It’s March of Odd-numbered Year, Texas Has a Shortfall. Lawmakers Gotta Be Arguing Rainy-day Dollars, Right?

AUSTIN —Texas lawmakers are having their biggest fight over using state savings in six years.Only this time, because of what experts describe as the tea party’s ascendancy in the Texas GOP, the tussle is over a smaller slice of the stash.Still, the stakes are very high for abused children, children of the working poor who rely on the state for their health coverage, disabled people trying to stay in their homes, and educators, both past and present.All those groups would be hammered by severe cuts that the House leadership is promising if Republican hard-liners in either chamber block any use of Texas’ “rainy day fund.”The House alone, though, doesn’t decide. The full Senate, which takes up the budget Tuesday, has a say — and this year, a much different opinion.  Continue reading...