Comment on Budget totaling $216.8 billion is approved

AUSTIN — Legislators approved a $216.8 billion, two-year state budget Saturday that directs limited state resources into priorities including the troubled Child Protective Services system but fails to keep up with population growth and inflation overall. The revenue squeeze is due to the effects on the economy of uncertainty in the oil and gas industry and lawmakers’ past decisions to cut taxes and sock away big money for transportation. The plan keeps state spending essentially flat, addressing the lag in general revenue with nearly $1 billion from the rainy day fund and a slight delay in making a transportation payment, which will push $1.8 billion into the next spending period. Overall, the state failed to make meaningful investments in public education; underfunded Medicaid enough to ensure a very large supplemental bill for the 2019 Legislature; and did the bare minimum for higher education. Among other items, the restoration and redevelopment project for the Alamo was fully funded, earning praise from Land Commissioner George P.