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SAVE THE DATE
Sunday, November 15
at the Circle T Ranch
with
Special Guest
Texas House of Representatives
SPEAKER JOE STRAUS
more information to follow
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STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
VICKI TRUITT
proudly serving the
people of the 98th Texas House district!
(Residents of Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake,
Keller, Westlake, Trophy Club-Tarrant
County, far north Fort Worth, and
unincorporated northeast Tarrant County)
vicki.truitt@house.state.tx.us
DISTRICT OFFICE
1256 Main Street
Suite 248
Southlake, TX 76092
Southlake Town Square
(817) 488-4098
(817) 488-4099 fax
CAPITOL OFFICE
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910
GW.18
(512) 463-0690
(512) 477-5770 fax
CAMPAIGN OFFICE
P.O. Box 886
Keller, TX 76244
(817) 897-0056
RepTruitt@VickiTruitt.com
T H A N K
Y O U ,
D I S T R I C T 9 8!
G O D
B L E S S
T E X A S!
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Dear Friends,
I'm BACK, and I'm sure
glad to be
home!
The 81st Regular Session of the Texas
Legislature is over, and yes, we're headed
back for what I hope will be a brief Special
Session so that we may re-authorize a few
state agencies whose Sunset bills fail to pass
the Regular Session. Absent the
re-authorization of the Texas Department of
Insurance, the Texas Department of
Transportation, and a few others, these
agencies would have to commence shutting down
their operations on September 1, 2009, and be
out of business by September 1, 2010. Texas
cannot operate without these important
agencies.
These sunset bills failed for a variety of
reasons, not the least of which was the
Democrats' "chubbing" (a procedural delay
tactic used to turn a 4-hour calendar into a
5-day ordeal) to avoid a debate and vote on
the controversial voter ID bill. This tactic
also meant that the House was unable to have a
fair and open debate regarding the Texas Local
Option Transportation Act (TLOTA). TLOTA was
among a bevy of bills (hundreds) that died on
the House Calendar because of the procedural
delay.
I will be hosting a
town hall
meeting regarding critical transportation and
mobility issues
facing North Texans. I welcome your input and
need your help in addressing the state's lack
of transportation funding before our economy
is dramatically affected and the situation
becomes irreversible.
Stay tuned .
. .
Last week, I began the post-session speaking
tour. My first presentation describing the
81st Session was at the Grapevine Chamber of
Commerce's monthly meeting. I'll continue to
speak throughout the district, but my
intention is to offer a
series of
topic-specific
e-mail messages to give you an
overview of
the
81st Legislative
Session.
This is the
first
installment,
and it covers the only thing the Texas
Legislature is required to do during a regular
session (other than redistricting, during the
first session following a decennial census) -
the
state's biennial budget.
Again, it's good to be home, and I look
forward to seeing you out in the community.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you in
the Texas House, and I hope you
have a GREAT summer!
Vicki
P.S. If your organization is interested in
scheduling a "legislative update"
presentation, please contact Terra Taylor, in
my office.
Also, please check the side panel for
information, and
SAVE THE DATE
of
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15
for my annual reception at the Perot's Circle
T Ranch, in Westlake.
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TEXAS STATE BUDGET
FY 2010 & 2011
FACTORS AFFECTING THE STATE BUDGET
Recommended healthcare-related
appropriations for the 2010-11 biennium
total $60.9 billion in All Funds,
representing 34 percent of the proposed
state budget. Healthcare-related costs
continue to be the state's single largest
budget driver. Other significant factors
affecting the cost of state government
include public and higher education
enrollment, prison incarceration, and
certain health and human services programs.
Since 1998, the state's budget has been
impacted by the following:
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Average daily attendance in public schools
has grown 20.4 percent.
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Higher education enrollment in general
academic institutions has increased by
27.8 percent.
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Community college enrollment has grown by
40.3 percent.
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The Children's Health Insurance Program
served 447,651 children in fiscal year
2008.
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Average monthly caseload for Medicaid
waiver clients has grown by 131.4 percent.
-
Average monthly caseload for Medicaid
clients (Acute Care and STAR+PLUS) has
grown by 54.4 percent.
-
Average monthly caseload for nursing home
clients has decreased by 7.7 percent.
-
Average inmate population in the
Department of Criminal Justice has grown
by 10.0 percent.
-
Average residential population at the
Youth Commission has decreased by 41.4
percent.
These factors do not totally explain the
growth in the budget. Other cost-related
factors, such as medical inflation, can have
an equal or greater effect on growth.
HOW MUCH IS IT? (A LOT!)
The Conference Committee's (the final stage
of legislative review prior to voting in the
House and Senate) recommended All Funds
appropriations for state government
operations for the 2010-11 biennium total
$182.3 billion (approximately $91 billion
per year) from all fund sources. The
recommendations provide a $12.6 billion, or
7.4 percent, increase from the 2008-09
biennial level.
General Revenue Funds, including
funds dedicated within the General Revenue
Fund, total $87.1 billion (approximately
43.6 billion per year) for the 2010-11
biennium,
a decrease
of $1.6 billion, or 1.8 percent,
from the anticipated 2008-09 biennial
spending level.
WHERE WILL IT GO?
ALL FUNDS
(includes federal funds, GR, and GR-Dedicated,
i.e., constitutionally or statutorily
dedicated funds held within the GR fund)
Agencies of Education $75,437.1M
(41.4%)
Public Education $49, 290.5M
Higher Education $20,237.6M
Employee Benefits $6,037.4M
Debt Service $19.5M
Health & Human Services $59,616.6M (32.7%)
Business & Eco. Dev.
$20,713.6M (11.4%)
Pub.Safety & Crim Justice $10,759.6M
(5.9%)
Am. Recovery & Reinv. Act $5,675.5M
(3.1%)
General Government $4,077.3M
(2.2%)
Natural Resources $3,447.9M (
1.9%)
Regulatory
$892.1M (0.5%)
The Judiciary
$669.2M (0.4%)
General
Provisions $666.6M (0.4%)
The
Legislature $354.9M
(0.2%)
GENERAL REVENUE
(the non-dedicated portion of the General
Revenue Fund that is available for general
purpose spending)
Agencies of Education $51,502.3M
(59.2%)
Health & Human Services
$25,333.6M (29.1%)
Pub.Safety & Crim Justice
$8,669.1M (10.0%)
General Government
$2,795.3M (3.2%)
Natural Resources $2,178.5M
(2.5%)
Business & Eco. Dev. $986.2M
(1.1%)
Regulatory
$874.1M (1.0%)
The
Judiciary $498.1M
(0.6%)
The
Legislature $354.3M
(0.4%)
General Provisions
$254.6M (0.3%)
Does not account for $6,383.3 reduction in
GR Funds in Article XII. Percentage values
do not sum to 100%.
For more comprehensive information regarding
the state's budget for fiscal years 2010 and
2011, go to http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/
and click on to:
"Summary
of Conference Committee Report on SB 1 (May,
2009)"
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Texas Lottery and Public Education
"But I thought the Texas Lottery paid for
education."
The Texas Lottery has contributed more than
$11 billion to the Foundation School Fund, and
of that total, nearly $1 billion ($983.1 M)
was contributed in fiscal year 2008. The
lottery funds to education averages about $1
billion per year, but K-12 public education
costs Texans almost $25 billion per year.
To see exactly where each dollar of lottery
money goes, go to:
http://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/default/Images/Where-the-Money-Goes_WEB.jpg |
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Political ad paid by TRUITT for DISTRICT 98
P.O. Box 886
Keller, Texas 76244
William E. Greenwood, Treasurer
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