House Set to Vote on Texas Budget

An $875 million spending bill that includes $500 million extra for public schools heads for a major vote in the Texas Legislature.

The House on Friday is to vote on settling the final bills in the current two-year budget. The supplemental spending bill includes more than $161 million to pay for wildfires that ravaged the state in 2011.

But the bulk of the money in the bill is earmarked for classrooms. That's after Republican budget writers added an extra $500 million to the bill to give immediate relief to public schools.

Lawmakers two years ago slashed $5.4 billion from public schools. A new state budget passed in the Senate this week would restore nearly 70 percent of those cuts.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us