It’s Budget Time! The House takes up HB 1, the FY 12-13 Budget tomorrow. All of the amendments are up for public viewing at the Texas Tribune, but these three are of special interest to folks following the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs:
- An Article III Amendment by Rep. Torres (p. 170) zeros out TDHCA’s general revenue funding for 2012 and 2013 and moves it to the Texas Education Agency Foundation School Program.
- An Article VII Amendment by Rep. Alvarado (p. 323) cuts 20% of the Housing Trust Fund, moving up to $4.3 million to the Veteran’s Commission. The Amendment also moves three of the four FTEs working on the Housing Trust Fund to the Veteran’s Commission. While both the Veteran’s Commission and TDHCA currently have housing-related programs, only TDHCA’s targets low-income veterans and includes rental assistance. The Housing Trust Fund is the only state funding for affordable housing, and is used for programs targeting a wide variety of needs.
- An Amendment by Rep. Martinez Fischer reduces TDHCA’s IT budget by $95k per year, moving the funds to the Texas Education Agency.
[…] Texas House met over the weekend to consider HB 1, the budget. Thursday, we noted a couple of amendments worth watching. Following up on them, it […]