KVUE News
By Martin Bartlett
Before lawmakers can write a state budget for the 2012 – 2013 budget cycle, they must first agree on how to pay the state’s bills which come due in the current budget cycle between now and August; bills like electricity for schools and salaries for teachers.
There is bi-partisan agreement on using money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. A vote is likely to come Thursday night. How to spend it, though, is a tougher question to answer.
“I doubt that even Lindsay Lohan would subscribe to this bill-paying method,” said State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio.
Democrats want to avoid cuts to schools, scholarships, and nursing homes. One approach they offered is using more of the Rainy Day Fund between now and August.
Voters approved creation of the Rainy Day Fund in 1988 to “offset unforeseen shortfalls in revenue.”