Fiscal 2021 for Texas Ending in $4.6 Billion Deficit

On Monday, July 20th, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar projected fiscal 2021 ending in a shortfall of $4.58 billion.

Hegar attributed the COVID-19 pandemic and recent volatility in oil prices to the shortfall.

Hegar says that the State of Texas will have $110.19 billion in General Revenue-related funds available for general-purpose spending for the 2020-2021 biennium, which is down from a projected $121.76 billion.

The Texas Tribune reports that this latest estimate carries "an unprecedented amount of uncertainty" and could change drastically in the coming months.

Hegar says that returning to pre-pandemic levels wouldn't happen until consumers and businesses are confident that COVID-19 had been controlled, and even then , it would likely take time to recover from the economic damage done by the deep recession.

In efforts to curb economic fallout, state leaders back in May instructed agencies and higher education institutions to identify 5% in budget cuts for the current biennium. Those savings were not included in Hegar's latest estimate.