After a marathon budget debate in the Texas House (documented through our real-time updates on Twitter), the budget bill establishing the state's priorities for the next two years now goes to a conference committee composed of five Senators and five Representatives.

We will be working with committee members to accomplish several goals, including:

Use a portion of the Rainy Day Fund to avoid cuts (currently included in the House plan)
Undo the Medicaid therapy rate cuts for children with disabilities (largely included in the current House plan and improved by a House budget amendment)
Provide $236 million to fully fund the high-quality pre-k grant program (House and Senate plans currently provide partial funding to boost pre-k, but outside of the grant program)
Fully fund Medicaid for children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities (House and Senate plans both currently fall short)
Fully fund Early Childhood Intervention ($19 million request from HHSC is currently excluded from both the House and Senate plans, though a successful House budget amendment may cover it)
Fully fund CPS' request for an additional $1.1 billion (House and Senate plans currently add about half that amount, a significant increase but not enough to meet the state's needs)

For more information, take a look at our blog on the House budget prior to the addition of the amendments on the House floor; our statement on the Senate budget; and recaps of the House budget debate from Texas Impact and CPPP.

We look forward to working with you and state legislators to get the job done for Texas kids.