Earlier this summer, in response to a request from Texas leaders, state agencies such as the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) proposed potential cuts to their services during the current budget cycle.
The Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, and other legislative leaders have not publicly indicated when or how they will make decisions on these cuts — or if state agencies will just be quietly told to move forward with the cuts.
A number of Texas organizations have urged state leaders not to move forward with the proposed cuts to women’s health, Early Childhood Intervention for toddlers with disabilities, staff who sign children up for Medicaid insurance, child care safety, and other priority services. The organizations have pointed out that these cuts would be particularly harmful now as the public health crisis and unemployment crisis are already taking a toll on families. Many organizations urged state leaders to fully fund these services and to address the state’s revenue shortfall by using the state’s Rainy Day Fund, urging Congress to provide additional coronavirus relief funding to states, and exploring other revenue options.
Letters to state leaders in opposition to the proposed cuts include the following:
- A letter from several organizations opposed to the Early Childhood Intervention cuts.
- A letter from the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition opposed to the women’s health cuts.
- A letter from Every Body Texas opposed to the women’s health cuts.
- A letter from members of the Texas Prenatal to Three Collaborative opposed to cuts that would harm infants and toddlers.
- A letter from Texans Care for Children opposed to several cuts.
In addition to addressing proposed cuts in the current 2020-2021 budget cycle, many organizations are also advocating for full funding for critical services during fiscal years 2022-2023. The process for the that 2022-2023 budget cycle recently began with instructions to state agencies regarding their budget requests and will continue during the coming months and throughout the 2021 legislative session.
