Gov. Greg Abbott signs $250 billion budget with no line-item vetoes

Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state’s roughly $250 billion budget Saturday, bringing a session-long effort to address the Legislature’s top priorities — school funding and property taxes — to a close.

A spokesman for Abbott confirmed that the governor signed the budget without issuing a single line-item veto, a mechanism that allows him to shrink the budget where he sees fit.

The 2020-21 budget, which state lawmakers approved in May, includes a significant boost in spending compared with two years ago. Lawmakers had billions of dollars more to spend thanks to a positive economic forecast and revised revenue estimates from oil and natural gas production taxes. Total spending is up 16% from the budget the Legislature approved in 2017.

Much of that extra money went to state leadership’s two two legislative priorities for 2019. Abbott has already approved a $11.6 billion school finance package that doled out $6.5 billion in new schools spending and $5.1 billion to buy down Texans’ property tax bills. In total, the state budget spends $94.5 billion on education, which includes funding for public schools and universities. Not including tax break funds, the Legislative Budget Board calculates that the education portion of the budget grew 10%.

Here’s a look at the bills that Abbott vetoed Saturday:

HB 51 — Relating to the creation and promulgation of certain standard forms for statewide use in criminal actions.

HB 70 — Relating to a strategic plan goal by the Department of Agriculture to prevent crop diseases and plant pests in this state.

HB 93 — Relating to the inclusion of a magistrate’s name on certain signed orders.

HB 109 — Relating to the operation of open-enrollment charter schools on Memorial Day.

HB 345 — Relating to the automatic issuance of a personal identification certificate to a person 60 years of age or older whose driver’s license has been surrendered or revoked.

HB 389 — Relating to the regulation of game rooms in certain Relating to a biennial report on stormwater infrastructure in this state.

HB 448 — Relating to the creation of an offense for failing to secure certain children in a rear-facing child passenger safety seat system.

HB 455 — Relating to policies on the recess period in public schools.

HB 463 — Relating to reciprocity agreements between certain air ambulance companies operating a subscription program.

HB 651 — Relating to the creation and operations of health care provider participation programs in counties not served by a hospital district or a public hospital.

HB 929 — Relating to the duties of a magistrate to inform an arrested person of consequences of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.

HB 994 — Relating to appeals to justice courts of certain ad valorem tax determinations.

HB 1031 — Relating to the regulation of game rooms in certain counties.

HB 1053 — Relating to the administration, powers, and duties of certain navigation districts; authorizing the imposition of a tax.

HB 1059 — Relating to a biennial report on stormwater infrastructure in this state.

HB 1099 — Relating to peace officers commissioned by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

HB 1120 — Relating to the powers of certain county assistance districts.

HB 1168 — Relating to the offense of possessing a weapon in a secured area of an airport.

HB 1174 — Relating to the authority of certain county assistance districts to provide a grant or loan.

HB 1215 — Relating to the allocation of low income housing tax credits.

HB 1404 — Relating to the regulation of game rooms in certain counties.

HB 1742 — Relating to the mediation of the settlement of certain health benefit claims involving balance billing by out-of-network laboratories.

HB 1771 — Relating to a prohibition on prosecuting or referring to juvenile court certain persons for certain conduct constituting the offense of prostitution and to the provision of services to those persons.

HB 1806 — Relating to the use of water withdrawn from the Edwards Aquifer by certain entities.

HB 2111 — Relating to the period for which a school district’s participation in certain tax increment financing reinvestment zones may be taken into account in determining the total taxable value of property in the school district.

HB 2112 — Relating to salvage motor vehicles, including flood vehicles, and nonrepairable motor vehicles.

HB 2348 — Relating to the prohibition of certain employment discrimination regarding an employee who is a volunteer emergency responder.

HB 2475 — Relating to the indigent status of a person for purposes of the driver responsibility program.

HB 2481 — Relating to the creation and administration of certain specialty court programs; authorizing fees.

HB 2856 — Relating to restrictions under disaster remediation contracts; creating a criminal offense.

HB 3022 — Relating to emergency warning systems operated by municipalities and counties.

HB 3078 — Relating to the review of clemency applications from certain persons who were victims of human trafficking or family violence.

HB 3082 — Relating to investigating and prosecuting the criminal offense of operating an unmanned aircraft over or near certain facilities.

HB 3195 — Relating to juveniles committed to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the transition of students from alternative education programs to regular classrooms.

HB 3252 — Relating to the posting of certain notices in a primary election.

HB 3490 — Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the criminal offense of harassment; creating a criminal offense.

HB 3511 — Relating to the creation of the Commission on Texas Workforce of the Future.

HB 3648 — Relating to the powers and duties of the office of independent ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

HB 3910 — Relating to the establishment of one or more supplemental county civil service commissions in certain counties.

HB 4703 — Relating to the creation of the Harris County Improvement District No. 28; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments, fees, and taxes.

SB 390 — Relating to the creation of the Northeast Houston Redevelopment District; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments or fees.

SB 550 — Relating to the eligibility of certain criminal defendants for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information.

SB 667 — Relating to probate and guardianship matters and certain procedures for persons who are incapacitated or have a mental illness.

SB 815 — Relating to the creation and preservation of certain records of criminal proceedings.

SB 1319 — Relating to certain taxes and to an annual report submitted to the comptroller concerning those taxes.

SB 1575 — Relating to governmental immunity for and adjudication of claims arising from a local governmental entity’s disaster recovery contract.

SB 1793 — Relating to purchasing and contracting by governmental entities; authorizing fees.

SB 1861 — Relating to certain public facilities financed, owned, and operated by a public facility corporation.

SB 2456 — Relating to the powers and duties of the Karis Municipal Management District of Tarrant County; changing the territory of the district; providing a civil penalty; providing authority to issue bonds.

Author:  RIANE ROLDAN – The Texas Tribune

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Texas Legislature 2019

The 86th Legislature runs from Jan. 8 to May 27. From the state budget to health care to education policy — and the politics behind it all — we focus on what Texans need to know about the biennial legislative session.

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