The Senate Finance Committee finished marking up SB 1 by Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to establish the state's FY 18-19 budget. The committee will formally vote on the Committee Substitute to SB 1 next week. Then it will move to the full Senate for consideration.
“We are committed to passing a budget that stays within our means and meets the needs of our growing state,” Senator Nelson said. “Our workgroups have been working around the clock, searching for opportunities to achieve savings with the goal of freeing up additional resources to fund our priorities.”
Senator Nelson filed SB 1, the Senate’s base budget, on January 17, 2017, stressing it was a starting point. The committee conducted hearings on the budgets of 167 agencies and took testimony from more than 600 witnesses. Senator Nelson formed workgroups to delve deeper into school finance, higher education special items, health care costs and juvenile justice. In addition, budget article workgroups have been meeting night and day to develop final recommendations.
In mark-up, the committee approved a mixture of funding increases, reductions and efficiency measures that differ from the filed version of SB 1. Decision documents are available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Decision_Documents.aspx?Session=85&Type=AdoptedDecisionSenate. Following are a few highlights:
Article III (Education)
Article II (Health & Human Services)
Articles VI, VII, VIII (Natural Resources, Business & Eco Devo, and Regulatory)
Article I, IV, V (General Government, Judiciary, and Criminal Justice)
State Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, today announced $10 million in funds from the General Appropriations Act, SB 1,will be distributed to a local nonprofit, Ranch Hands Rescue, and dedicated to supporting survivors of human trafficking.
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