From the Texas Tribune:
They’re surely facing the worst state budget cycle any of them have experienced. Yet in hours upon hours of testimony before lawmakers — flanked by the school children and people with disabilities who will be hit hardest by the proposed cuts to close the state's $15 billion to $27 billion shortfall — the commissioners of Texas’ social services and education agencies have appeared largely unruffled.
It’s not because they are unconcerned. There are hints of conflicted emotions, and the occasional unscripted outburst — like when Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs insisted last week that reporters were understating the impact of the proposed cuts, just days after the governor who appointed him accused the "mainstream media" of creating a climate of unjustified fear.
