The Chronicle reports that while the improving Texas economy has increased state revenue, there are efforts to ensure that the budget that was trimmed back two years ago stays trimmed:
. . . no one is betting on a spending spree.
Exactly how much money lawmakers will have at their disposal won't be known until Monday, when Comptroller Susan Combs releases a two-year revenue estimate. Republicans — who don't have the House supermajority they enjoyed in 2011, but will still be calling the shots — already want new restraints on how much lawmakers can spend.
Gov. Rick Perry and other top GOP leaders want to limit spending increases to a formula of population growth plus inflation. That would be less than the $77.9 billion cap set by the Legislative Budget Board, which is a 10 percent increase over current levels.
Democrats and others view such self-imposed restrictions as unnecessary. The Center for Public Policy Priorities, a progressive-leaning think tank in Austin, said the state has enough money on the table now to undo the steep cuts in 2011 and retain current services if the lawmakers were willing to exhaust the Rainy Day Fund that now has a balance of about $8.1 billion.
But there is little appetite to do so.
"That's a tough, tough challenge for the makeup of the new legislature," said Eva DeLuna Castro, a senior budget analyst for the CPPP. "And it's also not letting us undo all the other smoke and mirrors the legislative leadership has said is a priority."
