Texas state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, last week said he would propose a Senate rule prohibiting a vote on the conference committee’s budget report until a week after it has been is filed.
The report, which is the final version of the next biennial state budget, is developed by lawmakers based on separate versions adopted by the House and Senate,
Watson said lawmakers often have only 48 hours to sort through a 1,000-page budget plan that for fiscal 2010-11 totaled $180 billion, of which $87 billion is discretionary money.
“Taking one business week would help us all evaluate whether Texas, even in the midst of a tough economy, is maintaining its commitments to schools, health care for seniors, border security, and other moral priorities that will keep Texas economically competitive,” Watson wrote on his blog.
“It would allow Texans to see whether the Legislature is adopting basic reforms that will open the state’s books to its people, help Texas avoid these budget crises in the future, and eliminate gimmicks, diversions, and cost shifts that might force things like property taxes to go up,” he wrote.
Watson’s proposal was endorsed by think tanks on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
“We need to try to get more legislators to know what they’re voting on,” said Talmadge Heflin of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Scott McCown of the liberal Center for Public Policy Priorities said his group supports maximum transparency in the budget-making process.
The Legislature convenes Tuesday for a 140-day session to write the state budget for the next two years.
