Lawmakers finalize budget deal that leaves $11 billion unspent, shores up CPS, mental health, border

AUSTIN — House and Senate negotiators Thursday signed off on a two-year, $216.8 billion budget that would add nearly 600 more Child Protective Services workers, expand mental health services and keep state spending on border security at about $800 million.

The budget also would continue a surge in Texas highway construction and provide $25 million in grants for police body armor.

It would offer very little new money, though, for public schools, even as it leaves nearly $11 billion on the sidelines. It also would short the state-federal Medicaid program for the poor — again.

Sen. Jane Nelson, the Senate's chief budget writer, announced that the two chambers' last-minute haggling was finally at an end.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-legislature/2017/05/25/lawmakers-finalize-budget-deal-leaves-11-billion-unspent-shores-cps-mental-health-border-security