Texas Public Policy Foundation’s David Guenthner Says Budget Is Nowhere Near Completed In Final Week Of Texas Legislative Session [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.

This is final week of the regular Texas legislative session, but the budget is still far form completion. Guenthner explained that the hang-up seems to be focused on five key pieces of the budget, most notably the portions concerning the margin tax and the water funding. He said that these pieces in particular are something the Governor Rick Perry has been insisting go into the budget, and the next few days will be key for not just these portions of the budget, but the entire budget.

"Today is the key day for the water constitutional amendment. They have until tomorrow to move the margin tax bill, and the supplemental appropriations bill and the dedicated funds bill. So there are three pieces in the Senate that have until tomorrow, there's one piece in the House that has to move today. And then, the budget conference report has to be distributed by Friday, at least in the Senate.

Although the budget is still up in the air, there are many bills that are now dead in the session, including the bill for Medicaid expansion. Guenthner said that the charter school bill and the testing bill are still alive, but are somewhat "handcuffed" together. He explained the Senate is more concerned about the charter school bill than the testing bill, and won't make any progress on the testing bill until the House addresses the charter school bill, and vice versa.

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 on the Texas Public Policy Foundation, visit their website at texaspolicy.com.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter @TPPF.