House Passes State Budget, Cuts Funds (Temporarily) for Perry's Office

Only about 4% of the $24 million recommended for Gov. Perry's office budget still remained after the House voted Friday. Democratic Rep. Jessica Farrar proposed using $4 million for veterans programs instead of that money going to Perry's office. A House Republican (Rep. John Davis of Houston) proposed taking $18.7 million from Perry's planned budget, to go instead towards community "crisis services" which aid the mentally ill. Both proposals passed the House with little debate.

Some Democrats are saying this was a reaction to the Governor's comments on secession; House Republicans say they just wanted to get the budget figured out without much fuss. A Perry spokeswoman remarked to the Dallas Morning News: "I think they're just playing silly games." Funds to cover the governor's budget will be found somewhere; GOP caucus chair Larry Taylor has said that the conference committee would make sure the governor's office budget was fully covered [Burkablog].

The final state budget was passed unanimously early Saturday morning in the House with little bickering from either side - quite the change from recent years when House leadership was different (read: when Craddick was Speaker).