DALLAS - The Texas Senate will consider $4 billion of tax cuts and a $3.8 billion increase in transportation funding under a proposed $205.1 billion budget, according to Senate Finance Committee chair Sen. Jane Nelson.
Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said the budget "meets our growing needs and it remains true to the policies of fiscal discipline that has led to the Texas miracle."
Despite falling oil prices and some predictions of a recession in Texas, Nelson noted that "our economy has performed very well in Texas."
"We are taking in substantial revenue, and we have an obligation to return a large share of those dollars to the people who have worked hard and earned that in the first place," she said.
The $4 billion in tax cuts proposed in Senate Bill 2 would include $3 billion in property tax relief and about $1 billion in reduced franchise taxes imposed on business in the state.
The Senate budget is $3 billion larger than a $202.4 billion proposed by House Speaker Joe Straus nearly two weeks ago.
The Senate budget adds $2.5 billion to K-12 public schools to keep up with growth but does not change the funding formula approved in 2013. The state's funding formula has been declared unconstitutional, a ruling that is on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.
SB 2 adds $815 million for border security, more than the previous seven years combined, according to Nelson's office. The House version provides $396.8 million for border security, which representatives described as enough to keep Department of Public Safety officers in place.
The DPS forces were sent to the border along with Texas National Guard troops in June after dozens of children from Central America surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Democrats portrayed the "surge" as a taxpayer-funded photo opportunity for Gov. Rick Perry's 2016 presidential campaign. The current governor, Greg Abbott, and Patrick have also vowed to maintain a strong force on the Rio Grande. Like other Republican leaders, Nelson repeated the claim that the federal government is ignoring border security, despite a five-fold increase in Border Patrol agents since 1992 and records showing illegal border crossings at a 40-year low.
