By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Saying SB 1 is a "very good budget bill," House Appropriations Chair Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) today fended off criticism of the state appropriation bill before seeing the Conference Committee on SB 1 finally pass out of the House. The Senate passed the Conference Committee Report on SB 1 on Saturday by a 30-1 vote.
Noting the budget includes $139.4 billion in all funds and $65.6 billion in General Revenue (GR), Pitts said that represents an all-funds increase of 10.1 percent and a GR increase of 9.8 percent.
Pitts noted that public and higher education garnered the largest percentage of the budget, at $54.8 billion in all funds, an increase of 6.4 percent. He also described an 11.4 percent increase in health and human services funding, noting Medicaid spending accounts for a large chunk of that appropriation. Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for the upcoming biennium is at $1.4 billion, said Pitts, a 41.2 percent over the previous biennium, funding an increase of nearly 60,000 children in CHIP for the biennium.
As in the Senate, there were questions regarding funding for a medical school in El Paso. Rep. Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) questioned as to why that funding was taken out of the budget. There was also dismay that funding, however, was included for an OB/GYN medical clinic in Midland, hometown of Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick. Chavez questioned priorities of the state, noting that $2 million was appropriated for upgrades at the San Jacinto Monument, while the medical school funding was not allowed. "To what degree are members of El Paso being punished for voting on legislation that we believe is wrong?"
"We're not punishing anybody," said Pitts. He argued that the funding for the medical school was $65 million, as opposed to the $2 million for the San Jacinto Monument. "There's a whole lot of difference in finding $2 million and in finding $65 million," said Pitts. He said El Pasoans who talked to him said they would not take less than the $65 million.
Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) questioned the appropriation of nearly $400 million to the governor's Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund. "These two funds help the people all across the state of Texas," said Pitts. While Coleman said it does have value to everyone in the state, the question is whether it has priority over other funding, such as personal needs funding and the energy assistance fund. Priority of funding was Coleman's major issue.
Questioning why money collected for one purpose, "basically a dedicated fund," and moving that money to general revenue was questioned by Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston). Pitts responded that it has been done that way over recent years.
Additional comments on the Conference Committee Report on SB 1 came from Rep. Paul Moreno (D-El Paso), who noted this is his first time to speak against an appropriations bill in all his years in the House. He said the children who benefit from CHIP are "being ignored" and that affects Mexican-Americans. He added that education cuts also affect Mexican-Americans. Moreno said the Texas Tech Medical School in El Paso and the Irma Rangel Pharmacy School "are not being properly funded," leading him to believe Mexican Americans "are at the bottom of the totem pole," adding, "that has to stop." He called the lack of funding for the Rangel School was a "black eye" in Texas' history. Moreno said Mexican Americans are being "taken for granted" or "being completely ignored.
"We in El Paso, and we in South Texas, and we in Kingsville deserve proper recognition. I am extremely sad at what has happened. The bill is going to be passed. I know the political realities."
Saying the bill includes "accounting tricks" and that "not everyone is a loser" in the bill, referencing the addition of millions of dollars to what he called the "governor's slush fund" (Enterprise and Emerging Technology funds), Rep. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) said the budget does not "address the priorities of the state."
Rep. Helen Giddings said she wished that "our rhetoric" was reflected in the appropriation, reflecting the "high degree of respect we have for our teachers and the hard work they do," among what she saw as a lack of necessary funding on a number of issues. "This budget is not a quarter horse," she said, "but it's not a donkey."
"This is a balanced and fiscally responsible budget," said Pitts in closing, noting it meets the needs of the state.