Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a 2018-2019 state budget worth around $217 billion, but vetoed about $120 million in planned expenditures.
Squeezed by the oil price slump, the budget includes funding increases for the state's beleaguered child welfare system and $800 million for border security.
Abbott signed the budget Monday.
His vetoes included cutting nearly $900,000 in Secretary of State funding to help Texans living in impoverished "colonias" along the border with Mexico.
Abbott said colonias funding was already included elsewhere in the budget, while the Secretary of State had served "in a liaison and reporting role" on colonia life.
Other cuts were $6-plus million from air quality improvement initiatives and $4.2 million in bonuses that would have been offered to retailers selling high numbers of lottery tickets.
“I am once again signing a budget that addresses the most pressing challenges faced by our state,” said Abbott in a news release Monday. “This budget funds a life-saving overhaul of Child Protection Services, continues to fund the state’s role in securing our border, and ensures that the workforce of today and tomorrow have the resources they need to keep Texas’ economy growing and thriving. Lastly, this budget restrains state-controlled spending below the growth in the state’s estimated population and inflation.”
You can see all of the items vetoed below.
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