Expect more.
- Texas’ savings account is poised to hit $15 billion. How much will lawmakers spend?
More than in any legislative session since the Great Recession, Texas lawmakers are signaling a willingness this year to dip into the state’s massive savings account.
As the Legislature debates costly investments in property tax reduction and public schools, and with big bills coming due for retired teachers’ pensions and Hurricane Harvey recovery, Texas’ Economic Stabilization Fund is taking center stage in budget negotiations.
Left untouched, the savings account, also known as the rainy day fund, would reach an unprecedented $15 billion over the next two years, according to official estimates.
State lawmakers have proposed an ambitious and expensive legislative agenda for 2019, and with economists raising concerns that an oversized savings account will lose value over time and weigh down the economy, Texas’ Republican leadership appears eager to dip into the piggy bank.
“I think we all are realistic that we may have to tap into the rainy day fund for one-time expenditures, more than we have in the past,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a recent hearing.
- Texas lawmakers indicate they may use rainy day fund for school security, hurricane recovery and teachers' pensions.
A group of state leaders with huge influence over what public services receive funding said Friday they were prepared to make a significant withdrawal from the state’s savings account.
At a public hearing, House and Senate leaders listed myriad needs they could pay for out of the savings account, including leftover costs from Hurricane Harvey, a bill coming due for retired teachers’ pensions and unspecified public school safety improvements. That savings account, known formally as the Economic Stabilization Fund and colloquially as the rainy day fund, is projected to reach an unprecedented $15 billion in the coming budget cycle if left untouched.
“I think we all are realistic that we may have to tap into the rainy day fund for one-time expenditures, more than we have in the past,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the end of a roughly 10-minute meeting of the state’s Legislative Budget Board.
That would include money for Hurricane Harvey recovery — something the state will “for sure” pay for out of the rainy day fund, said state Sen. Jane Nelson, the upper chamber’s lead budget writer.
