Every Texan wholeheartedly supports House Bill 1’s proposed restoration of funding for state legislative agencies’ operations. In Texas, where it is the legislature’s responsibility to appropriate general revenue and other public funds for education, health care, environmental protection, parks, and other vital services, a prolonged “defunding” of the legislature would eventually mean no funding for any state-supported service.
The completely unwarranted Article X veto by the Governor led to “this insufficiency of funds [that] creates an emergency,” as the Legislative Budget Board stated in its budget execution proposal that bought legislative agencies another month before their funding runs out. The Governor’s veto jeopardized not just the ongoing services and obligations of legislative agencies and House and Senate offices, but also the economic security of dedicated, hard-working state employees, including their families’ health coverage — during a pandemic, no less.
Read our full testimony here.