Hot List Day 101

Day 101 of the 82nd Texas Legislature

LINE OF THE DAY
“We’re not closing the door. We are changing who gets to go first.”
-State Rep. Dan Branch on prioritizing TEXAS college grants based on academic readiness.

FLOOR PLAY BY ABBY RAPOPORT
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee passed a school finance plan that cuts $4 billion from school districts—almost half of what the House cut. But as Abby Rapoport reports, the plan still cuts from the poorest school districts in the state and maintains the dysfunctional system that’s left huge gaps in funding between districts. 

BEST OF THE REST
Everyone is looking towards the Senate to pass a budget that will spend billions more than the House’s version. But in addition to accounting tricks and fees, the Austin American-Statesman reports, Senate Finance Czar Steve Ogden says he will need $3 billion from the Rainy Day fund to pay for state funding for the 2012-2013 biennium—a plan that could easily be opposed by House leaders and Gov. Rick Perry.  

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
After months of meticulous number crunching, the Senate Finance Committee is finally ready to vote on its budget bill. Though there are are still significant cuts, particularly to education and human services, the upper chamber has injected billions more dollars into their version of the budget, in contrast to the House’s bare bones budget passed earlier this month. But there’s still not word on whether they can pay for all those priorities.