget increases in education, human services and transportation accounted for most of the new spending.
The news release said the budget funds enrollment growth in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and restores dental and vision benefits for CHIP participants.
But Coleman said the leadership's release was misleading in regard to CHIP.
He said he had only studied the budget for a matter of minutes but he found it did not restore what he called "devastating cuts" made to the program in 2003.
Coleman said more than 500,000 children were covered by CHIP before the 2003 cuts, but now the program covers 335,751.
He said the proposed budget envisions about 10,000 fewer children on the program in 2006.
"Like many of my colleagues, I am dedicated to seeing the devastating cuts to CHIP and Medicaid restored by session's end," Coleman said.
The leadership's news release said the budget also protected spending for Adult Protective Services, childhood immunizations, Mental Health State Schools, Mental Retardation State Schools and community mental health and mental retardation services.
"Because the base budget is conservative and below the revenue estimate, the Senate is well-positioned to make significant progress in addressing public school finance, child protection, health care, state retirement systems, and teacher and state employee salaries," said Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said the base budget gives lawmakers an opportunity to build a spending bill that "keeps Texas a great place to live and work."