UPDATE: House Appropriations Begins Looking at the Budget

UPDATE #2: 
Tuesday, February 15th through Friday, February 18th brought more public testimony in House Approprations Subcommittee on Article II. Hundreds of individuals representing providers, parents of disabled children, advocacy organizations, and the faith community testified against the budget, demanding that their services remain funded and asking the committee to consider using the Rainy Day Fund.

The subcommittee heard testimony related to the Health and Human Services Commission on February 15th, with Commissioner Tom Suehs testifying. He spoke primarily about the exceptional items requested by the Health and Human Services Commission. Exceptional items are priorities outside of the budget written by the Legislative Budget Board, but that the agency considers of great importance. HHSC's exceptional items include restoring part of the provider cuts to CHIP and Medicaid, providing for caseload growth in CHIP and Medicaid, and maintaining support for the Physician Loan Repayment Program. You can see all of the exceptional items here: http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/news/presentations/2011/hac-hb1-021511.pdf

To see testimony from the hearing, visit legetv.org:

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II-- Feb. 16, 2011
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II-- Feb. 16, 2011, Pt. 2

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II-- Feb. 17, 2011
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II-- Feb. 17, 2011, Pt. 2

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II--Feb. 18, 2011
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UPDATE #1: 

Chairman Pitts has kept his promise to make up for lost time in House Appropriations hearings. Over the weekend, Chairman Pitts made subcommittee assignments, which have scheduled meetings every morning at 7:00am during the week of February 14 through February 17. Subcommittee assignments are as follows:

Subcommittee on Article II (Health): Chairman John Zerwas
Subcommittee on Article III (Education): Chairman Scott Hochberg
Subcommittee on I, IV and V: Chairman John Otto
Subcommittee on VI, VII, and VIII: Chairman Drew Darby

It has been a busy week in the Article II subcommittee. On Monday, February 14, the representatives heard testimony related to the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), which works with Texans with disabilities and children with developmental delays. Services that fall under the DARS umbrella include early childhood intervention for children with developmental delays; education and vocational training for the blind; autism services; independent living services; and more.

During the testimony, parents testified that these services had helped their children tremendously and in many cases had been life saving. One mother with three autistic triplets testified that the state’s autism program had helped her daughters thrive. Her family’s insurance did not cover the treatment and she couldn’t afford the $5,000 per child per month out of pocket cost. In HB 1 (the House’s version of the budget bill), funding for the program is totally slashed, so the mother isn’t sure what she will do for her daughters.

Another parent testified about the Early Childhood Intervention program, which had helped her child. The program treats children under the age of three with physical or developmental disabilities and is much cheaper than treating the child in schools. The mother, however, said that while she realized the cost-savings benefits, her “son is not a dollar amount. He is a child first.” You can watch that video here.

Representatives Eiland, King and Dukes expressed concern about what would happen to these families if the funding for these programs was cut or reduced. 

All videos from House Appropriations Article II Subcommittee on February 14, 2011 can be found on LegeTV.org.

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Speaker Straus released  the highly anticipated House committee assignments early Wednesday February 9th. Jim Pitts began with an apology for starting five minutes late. He promised that the committee would make make up for it over the course of the session.

The Appropriations Committee is charged with the daunting task of writing the state budget in the face of a $27 billion revenue shortfall. Chief Revenue Estimator John Heleman kicked off the invited testimony by giving a briefing on the state of the Texas economy. Though Mr. Heleman's prognosis for the next two years was somewhat grim, he stated that Texas has exited the recession and is slowly improving. 

John O'Brien, Director of the Legislative Budget Board, laid out the bill for the legislators. He summarized the fiscal back-drop of Texas economy, how the LBB developed their budget recommendations, and next steps for the legislature.

Beginning tomorrow morning, the Approprations Committee will meet to hear testimony related to prisons, Medicaid, and the Foundation School Program. They will then divide into subcommittees and reconvene to hear recommendations on February 21.

The following representatives are members of the House Appropriations Committee.

• Rep. Jim Pitts, Chair
• Rep. Sylvester Turner, Vice-Chair
• Rep. Warren Chisum
• Rep. Myra Crownover
• Rep. Dawnna Dukes
• Rep. Craig Eiland
• Rep. Helen Giddings
• Rep. Scott Hochberg
• Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon
• Rep. John Otto
• Rep. Debbie Riddle 
• Rep. Mike Villarreal
• Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock
• Rep. Angie Chen Button
• Rep. Drew Darby
• Rep. Lance Gooden
• Rep. Eric Johnson
• Rep. Susan King
• Rep. Dee Margo
• Rep. Armando Martinez
• Rep. Doug Miller
• Rep. Diane Patrick
• Rep. Charles Schwertner
• Rep. Mark Shelton
• Rep. Raul Torres
• Rep. John Zerwas