Honey, I shrunk the budget surplus

Shortly before the 80th Texas Legislature convened in January, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced that legislators would face the largest budget surplus in Texas history—$14.3 billion in new revenue and $82.5 billion in overall available general revenue—to spend over the next two years. The initial excitement felt by those with visions of ample funding dancing in their heads quickly ceased when the Legislative Budget Board, led by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick, divvied out all but $2.5 billion of the new revenue to other priorities.

The LBB’s breakdown went like this: $3.9 billion to pay for local school property tax cuts in 2008-2009 with another $3 billion saved for the 2010-2011 budget, $1.4 billion shifted from the Rainy Day Fund to the regular budget, $1.4 billion to pay for deferred education and health care spending, $1 billion to pay for the 2006 school finance bill, $1.1 billion to cover growth in the Medicaid program and public education.

What’s left on the chopping block is a slimmer $2.5 billion for the other top legislative priorities to split—including prisons, the governor’s border security plan, higher education, transportation and other top legislative priorities—a surplus, nonetheless, but hardly the record-setter originally expected.

TAFP is urging the Legislature to reinvest in Medicaid, CHIP and other health care safety net programs, which suffered severe cuts during the last two sessions, and also in other private coverage for Texas’ growing uninsured population. With more national attention to health care, some new attention may be given to Medicaid after the U.S. Supreme Court’s January decision to deny the Texas Attorney General’s petition to review the case of Frew v. Hawkins a second time.

Frew v. Hawkins originated in 1993 as a class action lawsuit of parents alleging that the Texas Medicaid program was not assuring that children enrolled in the program were receiving appropriate information about or access to services available via the Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment, or EPSDT, program. Judge William Wayne Justice has set a hearing for April 9 on a corrective action plan or possible state sanctions that could influence funding for the Medicaid program during this legislative session.

Other news from the Legislature surrounded the battle for Speaker of the House as Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, tried to unseat two-term speaker Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland. The weeks leading into the session were rife with speculation as the two camps posted lists of supporters, but the excitement fizzled when Pitts withdrew from the race following the failure of an amendment that would have postponed the publication of each representative’s choice for Speaker until after committee assignments and chairmanships had been made. Craddick assumed his third term as Speaker, promising a new, more open direction for the House.

Legislators serving on committees that will tackle health care issues this session—the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate State Affairs Committee, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Insurance and the House Committee on Public Health—are sure to hear a deluge of opinion from voters, lobbyists and other interest groups. TAFP encourages you to voice your concerns and champion the needs of family medicine. Here is a list of legislators serving on those commissions:

Senate Finance Committee

Steve Odgen, Chair, R-Bryan
Judith Zaffirini, Vice Chair, D-Laredo
Kip Averitt, R-Waco
Bob Deuell, R-Greenville
Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock
Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler
Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay
Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen
Kyle Janek, R-Houston
Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville
Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville
Florence Shapiro, R-Plano
Royce West, D-Dallas
John Whitmire, D-Houston
Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands

Senate State Affairs Committee

Robert Duncan, Chair, R-Lubbock
Tommy Williams, Vice Chair, R-The Woodlands
John Carona, R-Dallas
Rodney Ellis, D-Houston
Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay
Chris Harris, R-Arlington
Mike Jackson, R-Pasadena
Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville
Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio

Senate Health and Human Services Committee

Jane Nelson, Chair, R-Lewisville
Bob Deuell, Vice Chair, R-Greenville
Kyle Janek, R-Houston
Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville
Dan Patrick, R-Houston
Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso
Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio
Royce West, D-Dallas
Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo

House Committee on Appropriations

Warren Chisum, Chair, R-Pampa
Ryan Guillen, Vice Chair, D-Rio Grande City
Alma Allen, D-Houston
Dan Branch, R-Dallas
Betty Brown, R-Athens
Fred Brown, R-Bryan
Norma Chavez, D-El Paso
Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas
Drew Darby, R-San Angelo
John Davis, R-Houston
Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin
Kirk England, R-Grand Prairie
Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown
Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving
Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville
Carl Isett, R-Lubbock
Jim Jackson, R-Carrollton
Lois W. Kolkhorst, R-Brenham
Eddie Lucio III, D-San Benito
Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio
Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin
Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio
Rick Noriega, D-Houston
John Otto, R-Dayton
Debbie Riddle, R-Houston
Larry Taylor, R-League City
Sylvester Turner, D-Houston
Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Houston
John Zerwas, R-Fulshear

House Committee on Insurance

John T. Smithee, Chair, R-Amarillo
Todd Smith, Vice Chair, R-Bedford
Larry Taylor, Budget and Oversight Chair, R-League City
Craig Eiland, D-Galveston
Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills
Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco
Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston
Hubert Vo, D-Houston
Beverly Woolley, R-Houston

House Committee on Public Health

Dianne White Delisi, Chair, R-Temple
Jodie Laubenberg, Vice Chair, R-Parker
Jim Jackson, Budget and Oversight Chair, R-Carrollton
Ellen Cohen, D-Bellaire
Garnet Coleman, D-Houston
Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen
Susan King, R-Abilene
Dora Olivio, D-Missouri City
Vicki Truitt, R-Southlake