http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2011/01/19/news/doc4d3732d850db9635178109.txtAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas public schools’ budgets would be cut by $5 billion under a preliminary state budget proposal.
The state’s Foundation School Program — the pool of money distributed to schools using formulas based on daily attendance — would be reduced more than $4 billion. Highlights released with the proposal, however, note that the pool of money would be short almost $10 billion below the amount required to fund the school finance formulas under state law.
Budget would close 4 Texas 2-year colleges
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Four Texas two-year colleges would be closed to save $39 million in the next two-year state budget under preliminarly spending plan.
Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, Frank Phillips College in Borger, Odessa College and Ranger College would be closed under a plan to slash $145 million in state funding for Texas community and junior colleges.
AUSTIN (AP) — Republican leaders are promising not to raise taxes, but that doesn’t mean Texans won’t be paying more for services in the new state budget.
preliminary spending plan released Tuesday night proposes millions of dollars in new fees. State employees and retirees who smoke would pay a $30-a-month “tobacco user monthly premium surcharge,” raising an estimated $42 million for the budget.
There are also several new fees, worth about $28 million, that would be imposed by the Texas Attorney General’s office, among them an “annual child support service fee,” a “monthly child support processing fee,” an “electronic filing of documents fee,” and a “comprehensive development agreement review fee.”
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas colleges and universities would be cut by $771.6 million in the first draft of the next two-year state budget.
Those cuts include nearly $100 million for the flagship universities Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin.
Austin, Texas (AP) — The first draft of the next Texas state budget would cut $2.3 billion in state general revenue funds from Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other health and human services, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Austin, Texas (AP) — The Texas Historical Commission, which oversees preservation of state landmarks and historic buildings, would see a drop of almost 80 percent in its total funding under a preliminary budget proposal.