Legislation to impose a state spending limit is set to be heard next week in the Texas Senate, and the bill as currently filed has garnered a lot of support.
Senate Bill 1891 by State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R–North Richland Hills) seeks to cap the growth of state spending at population plus inflation, a longtime goal for fiscal conservatives.
Though the state legislature must pass a balanced budget (meaning spending can be no greater than the revenue anticipated), the state Constitution and enacting statutes will only limit the spending growth in certain areas. The net effect is that less than half of all appropriated funds are actually subject to a cap.
SB 1891 seeks to fix this problem by including dedicated tax revenue into the total “consolidated general revenue appropriations” into the calculation.
The legislation seemingly has wide support amongst Republicans in the Senate. In fact, every Republican senator has signed on as a coauthor of the bill.
The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by State Sen. Jane Nelson (R–Flower Mound), is scheduled to hear the bill on Wednesday, April 3 at 9 a.m. Members of the public will have the opportunity to give public testimony to dns of the committee.
