DALLAS – Texas lawmakers struggling to develop a budget with less revenue than in the 2015 session have the option to pull back $2.3 billion in transportation funding approved two years ago.
House Appropriations Chairman John Zerwas, R-Richmond, filed a resolution Friday that would halve the $5 billion of revenue earmarked for transportation projects by voters in 2015 and 2013.
Zerwas' House Concurrent Resolution 108 would require two-thirds approval by both the House and Senate to win passage.
In the state House, a proposal to tap $1.4 billion of the state's $10 billion rainy day fund is also under consideration.
Proposition 7, approved by the Legislature and voters as a constitutional amendment in 2015, for the first time directs up to $2.5 billion of state sales tax revenue to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The diversion takes effect only if sales tax revenue for the fiscal year exceeds $28 billion. The amount over $28 billion going to transportation is capped at $2.5 billion.
In the legislation creating the proposition, an escape clause allows the Legislature to reduce the diversion by up to 50%. That money could then be returned to the general fund for other state spending needs.
Zerwas' resolution was filed on the 60th day of the 2017 session, which marked the deadline for filing bills. With the filing deadline passed, lawmakers are expected to speed the process of legislation in the remaining 80 days of the session.
As the deadline neared, 5,183 bills had been filed, including 3,565 in the House and 1,618 in the Senate. That represents a nearly 10% increase from the filings in the 2015 session, according to the Legislative Reference Library.
With record levels of funding authorized, the Texas Transportation Commission that governs TxDOT developed a $70 billion, 10-year highway plan that has nearly doubled over the past year.
State Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, chairman of the state Transportation Committee, said that the proposed state budget under discussion already would have TxDOT pay $300 million a year in debt payments using Prop 7 money.
That would be the first use of the Prop 7 money. In previous years, debt service came from the state's general fund.
The Prop 7 diversion comes amid a flat year for revenue caused in large part by weakness in the state's oil economy. Without the diversion, lawmakers would have more money than in 2015, according to state Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
The Texas House and Senate started the budget process on different thresholds.
The House budget started about $4 billion above the revenue estimate submitted by Hegar, while the Senate began $1 billion below the estimate.
Although Gov. Greg Abbott told lawmakers that he saw no reason for "looting" the rainy day fund, Zerwas has said that he is open to the idea of tapping the funds to help balance the budget.
Before the legislative session began, Abbott ordered state agencies to anticipate cuts of up to 4% under the upcoming budget.
However, Abbott and Zerwas have both opposed cutting any of the $800 million for border security that some border lawmakers duplicates federal border operations.
