After marathon debate, Texas House OK’s $210 billion budget

The Texas House tentatively approved a $210 billion budget in the wee hours Wednesday after a marathon debate that began at noon the day before.

During nearly 18-hours of deliberation, the lower chamber approved dozens of contentious, and more routine, amendments to the two-year spending plan, including diverting millions of dollars from HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevention to abstinence sex education, banning the destruction of human embryos for research purposes and cutting the Texas Lottery Commission’s administrative budget.

The House also voted to divert $2.2 million from the Texas Facilities Commission to the Texas National Guard for training.

More than 350 budget amendments were filed to the 2016-17 budget, though many legislators withdrew theirs from consideration Tuesday — including state Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Corpus Christi, who had filed one to ban state spending on private school vouchers and scholarships. Dueling GOP and Democratic proposals to change funding for the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program also never came up, per an unspoken deal between members.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/after-marathon-debate-texas-house-approves-210-bil/nkjzB/