House Budget to be Considered April 6: Tell Your Representative to Support Funds for People with IDD
On Thursday, April 6, the full Texas House will take up
and consider House Bill (HB) 1. This is the legislation that lays out the Texas state budget for the next two years.
The discussion on HB 1 will open with remarks from its House sponsor — the
Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Representative Greg Bonnen — who will provide an overview of its expenditures. In addition to overall numbers, the layout will provide breakdowns by “article” of the bill. Each of the appropriations bill’s 13 articles generally represents the section of Texas state government it funds. For example, Article II of the bill covers health and human services, Article III covers education spending, and Article X details allotments for the Legislature itself. Once
the overview is complete, lawmakers will have a chance to ask questions about the bill. After that, they will move on to consider the amendments.
Amendments must be filed no later than 9:00am on
Monday, April 3rd. As always, they’ll be using the “put and take” rule for amendments, which means that to put additional funding in one section, you have to take it from another. The Arc of Texas will provide a more detailed overview of budget items related to our 88th session budget priorities early next week. We encourage everyone to contact your state representative and ask them to support budget measures that benefit their constituents with intellectual and developmental
disabilities.
HB 1 by Rep. Greg Bonnen, General Appropriations Bill
HB 1 Decision Documents from House Appropriations Committee
Want to learn more? Read
the Budget Priorities of The Arc of Texas for the 88th Texas Legislature