Proposed Budget Cuts for Next Biennium
The first step in Texas' biennial budget process is developing agency budget requests, or Legislative Appropriations Requests (LARs), which all state agencies submit to the Legislative Budget Board in the summer before each regular legislative session.
In May 2010, Governor Perry released the budget instructions for the 2012-13 biennium, which tell agencies how much money they are allowed to request for the upcoming budget cycle.
The budget instructions for the 2012-2013 budget cycle state that agencies are not allowed to request more than they received in the 2010-2011 biennium, and also mandate that each agency prepare a supplemental budget outlining which cuts the agency would make if their budget were cut by ten percent. Some programs are exempted from the ten percent budget reduction exercise, including current funding needed to maintain the Foundation School Program, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and health and human services eligibility staffing.
These instructions came on the heels of a mandated five percent budget cut to the current biennium's allocations.
State leaders predict that there will be an $18 billion deficit for the upcoming budget cycle. According to state budget experts, cutting agency budgets by ten percent would save approximately $4 billion, factoring in the exempted programs.
Cutting the budgets of state agencies affects all Texans, but cuts often fall hardest on the most vulnerable. Below is a list of some of the cuts agencies are proposing to meet their 10 percent reduction goals, and who the cuts would effect.
Cuts Affecting Children:
The Department of Family and Protective Services would cut funding to the Prevention and Early Intervention programs by $73.7m (84%), which would mean that 14,172 kids would no longer have access to abuse, neglect and juvenile delinquency prevention programs.
The Department of State Health Services would reduce funding to state mental health programs, which means that 2,652 fewer kids would have access to mental health services.
Department of State Health Services would cut funding to public clinics, resulting in a 50% reduction of the number of children vaccinated there.
The Children with Special Health Care Needs program would serve 837 fewer children.
DSHS would eliminate all dental services to children, which would affect about 9,000 children.
Cuts to Mental Health Services:
Department of State Health Services would cut funding by $139.7m to state mental health hospitals and mental health community services, resulting in fewer 1,428 patients served in state health hospitals and 11,424 fewer adults receiving community mental health services.
Community crisis centers would serve 6,518 fewer people.
5,966 fewer individuals would have access to NorthSTAR services, which is a mental health and chemical dependency treatment program in North Texas.
The entire Substance Abuse, Outreach, Screening, Assessment and Referral program would be cut, which currently provides services to 81,662 clients.
Cuts to Health Services:
Department of State Health Services would cut funding to health and dental services by $60.2m, resulting in 25,714 fewer people getting access to the Primary Care Program.
The Kidney Health Program would have to reduce amounts available to people for transportation assistance and would be able to serve 4,273 fewer clients.
The state epilepsy program would serve 966 fewer patients.
The South Texas Health Care facility would be able to fill 49,000 fewer prescriptions and perform 5,925 fewer procedures.
The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services would cut funding from their Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services by 70%, which would result in 840 fewer people with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries from being served.
The Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) would reduce their budget by $137.2m, resulting in cutting 2,700 people from non-Medicaid services.
The In Home and Family Support program would be able to serve 5376 fewer individuals with physical disabilities and 3060 fewer individuals with mental retardation.
4,652 fewer individuals would be served in mental retardation community programs.
Cuts to Criminal Justice and Public Safety:
The Department of Criminal Justice would cut their budget by $564m, which would result in 4,700 employees losing their jobs, including 3,400 correctional and parole staff.
The Texas Education Agency would cut $13m for a program that helps prison inmates obtain their GED. This cut would reduce the number of offenders passing the GED by 20%, increase recidivism and increase offender behavioral problems, according to the TEA.
The Juvenile Probation Commission would cut its budget by $28.4m, resulting in an additional 400 commitments to the Texas Youth Commission at a cost of $67m. In the past few weeks, TYC has been accused of abusing children in their care.
Cuts to Education:
The Higher Education Coordinating Board ten percent cuts would result in 23,745 fewer TEXAS Grants available to college students.
The Texas Education Agency would cut their budget by $262m, which includes $48m for purchasing English textbooks, textbooks for students with limited English proficiency, and science textbooks, some of which are over ten-years old.
This cut also includes $35m for new science labs for high school students.
The Texas High School Completion and Success Initiative, a drop-out prevention program, would be cut by $13m and Communities in Schools, another drop-out prevention program, would be cut by $3.5m.
Other Cuts:
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs would cut their Homeless and Housing Services program by $20m, more than 50%, which would cut housing for 2,190 homeless people.
