March 22, 2017      4:59 PM

Updated: Looming showdown over budget draws comparisons to Enron, puts pressure on Hegar

Straus says the Senate is “cooking the books” as the Finance Committee pushes $2.5 billion in spending into the next biennium

Senate Finance is using a sales tax deferral to expand the capacity of this session’s budget, a last-minute maneuver that Speaker of the House Joe Straus equates to cooking the books.

Chair Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, unveiled the choice in a back-and-forth with Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, in this morning’s Senate Finance hearing. Nelson said the committee substitute to Senate Bill 1, which passed the committee unanimously, only represented the appropriations side of the budget. Changes were occurring simultaneously on the revenue side, she added.

“For example, the comptroller has informed us that $2.5 billion of the $5 billion Prop 7 transfer can occur in September 2019 and therefore will not count against the fiscal year 18-19 biennium,” Nelson told her colleagues. “The substitute….”

Then Bettencourt interrupted the chair’s comments to provide the explanation of the transfer.

By Kimberly Reeves

Copyright March 22, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved