AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Budget woes in Texas caused by a prolonged oil slump would be patched with cuts to higher education, kicking the can down the road on growing Medicaid costs and rebuffing priorities of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott under an austere spending bill passed by the state Senate.
Texas’ finances are not as bleak as other states. Oklahoma is grappling with a roughly $870 million shortfall that could decimate core state services, and Kansas is considering tax increases to offset serious budget problems.
But Texas is still belt-tightening amid sagging energy prices.
The $106.3 billion package approved 31-0 on Tuesday doesn’t fully fund rapidly growing Medicaid caseloads. But it does close a state prison while failing to give Abbott the dollars he wants for pre-kindergarten and bringing elite researchers to state universities.
(Copyright 2017, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
