September 19, 2017

Lawmakers Faced Significant Challenges During 2017 Texas Legislature

(AUSTIN) — Texas policymakers filed and deliberated thousands of bills during the regular session of the Texas Legislature. More than 1,200 bills became law, including Senate Bill 1, which will fund the state government operations for the next two years.

The 2018-19 biennial budget was widely regarded as a significant challenge for legislators, in part because the state’s finances looked tight in January. In the latest issue of Fiscal Notes, we review how lawmakers overcame those challenges and focus on new laws that concern state finances and the Comptroller’s office itself.

“Even before I released the Biennial Revenue Estimate back in January, lawmakers understood this session would be difficult, and coming to a budget consensus would require sacrifice and compromise,” Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said. “I commend legislators for crafting a conservative budget that remains within my revenue forecast.”

In this issue, we also look at a new initiative from our office, driven by legislation approved in 2015: the Texas Bullion Depository, a Texas-based, first of its kind, state-administered secure facility for the storage of precious metals. In response to the Legislature’s directive, the Comptroller’s office forged a unique partnership to bring high-security bullion storage — a field dominated by facilities in the New York City area — to Texas.

Fiscal Notes is available online and also can be received by subscribing via the Comptroller’s website.

Fiscal Notes helps promote and further explain the Comptroller’s constitutional responsibility to monitor the state’s economy and estimate state government revenues. It has been published since 1975, featuring in-depth analysis concerning state finances and original research by subject-matter experts in the Comptroller’s office.