San Marcos Mercury | Local News from San Marcos and Hays County, Texas

November 2nd, 2011
Audio: Limited opposition to school funding ballot measure

image
Email Email | Print Print --

by BEN PHILPOTT

Texas lawmakers passed a budget this year that cut $4 billion dollars from K-12 public education. As negotiations on those cuts came to a boil during the legislative session, there were also efforts to figure out how to squeeze additional money out of other funds to help cushion the budget blow. That’s where state Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, and a few other lawmakers came in with what became Proposition 6.

land commissioner to send no more than $300 million each year to spend in the state’s public education budget. The measure passed the House and Senate unanimously, but some have worried it would allow the land commissioner to transfer more than the fund generated. That could weaken the fund and limit its ability to keep up with inflation.

But Orr said that shouldn’t happen. “Income coming in over the last 15 years, when you look at it on an annual basis, it’s been generating about $500 million a year,” Orr said, “and there’s a cap of $300 million. And so the fund will keep growing even if the General Land Office sends up to the $300 million.”

There’s nothing keeping a land commissioner from continuing to transfer $300 million even if the fund generates less. But Orr said that if that happened, the commissioner would have to answer to voters for those actions.

Early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Nov. 8.

BEN PHILPOTT reports for KUT News where this story was originally aired. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between The Texas Tribune and the San Marcos Mercury.

Email Email | Print Print
--

Recommended for you

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Not a MercuryPro client?

Get full access to the San Marcos Mercury, posthaste. Sign up here.

Weather

MERCURY MEDIA ON FACEBOOK

MERCURY MEDIA ON TWITTER

back-to-top
:)