David Guenthner of Texas Public Policy Foundation Says Fiscal Bills Will Be Major Issue In Texas Legislature [AUDIO]

On the Tuesday edition of The Chad Hasty Show, David Guenthner from the Texas Public Policy Foundation talked with Chad Hasty about the latest coming out of the Texas legislative session.

According to Guenthner, last week was the "inflection point" for the legislature as the session hit the 60-day mark. Now that all the bills have been submitted, Guenthner said the bills to keep an eye on will be the fiscal bills circling thorough the House and Senate that will require a study of federal funds going into state programs. He added that this is an important thing to look at because not many people realize how much of the state budget comes from federal funds.

"I think when you tell folks that there are more that 600 sources of federal funding, there's 600 federal funding streams going into the Texas state budget, that's shocking. When you talk about how 40% of the federal budget consists of federal funds, a substantial portion of them now being borrowed, that's something that is a bit unnerving to folks. And what's going to happen, and the reason why this is an important issue to be studying now, is there's only so much longer that we're going to be able to have these trillion dollar federal deficits."

Medicaid is another big topic in the legislature. Guenthner said that it seems that, for now, there is continued resolve in not participating is the Medicaid expansion. He also talked about the potential effects the sequester could have on the state of Texas.

Throughout the Texas legislative session, you can listen to David Guenthner Tuesdays at 9:05 during The Chad Hasty Show on NewsTalk 790 KFYO. For more information of The Texas Public Policy Foundation, visit their website at texaspolicy.com.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter @TPPF.